14 Museums to Explore in Geneva

Located at the famous CERN nuclear research center near Geneva, the Globe of Science and Innovation is a very peculiar science museum. The Globe is aimed to be “a gateway between science, culture, education, and society, promoting the dissemination of scientific information among all types of the audience”.

The Museum of the Swiss in the World, previously called the Museum of the Swiss Abroad is a Swiss museum located on the territory of the Geneva municipality of Pregny-Chambésy. It is in the castle of Penthes. The museum's permanent exhibition traces the history of relations between Switzerland and the rest of the world from the Middle Ages to the present day.

The Museum of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent is one of the top museums to see in Genève, Switzerland. The Humanitarian Adventure is the exhibition theme. The museum’s permanent collection “The Humanitarian Adventure” is currently divided into three exhibitions: defending human dignity, restoring family links, and reducing natural risks. It is best to think of the museum in terms of these three very modern exhibitions rather than a traditional museum with clear information on the hi

Mamco is the largest, youngest, and most contemporary art museum in Switzerland. It enjoys international fame and is recognized as a benchmark institution in the contemporary scene. He bases his work on a collection of 4,000 works, a third of which belong to him. Since it opened in 1994, the museum has presented more than 450 exhibitions, reflecting the diversity and dynamism of the Swiss and international art scene.

The Ethnographic Museum of Geneva has eye-catching, ultra-modern architecture and a remarkable museography that shows off rare pieces from all over the world. Its reference exhibition, "The Archives of Human Diversity", focuses on the history of the collections, ethnomusicology, and the five continents, through masks, headdresses, clothes, pictorial representations, tools, and totems. Temporary exhibitions.

The Musée Ariana, also known as the Musée Suisse de la céramique et du Verre, is a museum in Geneva, Switzerland. It is devoted to ceramic and glass artwork and contains around 20,000 objects from the last 1,200 years, representing the historic, geographic, artistic and technological breadth of glass and ceramic manufacture during this time. The collection is the only one of its kind in Switzerland.

Situated in the heart of Old Town Geneva, the Barbier-Müller Museum preserves, exhibits, and studies a collection that started in 1907. Today the collection contains thousands of artworks from tribal and classical Antiquity as well as sculptures, fabrics, and ornaments from around the world. Many of these items are priceless masterpieces. These “historic” items cannot be found anywhere else today, which makes this private collection the most important of its kind in the world.

The Museum of Art and History is one of the three largest museums in Switzerland. In particular, it brings together archaeological, applied art, and fine arts collections. The result of the merging of several regional funds, donations from collectors, foundations, and philanthropic citizens. The richness of its collections includes around 650 works of art.

The History of Science Museum showcases a collection of rare and ancient scientific instruments from the 17th to the 19th century. The exhibits help us to better understand the evolution of technical subjects, such as astronomy, microscopy, gnomonics, electricity, or meteorology. Located in the lovely park Mon-Repos, in the Villa Bartholoni. It is one of the main attractions in this area.

The Rath Museum has been a prestigious venue for temporary exhibitions organized by the Art and History Museum of the city of Geneva. It enjoys an international reputation in the field of contemporary art since 1910.

The National History Museum was inaugurated in 1966. It was Switzerland’s largest natural history exhibition. Its First and second floors are dedicated to another large collection of stuffed and preserved animals, tropical this time. A special mention for the reconstitutions of extinct dodo bird, great auk and King Island emu and also there are so many attractions in and around this museum.

The Patek Philippe Museum is located in the heart of the Plainpalais district which was founded in 2001. The museum showcases the most prestigious creations of the brand’s master watchmakers. Visitors can also admire an extraordinary collection of watches, musical automata, and enamel miniatures from the 16th to the 19th centuries, created in Geneva, Switzerland, and Europe. The museum also houses a library entirely dedicated to horology and its related subjects.

Maison Tavel, meaning Tavel House, is the oldest house in Geneva, built in the 12th century by the Maison family. In 1334, the house was reconstructed following a devastating fire. In 1963, the house was purchased by the city of Geneva and remade into the museum of history of Geneva.

It was the former house of Voltaire. The museum was opened to the public in 1954; It presents documents, paintings, prints, sculptures, including 3 masterpieces by Houdon, about Voltaire and his family. It contains the writer's furniture and personal objects that evoke his life, including letters and manuscripts. There are regular exhibitions on the writer and his century. Not a lot of objects, but an opportunity to imagine the life of Voltaire in this place.