Are you going to visit Geneva by car? Are you planning to rent a car in Switzerland? Here are the cheap parking solutions in Geneva!
Geneva, nicknamed the "capital of peace" or the "Protestant Rome", is the second largest city in Switzerland after Zurich. The Geneva conurbation is world-famous for its water jet in the middle of Lake Geneva. And more specifically for being the headquarters of major international organisations: the European headquarters of the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the WTO, the WHO and 20 others. Are you looking for cheap parking in Geneva? Good luck. Whether you choose to park on the street or in the city's paying secure car parks, parking in Geneva is likely to be expensive. On-street parking is also often limited. This can be annoying if you want to visit the city on foot for several hours. So here are our cheap parking solutions in Geneva.
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Parking in Geneva: parking on the street for a fee
In the street, parking spaces are marked on the ground by blue and white zones. The white zones are limited in time and are either free of charge or subject to a charge. In the city centre, the white zones are subject to a charge and limited to a maximum of 30 minutes.
Elsewhere in the canton of Geneva, places in white zones are also subject to a charge, but limited to 90 minutes, 2 hours, 3 or 15 hours. It costs CHF 2.80 (€2.65) inside the city of Geneva to park. This is equivalent to CHF 1.40 (1.32 €) for 30 minutes and CHF 4.20 (about 4 € ) for 90 minutes.
Outside the conurbation, street parking costs CHF 1.50 (1.40 €) throughout the Canton of Geneva. For a Swiss with a local salary (higher than in France), parking in Geneva is therefore not expensive. However, for a French person, the impact on the budget is likely to be greater. A parking disc is mandatory to park in blue zone spaces. This, from Monday to Saturday, from 8am to 7pm. The duration of parking in the blue zone is limited to one hour.
Book your car park in Geneva
Cheap parking in Geneva: park in the street for free
As the cost of living in Geneva is very high for accommodation and meals, you may not want to pay for parking. There are several options for free parking. To avoid paying zones, aim for free white zone parking spaces in the streets. To do this, refer to the signs and markings on the ground. There are indeed some streets where the parking zone is free. However, the use of a parking disc is compulsory even if the space is free. Without this proof, you run the risk of being fined in the event of a control.
Furthermore, certain streets in the city of Geneva are not subject to the parking disc. If you are not afraid of being a little off-centre, there is always the possibility of parking in certain sports centres. Les Evaux, for example, but the sports complex is relatively far away from public transport. Parking in the Balexert shopping centre is free of charge for less than four hours. In the surrounding communes, you will find free white zones, for example in Confignon, Vernier or Meyrin.
Parking in Geneva in a secure paying car park
Here's a trick that is sometimes overlooked by tourists: park using Geneva's public transport. Indeed, Geneva public transport tickets can be combined with a free parking space for two people. These are underground car parks that are partners in the transport network. You validate your ticket when you leave the car park, which allows unlimited travel for 60 minutes on the Geneva bus and tram network. Or how to benefit from cheap parking in Geneva by taking public transport.
The Villereuse and Mont-Blanc car parks even offer 90 minutes. Price: CHF 13.5 for four hours on Mont-Blanc and CHF 11 for the Villereuse car park. The choice of paid parking offers the guarantee that nothing will happen to your vehicle. No theft, no breakage. Here are other car parks in Geneva:
- The Manor: 11 Swiss francs for 4 hours,
- Lombard parking: 10 Swiss francs for 4 hours,
- Parking de Plainpalais: 10 Swiss francs for 4 hours.
The parking of Cornavin, to make a short stop at the station, is free for ten minutes. Be careful if you stay longer: the rates are different according to the level. The price is CHF 14 on the second and third levels but CHF 20 on the first floor.
In general, it is very difficult to know how much the parking will cost in advance. It is often only once in front of the entrance barrier that the prices are displayed. Therefore, to properly calculate your parking budget, the Scanpark tool allows you to view the rates for all the car parks in the city and outside the city centre. The cheapest car parks for 10 hours of parking are as follows:
- Lancy-La Vendée,
- P+R Ikea,
- Louis-Bertrand,
- P+R Frontenex,
- P+R Bout-Du-Monde,
- Pallet space,
- P+R Bernex,
- Lancy-Les Rambossons,
- P+R Meyrin-Gravière,
- P+R Tuileries.
Book your car park in Geneva
Finding a cheap parking lot in Geneva is therefore not so complicated after all!
