[Removed user]

5 June 2017 at 22:52:25 #812149

We are renting a car from the French Sector of the Geneva International Airport and driving directly to Annecy. We will not have a vignette, so we want to avoid the autoroutes. It appears the options are to (1) stay in France the entire time (D984), (2) drive south through Geneva to the St. Julien exit, or (3) drive across the Pont du Mont Blanc to the Vallard exit. Which option is recommended? Thank you.

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[Peterli]

6 June 2017 at 22:46:37 #864620

Hi there,

Which agency are you renting your car from ? Are you sure that your car will not have a vignette ? I have rented numerous cars on the French side of the airport at Bâle-Mulhouse and almost every time it has come with a vignette. If you are definitely not going to be driving in Switzerland and the car does not come with a vignette (cost is CHF 40) then I could advise you which roads to take to get to Annecy if I know the address of where you are renting (and returning, I assume ?) your car.

[Removed user]

8 June 2017 at 15:41:36 #864621

Thanks. Yes, I am assuming that the cars will not not have a vignette. We are renting two vehicles, from Dollar and from Europcar. We are renting and returning from the rental car agencies in the French sector of the Geneva airport. Thanks!

[Peterli]

9 June 2017 at 1:05:50 #864622

Aha, you are renting TWO cars from two different agencies. That makes things a bit more complicated as the offices are not beside each other. In any case, I suggest that you set your GPS for Annemasse and let it lead you into Geneva, over the Rhône and into France. Then you can catch the A40 and then south on the A41 to Annecy. Keep in mind that these French roads are toll roads and the exits are sometimes few and far between. Make sure you have some rendez-vous points in case you get separated.

[Removed user]

9 June 2017 at 9:47:06 #864623

I assume you have your reasons for deciding to rent the cars from the French sector at Genève Cointrin rather than from the Swiss sector. Access by road to and from the airport is much easier and much better serviced on the Swiss side, and that includes car rentals.

In the French sector access to and from the airport is via the narrow Route Douanière, a road isolated from Switzerland that begins near the French border post and terminates in a car park at the terminal entrance. I have not used a rented car from the French sector, but the car rental companies on this side seem to operate from a few parking bays inside that car park, rather from desks inside the terminal. You are right not to assume that the cars provided on this side of the airport will have vignettes for Switzerland as they could have come from anywhere in France.

On a side note, terminal access via the French sector is narrow and limited and it can be extremely busy with long, slow queues for security screening, especially at peak times such as Friday afternoons.

You can travel across Geneva from Route Douanière to Annecy without paying any tolls, but the journey will be slow and winding. I don’t know if I can enter the URL for the route here, but you can find it yourself on Google maps:

• Enter Route Douanière, Le Grand-Saconnex as your point of origin and Annecy as your destination and select the option to avoid tolls.
• Follow Route Douanière to the border post and then make a U-turn to travel across Geneva via Grand-Saconnex, Vernier and Lancy to Collonges-sous-Salève on the border, and then follow the D18 and the D1201 to Annecy.

The attached screen shot might help.

Or else, once you cross the border into France you can join the A40 and then A41 but then you face paying what is probably the most expensive toll in the country: €7.60 for around 5 km of motorway to Annecy Nord.

[Removed user]

9 June 2017 at 20:48:29 #864624

Thank you!

[Peterli]

9 June 2017 at 23:47:40 #864625

I was wondering why the two cars were being rented from two different agencies, but not why in France as opposed to Switzerland. I suspect the reason for this is price, as this is certainly the case when flying into the EuroAirport at Bâle/Mulhouse/Freiburg. There is a considerable savings when renting on the French end of that airport. Last September I rented from EuropeCar and I recommend them without any hesitation.