How to get around Geneva
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How to get from the airport
Getting around Geneva is easy: free public transport is a bonus, though the city’s bijou size and attractive avenues and promenades make it an easy place to explore on foot too.
Travel Information
Language: French | Currency: Swiss Franc (CHF) | Local time: UTC +1:00 | Avg. Flight time: 1 hr 50m
Airport transfers
Arriving by plane? Machines inside Geneva Airport’s baggage reclaim hall distribute tickets giving visitors 80 minutes of free public transport in the city. That’s ample time to get to your hotel, where complimentary passes for the duration of your stay await.
The airport is located just two miles northwest of the city, and trains therefore take just eight minutes to reach the main Gare Cornavin station.
Taxis are famously dear for airport transfers in Geneva, with the short hop from airport to town typically costing CHF 70 (£56).
Getting around Geneva on public transport
Centrally located Gare Cornavin doubles as the city’s slick and efficient transport hub. Tram and bus stops ring its simple building, with almost every destination in Geneva a maximum of one change away.
Once you check into your hotel or hostel, ask for a Geneva Transport Card. This provides the holder with free usage of buses, trams, suburban trains and mouettes – small yellow boats that regularly criss-cross various points of the lake.
The buses and trams are regular and efficient, so getting around Geneva is a cinch. Services extend as far as Cern and the beautiful suburb of Carouge.
Bikes, taxis and walking
Geneva’s relatively small size makes it extremely walkable. Be warned, though, that street names have a tendency to change frequently so navigation can be tricky.
Many choose to tackle Geneva on two wheels. Partly because the city is relatively flat – the Old Town aside – and partly because the social organisation Genèveroule rents out bikes free of charge for four hours (then CHF 2, £1.60, for every extra hour) between late April and late October. Its six stations are spread across town; you’ll need a passport and your hotel’s phone number.
As before, taxi transfers in Geneva are expensive. If money’s no object, however, cars are numerous and identified by yellow ‘TAXI’ signs.
Travelling further afield
Regional and InterRegional trains to nearby Swiss destinations such as Lausanne and Vevey – where a new Charlie Chaplin museum has opened – depart multiple times an hour from Gare Cornavin. For services with SNCF to the French towns of Chamonix and Annecy, you’ll need Gare des Eaux-Vives to the southeast.
Fancy a gentler journey? Handsome old paddle steamers and other pleasure boats link Geneva with various points of its eponymous lake. Most leave from the jetties beside the Jardin Anglais.
Get behind the wheel
Rent your own vehicle in Geneva and the surrounding areas can be explored with ease. Discover your options on our Geneva car hire page.
