 Poster: A snowHead
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I'll be hiring a car at Geneva airport in October and driving to Tignes from there and was wondering if there's anything I should know, any rules in France that may not apply to Swiss cars and what the drill is with paying for tolls etc in France if in a Swiss vehicle.
Anything really... 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Unless you hire from Geneva (France) then you'll need to buy a Vignette.
Apart from that there's no differences.
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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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Hiring from the French side of GVA is easy enough (and has at times in the past been cheaper....) but make sure you get clear directions out and back gain to avoid straying onto the Swiss autoroutes.
It is easier to drive straight out onto the m-way the swiss side but you need the m-way pass (vignette)
Once in France - no difference at all as marcellus says 
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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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roga, you'll have to pay French motorway tolls whatever nationality you or the car are. If you hire from the Swiss side of GVA the car will have a Swiss motorway vignette, so you'll be fine on Swiss m'ways. If you hire from the French side, you'll either have to avoid driving on Swiss m'ways, which can be done, or buy a vignette.
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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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France introduced the need to carry a hi viz waistcoat for the driver and a warning triangle to be used in the event of a vehicle breakdown. I would hope that the hire car comes with one.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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roga, I seem to remember last year the vignette was about 40 chf (for 1 year) so factor that in to the cost of the hire car. If you drive all the way on the French motorways (via Chambery) it costs 12.60 euros. You can check the cost on the following web site http://www.autoroutes.fr/. which gives a route map as well.
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roga, Something that can catch you out is the colour of the signs....in contrast to the rest of Europe the Swiss use Green for motorways and Blue for main routes, can be oddly confusing when you first leave the airport. Follow the Green signs for France and you'll be fine (as long as you've got the vignette mentioned already!). Back to normal as soon as you go over the border...
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brian
brian
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All cars hired on the Swiss side come with a vignette.
Cars hired on the French side might have one if a previous hirer has bought one, but it's unlikely.
Whichever side you hire on, by far the easiest route towards Tignes is the A1 autoroute, direction "France".
Contrary to received s wisdom, hiring on the French side is a bit more hassle but still reasonably straightforward, but get good directions.
Motorway speed limit in Switzerland is 120kph, unless otherwise posted. In France it's 130kph, unless otherwise posted, in dry conditions but 110kph in the wet.
Fines in Switzerland get very, very big if you are far above the posted limit ! The "margin of error" on speeding is only 6kph rather than the 10% leeway you get in the UK.
I believe there is reciprocity between Switzerland and France on speeding tickets.
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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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roga, having driven a lot in and out of Geneva, both sides, I can confirm everything is more straightforward on the Swiss side, but if you find a heapo cheapo deal on the French side and get good directions, you'll be fine. Are you going to the October bootcamp? I see that viamichelin.com recommends the route through the Mont Blanc tunnel - but that makes it quite a bit more expensive in tolls.
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roga, just been looking at the October bootcamp thread, and I see you're not!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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roga, No French ones, just toll roads with booths.
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I'll just follow my sat nav and hopefully that'll send me the right way
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it might very well not, it does some odd things. Not so bad in October, as mountain passes are unlikely to be blocked by snow, but the mountainsun website has a special warning about NOT following a satnav blindly from Geneva to Tignes in the winter (and viamichelin.com, likewise, takes you through the Mont Blanc tunnel and through Italy, which wouldn't be my route of choice).
We'll be there 21 - 24 for the bootcamp. Having some lessons from Stuart Woodward on the glacier.
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You know it makes sense.
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roga, you pay for Swiss m'ways by a single payment for a vignette, effectively a season ticket for the m'ways; a car hired in Switzerland will have one already, a little sticker on the windscreen. In France, some m'ways are free (such as ring m'ways around large towns), but most are toll; as Colin B says there are toll booths. You take a ticket from a machine when you enter a toll section (at a slip road or on the main carriageway) and either hand it to someone in a toll booth or stick it and your CC into a machine as you leave (at a slip road or a main carriageway). SFAIK there is no 'season ticket', but you can get gadgets which you stick to the windscreen which open the barrier automatically in special lanes, record your trip and charge it to your CC. No money saving, but you avoid the queues to pay. I used one this summer and saved as much as 13 or 14 seconds, possibly more, but when its busy you will save time; probably not worth the effort of getting one just for a trip to GVA to Tignes and back.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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probably not worth the effort of getting one just for a trip to GVA to Tignes and back.
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definitely not. They do actually cost something, though you can often get special offers. Incidentally roga, you don't need to avoid Swiss motorways if you hire a car on the French side. You can just buy a vignette, which doesn't cost a lot and saves a lot of heartache. Depending on the hire cost differentials it could still save you money to hire on the French side (though maybe now the euro is so expensive the swiss franc has not strengthened so much against the pound? I don't know).
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brian
brian
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| pam w wrote: |
| maybe now the euro is so expensive the swiss franc has not strengthened so much against the pound? I don't know). |
It has 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| You can just buy a vignette, which doesn't cost a lot and saves a lot of heartache. |
"Only" about £40 which makes 5 miles of motorway pretty expensive travel...
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brian
brian
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James the Last, try 40 CHF = £20.
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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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pam w, brian, My perception ( dodgy Maths aside ) is that Sterling has fallen against the CHF by 20% +, whilst against the euro 'only' c. 10%, over the last 12 months. I too am .
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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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"Only" about £40 which makes 5 miles of motorway pretty expensive travel...
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costs nothing like £40. Where did you get that idea from?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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You can buy an annual vignette (01.12 to 31.01, so 14 months) for £21 +£5 booking fee online from Swiss Travel Centre. Presumably the booking fee can be avoided by buying locally.
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Fri 26-09-08 15:01; edited 1 time in total
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I ve just sold one on ebay for £5 and there are still lots available for less that that if you are travelling between now and 31 Jan 2009. Besides its quite easy to drive out of Geneva airport (both sides) through Geneva city centre into Annemasse and then onto the French autoroutes without driving on swiss motorways. The other thing to consider is that while Swiss hire cars will usually fitted with snow tyres , French ones may not, therefore its generally preferable to hire on the Swiss side.
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But it would be unusual to need snow tyres in October. I agree it's easier to hire on the Swiss side but there can be a significant price saving on the French side (sometimes the other way round). It's far, far, easier to use the motorway - otherwise you really need to know the route well, because the signposting can be confusing. It costs 25 euros for a vignette and, believe me, that can be a much more valuable contribution to holiday harmony than a few beers. Entire lives have unravelled trying to get in and out of the French sector without using the motorway and without knowing where you are going. And my brother in law missed his flight...... Like everything else, it's easy when you know how. But the first time you need to be a confident navigator, and preferably speak French. I once had to stop and ask my way, at a petrol station only a few miles from the airport. I had two guys arguing with each other over which way to send me.... I chose to listen to the one I could understand easiest (I think he was Italian!).
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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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OK, I was very wrong; sorry! We bought one last winter and I recalled it being rather pricier than that.
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James the Last, it's a lot per mile if you're only going to the border and back! 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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But it would be unusual to need snow tyres in October.
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Its october and its snowing -- yippeee
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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 worst thing about hiring from the French side is getting back again via the blink-and-you'll-miss-it road that goes there.
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paulio, Best to know what you're looking for then. 
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