Walking Into a City That Has Quieted Down
On the first of November, Geneva's trams run on a holiday rhythm and the shutters come down early. Banks and most sights close, and the streets around the old town take on that particular Swiss stillness — church bells marking the hour, a few families carrying chrysanthemums toward the cemeteries, the lake grey and patient beyond the Jet d'Eau. This is not a day for ticking off museums. It is a day for walking, for looking at the city the way Genevans do when the working year pauses, and for letting the lake and the old stone do the talking.
Time Your Visit Around the Geneva International Film Festival
All Saints' Day falls inside a stretch that gives the city its own kind of cultural event: the Geneva International Film Festival (GIFF) runs from October 30 to November 8, 2026, overlapping November 1 directly. If you plan your trip around the holiday, you plan it around the festival.
- Check the GIFF programme directly — screenings, talks and special presentations fill the days on either side of the holiday.
- Use November 1 itself as a rest day between festival sessions: the festival continues, but the city's commercial life does not.
- Confirm dates and any scheduling changes with the festival website or the local tourist office before you book travel, since weather-dependent events in Switzerland are sometimes moved by a week.
What the City Reliably Does on 1 November
All Saints' Day is a fixed national public holiday observed throughout Switzerland, and Geneva is no exception. What you can count on is the shape of the day rather than a programme of events.
- Expect most sights, shops and banks to be closed. Plan your museum visits, shopping and administrative errands for October 31 or November 2 instead.
- Cemeteries and churches are the day's real centres of activity — this is a holiday of remembrance, and the chrysanthemum is its flower.
- Public transport runs on a Sunday-style timetable; check TPG schedules before you set out.
- Restaurants in the city centre generally remain open for visitors, though smaller neighbourhood places may take the day off.
Pair the Holiday With Geneva's Other Distinctive Dates
Geneva keeps its own calendar alongside the federal one, and knowing it helps you build a trip that actually fits the city's habits.
- Jeune Genevois (Geneva Thanksgiving) falls on September 9 — a Genevan observance rather than a national one.
- Restoration Day on December 31 is Geneva's own end-of-year holiday, and the city marks it distinctly.
- Geneva is an exception to the federal Thanksgiving Day closures of September 19, so don't assume the rest of Switzerland's pattern applies here.
Build the Rest of the Trip Around the Lake
With the holiday itself quiet, the surrounding days carry the weight of your visit. Use them for the lakeside walks, the old town, and the museums that close on November 1 — and check myswitzerland.com, the official national tourism site, for what is running in the region during your stay. Because All Saints' Day is a general Swiss holiday rather than a Geneva-specific programme, the honest approach is to treat November 1 as a day of atmosphere and the days around it as your sightseeing window.
Start with the GIFF dates for 2026 — October 30 to November 8 — and work outward from there. Book your accommodation on the lake side of the city, keep November 1 free for walking and for the cemeteries and churches where Geneva observes the day, and leave the museums and markets for the days on either side. Confirm the festival schedule with the GIFF or the local tourist office before you commit, and you will arrive with a plan that matches how the city actually behaves.