Geneva and near by places – trip planning

  • Removed user
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    4 May 2018 at 9:00:11 #815714

    Hi,

    I am planning a solo trip to Geneva and near by places. Following is my travel plan:

    20th June – Geneva to Carouge (this is where I would be staying)

    20th June – Carouge to Annecy (half day trip), return to Carouge area

    21st June – Day trip to Gruyeres from Geneva and return on the same day

    22nd June – Day trip to Chamonix from Geneva and return on the same day

    23rd June – Explore Geneva for Half day and take return flight to Paris from Geneva Airport.

    It would be great if someone can answer the following questions:

    1.) Please let me know how should I go about the transportation?

    2.) Will it be useful to take a Swiss Pass for my trip?

    3.) I was thinking of booking the day tours for Chamonix (120 euros) , Annecy (50 euros) and Gruyeres (120 euros) via http://www.viator.com, would that be cheaper or taking swiss pass?

    It would be great if you can answer these questions.. You can even write back to me on *removed*.

    Thanks,

    Sofia

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    Removed user
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    4 May 2018 at 19:14:10 #884117

    Hi Sofia and welcome to MySwissAlps!

    We don’t post public email addresses here to avoid spam issues etc. We can post them in specific circumstances but I think you’ll find it isn’t needed. 🙂

    1. You can find train schedules to any and all destinations in Switzerland on the Swiss railways timetable.
    2. As you are staying in and around Geneva I would point you towards the Regional Pass – Lake Geneva. Have a look at the information page and the “where it’s valid” tab.
    3. You can then compare rail pass costs to the tour prices.
    4. For more details on choosing the best rail pass have a read on our web page here.
    Removed user
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    5 May 2018 at 0:15:06 #884118

    Most of your proposed excursions are into France so a Swiss pass would probably be a waste of money.

    On arrival, take bus 5 from the airport to Place de Neuve, then tram 12 to Carouge

    Carouge is a separate town legally, but is nowadays essentially a suburb of Genève. Just buy local tram tickets, your accomodation should be able to advise you on that, or look on the transport operator (TPG) web site:

    http://www.tpg.ch/en/web/site -international

    Half a day is tight for any day trips into France, unless they are organised tours.

    Removed user
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    5 May 2018 at 14:01:37 #884119

    Hi Lucas & 1960man,

    Thanks for your post. I still have some doubts:

    1- If I take Regional pass – will I be able to travel to Chamonix and Annecy? Unfortunately I am not able to find “Where its valid” tab

    2 – if not -can you suggest me any other small town/country side near Geneva which I can go and explore?

    3 – with this regional pass will I be able to take trams and ferry rides also for free for two days?

    I was looking forward to Chamonix and Annecy, so please suggest any other place which is similar or prettier than these places 🙂

    Thanks a lot for your help 🙂

    Removed user
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    5 May 2018 at 16:02:00 #884120

    Hi fia118,

    Here is the direct link for the where it’s valid tab on the page I linked before. The pass doesn’t cover the entire trips to Chamonix or Annecy but that doesn’t mean you can buy a ticket and go anyway if you want to! 🙂

    Ferries are covered by the Lake Geneva Pass yes. You’ll see on the PDF map on the link above. City transport is also covered.

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    6 May 2018 at 0:58:43 #884121

    Any of the mountain railways around Lake Geneva will give you splendid scenic views (but be careful to work out how much it will cost with the Leman regional pass as the pricing is complex – with ‘free’ travel only on 2 or 3 days.

    Les Pleiades

    Rochers de Naye

    Champery

    Villars/Bretaye

    Les Diablerets

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