English text books in Geneva

I am going to be living in Geneva for a year, and was wondering if there is anywhere I can buy English books?

Hi Tommy,

There is a chain of bookshops called Payot. They have a shop in Geneva which they claim has the "biggest choice of English books in French-speaking Switzerland" :

Payot | Geneva English Bookstore

They also have a store in Lausanne which has a reasonable selection of English language books and you can order lots more.

You can also order from Amazon.co.uk. They knock off the VAT as the goods are technically being exported outside of the EU. Sometimes when the postman delivers the parcel he asks for an import tax, but more often than not, he just hands over the goods. I've never understood exactly how that works/at what rate they calculate the import tax/why they do not consistently charge an import tax, but I'm not going to complain, since the situation seems to be working in my favour!

the rule semms to be, anything below 200 chuffs they leave you alone, so if buying a load of things, ask Amazon to pack them in seperate lots ....

Hello Tommy,

There are basically two main english book shops in Geneva. The first is Payot, as Lausannebrit wrote, the second being "Off the shelf".

The former located on the right side of Geneva (around the train station), the later on the left side of the city (near the university.)

websites:

Payot | Accueil

OffTheShelf, the English bookshop in Geneva ...for English books and more!

What kind of books do you want ? Have you thought about Ebay ? Or, if there are specific books you want , maybe I can get them for you as I'm still in the UK.

For textbooks I got to

www.ellipse.ch

But if you order a bunch its still easier, and cheaper to get second hand from US or UK through Amazon.

D.

If you are coming to CERN, then you can buy books from the CERN bookshop (they will also order books for you if they havent got what you want). I think Its roughly about the same price as Amazon.

There is also a library at CERN which isnt too bad. I think that they can arrange inter library loans if they havent got what you are after. If you need any help, send me a PM.

there is Stauffacher in Bern who deliver as well.

You can also go to the flea market in Plainpalais, it's held every wednesday and saturday, you can find books in English there too.

To avoid shipping taxes, use amazon.de instead of .com. The menus are in german, but it's all exactly the same layout, so one can manage.

For other books, the American Library and Holy Trinity Church both do bisannual book sales (December and June). You can find books there for 2-6 francs each!

Payot or Amazon