Annecy to Geneva by bus – is it reliable in May?

  • Jenivis
    Participant
    13 posts
    28 October 2017 at 22:12:24 #813574

    After Provence we have 2 nights before heading to Switzerland. Choosing between Lyon Or Annecy ( but leaning towards Annecy).

    We have to get to Montreaux as our next base. If we choose Lyon I know the train to Montreaux will be easy, but can you tell me about the bus service from Annecy to Geneva….is it a reliable and frequent service in May?

    We could then get the train Geneva to Montreaux.

  • Effortlessly learn from the questions and answers in the forum. Receive a daily e-mail with new discussions.

    Slowpoke
    Participant
    7567 posts
    28 October 2017 at 23:47:58 #871310

    Hi Anivis-

    I’m curious why you prefer the bus over the train? Is there special reason?

    There is frequent train service available from Annecy to Geneva.

    Use the Swiss (SBB/CFF) timetable:

    http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable

    It will show routes by train, bus or lake boat, defaulting to the fastest route

    Pick your date in May, enter Annecy for the start and either Geneva or Montreux (watch te spelling) for the destination.

    You will see a substantial number of trains, many with only one change before Geneva.

    If buses were faster, they would be shown. If you really want buses, It is possible to force the timetable to show only buses, use the advanced features.

    Now I am bit less certain about one detail.

    Trains from Ambérieu (where you change trains on the way from Annecy) may come into the a southern or southeastern station:

    <<“Chêne-Bourg Train Station

    Is connecting Geneva with Annemasse, small town located east from Geneva right behind the French borders. Start Your journey from Chêne-Bourg Railway Station via Gare de Annemasse if You want to reach south and east France, or Italy. Preferred destinations from here are Annecy, Evian, Chamonix, Grenoble and Chambery.”>>

    http://www.geneva.info/train/ stations/ Trains for Montreux depart from Cornavin ststion.

    I know that work has been underway for several years to complete a rail link between some of the various stations. Don’t know if it is complete for your route, and can’t tell from that search.

    I’ll ask a friend who is a resident of Geneva to comment.

    Slowpoke

    Jenivis
    Participant
    13 posts
    29 October 2017 at 0:46:22 #871311

    Thanks. My research so far indicates that the bus from Annecy to Geneva is by far the quickest and most direct option.( is this right?) The train journey is more complicated and alot longer as I understand it. Some people have even mentioned a French taxi as a viable option ( 100 Euros mentioned?)

    Please correct me if I’m on the wrong end of this….but was just hoping to confirm that the bus is regular, reliable and quickest option.

    My thanks

    Slowpoke
    Participant
    7567 posts
    29 October 2017 at 8:45:31 #871312

    Hi Jenivis-

    Sorry for misspelling ypur name earlier.

    I had a fairly detailed answer ready to go to you, when Firefox dumped me out of the Forum, and I lost it.

    We should await details from my friend in Geneva, but, the short answer is that there is plenty of service by buses and trains on several routes, and there is no reason to doubt its reliability. A taxi would be an unnecessary expense.

    There is not a lot of difference in time, with the fastest bus service that I found so far taking one hour 40 minutes to the airport with no changes. You want to go to the airport, as far as i can tell so far. Simplest and fastest.

    http://www.transalis.fr/en/de stinations/line-t72-annecy-cruseilles-geneva

    http://www.transalis.fr/media /upload/FH_ete/Horaire s_T72_annecy-geneve.pdf

    Various routes from the SBB timetable to Gare Cornavin, which may involve trains or buses and connections take about 2 hours to Gare Cornavin. That is the main long distance train station for Geneva.

    Service to the main long distance bus terminal in Geneva (gare routiere) is available:

    http://www.geneva.info/gare-routiere/

    You don’t want that. A nuisance to get to Cornavin by public transport, or about a 5 to 10 minute walk, slightly uphill.

    Trains from the airport all pass through Cornavin, and add only about 10 minutes to the journey time. Three per hour to Montreux. The ones at xx02 and xx20 have no changes. the one at xx32 has a change at Lausanee, allowing 17 minutes for the connection. You would pick up the exact same trains at Cornavin.

    Let’s see what else my friend can suggest.

    Slowpoke

    rockoyster
    Participant
    8889 posts
    29 October 2017 at 10:28:45 #871313

    Hi Slowpoke

    Don’t blame Firefox. I lost a lengthy response to another post in Safari. Mightily pissed.

    clarksm67
    Participant
    16 posts
    29 October 2017 at 11:03:37 #871314

    Flixbus is cheaper and faster than the local bus. You will have to check there website about schedules. Annecy is beautiful by the way.

    Steve

    Arno
    Moderator
    15471 posts
    29 October 2017 at 11:24:23 #871315

    Sorry guys! There was a web server issue this morning. The hosting company is working on it so hopefully they can prevent it from happening again. I may need to switch the site to maintenance mode for a short while today, which means that posting is not possible, but at least you won’t loose one either.

    Slowpoke
    Participant
    7567 posts
    29 October 2017 at 13:41:52 #871316

    Hi Steve-

    <<“Flixbus is cheaper and faster than the local bus. You will have to check there website about schedules. Annecy is beautiful by the way.”>>

    Looks like it could be a good option.

    It appears from their website that it stops at the gare routiere, with the minor inconvenience of getting oneself and luggage to Cornavin.

    http://www.geneva.info/gare-routiere/

    Also, it would not give me data in May 2018. I checked tomorrow (Monday).

    This year, it looks like three trips per day. Much faster. 50 minutes instead of 100 minutes for the T72. Shave a few minutes off that 100 if you catch it at some of the last stops in Annecy. Likely, the Flix bus does not make intermediate stops.

    The price is right- sometimes. 4.50 euros for the cheapest trip at 1350. However, its a toss up 13.90 for the two other trips at either 1115 or 1540.

    If I read the T72 information correctly, it looks like it might be 14

    Euros per person. However, I’m sure I don’t understand their fare

    structure. Much more frequent, slower service.

    If I did not have much luggage, I’d take the Flix bus, assuming it met my schedule. However, if I have enough luggage that the short walk from the gare routier to Cornavin ( uphill modestly) was not possible or practical, then city buses require a change of bus, if I recall correctly and cost a few euros. A Geneva taxi from the gare routier to Cornavin could easily cost 5 or 10 euros, since ( last time in Geneva) there was a supplemental charge for luggage in the boot /trunk and taxi fares are exorbitant.

    The convenience could make the airport destination tolerable, if a lot of luggage was involved.

    What do you think?

    Slowpoke

    Jenivis
    Participant
    13 posts
    29 October 2017 at 21:42:45 #871317

    My real thanks for your valuable and very thorough advice. Looks like FlixBus is the answer…it will be the key to making Annecy possible for us because I was tossing up with Lyon instead as Lyon was more straight forward for just a 2 day stay. This way we will catch a glimpse of Geneva also that we would have missed if going by train from Lyon to Montreux.( sorry for my incorrect spelling earlier all the way from Down Under!). I await any further bus timetables and details. Ps can’t wait to visit Switzerland again….breathtakingly beautiful!

    Slowpoke
    Participant
    7567 posts
    30 October 2017 at 0:21:10 #871318

    G’Day Jenivis-

    <<“Looks like FlixBus is the answer.”>>

    Glad it looks OK for you.. and. of course, glad that Steve jumped in.

    Sorry for the rather roundabout route to an answer.

    I, at least, learned a lot, which is one of the reasons that I spend time helping on this forum.

    Slowpoke

    Snowman
    Participant
    825 posts
    1 November 2017 at 10:19:16 #871319

    Hi Jenivis,

    I am Slowpoke’s friend in Geneva. Sorry for being late, it seems you have solved your problem.

    1. From Annecy to Montreux is definitely faster via Geneva. So don’t look into itineraries through alpine passes, turning around the eastern end of Lake Geneva, unless you have time and want to take the scenic route.

    2. There is no direct rail link from Annecy to Geneva right now. Even going by rail from Annecy to Annemasse involves changing trains, and possibly waiting, at La Roche-sur-Foron. The link Annemasse-Geneva is under construction, the old line has been phased out, so the Chêne-Bourg station mentioned by Slowpoke is under construction. Things will change, hopefully as of December 2019, when the new link will come into operation and several regional lines in France and Switzerland will be coordinated as a Geneva Rapid Transit Network to be called Leman Expres: lemanexpress.ch/#carte -du-reseau

    3. So you have found a solution. For multi-mode routes acrosss borders, you can get good hints on the Rome2Rio website:

    http://www.rome2rio.com/fr/s/ Annecy/Montreux

    Slowpoke
    Participant
    7567 posts
    1 November 2017 at 16:16:56 #871320

    Thanks Snowman –

    When I’n in Switzerland in early 2020, we’ll have to check out those lines.

    Slowpoke

    Snowman
    Participant
    825 posts
    1 November 2017 at 16:22:43 #871321

    Jenevis,

    In case you are curious (and maybe you don’t mind a trip lasting 4 hrs 19 min) here is a chance to see Mt Blanc on your way to Montreux:

    http://www.rome2rio.com/s/Ann ecy/Chamonix/Montreux

    Snowman

    Slowpoke
    Participant
    7567 posts
    1 November 2017 at 16:28:43 #871322

    Hi Snowman –

    <<“In case you are curious (and maybe you don’t mind a trip lasting 4 hrs

    19 min) here is a chance to see Mt Blanc on your way to Montreux:”>>

    Nice map.

    Slowpoke

    Snowman
    Participant
    825 posts
    1 November 2017 at 16:35:14 #871323

    Jenevis,

    Maybe one of your questions has not been addressed so far: “Is it reliable in May?”

    The answer is yes. There are daily bus services between Annecy and Geneva. For May, schedules are probably not available yet, but you can assume there are several possibilities every day.

    In Geneva, busses stop at the “Gare routière”, about 300 meters away from the Geneva central rail station (“Gare Cornavin”), and/or at the airport, where there is also a train station with lines going to Montreux.

    Jenivis
    Participant
    13 posts
    1 November 2017 at 21:55:21 #871324

    My thanks “Snowman”….my husband would surely like to see My Blanc!! as would I but time is of the essence as we are meeting up in Montreux with my daughter husband and 2 babies!!! (Aged 1 year and 3 months) who are flying into Zurich from Australia and we’ve organised an apartment on the Grand Rue for 4 nights. How do think Montreaux will go as a base with young children in tow?? Day trip to Zermatt will probably be too far and long for them? Then on to Grindelwald for 5 nights. Yeah…we love Switzerland ….seen the Jangfrau region as we were there in May this year also and so we want to return.

    Slowpoke
    Participant
    7567 posts
    3 November 2017 at 17:20:54 #871325

    Hi Jenivis-

    You wrote:

    <<“as would I but time is of the essence as we are meeting up in Montreux

    with my daughter husband and 2 babies!!! (Aged 1 year and 3 months) who

    are flying into Zurich from Australia and we’ve organised an apartment

    on the Grand Rue for 4 nights. How do think Montreaux will go as a base

    with young children in tow??”>>

    You’ve picked Flixbus, so that the earliest you could get to Gare routière in Geneva is 1205, assuming that the current schedules hold for next year.

    Allow 20 minutes to get to Cornavin if you have luggage.

    The earliest you could get to Montreux is 1337 if you caught the direct train at 1230. Possible. Next chance 1242 change in Lausanne, arrive at 1402.

    Next chance 1300, no change, arrive at 1410.

    Don’t know when your relatives arrive from Down Under, , but the fastest trips to Montreux are trains at xx18, xx40, and xx43. All require at least one change. With good luck and fast kids ( unlikely, I’d guess) your relatives might be on a train 45 minutes after their plane gets to the gate.

    So, count oun somethng close to 4 hours fro them to get to Montreux.

    Not sure how those timesmatch up, but I assume that you want to be in Montreux whe they arrive.

    Considering the nature of the towns, I think they’d enjoy Luzern just as much as Montreux. Luzern has a beautiful lake, and more relatively level land for walking. The older child might appreciate the Lion of Luzern. My much older grandaughter ( then 8 years old) was fascinated. See attached page from a photobook that I prepared documenting her trip in 2009.

    There are more varieties of lake boat rides. Luzern is about 1 hour from Zürich Airport. Trains take either 2 minutes or 7 minutes more than one hour. The faster ones, with no change of train , leave at xx18. The slower ones, with a change at Zürich main station, leave at xx47.

    A shorter train ride might be appreciated after the flight from Australia.

    If you use the same , earliest, Flixbus frm Annecy to Geneva Gare routiere, you would only reach Luzern from Geneva by 1555 (depart Geneva main station at 1242 with 2 changes) or by 1600 (depart Geneva Cornavin at 1312 with no changes.

    However, if you chose the slower but earlier T72 bus to the airport, easing luggage transfer, you could arrive at the aeroport by a bus ride that is 50 minutes longer than the Flixbus, at 0540, 0747, 0815, 0840, 0949, 1030, 1144……

    If you took the not-so-early 7 AM departure from Annecy, you’d be atthe aeropoert at 0840, and have time to catch the 0902 direct to Luzern ( no changes) . You would arrive in Luzern at 1200. Those trips generally take about 3 hours with various possible connections and timing.

    You could consider buses from Annecy that are as much as 2 1/2 hours earlier. allowing you to reach Luzern by 0905 with an easy change at Olten.

    The object of this exercise in using the schedules and timetables is to let you deal with your point that “time is of the essence” and and also answer <<“How do think Montreaux will go as a base

    with young children in tow??””>>

    It lets you bear the brunt of the longer train ride and early departure from Annecy, and in turn, allow your relatives the shorter, easier journey after their flight.

    Of course, I don’t know what time of day they will arrive. Nor whether the children will be manageable on a 3-4 hour time between the arrival at Zürich on the plane from Australia, and arrival at Montreux. (Note the spelling.)

    But, I think Luzern is a good trade off for or perhaps even better than Montreux, with the constraints you have outlined. That is my response to your question –

    <<“How do think Montreaux will go as a base with young children in tow??””>>

    http://www.myswissalps.com/lu cerne

    http://www.myswissalps.com/mo ntreux

    The most decisive element in your plan is whether or not you choose to take the fast but not early Flixbus to save a few Euros and then make the afternoon short trip to Montreux, or, get to either town much earlier , by using the slower but earlier and more frequent bus service to the Geneva aeroport.

    Slowpoke

    Snowman
    Participant
    825 posts
    3 November 2017 at 19:14:40 #871326

    Slowpoke,

    I am pretty sure you used the 2018 Swiss railway schedules, which are already available. I would be a bit cautious with the French bus schedules, are the current ones might not apply in May.

    Edit : You have addressed that point previously in the thread. The current schedule is valid until Dec. 9.

    Snowman

    Snowman
    Participant
    825 posts
    3 November 2017 at 19:30:04 #871327

    Dear Jenevis,

    In Montreux you can visit nearby Chillon castle, one of the best kept and most scenic medieval castles in Switzerland. You can take a lcal cogwheel train to Rochers-de-Naye and enjoy a breathtaking view on the lake and the Alps. You can enjoy the flavor of a city hosting one of Europe’s most famous Jazz Festivals (but you’d have to wait till June to actually experience it). And if your folks are tired and jetlagged, you could just take a tour on one of the belle époque Lake Geneva steamers.

    Slowpoke
    Participant
    7567 posts
    3 November 2017 at 22:16:46 #871328

    Hi Snowman-

    <<“I am pretty sure you used the 2018 Swiss railway schedules, which are

    already available. I would be a bit cautious with the French bus

    schedules, are the current ones might not apply in May. “>>

    Your point is well taken. Perhaps I did not emphasize enough that I could not guarantee the schedules for May. Sometime during the Spring, Jenivis should recheck all schedules of public transport. It is unlikely that the Swiss train schedules on the lines discussed will vary by much , if at all, and there are plenty of contingency choices, due the excellent and frequent service.

    And, the most critical ones are the Flixbus. Few trips, none very early.

    Thanks for bringing up that point.

    Slowpoke

    Slowpoke
    Participant
    7567 posts
    3 November 2017 at 22:30:32 #871329

    Hi Snowman-

    <<“In Montreux you can visit nearby Chillon castle, one of the best kept

    and most scenic medieval castles in Switzerland. You can take a lcal

    cogwheel train to Rochers-de-Naye and enjoy a breathtaking view on the

    lake and the Alps…….”>>

    You are absolutely right about the many attractions of Montreux. It has been a while since I was there, but I wonder if the hillside location could offer some minor nuisance factor with the small children.

    And, my intent was not to denigrate Montreux, but, rather, to respond to Jenivis’ emphasis on time of travel.. It might be desirable to build a schedule that gets them all together as fast as possible, while minimizing travel time for the Aussie contingent. So, I was exploring how to do that. Not saying it should be done, but offering a choice based on Jenivis’ emphasis on time of travel.

    As we engineers say when managing a project – setting priorities, then doing the trades offs between time to completion, quality of results, and cost . 😉

    Slowpoke

Viewing 20 replies - 1 through 20 (of 23 total)
  • The thread ‘Annecy to Geneva by bus – is it reliable in May?’ is closed to new replies.

About MySwissAlps

We’re passionate tourists and locals. We share tips about how to plan a trip to Switzerland. MySwissAlps was founded in 2002.

Get a free account for a worry-free trip

  • Join our 10730 members and ask us questions in the forum
  • Access to member-only promotions
  • Detailed maps and weather forecasts

Planning your first Switzerland adventure?

Get a jump-start with Annika’s 20-minute e-mail course, “Switzerland for beginners”. Subscribe to our newsletter to unlock the course.