Visiting CERN in Switzerland

Question

Is it possible to visit the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) as a tourist to Geneva? Are there any guided tours? Which parts can be seen?

Answer 1

Yes - CERN has an outreach program which does tours along with other activities. From their Visit CERN page:

CERN welcomes the general public to visit and tour its exhibitions, experimental areas and other facilities. The admission is free. The permanent exhibition “Universe of particles” and the Microcosm exhibition can be visited from Monday to Saturdays from 10h00-17h00, with no reservation needed. Visitor groups who book in advance can also enjoy a guided tour of some of the surface installations of CERN's experimental areas and learn about the fundamental research done at the worldís largest particle physics laboratory. For individual visitors or small groups, we offer guided tours to the ATLAS visitor centre and the permanent exhibition “Universe of Particles”.

The exhibitions are well worth spending time in.

Answer 2

I visited CERN years ago and toured the underground installations. That was when the LHC was still under construction. Seeing the ATLAS instrument up and close was quite impressive. Now that the LHC is shut down for maintenance underground tours are supposed to start again, but no mention of them is made on the CERN website. I would suggest you keep checking.

If CERN start does indeed start giving tours of the underground experimental areas expect to have to book them at least half a year in advance. More information will be on their website (see the linke mentioned in the previous answer)