 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi
After some hotel recommendations please.
We are off to Samoens in late January. We are driving down on Saturday from Calais and are looking for a hotel stop over within about 2 hours drive from Geneva Airport (where we are picking my son up on the Sunday morning at 11.00am) before making our way up to the resort.
Reasonable hotel with a restaurant and bar for a bite to eat and a couple of beers to while away the evening would be great. Secure parking would also be a bonus.
One final question - would I need to vignette to drive into the Swiss side of Geneva Airport from the Autoroute Blanche - I suspect the answer is yes !
Regards
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Griggs, You would need a vignette to use Swiss motorways, a map with ways to avoid this is here.
An alternative route could be to stay overnight somewhere in the Jura then drive on N roads the next morning and get to the airport from the Ferney-Voltaire side.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@Griggs, Junction # 11 on Autoroute Blanche, and vicinity of Frangy & Menziers are really easy drive to, and reasonably close to get into Geneva from.
I often drive that route on the way to Annecy and see different hotel etc, but with no need to use them as we pass through, haven't a specific recommendation.
11 is generally a very quiet junction and so should be fairly convenient to use. Theres reasonable amount of commerce etc as you leave AB and onwards to Frangy itself.
Worthwhile a search based on that area.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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You might think of staying in or near Bourg-en-Bresse just before crossing the Jura, can't be much different from 2 hours short of Geneva. We have stayed in a hotel in the centre (can't remember its name, think it was the Hotel de France group) but you might prefer something on the outskirts.
And the Swiss motorway vignettes are now electronic - all vehicles checked by ANPR. So yes you will need one or follow a non motorway route.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@j b, I didn’t know about the ANPR, so thanks for the heads up. You used to normally get away with the exit out of Swiss but always got pulled entering
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Dijon? Holiday Inn there at the shopping centre is a good one
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I once stayed at the Ibis at Bourg en Bresse that is literally at the motorway service station. Dined at the service station where they restricted me to one glass of wine despite my hotel room… Very convenient for all that romance may have been lacking!
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You could consider getting your son to get a train from Geneva airport to eg Annemasse (he would likely need to change at Geneva central). You don’t say where you are headed to on the Sunday. Having experimented over the summer , it was straightforward to get to Cluses by train ( and then I got a bus to Morzine!)
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Can’t help with hotels, though
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@AvoAndi, he said he is going to Samoens
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Although the route over the Jura from just south of Dijon is very pleasant, and one I often took, if you are picking up somebody at Gva airport the Swiss (international) side is going to be easier than the French side. And even if you find your way in to the French side, and can hook up with your son (who will have flown into the international side) you still have either to sort out a non-motorway route out to the A40. It's not rocket science (though I'd always want a good paper map to follow, rather than relying on a satnav) but for the sake of the cost of a motorway vignette, simpler to just use the motorway, especially if you are also taking him BACK to the motorway with a place to catch.
Not that that argues against using the Jura route, which is great, and Poligny would be a nice place to stay and have a wander for a meal and a drink (can't recommend a hotel). Only 6 hours from Calais and much nicer than a hotel just off the autoroute.
One proviso though - I'd not recommend that route if there's a lot of snow about!
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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The official website for registering your car for an electronic Swiss vignette is
e-vignette.ch
Beware the sites that come up at the top of a Google search etc which either charge you for doing what you could do yourself directly, or are scams.
The vignette is valid for the year indicated and January the following year. There are no short-term options. As mentioned previously, it might make some sense for your son to take a train out of Geneva and be picked up somewhere more directly on the route to Samoëns. He can get a free ticket for the train into Geneva as well, if I recall. Perhaps take a look at the SBB timetable website and see if this is feasible.
If you have a French Crit’Air sticker, this is also valid as a substitute for the Swiss Stick’air certificate, covering the Geneva low emissions zone, if that’s in force.
If you were to go the Jura Mountains route, then you might consider staying over in Besançon, which is about 2-1/2 hours from GVA. It’s an attractive city with a lot of hotels of different types. But as mentioned, you’d have to be prepared for snow over the 1,000m passes en route to Pontarlier and Jougne, although the snowploughs are pretty regular along it if conditions dictate.
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