Any insider information for touring CERN in Geneva
A traveler is planning to visit CERN and is looking for tips on how to successfully reserve a guided tour. They want to know more about the best time to book tickets and any additional strategies beyond the official website's advice.
- Check ticket availability 15 days in advance at 08:30 a.m. CET, as spots can fill up quickly.
- If you miss out on tickets, keep checking back for cancellations or last-minute availability.
- Prepare your information beforehand to submit your booking quickly, as tickets may sell out in under a minute.
AI-generated summary-
I’ve read the rules for reserving a guided tour of CERN. But I wonder if there are any tips beyond the website strategy of waiting til 15 or 3 days ahead to secure tickets online. Thanks!
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I live in Geneva, have been to CERN, and am not aware of any alternative option.
I visited CERN last year in August and was able to book a guided tour.
If your dates are not flexible, I would say make sure you check 15 days ahead right at the exact time tickets are released. Sometime the tours will go within a minute during busy periods. Sometimes you have 5-10 minutes or even a few hours. It all depends.
Don’t give up even if you miss out. Check back from time to time. Occasionally places do pop up, perhaps due to cancellation.
The museums are well worth a visit too.
Hello,
Booking the tour is not easy. It seems always “fully booked”. Does anybody know what “time” that tour is open to book?
For example: If I want to visit Cern on August 31, I should try to book a tour on August 16. But what “time” is the tour open to book? 12:00AM? 6:00AM? 8:00AM? (Let’s say Geneva Time)
Should I sit in front of my computer at 12:01AM on August 16 to try to book a tour? Many thanks for any suggestion.
visit.cern/tours/guide d-tours-individuals
15 days in advance, at 08:30 a.m. CET, half of the capacity (i.e. 12 people per tour) is released for booking.
3 days in advance, at 08:30 a.m. CET, the remaining half of the capacity (i.e. 12 people per tour) is released for booking,
Yes you should sit in front of the computer a couple of minutes before it opens for booking. Refresh your browser as soon as time ticks over. Make sure you have all the information ready so you can fill in the form and submit as quickly as you can. Places for certain tours can go under a minute even.
Go to the gate. Have a bottle of vodka in a brown bag. Ask for Mr Olrik (that’s the head guard), tell you come on behalf of Mortimer (that’s me). Hand the brown bag to Mr Olrik, and tell him you’re here to visit. That’s all.
Jess kidding.
Once you have visited CERN, you’ll have seen a small portion of a dark tunnel, called the hadron accelerator (provided no experiment is going on at the time of your visit), you will have heard explanations of what a hadron is, and maybe even understood a small portion of that. Maybe you’ll have bought a tee shirt or a ballpoint pen at the souvenir stand. While others are swimming in the Lake at the mythical Bains des Pâquis…
I’ve met Mr Olrik and he said Mortimer you owe him money and he is hunting you down.
BUT. It’s true though. I think CERN is only worth a visit if you have an interest in physics and engineering.
You don’t actually get to go down to the tunnel. That’s only possible every few years when they stop running experiments, which goes on 24/7. You will see the experiment control room (behind glass), and the (decommissioned) Synchrocyclotron (home.cern/about/accele rators/synchrocyclotro n). The quality of the tour depends on your guide. It’s great if you get a retired professor which can explain well. I got a PhD student. It was OK but not great. The museum is interesting, again, only if you are into that sort of thing. It shows the various detector technologies etc. Otherwise it’s just a bunch of metal objects. But the museum do make the information more accessible.
I have degrees in Physics and Electrical Engineering so I have an interest in the area. I’ve always wanted to visit the place. I only had a day available in Geneva and coming from Australia I have no idea when I will have the opportunity again. So I had to plan carefully to make sure I get a spot. Over several weeks I checked out how quickly the tickets went straight after 8:30 a.m. CET. Some time it does go very quickly – under a minute. With just 12 spots you can imagine just two families of 4 will take up most of places right away. Some times if you are lucky you have a window of a few hours. All luck of the draw.
If you are interested in a behind-the-scene tour of an international organisation. I would also recommend the UN. Just show up at the right time with passport. So less hassle. The rooms and building are very interesting but the guides are very strict.
KCH,
Thanks for the review. I guess I won’t be heartbroken if I don’t get tickets. It’s my husband who is most interested and I’ll make sure he sees this thread so he can decide how hard to pursue a tour.
Yes it’s a hassle so really depends on your level of interests.
Personally I enjoyed it and I am glad I did it. I did wish they let you see more of inside the buildings. But it’s a research institution not a theme park. You do not get to go down the tunnel which is a common misconception or see the LHC. You can check out some TripAdvisor reviews etc.
Tickets might be easier to come by depend on the time of the year perhaps. I went in August so it’s summer time.
I went there invited by my son, an on-going physicist. He had all the trouble mentioned above for booking, we almost gave up. You are right, I think we saw the old cyclotron, not the hadron collider. The physics of cyclotrons is (somewhat) easier to understand.
Otherwise, I went in once or twice just showing my ID, but that was as a civil engineer, I did some site supervision when my employer had been contracted by CERN for the extension of a lab building. That way to enter is completely distinct from the guided tour, obviously.
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