Geneva — at the south-western tip of Lake Geneva and cradled between the Jura and Alps — was a fortified city-state before becoming the cradle of the Calvinist Reformation in the 16th century, then the world's humanitarian capital in the 20th: home to the Red Cross, the European seat of the United Nations and more than 40 international organisations. This cosmopolitan diplomatic population (40% of residents are foreign) shapes an extraordinarily multilingual city where it is just as natural to hear an order placed in French as in English, Italian or Portuguese — including the commands given to a dog. Compact (16 km²), Geneva can be crossed on foot north to south in 45 minutes, and its layout around the Rade — the lakeside basin crowned by the 140-metre Jet d'Eau — connects all districts: Pâquis on the right bank, Eaux-Vives on the left, the Old Town on its hilltop, and bohemian Carouge across the Arve. Swiss federal law lets dogs in everywhere unless an owner explicitly forbids it: restaurants, cafés, hotels, public transport — the decision is left to each business, and the prevailing culture is welcome. The Bois de la Bâtie, in the very centre, is one of the rare Swiss urban forests with year-round off-leash status.
