Difference between revisions of "Geneva"

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Take bus 27 in the direction ''Thônex-Vallard-Douane'' and get off at the last stop. Walk through the customs to France and stand at the end of the customs just before the cars speed up for the motorway. The position is very good, the customs officers are nice, speed is low, there´s space for cars to stop, all the traffic is passing through.
 
Take bus 27 in the direction ''Thônex-Vallard-Douane'' and get off at the last stop. Walk through the customs to France and stand at the end of the customs just before the cars speed up for the motorway. The position is very good, the customs officers are nice, speed is low, there´s space for cars to stop, all the traffic is passing through.
  
There is also a bus which leaves from the airport to Thonex-Vallard (the stop by customs) - maybe number 5? - just stay on until the final stop. A ticket costs CHF3.50 / E3.50.
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There is also bus number 5 which leaves from the airport to Thonex-Vallard (the stop by customs) - just stay on until the final stop. This line is later joined by bus 25 which gets to the same place. A ticket costs CHF3.50 / E3.50 but the distance from the city centre is around 3.5 km and is easy to walk- just get to Route de Malagnou and walk east until you get to the border and then follow the instructions above.
  
 
=== West towards [[France]], [[Lyon]] or [[Annecy]] ===
 
=== West towards [[France]], [[Lyon]] or [[Annecy]] ===

Revision as of 12:18, 19 September 2015

Geneva
<map lat='46.206923' lng='6.16976' zoom='11' view='3' float='right'/>
Information
Country:
Flag of Switzerland
Switzerland
Population: 191,000
Licence plate: GE
Major roads: E 25, E 62, E 21, A1
Meet fellow hitchhikers on Trustroots

Geneva (French: Genève, German: Genf) is a city in the south west of Switzerland close to the border with France.

Hitching out

East towards Lausanne, Bern, Zürich E 62

Take the tram 1 until the stop Secheron. (ticket cost 3.40 francs) Carry on walking in the direction the bus was taking (the bus turns off down another street after 100m), you can stand at any point on this road, but its good to walk for 5 minutes or so to catch a bit more traffic from joining roads. Theres a bike lane where cars could stop, or a big official building along the road where they could pull in. Its an okay spot, and theres street lighting so okay at night as well. You can also ask people at the petrol station beside, which works quite well.

  • my sister and I tried this spot and it worked very fast! Lyrafox 22:38, 17 June 2010 (UTC)
  • In fact the petrol station, radar and traffic-light is still 5-10 min walking from Perle du lac. I've waited 2+ hours at this spot. Sunday morning, single young man. Fabzgy 20:35, 8 February 2011 (CET)
  • not the best spot to hitchhike. The petrol station is on the other side and not very frequented. At least when I waited traffic was fast. I followed the road for approximately 20-30 minutes on foot until a big petrol station. Hitched a ride after 10 minutes to Lausanne from there. --Wukk 18:27, 8 March 2012 (CET)

You could also take bus 5 from the main station to the stop Gd-Saconnex-Place on Route de Ferney. Stand with a sign just after the bus stop. There is a BP petrol station nearby, with many long-distance cars going onto motorway A1.

Southeast towards Chamonix, Torino, Milano

Take bus 27 in the direction Thônex-Vallard-Douane and get off at the last stop. Walk through the customs to France and stand at the end of the customs just before the cars speed up for the motorway. The position is very good, the customs officers are nice, speed is low, there´s space for cars to stop, all the traffic is passing through.

There is also bus number 5 which leaves from the airport to Thonex-Vallard (the stop by customs) - just stay on until the final stop. This line is later joined by bus 25 which gets to the same place. A ticket costs CHF3.50 / E3.50 but the distance from the city centre is around 3.5 km and is easy to walk- just get to Route de Malagnou and walk east until you get to the border and then follow the instructions above.

West towards France, Lyon or Annecy

The perfect spot is at the motorway border crossing. There are toilets, money exchange, really slow traffic, and friendly environment. You can get very close to it by taking Geneve public transport buses. Lines 4(red), D(light pink), 72(grey) stop closest to it. 42 also brings you close. Lines 4 and D leave from Bel Air (very central). You have to get out at Perly Village (note: in 2012 the stop is not called Perly-Village any more, but Ravières). Do NOT go until Perly Douane! From the Perly Village bus stop you cross the road, walk back 10 meters and turn right. (The left of the bus you just got off from.) You walk straight on the little street until you get to the bridge above the motorway. There is a short wire fence but people already bent the top of it, it is easy to hop over. After descending to the motorway, you turn right, and walk until the border. There is a concrete pavement outside the hard shoulder, you can walk safely to the spot. There is lot of traffic, straight ride to Paris possible! The walking takes 20 min more or less. It is useful to ask for a big public transport map, in hostels for example. - the one with the streets shows you where to walk.

  • UPDATE (22-Jan-14): Only buses 4 and D bring you to "Ravieres".
  • UPDATE (11-Aug-14): There's a risk of being stopped by bordercops in Switzerland when you walk across the border next to the highway in direction France and they may insist that you leave the highway. Alternatively you can cross the border by a little forest path outside the highway (it's on the side where the traffic goes direction France). Once you are on the french side of the border you can easily walk to the highway and start hitchhiking after the border passing.

If you want to try it from inside the city, then: Take the bus 23, 28, 57 or 'Y' if you are at the Airport, or the tram 14 or 16 from the train station, and stop at Blandonnet. Walk about 600m to the next on-ramp in direction of South, the one leading to the highway in the direction of South from Route de Vernier. The position is NOT very good because the cars speed up and visibility is not really good but there´s place for cars to stop. You can begin hitch-hiking just after the traffic light, before the bend. Take a ride at least 10km South to the Swiss-French border, where there´s a decent spot to continue. Walk through the customs and hitchhike - preferably with a sign - before the cars speed up. There´s not much space for cars to stop but they can, speed is low and all the traffic is passing through the customs.

Hitching in

You can contact a local hitchhiker at +41 78 732 71 35 for accomodation or other emergencies, will help if I'm around.


Cities in Switzerland with more than 30.000 inhabitants

> 100.000: ZürichGeneveBaselBernLausanne

30.000–100.000: Biel/BienneChurFribourgKönizLa Chaux-de-FondsLuganoLuzernNeuchâtelSchaffhausenSt. GallenThunUsterVernierWinterthur

trash:Geneva