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Geneva and Annecy on a Budget.

If you’re new here, throughout 2024 I set myself a challenge. This was to visit a new country every month, using my holiday allowance from my full time job. On top of this, I was aiming for each trip to cost a total of £250 for EVERYTHING. This includes flights, accommodation, activities, food & drink and transportation. So, for the fifth instalment of the challenge, I decided to try a famously expensive destination, Geneva (Switzerland) and Annecy (France).

There are a few things to note before we get started. Firstly, I mainly fly out of Bristol (BRS) airport, as this is my local. Fortunately, it is also one of the cheapest airports in the UK. Secondly, every expense for the holiday is included in the £250 budget (flights, accommodation, transport, activities and food and drinks). Equally, one thing I do not include in the cost is the cost of transport from my house to the airport, and back. This is because, it is impossible for me to make it relevant to everyone, as everyone’s situation is so different. Finally, for this trip I travelled with somebody, so the costings are per person. Obviously, the only thing that is made cheaper because of this is the accommodation and any taxis used (only 1).

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Cheap Flights to Geneva

I think it is so important for us to make the most of our time, especially when taking short breaks. Therefore, I will always advise you to find early outbound flights and late return flights. Anyway, firstly I found very cheap flights to Geneva. These flights cost £50.98 from Bristol, direct to Geneva. The outbound flight left Bristol at 6.35am on Saturday 11th May. Then, the return flight departing at 6.30pm on Monday 13th May. As usual, I only took hand luggage so it didn’t cost any extra and also, I didn’t pay for seat selection.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand that some people want the comfort of taking more luggage and knowing that they have a seat they like. Equally, I’m here to show you that the more efficiently you can be with your money, the more opportunity you have for additional trips because you’re not spending unnecessarily.

Flights for this price are a lot easier to find and more common than a lot of people think. If you struggle to find these prices, and want to guarantee best prices on flights, check out my expert guide. Click here and use the code BLOG for another 25% off the marked price.

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Pon des Amours, Annecy

Accommodation in Geneva

As previously mentioned, I travelled with somebody for this trip. This meant the accommodation was split between the two of us. We stayed in a small, one bedded apartment. This is the kind of accommodation I usually try to find, and what I advise for other people trying to save money. Why? The initial cost of the accommodation may be slightly more for an apartment. However, if you have kitchen facilities, it allows you to save so much money on food and drinks.

For my trip to Geneva and Annecy, I actually left it very late to book so there wasn’t much available. Equally, it meant I could message the owner asking for a change in price as it was only a few days away and I’m sure they’d prefer some income rather than none! So, they actually gave me 25% off, meaning the place was £104.40/ £52.20 per person for the two nights. To be honest, the accommodation wasn’t amazing but It had everything I needed. It was a small, basic place with a kitchen, shower and double bed in a place called Carouge, which is around 15 minutes on the train from Geneva centre.

Some great places to check for accommodation are TripAdvisor. Or, if you’re happy to use hostels for even more savings, try Hostelworld.

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Annecy, France

Activities in Geneva and Annecy

Day 1

Honestly, I didn’t spend a huge amount on specific activities whilst I was in Geneva. This is because I was mainly just exploring different areas around the city, further around Lake Geneva, and in Annecy. Anyway, on day 1 I spent £28.04 on a 24hr city pass in Geneva (I used this for a mini train ride around the old town, a boat tour on the lake and a pedal boat and did some other bits of exploration which were free). The cost of these activities would have been around £35 if I had paid for them separately. So, if you are trying to save some money, I would advise buying the city pass.

Day 2

On day 2 I left Geneva for the day and caught a bus to Annecy in France. Honestly, this is one of the most amazingly beautiful place I have visited and highly recommended! Imagine a crystal clear, turquoise coloured lake, set with a back drop of snow topped mountains and canals flowing through an historical looking old town. This place is often called the Venice of the Alps but I think it is much more attractive. Although, it is a very busy place, full of tourists in peak season. Anyway, whilst I was in Annecy, I rented a bike for 5 hours which cost £12.93 and was very useful for getting around Annecy. I explored parts of the lake, Pont des Amours, Jardins de l’Europe, Vielle Ville, Chateau d’Annecy and Annecy-le-Vieux.

Day 3

On my final day, I stayed around Lake Geneva and caught the train further up the lake to two other gorgeous towns called Nyon and Morges. I have included the costs in the transportation section. When you visit Geneva, I would definitely suggest visiting these towns as they are less busy than Geneva and give a more authentic experience. They are also much more aesthetic in my opinion. Rather than the busy metropolitan city of Geneva, they give more of an old town, slower feel.

So, as you can see, the three days were packed full of things to do, despite this being a quick and cheap trip to Geneva and Annecy, with the total cost of activities being £40.97.

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Nyon, Lake Geneva

Food and Drinks in Geneva and Annecy

Just so you know, I am a bit weird and find it quite easy to go all day without food, which I know isn’t possible for everyone. Usually, I don’t eat breakfast but I am 6 foot 1 and around 85kg so I definitely don’t starve myself when I do eat! Anyway, I did things a little different for this trip. As I knew Geneva and Annecy would be super expensive, I sacrificed eating out. To be honest, I also didn’t have any particular Swiss foods that I desperately wanted to try, what even is Swiss food other than cheese and chocolate?

So, I needed dinner for day one, as I had eaten before leaving Bristol, dinner for day 2 and lunch for day 2 and day 3. Therefore, I went to the supermarket and bought the following – 6 bananas, a pizza, 600g mince, 750g pasta, bag of frozen veg, pasta sauce, loaf of bread, 450g sliced ham and a block of cheese (maybe 200g). This came to £47.12 and was sufficient for my stay. I hate to think what the prices of eating out would be if that was the price of a small supermarket shop! Other than this I bought a bottle of water on day one before I checked in to the apartment, this cost £4.20. Following this, I used the bottle to fill up from the numerous drinking fountains they have dotted around the city.

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Morges, Lake Annecy

Transportation

Geneva is quite unique with regards to it’s transportation, as they offer free public transport for tourists. This is done through your accommodation when you book it. For hotels, you should be able to just collect your pass on arrival. Alternatively, for rental apartments, if the landlord isn’t signed up to the scheme, they can simply contact the scheme and get a pass for you.

So, this leaves you only having to pay to take trains/ buses to and from the airport and out of Geneva to other places. For me, it cost £2.65 to get the train from the airport into Geneva city centre on day 1. On the second day I paid for a return coach ticket to Annecy with Flixbus which cost £27.56. I then also took the train to Nyon for £5.14 and another train from Nyon to morges for £6.35. Finally, I took the train from Morges back to the airport for £12.08.

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Annecy, France

Conclusion

There it is. This is an example of what you can do on a budget in Geneva and Annecy. Truly, I’m on a mission to help people realise that travel can be so easily attainable with just a few tweaks to what we do. Letting go of a few home comforts and being sensible with how we spend money can open a world of opportunity! The overall breakdown of spending is below –

Flights – £50.98

Accommodation – £52.20

Activities – £40.97

Food & Drinks – £53.32

Transportation – £53.78

Total for 3 cheap days in Bucharest – £251.25

Let me know in the comments if you like this post or if you have any suggestions of things the community can do in Geneva and Annecy. Thanks for reading! Check out the other trips I have done for this £250 series – Bucharest, Sofia, Lake Como, Marrakech, Albania, Copenhagen and Paris.

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