Collecting humans from Geneva Airport

I’ve tried Googling this but I can’t find anything official, just various forum threads dating back years. I bet someone here is familiar with the current layout and arrangements.

Next Saturday afternoon I need to drive from Mozrine to GVA to collect 3 people. I’d like to avoid any Swiss motorways and the need for a £40 vignette as we won’t be spending any time in Switzerland.

All I know is what I can see on Google Maps. Shortest route is north to Thonon then down to central Geneva which I’ve never laid eyes on. I imagine that this could be a bad place to be at around 12 noon on a Saturday. Maps says around 1h 35m for this route.

Or I can go west on the D1206 and loop around for an extra 30 minutes but potentially much less stressful drive.

Is there a specific pick-up/drop-off area, and is there a time limit? Or should I just jump in a regular car park and go meet them? I can’t see the sprawling acres of tarmac that usually surround an airport so I’m not sure what to head for.

Just northwest of the runway in Ferney-Voltaire there’s a Lidl. I was thinking of camping there and munching some Pain au Chocolat until I receive a phone call telling me they’ve landed.

We haven’t travelled much since Brexit, is there a giagantic queue for passport control? I witnessed this for the first time in Malaga in January and it was like time stood still for 90 minutes.

Any tips much appreciated.

WRT passport control, it depends where your guests are coming from and what time they get in. If they’re behind one of the massive planes from the Middle East, it can take 60-90 minutes to get through immigration if they’re not able to use the automatic gates.

You can drop off without going into the underground car park, but there’s a time limit, and so the past few times I’ve been picked up we’ve been parked in the underground car park.

AFAIK Geneva city centre isn’t too bad on a weekend.

Map for getting there without a vignette:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.gva.ch/en/Downloads/Passagers/carte-d-acces_secteur-france_FR_EN.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwisyKfx06aHAxXgVqQEHVQwCB0QFnoECBcQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2bh80tpXi2UvgaRBQeWcNl

There’s a pick-up car park with a 1 hour max stay. Not ridiculously expensive.

When collected my parents from Zurich many years ago it was much easier by train.

Carrefour Ferney Voltaire car park. You go in and do your shopping, grab a coffee and croissant, and hopefully by the time you’re done your passengers have walked the few hundred metres from the terminal.

Serious answer is tell them to get the bus into Ferney and pick them up there. Saves you the expensive gamble of doing something wrong in Switzerland.

Assuming they’ll be walking out themselves and you aren’t collecting 3 bags of humans, can you park up nearby and as they get through passport and grab luggage you can drive in and collect as they walk out the door?

I don’t know Geneva airport, so unsure if that is possible…

Thanks for the map, that dotted pink line is what I was planning on doing so that’s good to see.

Carrefour Ferney Voltaire car park.

I’ll probably head for that initially and wait for them to land.

One of the humans I’m collecting is my 3 year old son. It’s his first flight and we have no idea how he’ll react. They will have had a long day already by the time they land so I’m keen to make the collection pain free before we strap him in for another 2 hour drive. You know what they say, ‘Happy female life partner, happy life’.

If it was 3 mates they’d be getting their own bloody transfers so I don’t miss a days riding.

You can use the French side access from Ferney Voltaire, at least you could do when I was there a few years ago. The signs are not as obvious as the Swiss side.

Depending on time you could stay in a hotel on the French side for a night. Some pretty nice reasonably priced ones available AND the hotels so free transfers. Also if your son is cranky after the flight, it might be nice to have a rest from travel.  You’d have a better day the next day and still be back on the bike by lunchtime.

They’re landing at 2pm so even if we stop to stretch our legs and get some fresh air we’ll be back in Morzine for tea.

I might go in the French way from Ferney Voltaire and go back via Geneva so there’s plenty to see and more places to stop.

I’m trying to figure out why I’m so anxious about it and I think it’s the way things are in the UK. I feel like one wrong move over here and you start getting fines in the post. Use the wrong lane, go through the wrong gate, overstay by 2 minutes in a car park and you get penalised instantly. I know if you get stopped by the rozzers on the continent they just whip out a card machine and start milking you.

It’s easy. Down to Thonon then cruise down the side of the lake and  through Geneva on satnav (or follow the very clear signage).  Take your time and there’s nothing to worry about. There’s a 1 hr pick up spot that basically lets you park at the arrivals gate. Not expensive either.

I did this exact drive a couple of times last summer without any issue. Then drove into the city to drop my wife and 1.5 yr old son off at the airport for the final time and for some reason had a brain fart and took the motorway. Got caught ant the border and was made to pay the annual toll fee. Doh!

And if you want to stop to stretch your legs on the way back stop at Yvoire just before Thonon.  It’s beautiful.

I’ve just left my adult son to Geneva airport today – driving from Chatel. Last week, we collected him from there.

I don’t think driving through Geneva requires a vignette – there were no Swiss motorways between Chatel and the airport.

geneva requires some patience, but isn’t too bad. The lights often seen to only let 2-3 cars through at a time.

there is a drop off area at the airport, called kiss and fly. But for picking up a youngster, I’d just go for the 1 hour or short stay car park. The kiss and fly is frustratingly queued. people hop in and out of cars to avoid paying. But it’s a single lane, so everyone behind is held up when this happens. (But we ended up doing likewise when we were helped up, and that worked well when simply dropping someone off).

years ago, my bro in law used to pick us up often from Geneva, and he always used the underground car park just in front of and below the arrivals area.

Thanks all, sounds easy. I just hope junior isn’t a hysterical nightmare because I’ll have him and a stressed out wife to deal with. Fingers crossed for an uneventful flight.

I went through Geneva last week – from getting off the plane to walking outside including collecting bags and bikes was literally 15 minutes or so… no huge queues etc.

Is no-one worried about OP’s slightly robotic thread title? I for one welcome our new robot overlords (to Geneva).

More worried if it was followed by remains.

Last few flights I’ve had into GVA have been short, smooth and very easy. Transfers out less so (well one was awful, used GoMassif this year and they were excellent). It’s a reasonably small airport, but there are 2 terminals that would be a long walk from one to the other with a 3 year old.