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Ouibus from Chamonix to Geneva for train to Paris

Posted by (Spokane) on

Hello,

I need to travel to Paris from Chamonix on June 8. Some people suggest going through Geneva. That does sound promising. I tried to chart that route. You would take an Ouibus to Gare routière de Genève. About 2 hrs ride. Seems it is an easy walk from that bus station to Genève Cornavin (main train station). A direct train from there to Paris. Questions I have about this are:

  1. Is TrainLine not showing this option because it goes through Switzerland (even though one would catch a TGV from Geneva to Paris)?

  2. The Ouibus seems to be a relatively new SNCF subsidiary. Can I depend on the time schedule that is being shown by various transportation sites such as Trainline, and is the service reliable? If anyone has tried Ouibus on this leg, I would love to hear their experience of it.

  3. We would have our passports for the border checks that I would expect going in/out of Switzerland; it's a quick walk from Geneva bus station to train station; and I would make the TGV train reservation in advance. All of which means I should not need any Swiss Francs. Are there any other considerations to crossing the border/going through Geneva to Paris?

(The conventional alternatives from Chamonix to Paris using bus/TER/Trains within France look pretty cumbersome/infrequent).

Thanks!

Posted by
16895 posts

There is no border check between France and Switzerland since Switzerland joined the Schengen Visa group a few years ago.

I have not taken the Ouibus, but given the lack of a good train connection (until they finish building one), I think their business prospects are safe. The railways make a pretty concerted effort not to cancel services once published. If they want to cancel something, they do it with the next schedule change.

I do see trainline.eu selling direct Geneve-Paris TGV tickets from €29. They also have the Ouibus ticket and you probably have to request those as two, separate reservations.

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