UKC

I need to pick up my daughter from Geneva Airport. How feasible is to get to the airport from france and then on to Chamonix without needing a Swiss vignette?

In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

In my experience, bloody near impossible! 😖

In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

While I've only used the Swiss side (but have done so about 100-150 times!) I seem to recall there's a French entrance as well as a Swiss one, so I guess pick up on the French side.  Arrivals from destinations other than French domestics would generally be on the Swiss side so need to go through French customs (not immigration, they're in Schengen) to get there, so allow time for that.

Info here:

https://www.gva.ch/en/Site/Passagers/Acces-Transports/Plan-du-Terminal-1

It appears you probably need to show your boarding card, as access through to the French side is only allowed for passengers, not just people who walk in off the street.

It appears to be accessed by car from this obscure looking turning on the right just before the Ferny-Voltaire customs post - but don't quote me on it!

https://www.google.com/maps/@46.2506548,6.118378,3a,75y,179.12h,71.1t/data=...

It's in Google Maps as "Secteur France - Genève Aéroport - GVA, Route Douanière, Grand-Saconnex, Switzerland" but be quite careful you don't get satnavved onto the Swiss motorway instead!  You'll need to divert round on the D884-D1206 rather than taking the default route.

In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

It's quite easy but you need to know the way

Look at google maps options avoid tolls with starting point Buffalo Grill 74160 Archamps

Remember you might need to turn data off if you have stupidly expensive data rates in CH

You can also arrive from Ferney-Voltaire in France and leave towards Chamonix like I described above

In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

Have done it a few times including sneaking through the border accidentally on the swiss motorway sans vignette. I've a map somewhere which shows the options. Will see if I can find it.

Options B or C in the attached map (not available on the airport website anymore so its a cached copy)

https://web.archive.org/web/20180324035637/http://www.gva.ch/en/Portaldata/...

In reply to Mike-W-99:

The advantage of going via Buffalo Grill 74160 Archamps is that there is no border post at all

whereas the Perly one sometimes has queues

In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

My wife's aunt lives in Prévessin-Moëns (next to Ferny-Voltaire) and it's certainly possible, but you need to know the exact/correct route 

In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

Do you know, I'm off skiing which is going to cost loads anyway. I think I'm just going to suck it up, buy a vignette and hope I use it later in the year anyway...

Thanks for all your replies though.

In reply to Rob Exile Ward: perfectly possible but requires patience and not to be in  a rush . I haven’t done it for awhile but used to do it a few times a year . Hire cars booked for pick up and drop off on the French side used to be significantly cheaper . Leaving from the French side and getting to Cham is easy , coming back less so and requires a very detailed set of directions which one of the car hire companies used to provide but   Others not . Do not be late for your flight as that almost guarantees you will get lost . If I was going now I would , as you have just said , suck up the extra cost but back in the day did  it to save a few quid .

In reply to mike123:

I've done it both ways and it's worth just sucking up the vignette although its annoying to pay a yearly charge for a short hire car. Different when it's your own car and you can use it again. They're not transferable across cars although I've heard some people claim they've been able to detach and reattach but I'm not convinced. They're introducing e-vignettes soon but I don't know if that is in addition to, or will completely replace the old ones. 

French hire cars are traditionally cheaper but it's worth noting that Swiss cars come with winter tyres and chains includes, while French ones usually don't and cost a lot more as extras (or that was my past experience). 

France has now introduced tyres or chains as legally required in most mountain areas and will be fining non compliant motorists from now on (last year was a 'soft' introduction). 

In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

I have seen vignettes successfully swapped between vehicles but I think it's only possible once as the sticker is fragile. 2022 vignettes are valid until 31st Jan, 2023 vignettes are valid as of 1st Dec, maybe you could intercept someone's old one before the bin. I'd offer you mine but I swapped cars this year...

In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

It's pot luck. Did it this summer with two vehicles at the same time, me driving the van and my mate in my minibus. Crapping it on the way back though into France but once we were heading up the hill to Annecy it was smiles all round. Great to get one over on the Swiss
Then 3 months later in November I got a ticket through for illegal parking at the airport

E

In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

Before now I've hired a car from the French side and found it already had a vignette, presumably a previous renter had bought one, probably more likely later in the year though.

In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

As far as I can recall... I normally rent a car in the French side of Geneva Airport, drive down what is effectively a French corridor into Geneva then to the French/Swiss border. You only need a vignette if joining a Swiss motorway, which is easy to avoid. 

The nightmare comes when returning the car to the French side as the signage is appalling, however as others have said you can follow on Google maps. 

In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

Why not just arrange a cheap transfer. There are loads going to Cham. and with tolls and fuel, less expensive than driving. Usually if you go through the Swiss border in the very right hand lane you usually avoid the vignette police and they’re not always there. No problem going from the airport. I’ve never been stung at the Geneva border. We also came into Switzerland at a different border once, got caught, but barely stuck the vignette to the windscreen, subsequently stuck it to a piece of perspex, then anyone could use it, but maybe a bit too devious for an occasional journey. Getting into the French sector at the airport is difficult, as is the drive out.

In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

Useful tip for Geneva Airport; the luggage carts take 2pence pieces so you can afford to abandon them when you’ve finished and also avoid the hassle of getting hold of a 2 Euro coin 

In reply to kevin stephens:

A while back there was the 'shopping cart theory' doing the rounds which effectively stated that if you put the shopping trolley back (especially when nobody was around) then you were a morally good person. If not, well - dubious moral fibre

In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

As far as I can recall if you get on to the autoroute at St Julien en Genevois you can drive straight to the airport and back out again with no problems.

In reply to Andy Say:

One time I was coming out of the airport and I missed the turn for the dual carriageway which leads onto the autoroute and the border. I made a few turns, generally going in the right direction, I was lost really but kept going then after about 15 minutes the road signs were suddenly French and there I was in France and heading for Annecy.

E