6) 12 p.m. Hearty lunch

Restaurants in Geneva tend to be either starchy, white-tablecloth dining rooms or kebab shops. Chez ma Cousine, which has four locations in the city, is a glorious exception. Here, the atmosphere is warm, the food hearty, and the prices reasonable, at least for Switzerland. Order the restaurant’s signature dish: half a roast chicken, served alongside a pile of chunky, well-seasoned roasted potatoes and a heap of perfectly dressed salad greens (15.90 francs). It’s best to book ahead for Saturday lunch, although the smallest location, in Old Town, doesn’t take reservations.

7) 2 p.m. Humanitarian history

You could argue that Geneva arrived on the global stage in 1863, when the Genevois Henry Dunant and four other Swiss men set up what we know today as the Red Cross, an organization whose emblem — the inverse of the Swiss flag — has become a universal symbol for medical aid. Explore this history, and the Red Cross’s role in assisting soldiers, prisoners, and endangered people around the world, in the small but engrossing International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum (entry, 15 francs). The museum’s immersive exhibitions explore three pressing humanitarian challenges: defending human dignity, restoring family links and reducing natural risks. Look out for the moving video testimony of a former detainee at Guantánamo Bay.

8) 4 p.m. To the lake

Set off downhill from the museum and walk around the corner to the Broken Chair sculpture, which sits at one end of a long row of flags leading to the Palais des Nations, the European headquarters of the United Nations. Carry on down the slope to the enchanting and often-overlooked Botanical Garden, where dahlias, asters and autumn daffodils come into bloom as summer draws to a close. At the bottom of the garden, look for the small underground walkway that takes you below the traffic on Rue de Lausanne and straight to the edge of Lake Geneva (or Lac Léman, as it’s called in French). Keeping the lake on your left, walk past the lawn of the World Trade Organization, continue through the landscaped Parc Mon Repos, and finally stroll along the Quai Wilson, where you can take in a view of Geneva’s 460-foot-tall fountain, the Jet d’Eau, across the lake.