Known as a “city of peace,” and home to the World Health Organization and the International Committee of the Red Cross, Genéve, Switzerland seems a natural hub for vegan hunting. So just before Christmas, my husband and I quietly hopped on our bikes at 5 am on a Saturday boarded a direct train to Amsterdam Schipol airport and jetted off to Genéve with just backpacks and 48 hours of experience in store.

Traveling in ease

While an understated airport, making your way from the GVA airport into the main city is among the easiest I’ve experienced. Skip the ‘buy a ticket line’ and snatch up your complimentary airport transport ticket from the neighboring machine. Within 10 minutes you’ll be at the Central Train station, Gare Cornavin. From there, you can easily walk (as we did), take a bus or a taxi.

Seeking sustenance

Our first morning stop after quickly dropping our bags at our Novatel hotel was Alna, a quaint (albeit ‘crunchy’) health food store replete with a generous selection of vegan cheeses, pre-made sandwiches, dried fruit and nuts, choocolate, crackers and even gluten free and vegan bread rolls—rare delights. While far from exclusively vegan, they offer a healthy assortment of grab-and-go vegan options.

After picking up a whole grain gluten free roll, generously stuffed with olives and a cashew-based mozzarella style cheese, we dined chilly picnic-style along Lake Genéve mustering energy until our next meal.

Hunt this health shop for vegan delights @ rue de Cornavin 3-5, Geneva, Switzerland

Warming up

The challenge of visiting a business (and NGO) oriented city like Genéve over the weekend, we discovered—having booked our trip just four days in advance—is that many specialty cafes are only open on weekdays, as lunch destinations. With limited options to choose from on a wintery Saturday, and after visiting the old city, Jet d’Eau, un-vegan luxury shops along rue du Rhone, we headed to one of Qibi, a healthy takeaway and small dine-in café. Their menu is easy to navigate by vegan, vegetarian and gluten free options. While portions are small and pricey in exchange, true to Switzerland, the Marinated Tofu was flavorful and comforting. Forever a lover of sweets, we savored the Organic Chocolate Mousse, wishing it wasn’t over so quickly.

Feeling that we had indulged enough for the day, we headed to coop, the mainstream Swiss supermarket chain. While normally too conventional for my taste, we welcomed the sight of palatable prices, picking up coconut yogurt, popcorn, milk-free Lindt chocolate and wine for our cozy evening indulging, en suite, in television—something we normally live without.

Vin chaud

The next morning we grabbed our coconut yogurt and hopped on a train along Lake Genéve, to Montreaux and its infamous Christmas market. After converting our Euros to Swiss Francs for the luggage lockers and safely storing our baggage away, our first matter of business was to track down a glass of hot, Swiss mulled wine—Vin chaud. Warming up with each sweet sip, we gazed out at the lake, lined with the Alps, and synchronously said out loud “It really doesn’t get better than this.” Later, as we munched on roasted chestnuts—admittedly the only detectable vegan option to choose from—we were fully immersed in the holiday magic of Switzerland.

Jetting off

The beauty of Swiss travel—and European transit at large—is that jumping from one city to the next and getting to airports is a nearly effortless experience, barring healthy vegan (and gluten free) delights en route. In that realm, the Genéve Airport proved better than most, with the likes of Goodie Health Food in the departures area—although they were out of their gluten free wraps and virtually all of their vegan options when I stopped in on an early Sunday evening. In the end, we settled on Tuk Thai Urban Kitchen in the departures food court and while the vegetable fried rice seemed truly tasty, we barely noticed in our desperate state of hunger, having lived off of Vin chaud and chestnuts for the day.

Boarding the plane back to Amsterdam, we felt imbued with the holiday spirit and dieted thanks to our limited—yet flavorful—vegan choices.

The takeaway

• Visit Genéve during the week
• Drink Vin chaud
• If you’re there during the holidays, give yourself a few hours to imbibe in the Swiss culture of Christmas, in Montreaux
• Pack vegan snacks with you
• Eat chocolate (after checking the ingredients—you know the drill)

Bon voyage!