Car Hire Geneva Airport - French Side

A quick guide to Geneva

Geneva oozes class. It’s a luxurious place that you just can’t help but enjoy. It’s cultured, sophisticated and yet retains a very definite air of relaxed friendliness about it.

The people of Geneva will welcome you to their city and you’ll find yourself quickly falling in love with it.

Don’t be late for the lake

Geneva is home to one of Europe’s largest and most spectacular lakes – Lake Geneva. Known to the locals as 'Lac de Genève' or 'Lac Léman' it straddles Switzerland and France and is overlooked by the epic Alps.

Take some time to explore the peaceful and pretty villages and towns that sit on the water’s edge and perhaps grab the opportunity to head on to the lake itself for a boat trip or some fun watersports.

If you prefer to take things a little easier, then perhaps admiring the impressive 140-metre-high blasts of water from one of the world’s tallest fountains is more your thing. Don’t be surprised if you get a little wet from the aquatic acrobatics of the Jet d’Eau, though.

Operating day and night – when it’s illuminated by striking blue light – the Jet d’Eau is hard to miss, but for a closer view head to the Quai Gustave-Ador or Jardin Anglais.

Take a hike

Just under an hour’s drive south from Geneva into France will take you to Mont Salève, where you’ll be rewarded with unparalleled views of the Alps. On a clear day you can see for almost 30km in every direction. The area is perfect for energetic hikers, as well as a real hotspot for mountain bikers, cross country skiers and even paragliders.

Again though, if your preference is to take things slightly steadier and want to experience the incredible altitude then the Mont Salève cable car is the answer. Climbing to a height of more than 1,100 feet in just five minutes, it’s not for the faint hearted but the views are worth it.

Enjoy the views of Lavaux

The Lavaux Vineyard Terraces are a relatively short, extremely pleasant and scenic drive from Geneva and offer incredible vistas of sweeping grape fields.

The area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and serves up some serious fantastic walks and tours that will appeal to wine drinkers and non-wine drinkers alike. The grapevines are beautiful, especially in spring and early summer. A view of those, backed by a sight of Lake Geneva in the background, is a special treat. Of course, if you’re driving, steer clear of the actual tasting.

Then there’s the chocolate, world-class watch making, the stunning Mont Blanc, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, skiing… this city and its surrounds demand exploration and car hire from Geneva Airport is the ideal way to experience it all.

Driving in and around Geneva

Driving in and around the ‘City of Peace’ is nothing short of a treat. The crystal clear waters of Lake Geneva, the snow-sprinkled mountaintops of the Alps and the beautiful rural Swiss villages all combine to make it an experience to remember.

When taking to the roads of Switzerland, you’ll find they’re expertly designed, superbly maintained and well signposted. Visiting drivers should have no problems navigating around Geneva and the local area, wherever they’re going.

For local journeys, it pays to avoid peak times as but traffic can be heavy during these periods. Right of way can be tricky as it differs according to the road. Look out for diamond-shaped signs with a yellow center – these indicate that you have priority over vehicles joining from the right. The same sign with a black diagonal line through the center shows that traffic from the right has priority.

As for trips to places to visit that are not far from Geneva, the medieval French city of Lyon is only 150 km west on the A40 and A42.

The quaint and historic city of Lausanne is only an hour away on the A1 and if you continue driving for another hour on the same road you'll find yourself in the Swiss capital, the laid-back city of Bern.

When it comes to speed limits, the general limit in Switzerland is 80km/h outside built-up areas and 50km/h within them. The main highways carry a limit of 120km/h, dropping to 100km/h on the similar Autostrasse.