exercise classes, pools & walking
Exercise Classes
FRANCE
Federation Française of Education Physique and Gymnastique Volontaire (FFGV)
sponsors local classes in Thoiry and most towns in the Pays de Gex. Use your postal code to check online for a club nearby, or ask for a list of classes at your town hall (Mairie) to see what your town offers. Generally a doctor’s certificate is required before you can sign up.
Health Clubs
Dance Classes
Kentucky Club has 2 locations:
SWITZERLAND
The CERN Welcome Club and CERN Fitness Club offer some great exercise classes at a nominal cost.
Health Clubs
There are a variety in Switzerland – Curves, Silhouette, Holmes Place and Harmony are the largest with several locations around town including in Meyrin and the Balexert shopping center. Check to see if these clubs offer a CERN discount. Use the Pages Jaunes (Yellow Pages) to find a Fitness Center near you.
Urban Training is fun, new and near you! Check out their FREE classes. The Swiss are serious about keeping the population moving, healthy and fit. The idea is that local businesses and communes cover the cost of a series of classes that are open to all. Sign up and go when you feel like it, close to home or work. You’ll use outdoor facilities, join a group with a professional coach and get inspired to do more at home. Check out the list of locations.
Dance Classes
Jana Dance Center - Rue du Prieuré 23, Geneva - Tel: 022 732 47 56
Jana is a professional dancer & choreographer with a contagious passion for dancing. She toured the world as a professional dancer before founding the dance center in 1984. Jana's artistic nature ensures that the classes are always fun and her years of experience ensure that no one is left behind and students don't overdo it. Jana speaks French & English and she loves introducing new people to the world of dance. From ballet and modern jazz to breakdance and bellydancing, this dance center has it all.
FRANCE
Federation Française of Education Physique and Gymnastique Volontaire (FFGV)
sponsors local classes in Thoiry and most towns in the Pays de Gex. Use your postal code to check online for a club nearby, or ask for a list of classes at your town hall (Mairie) to see what your town offers. Generally a doctor’s certificate is required before you can sign up.
Health Clubs
- Keep Cool is a new club in Ferney-Voltaire at 27 avenue du Jura Le Brevent.
- Pages Jaunes (Yellow Pages) use your postal code to search for a Club de Gym or Club de Sport near you.
Dance Classes
Kentucky Club has 2 locations:
- 283 rue de Nant, Clos de Magny, Prevessin (near Gamm Vert)
- 216/218 route de Ferney, Grand-Saconnex, Switzerland
SWITZERLAND
The CERN Welcome Club and CERN Fitness Club offer some great exercise classes at a nominal cost.
Health Clubs
There are a variety in Switzerland – Curves, Silhouette, Holmes Place and Harmony are the largest with several locations around town including in Meyrin and the Balexert shopping center. Check to see if these clubs offer a CERN discount. Use the Pages Jaunes (Yellow Pages) to find a Fitness Center near you.
Urban Training is fun, new and near you! Check out their FREE classes. The Swiss are serious about keeping the population moving, healthy and fit. The idea is that local businesses and communes cover the cost of a series of classes that are open to all. Sign up and go when you feel like it, close to home or work. You’ll use outdoor facilities, join a group with a professional coach and get inspired to do more at home. Check out the list of locations.
Dance Classes
Jana Dance Center - Rue du Prieuré 23, Geneva - Tel: 022 732 47 56
Jana is a professional dancer & choreographer with a contagious passion for dancing. She toured the world as a professional dancer before founding the dance center in 1984. Jana's artistic nature ensures that the classes are always fun and her years of experience ensure that no one is left behind and students don't overdo it. Jana speaks French & English and she loves introducing new people to the world of dance. From ballet and modern jazz to breakdance and bellydancing, this dance center has it all.
Pools
In France there are indoor pools in Ferney-Voltaire and Gex, and an outdoor pool complex in Divonne-les-Bains.
In Switzerland the closest to CERN is in Meyrin. Here is a list of pools in Geneva.
Outdoor pools are only open in summer. Check websites for prices and opening hours.
In France there are indoor pools in Ferney-Voltaire and Gex, and an outdoor pool complex in Divonne-les-Bains.
In Switzerland the closest to CERN is in Meyrin. Here is a list of pools in Geneva.
Outdoor pools are only open in summer. Check websites for prices and opening hours.
YOGA CLASSES ONLINE
SPHERE
Sunday through Friday
All online classes are now priced at CHF 15.-. Type of yoga offered: Jivamukti Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Vinyasa Flow, Gentle Yoga, Yoga Basics for beginners, Kundalini Yoga.
Gretchen Pascalis teaches yoga via her online Yoga Farm. Your first class is free.
See her monthly schedule on her Facebook page. After signing up you can join her Facebook Community. She is a RYS 200 certified instructor in vinyasa and mindfulness, and is currently doing a 300-hour training in kundalini yoga, the Enneagram and Ayurveda.
SPHERE
Sunday through Friday
All online classes are now priced at CHF 15.-. Type of yoga offered: Jivamukti Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Vinyasa Flow, Gentle Yoga, Yoga Basics for beginners, Kundalini Yoga.
Gretchen Pascalis teaches yoga via her online Yoga Farm. Your first class is free.
See her monthly schedule on her Facebook page. After signing up you can join her Facebook Community. She is a RYS 200 certified instructor in vinyasa and mindfulness, and is currently doing a 300-hour training in kundalini yoga, the Enneagram and Ayurveda.
Walking
Before going out check the weather: 5-Day Local Weather Forecast
If you go on your own be sure to purchase a variety of maps. Blue randonee maps are available at Migros at Val Thoiry, Carrefour in Segny, and newspaper stores. They list walking trails, parking places where the trails begin, and almost every house in every village. The American International Women's Club has several publications available - buy their publications Happy Trails and Out and About in Geneva. Tourist offices also have free guides.
To navigate without a map use the Jura - it is north of us - and you can get around easily. You can always get back to a sign for Ferney or Geneva, and correct yourself from almost anywhere.
Walk with groups
Walking in Geneva
In town, the neighborhoods of Paquis and Carouge are the most interesting with loads of good cafes and restaurants. The area around Planpalais is animated, especially on Wednesdays and Saturdays when the outdoor market is on.
Our Cultural History page lists many of the main sites in town.
Further afield
Some of the best walks outside of town are in Dardagny and Russin. Leaving CERN going towards Meyrin, take the first right hand turn and follow the signs. You won’t need a map here – walk through the vineyards, and along the river. There are lovely restaurants in these villages too – so if you go for a morning walk stop afterwards for lunch. Be prepared to be lost - and then be prepared to enjoy it!
Before going out check the weather: 5-Day Local Weather Forecast
If you go on your own be sure to purchase a variety of maps. Blue randonee maps are available at Migros at Val Thoiry, Carrefour in Segny, and newspaper stores. They list walking trails, parking places where the trails begin, and almost every house in every village. The American International Women's Club has several publications available - buy their publications Happy Trails and Out and About in Geneva. Tourist offices also have free guides.
To navigate without a map use the Jura - it is north of us - and you can get around easily. You can always get back to a sign for Ferney or Geneva, and correct yourself from almost anywhere.
Walk with groups
- The CERN Welcome Club offers several walking groups.
- The CERN Fitness Club offers Nordic walking.
- Association Suisse des Guides organize guided walks throughout the year in the Jura and Vaud cantons. Hike up the Salève each Sunday.
- Leisure Group: Fraiche air by Yvette Evers
Yvette founded ‘fraiche air’ - a club for locals who want to enjoy the outdoors with an English speaking group. Their outings in small groups provide a wonderful opportunity to discover new activities and join an active community of like-minded sporty friends – power-walks, hiking, snowshoeing, ski-touring, and family days. You don’t have to be a member to participate in any fraiche air activity, so come and give us a try! - SHEzone hosts guided snowshoe walks, cross-country ski lessons, moms and baby sled-circuits, and family fun days. See their website for all activities.
- Vaud Rando organizes walks from April - October.
Walking in Geneva
In town, the neighborhoods of Paquis and Carouge are the most interesting with loads of good cafes and restaurants. The area around Planpalais is animated, especially on Wednesdays and Saturdays when the outdoor market is on.
Our Cultural History page lists many of the main sites in town.
- Botanical Garden - Jardin Botaniques
The spirit of naturalism in the 18th century eventually prompted A.-P. de Candolle to establish Geneva’s first extensive botanical gardens in the present Bastions Park in 1817. Today this area of 28 hectares is an ideal setting for either a simple stroll or for some education about the natural world. The Botanical Gardens consist of a collection of 16,000 plant species from all over the world. There is an arboretum, a rock garden and banks of protected species, medicinal and useful plants, greenhouses, horticultural plants (including a "garden of scent and touch"), an animal park devoted to conservation and "Botanicum" (a family space) near the lake. The Conservatory owns a rich public scientific library of more than 220,000 volumes and a herbarium whose more than 5.5 million samples make it one of the five largest in the world (visit the herbarium by appointment). Location: Chemin de l'Impératrice 1, 1292 Chambésy - Eaux-Vives Park
Parc des Eaux-Vives is an absolutely gorgeous park located on the south side of Lake Geneva. A network of pathways meander through a natural environment consisting of large trees, rhododendrons and wild flowers. One of Geneva's finest restaurants is located in a mansion in Parc des Eaux-Vives. - Grange Park
Parc de la Grange is one of the most beautiful parks in Geneva Switzerland. Located on south side of Lake Geneva within walking distance of Geneva city centre, visitors can enjoy the park's formal rose garden and the historic mansion that dominates the hillside. There are many lovely pathways to explore in this picturesque Swiss park. - Mount Saleve
Location: Etrembieres, France. Hours: 9:30 – 18:00 (April Admission: SFr. 16/€ 10.50. Children: SFr. 8/€5.70
The Saleve sits to the south of Geneva, just 5km from the city center. A cable car offers quick access to the peak 1,380 meters above sea level, where breathtaking views of the Alps to the west and the Jura mountains to the east await. Enjoy a bird’s eye view of the city and Lake Geneva from the cafe at the top of the cable car, watch hang gliders take off on weekends, or take a picnic and hike the many trails criss-crossing the mountain to find your own slice of heaven.
- Free Walk offers guided tours of Geneva
- Geneva walks include self-guided tours along the lake, through vineyards and other areas of Geneva.
- Promenade de la Treille is a lovely walk that leads from the gates of old town Geneva to Place Neuve and the Reformation Wall.
Further afield
Some of the best walks outside of town are in Dardagny and Russin. Leaving CERN going towards Meyrin, take the first right hand turn and follow the signs. You won’t need a map here – walk through the vineyards, and along the river. There are lovely restaurants in these villages too – so if you go for a morning walk stop afterwards for lunch. Be prepared to be lost - and then be prepared to enjoy it!
- Lavaux wine region, Switzerland: Wander through vineyards and small towns. Stop for lunch, take in the views of Lake Geneva and the French alps from Vich to Morges.
- Swiss wine walks on the opposite side of the lake go from Colony to Hermance.
- Ski resorts are great places to wander in the off season.
- The Foundation Barry at Barryland in the Grand-St-Bernard region of Switzerland lets you hike with the St. Bernard dogs and puppies. They also have a kennel where you can adopt one! Check the schedule for dates and times.
© Newcomer Welcome Center 2011-2020