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[Removed user]

6 April 2018 at 23:27:51 #880446

By ‘The image’ I assume you mean the Noctambus route 10 timetable.

I only posted this because the OP was talking about a plane arrive at nearly midnight. The normal daytime route 10 runs up until a 23.59 departure from Aeroport, when Noctambus 10 takes over, first departure 00.19.

[Slowpoke]

7 April 2018 at 0:13:25 #880447

<<“I only posted this because the OP was talking about a plane arrive at nearly midnight.”>

They arrive earlier, as discussed in the thread.

Slowpoke

[Snowman]

8 April 2018 at 9:53:56 #880448

My, what a long thread! The original question was just whether on can hail a cab at GVA airport…

Let me get back to a few points.

@Slowpoke: Diane found hotel Bel’Espérance herself. I was not aware of it.

The TPG bus stops at the airport are close to each other, near the place you had found on Map Search, but different lines have different stops. Details here:

http://www.gva.ch/fr/desktopd efault.aspx/tabid-67/

@Diane

Travel GVA-Chamonix. Ouibus belongs to SNCF, although I am not aware that they join the railway strike. I don’t know about Mountaindropoff, but I would not mistrust them. The price is about €35 per person, inquire first if Ouibus is much cheaper, otherwise go with Mountaindropoff.

The website of GVA Airport (http://www.gva.ch) has good hints on ground transport in Geneva and to France:

http://www.gva.ch/en/desktopd efault.aspx/tabid-62/

Mont-Blanc Express is a Swiss company and is not likely to take part in the French railway strikes. In the worst case you go by road to the Swiss border and take the MBE there. The tourist office in Chamonix will tell you how to do the short road trip.

What to do out of Lauterbrunnen. You’ll arrive there on the 4th in the evening, and leave on the 6th. We don’t know if you have one or two days available for tourism in the region, but in any case the list proposed by Rockoyster on Apr. 3rd seems very ambitious to me. There is much more snow than average this year, I think it is safe to assume that the Grannie’s Walk trail will still be under snow. If you want to hike take good boots, the ones you had in Iceland. If by the time you arrive in Lauterbrunnen you have done Aiguille du Midi and/or Montenvers in Chamonix you may skip both Schilthorn and Jungfraujoch. Schynige Platte will provide a new type of landscape (view on the green Lake Brienz).

Give us some feedback after your trip!

[Slowpoke]

8 April 2018 at 13:21:35 #880449

Thanks Snowman –

Great summary. When these these threads gets long, earlier parts get forgotten.

Slowpoke

[Snowman]

8 April 2018 at 13:50:03 #880450

Diane may monitor the snow conditions on these webcams:

Männlichen : http://www.maennlichen.ch/de/ livecam.html

Kleine Scheidegg : http://www.webcam-4insiders.com/de/Wette r-Kleine%20Scheidegg/102 6-Kleine%20Scheidegg-Wetter.php

[Removed user]

8 April 2018 at 23:49:37 #880451

BTW The Mont Blanc train traverses an SNCF route in France so might be affected in some way by French rail / public sector strikes

Ouibus probably would run during SNCF strikes but not 100% defeinite

[Slowpoke]

9 April 2018 at 0:59:15 #880452

Hi Diane-

<<“June 4-6 and staying in Lauterbrunnen.”>

Lauterbrunnen has a Laundromat.

They are rare in Switzerland.

Slowpoke

[Slowpoke]

9 April 2018 at 1:13:34 #880453

<“BTW The Mont Blanc train traverses an SNCF route in France so might be affected in some way by French rail / public sector strikes

Ouibus probably would run during SNCF strikes but not 100% defeinite'”>>

Hi 1960man:

Please see Snowman’s comments earlier in the thread:

<<“@Diane

Travel GVA-Chamonix. Ouibus belongs to SNCF, although I am not aware that they join the railway strike. I don’t know about Mountaindropoff, but I would not mistrust them. The price is about €35 per person, inquire first if Ouibus is much cheaper, otherwise go with Mountaindropoff.

The website of GVA Airport (http://www.gva.ch) has good hints on ground transport in Geneva and to France:

http://www.gva.ch/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-62/

Mont-Blanc Express is a Swiss company and is not likely to take part in the French railway strikes. In the worst case you go by road to the Swiss border and take the MBE there. The tourist office in Chamonix will tell you how to do the short road trip.”>>

Slowpoke

[dianesher]

9 April 2018 at 17:58:44 #880454

Hi Snowman,

Yes, I agree, it has become a very lengthy thread. It has deviated so many times from the original topic but all information are useful nonetheless–and I thank you all for the patience in responding.

Ouibus seems a better option overall— EXCEPT if and when they will be or part of the transport strike. It’s 19Euro per person vs CHF35 with Mountain Dropoff. My only hesitation with Ouibus right now is their lack of email contact information. They have a website with several FAQ’s but other questions not included can only be asked when I already have an actual booking. They will give credit if I want the booking cancelled, but they don’t offer a refund–they will just give me a voucher for future use and that would be useless for us when we only take this route one time. I sent a message to their social media account but I haven’t heard back from them.

I checked with our hotel in Chamonix and they informed us that if and when the strike is ongoing while we are there, they will help us arrange transportation to at least get to the Swiss border.

Montevers in Chamonix was one of the places we initially planned on visiting, but after looking into it, we will probably skip that just because we already did an into-the-glacier full day adventure in Iceland last November. Yes, we plan on going to Aiguille du Midi on our 1st day and will think of something to do on the 2nd day–maybe cross the border to Courmayeur. You think that’s a good idea?

As far as our Lauterbrunnen stay, we should have 2 full days on the 5th and 6th. We intend to depart at around 17:00 on the 6th for Lucerne. Honestly, we heard more about Jungfraujoch than Schilthorn–that’s why the rest of the family insisted that we go to Jungfraujoch. I agree now with Rockoyster that Jungfraujoch is expensive…But the teens want to try the First Cliff Walk by Tissot and Thrill Walk in Birg–decisions, decisions….

@ Slowpoke

Thanks for the information about the laundromat. Yes, we definitely would need that!

@ 1960man

By any chance do you know if the Ouibus terminal at the airport would be at the same location where the TPG buses are, though I know that TPG is local while Ouibus is “cross-country”.

Again, thank you all.

Diane

[Slowpoke]

9 April 2018 at 19:34:05 #880455

Hi Diane-

<<“As far as our Lauterbrunnen stay, we should have 2 full days on the 5th

and 6th. We intend to depart at around 17:00 on the 6th for Lucerne.

Honestly, we heard more about Jungfraujoch than Schilthorn–that’s why

the rest of the family insisted that we go to Jungfraujoch. I agree now

with Rockoyster that Jungfraujoch is expensive…But the teens want to

try the First Cliff Walk by Tissot and Thrill Walk in Birg–decisions,

decisions….”>>

Alpenrose posted some relevant pictures in this thread:

http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/completely-overwhelmed-with-swiss-rail-passes

Slowpoke

[rockoyster]

9 April 2018 at 20:47:10 #880456

“But the teens want to try the First Cliff Walk by Tissot and Thrill Walk in Birg–decisions, decisions….”

This is where democracy comes in.

Decide when you get there based on what the weather is doing, what you all feel like etc etc.

This is turning out to be one helluva cab ride. 😇

[Snowman]

9 April 2018 at 21:18:16 #880457

@Dianasher

< the teens want to try the First Cliff Walk by Tissot and Thrill Walk in Birg >

These two places have nothing to do with the Jungfraujoch. Have a look on the map that Slowpoke posted previously in this thread. Be aware that “First” in this context does not mean “1st”, but is the name of a mountain (pronounced feerst). To go to First from Lauterbrunnen you ride the train, either via Zweilütschinen or (longer, but more scenic) via Kleine Scheidegg, to Grindelwald. MySwissAlps is great for timetables (train schedules). Then you walk through the village of Grindelwald, and ride the Gondelbahn (gondola) to First. The Cliff Walk is there ( http://www.myswitzerland.com/ en-ch/first-even-today-a-dream.html ), but your teens may prefer the First Flyer ( http://www.jungfrau.ch/en-gb/grindelwaldfirst/ ) if it is not too windy. The Thrill Walk is on the Schilthorn cable car, I think you are aware of that. See a webcam here: http://www.bergfex.fr/muerren -schilthorn/webcams/c11 662/ .

Not everything under the name of Jungfrau is Jungfraujoch. Jungfrau is, as you surely know, one of the three big peaks in the area, but is also the name of a company (Jungfraubahn Top of Europe) that runs virtually all tourist transportation in the Interlaken area, which is why you may have found the First Cliff Walk on a Jungfrau(bahn) website. The Jungfraujoch is a high mountain pass, the terminal station of the Junfraubahn railway. Definitely a worthwile destination, if you go there make sure you spend enough time at the top (2 hours, I would say), either take sandwiches or be prepared to pay horrendous prices for your lunch, but it would be a pity to stay only 30 minutes up there (IMMO).

[Snowman]

9 April 2018 at 21:23:50 #880458

< the Ouibus terminal at the airport >

Not exactly the TPG stop, but nearby : http://www.ouibus.com/bus-stops/geneva-airport

[Slowpoke]

9 April 2018 at 21:51:32 #880459

Hi Snowman-

<<“To go to First from Lauterbrunnen you ride the train, either via

Zweilütschinen or (longer, but more scenic) via Kleine Scheidegg, to

Grindelwald.”>>

By the date tha they arrive, the cableways from Wengen up to Männlichen LWM and down to Grindelwald are running. Although the train up to Wengen adds time, it still might be faster to go that way from Lauterbrunnen, and it is certainly a lot more fun.

Slowpoke

[dianesher]

9 April 2018 at 23:17:21 #880460

@ Slowpoke

I read Alpenrose’s comments on the link you sent and I feel for the 2 travelers. It seemed like that there’s a lot of hopping on and off a bus/train/gondola/cable car etc… Yeah, it can be overwhelming.

@ Snowman

Thanks for educating me on those terms: Jungfraujoch/Jungfrau/Jungfraubahn. Pronouncing them is already difficult as it is; i don’t want to make it worse by not knowing what they mean :):) I guess I have to show all these links to the teens and rank what/which experience they want to do… Or play by ear when we get there, all dependent upon the weather.

@ Rockoyster

Love your comment!!! I swear— if I win the lottery before leaving, we will have all of you, our generous virtual travel guides, in our company so it will be a stress-free one :):):)

[rockoyster]

9 April 2018 at 23:58:40 #880461

I’m in. 😁

[Slowpoke]

10 April 2018 at 6:31:19 #880462

Hi Diane-

<<” It seemed like that there’s a lot of hopping on and off a bus/train/gondola/cable car etc… Yeah, it can be overwhelming.”>>

Once you are there, you’ll find that an effective public transport system makes life a lot easier. You get used to expecting to have a fast train every half hour between the major cities (and slower connections with more local stops at intermediate times) and a train or bus once per hour at a minimum almost everywhere. Even the most remote valleys have some kind of public transport. It is a social policy of the Federation government, and helps the cohesion of a very diverse country. Because more people have cars, some of the weekend “hikers buses” to trail heads have been cut way back, but they still run.

However, to use it easily, it helps a lot to have some sort of basic idea of the geography- where the cities and towns and regions are in relation to one another. Then, they are more than odd sounding words. On screen, in addition to Google Maps, I find Mapsearch.ch to be useful. In particular , the train lines are very clearly visible once you zoom in to the right amount ( z=32)

map.search.ch/?pos=644608,160176&z=32

Often, when I show my ticket to the conductor, he or she willl say- usually in Engish – “change at Bern” or words to that effect.

And, on the Golden Pass route from Montreux, you will change at Zweisimmen (and sometimes at Spiez), then at Interlaken Ost (where you leave the main line and change to narrow gauge cog rail trains that go into the Lauterbrunnen Valley. There are two rack sections as you near Lauterbrunnen.. You’ll hear the difference once the trains go on the rack – the cog rail sections at two places.

You don’t have very many major destinations, even so, perhaps a paper map in your pocket with the whole country on it could be helpful. A smartphone map, such as Google Maps can certainly do the job, especially since you have teenagers with you, but a not terribly detailed map of the whole country can give an overview in one glance.

One thing that I would do immediately upon arriving in each destination ( although it would be hard to do in Geneva) is stop at the tourist info office and get some kind of local map, perhaps a walking map of the city, or a map of the the Jungfrau region such as :

http://www.swissholidayco.com /Public/Assets/User/fi les/Map-of-Jungfrauregion1.jpg

Unfortunately, the time you’ll need it most is on your short time exploring Geneva. I, and my wife both set out at different times to do that upon our arrival days from the East Coast of the USA on our first trips, and jet-lag caused us to become totally lost. A day or so later, we had no problems finding our way.

Your hotel will surely have some kind of basic map. Even that will help. And, Station Rive has a lot of tram and trolley-bus routes stopping there.

Since I stay in Zürich frequently, I have bought a detailed street map for Zürich which shows the tram and bus routes. Because there are many, it is useful to have a map that you can spread out to see the while set of options.You most likely won’t need it.

Slowpoke

[Slowpoke]

10 April 2018 at 6:36:22 #880463

<<“@ Slowpoke

Thanks for the information about the laundromat. Yes, we definitely would need that!”>>

The wash machines tend to be small capacity, slow, and very thorough.

Since they are scarce, be prepared for some effort.

Hotels will often do your laundry, but, except in rare cases at back-country inns, the prices are excessive.

Underwear that hand-washes easily is a blessing.

Slowpoke