Monday, February 12, 2007
02/2007: Geneva: 'useful facts and figures...'
1. No, it is NOT the capital of Switzerland. It is Switzerland’s 3rd largest city with a cosmopolitan population of over 430,000 – 43% of whom are from elsewhere.
2. Yes – it DOES have a red light district – a small but flourishing sex industry operates on a section of the Rue de Paquis with sex shops galore and plenty of girls who strut their stuff on the streets both day and night.
3. The official language is French, but English and German are widely spoken.
4. The airport straddles both the Swiss and French borders with passport control for both countries, depending on where you are visiting. If you hire a car from the French part, you have to return it to the French part, (and the same for the Swiss side) so make sure you drive into the airport on the correct road! (If you return it to the car park on the wrong side, you will be charged a hefty fee).
5. All trains leaving the airport go to Geneva central train station. The central train station is also a terminus for the French rail network; if you arrive on an intercity SNCF train you will have to pass through both French and Swiss customs and passport control.
6. Parking in the city is a nightmare; a good tip is to leave your car at the long term airport train station car park or the trade centre car park and take the train to the city centre, which is compact enough to navigate on foot or by the excellent tram service.
7. From January 2007 UNIRESO (the transport company) are giving all hotel guests in the city a free transport card for the duration of their stay. This entitles the holder to use buses, trams and boats within the Geneva city limits.
1. No, it is NOT the capital of Switzerland. It is Switzerland’s 3rd largest city with a cosmopolitan population of over 430,000 – 43% of whom are from elsewhere.
2. Yes – it DOES have a red light district – a small but flourishing sex industry operates on a section of the Rue de Paquis with sex shops galore and plenty of girls who strut their stuff on the streets both day and night.
3. The official language is French, but English and German are widely spoken.
4. The airport straddles both the Swiss and French borders with passport control for both countries, depending on where you are visiting. If you hire a car from the French part, you have to return it to the French part, (and the same for the Swiss side) so make sure you drive into the airport on the correct road! (If you return it to the car park on the wrong side, you will be charged a hefty fee).
5. All trains leaving the airport go to Geneva central train station. The central train station is also a terminus for the French rail network; if you arrive on an intercity SNCF train you will have to pass through both French and Swiss customs and passport control.
6. Parking in the city is a nightmare; a good tip is to leave your car at the long term airport train station car park or the trade centre car park and take the train to the city centre, which is compact enough to navigate on foot or by the excellent tram service.
7. From January 2007 UNIRESO (the transport company) are giving all hotel guests in the city a free transport card for the duration of their stay. This entitles the holder to use buses, trams and boats within the Geneva city limits.
# posted by hotelreviewer @ 9:11 am 
