Geneva to Grindelwald, best option at night time?

Hi, please can someone advise what the best option is for us to get from Geneva airport to Grindewald at night. Our flight arrives at 9pm and there is no direct train, it requires 3 changes and takes 4 hours. A taxi transfer is being quoted at £500. Would it be best to hire a car for the journey although we haven’t driven on the right hand side before and night driving might not be the best time to practice! Any advice would be appreciated, thanks

Hello Elsutton 82,

Welcome to MySwissAlps.

Would staying at Geneva airport for the night be an option, bearing in mind the late arrival and if there are any delays? I am sure it would be cheaper than the quoted £500 taxi fare. You can find some options in the below link:

• https://www.myswissalps.com/genevaairporthotels

You could rent a car but if your intention is to use the car as a one-off, you would have to consider the drop-off / return too.

• https://www.myswissalps.com/car/carrental

Kind regards,

Yolanda

Thank you for your advice,

We can’t stay overnight at the airport due to our tight itinerary. We are arriving on the Friday and heading back to Geneva on the Monday morning.

Yes I have seen I would need to drop the car downtown in Interlaken the next day which isn’t so bad but it’s more that I’m not confident about driving abroad at night for the first time. Would you recommend just paying for a transfer rather than risking the trains so late at night? I’d

Has the airline changed your flight time?

When is your travel date?

It is not possible to reach Grindelwald by train from Geneva at such a late hour. The last possible train is at 19.59 from Geneva.

I'm not sure hiring a car is practical.

Hello again,

I understand your concerns with driving.

With the train, it's doable. I just did a dummy search via the timetable https://www.myswissalps.com/timetable for tomorrow evening from Geneva airport and there are departures to Grindelwald at 21.19, 22.11 and 22.19, arriving late into Grindelwald - we are looking at 1am onwards.

Kind regards,

Yolanda

Hi, thanks,

We arrive 26th May. The train timetable states there are a few train options from 10pm heading out of Geneva airport but it would require three changes and a taxi. The hotel won’t let us change our dates to allow us to travel the next day and the financial loss of a nights stay would not be worth it. I think it’s best we book a transfer and accept the cost!

Thanks for your advice

Hi Elsutton 82,

That's too bad you could not change your hotel booking.

Yes, maybe on this occasion, organise the transfer and make the most of the weekend there!

Kind regards,

Yolanda

Surely the cost of a very expensive transfer will be no different to the 'financial loss' of cancelling /changing the hotel?

That cannot be correct. The journey time is too long. The late Interlaken - Grindelwald bus only runs on Friday and Saturday evenings. Even then it can't be reached from Geneva after 9pm departing Geneva

The only option is an arrival at Grindelwald at 01.07, but even then the departure from Geneva is before 21.00

Hi El Sutton 82

We are flying into Geneva late evening in June and are staying at the Ibis at 154 ch f and then catching the train to Wengen in the morning.

If it was me I would book a night in the Ibis which is very close to the airport and train station. The trains run from about 5.30 in the morning to Grindelwald and you could be there just after 9 and would be able to access your room and have breakfast at your hotel seeing you are unable to cancel the booking.

Hope you enjoy your trip to Grindelwald.

Jane

Hi Jane,

Thanks,

We are booked to stay at the Ibis on the Monday so did consider this option but we would forfeit £260 for the night at the hotel so we’re thinking we may as well just pay the taxi as the financial loss will be similar and at least we don’t have to travel so early in the morning!

thanks for your input 🙂

Hi Elsutton 82!

The late-night options mentioned by Yolanda do work for your arrival date and time (see the screenshot). You may not be able to catch the 21:17 departure after your arrival at Geneva Airport, but the 22:11 and 22:19 options should be doable. It still will be a bit of a hassle of course. So I get your decision to book a taxi. That's better than driving at night yourself, without right-hand driving experience. Whatever you choose, I hope you'll have a relaxed stay once you've arrived in Grindelwald :-)!

Yes, I agree!

Thank you