Accessibility

Allée ombragée du jardin des senteurs et du toucher

We have done everything we can to welcome people with handicaps to the best of our ability.

Accessibility of buildings

If you give us notice in advance, it is possible to enter by motor vehicle using the west entrance of the botanical garden on the side nearest Geneva-Sécheron railway station. The buildings open to the public are in the centre of the garden: reception, the library, the Pyramus restaurant, the Botanic Shop, toilets for people who are disabled and for general use.

The administrative reception is reached by three steps, without a handrail. A call bell is available for wheelchair users.

The Botanic Shop is a shop and a public reception centre (especially at the weekend, when the reception in the Villa Le Chêne is closed); access is step-free.

Entrance to the temperate greenhouse is step-free over a metre of wire mesh floor, then concrete. A staircase (with handrail) leads up to the gallery, where the floor is wire mesh.

Entrance to the tropical greenhouse involves passing through two doors that open outwards. The flooring is gravel and paving stones. A staircase leads up the the second level. This can be accessed from the entrance on the side by the railway line (the north entrance).

The winter garden is reached through a door that opens outwards. The floor is gravel. The paths are narrow.

Accessibility in the garden

A tarmac or concrete path goes around the external parts and the main centres of interest. Other gravel paths run along the minor alleys. The garden is not flat and the slopes vary. In the rockeries it is possible to cross a small stream by stepping on large and flat but irregular stones. There are a few steps without handrails, but these can be avoided.

Our team of gardeners are always busy maintaining the garden; noisy machines and motorised vehicles may disturb people with sensory issues.

Facilities

Toilets adapted for people with a handicap are located opposite the Botanic Shop near the restaurant and are checked several times a day.

Sharpen your senses

The scent and touch garden provides a unique experience for the visually impaired.

The tropical greenhouses, the winter garden and the ground floor of the temperate greenhouse are accessible by wheelchair; the paths are narrow in some greenhouses. The walkway in the temperate greenhouse is not accessible by wheelchair.

The rockeries area consists of narrow gravel paths. Access is difficult for people with reduced mobility or in a wheelchair.