Until my son told me about CERN I had never really heard about it before. We were going to be traveling to the general area and after researching this place I knew that we had to go see it - and I'm so glad we did! Even though I am not particularly "techy", and I am certainly not an engineer, I do appreciate science and I found this museum absolutely fascinating. I knew it would be very popular so we decided to get there as soon as it opened on a Tuesday morning. We immediately booked the tours and had no problem securing a spot, figuring out the WiFi took a minute, but it was otherwise a smooth process. While we waited for our tour, we enjoyed exploring the interactive museum and exhibitions. There were plenty of things to see and play with along with interesting facts about it all. The tour was excellent and we were so excited to see the very first particle accelerator ever built up-close! We also got to see the operations room where all the engineers run the main accelerator. If you can get in on one of the tours I highly recommend it! My son (who is an engineering student) was thrilled about every single aspect of this place, I would have enjoyed it on my own but visiting it with people who know and understand all of it was even better! read more

CERN - Public Services & Government Near Me - Meyrin, GE

Since most of us will never have the opportunity to visit the international space station, we will be forced to view the 2nd most impressive scientific instrument created by humanity, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN and be marveled at the ingenuity and sheer gumption of humanity in creating something so magnificent as to understand fundamental aspects of our universe's creation then open the door to new mysteries we had never conceived. You'll be toured by an actual CERN Physicist who will answer any and all questions while taking you everywhere except 100m below the earth to see the actual LHC, but the models, the hands on experiments, and knowledge that no matter where you are in the Geneva area you're probably closer than you think as that massive instrument has a 27km circumference. You'll leave with a sense of wonder at the knowledge we've collectively gained about our universe in just our lifetimes and then feel your brain melt imagining what the next few decades, with our advances in compute, will bring. read more

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I was expecting something a lot more "underground" I guess. This tour took us to places that really could have been open to the public as museum exhibits. There was even a short film. You don't really get to see anything that looks like it needs to be behind security except for a brief glance of one of the control rooms. You have to get there an hour in advance to secure your spot for the tour. The tour is free, but spots are limited. There are tours in English and French. I'm glad that I can say I've been to CERN now, but it wasn't really worth the time spent. read more

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Terrible customer service. Welcome to CERN. Give us your phone number and email to get on WiFi. The only way to sign up for programs is on the internet. The staff will not help you at all. The tours are free but go on "sale" two hours before. So we have traveled 5,000 miles to participate in an auction. If we don't time it right, we don't get tickets and have wasted our visit. This is a terrible system and extremely unfriendly. It might be time to charge for tickets and sell them in advance like the Louvre and every other modern museum. read more

What an amazing visit. I was only had aware of this project not too long ago. It's basically a huge science project. I did a two part tour while I was there. The first part was the hydro collider. I'm not a scientist by any means, so I'll let the scientists explain that part. Our guide was great and he was able to answer all of the questions that our group had. He was a great guide. The second part of the tour we were able to see the data centers and some of the history of the project. If you are able to get the tour, keep in mind you might have to book it weeks in advance, it is definitely worth the trouble. Great learning experience as well as a great way to spend the day. read more

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Traveled all the way across Switzerland to find this highly tech place whose internet doesn't work and the only way to sign up for a tour is using the internet. Stood in line for a half hour only to have the lady explain to me I have to use the internet and during the time it took for her to find it on my phone (another half hour) the tours were all booked. I get the concept of online booking, but poorly executed! Poor reception and poor support and poorly planned all around. If you want to show your excellence it would be important to show it in the most simple of things. read more

Worth visiting if you've never been here before and are into the sciences. However, if you want a guided tour, you'll need to come here and book the day of which I didn't make it in time for before it was completely booked. Still, there's plenty of exhibits for you to enjoy whether you're retired or are just a kid. read more

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This is such an amazing site to visit! Pros: + Great tours - be sure to get the tickets in advance, they book shortly after their release. + So many gorgeous exhibits + Staff that's really great at explaining/showing the work that's being done at CERN - very rarely do I find a group of Scientists that can explain such complex topics that keeps the young kids involved. + I cannot properly describe how amazing this place is Cons: - You've got to be kidding me right? This place is just phenomenal. read more

What a wonderful facility. There is a self guided tour that takes about an hour. Staff tour also takes about an hour. Tour and facility is free. Interactive exhibits. If you dig on science, wonder about the universe or just have an open mind this is a must do! A word of warning, the facility is not very handicapped accessible, especially the rest rooms. Because this seems to be the norm in Europe, I did not deduct stars. read more

One of the highlights during our trip. Just think that below you is the world's largest particle accelerator AND is being used as we walk around the facility. It's mind blowing. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and engaging. I highly recommend this tour and get your science-nerdiness on. read more

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Easy trip by tram from the train station. Traveled out to CERN only to discover all the tours were full by 11am. Decided to walk through the very tiny gift shop and walked across the street to the only exhibit open to the public. The place is under construction with fencing everywhere. I would wait until the construction of the new facility is complete and which will accommodate more visitors. read more

probably one of the most fascinating tours i've ever been on. i mean, you will look down at the ground and realize what you're standing on top of. it's sheer genius... and the world largest particle accelerator in the world. my mind was so blown that i'm pretty sure i left pieces of my brain around their facility. the guy who toured us around is a university professor, so we got the legit deal of information. he was very engaging and even funny. i can't stress this enough - please go and tour CERN. just go. your faith in humanity and our intrinsic curiosity/advancement in science will inspire you while also sort of frighten you. in a good way. i promise. read more

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Although the actual LHC resides in a near 18 mile ring looping under Switzerland and France as the largest in the world- there are 9 or so particle accelerators at CERN and you can learn about them all at the centre. Unsurprisingly, it gets a bit science museum-y, and there's a lot to help kids understand the science going on there in colourful laser cut plastics, animations and portions of experiments- and there's some really good lectures on too. Guides are knowledgeable, and it's well worth a visit. Didn't bump into the legend that is Brian Cox though. read more

CERN spans Switzerland and France in a circular tunnel. It's the most powerful high energy physics accelerator in the world. It's world class, no arguments. They announced they have completed the standard model with experimental evidence. That's pretty Yelp epic. Hey, someone should first to review the Higgs boson, but where? I have worked in the field building experiments for the accelerator and have some friends who work there, it is a cool thing worth visiting anytime, even when they are not discovering a new particle! read more

What can you do on a rainy day in Geneva with 2 children? Take a trip out to CERN and spend an hour and a quarter watching an enthusiastic scientist explaining how fridges work, what the biggest greenhouse gas is (water vapour not CO2) as he waved liquid nitrogen around, supercooled magnets so that they'd float in space (either my french or my physics wasn't quite up to translating how or why he'd done this), showed how to make a thermometer to measure REALLY cold temperatures and much more and only then made ice cream using the liquid nitrogen. (In Oxford the student scientists at the Natural History Museum's WOW Science day just freeze bananas and balloons before they move onto the ice-cream making). All that and you can see the first ever web server!!!! (It is a small black computer and really not very interesting). And there are spark chambers showing cosmic rays zapping through the earth and lots of "cool stuff" to quote my 7 and 9 year old. So don't believe the tourist office in Geneva when they tell you that CERN isn't open because of the new Hadron collider . the tours may have stopped for a while or be fully booked for 3 months but you can still get a feel for the place by going to the Microcosm exhibition, which is, I think, open every day and is free. Check out: http://microcosm.web.cern.ch/Microcosm/Content/Exhibition/Exhibition-en.html read more

Doomsday conspiracy or nerdy physicists? The latter. (I can't say for sure though) read more

Protons hitting it out at close to light speed... What more could you ask for? It rocks. The fastest loop this side of the galaxy. read more

CERN - Looking round... - Public Services & Government Near Me - Meyrin, GE

It's CERN. How cool is that?!? My husband is a programmer and we both love science so going to the home of the first www server and the collider was super cool. Sadly there's not a ton to see. The museum display is well done but there's not a lot of it. However just knowing we were in such a historic place was awesome. It's also really easy to get to with a stop right on the streetcar. It's worth a quick trip to check it out. read more

CERN is one of the most amazing creations of humankind. The scientifical developments it embodies (and puts forward) are simply overwhelming. It is a one-of-a-kind experience which I would definitely recommend to anyone in Geneva. Their scientists are in charge of guiding tourists, so that means they are more than prepared to answer any questions regarding the building and the experiments conducted in it. They have itinerant exhibitions which are displayed in a visually enticing manner, but the guide's exposition on CERN's history and current work is what makes it all so worth it. I liked it so much it left me wishing I could work there. read more

Thank you for the tour. Four stars for awesomeness and a fifth for not destroying the planet in search of the meaning of it all.

Went here with my husband who is certainly the more science-ie of the two of us. I was so pleasantly surprised at how interesting of a tour this was, since I have what I would consider a rudimentary knowledge of the concepts. Tours are free, informative and much more interesting than I would have thought. The sheer size of the machines is enough to peak interest and even though it was pouring movie rain, it was still a once in a lifetime experience. read more