Left luggage in Geneva

[Nhammy]

I’m thinking of doing about 10 day’s touring starting and finishing in Geneva, next June. To transport my bike on either train or plane I’d want it in a bike box. Which of course I couldn’t tour with. Does anyone know of reasonable price luggage storage in Geneva? The airport and station seem to be “short stay”. Or is there a cycle friendly hostel which I could use first and last nights and leave the box at in between?

[foxyrider]

The airport should have 'longer stay' services available but you often need to dig a bit to find the details.

[simonhill]

What sort of box, cardboard or hard shell?

Cardboard, you can break the bottom, fold flat then fold in 3. Tie it up and it takes up little room. Alternatively, just re-source from an LBS.

A cheap hotel may be a better bet as they may have more room to store. Check out a booking site eg booking.com.

I reckon 10 days in a Euro airport will cost quite a lot, at least £50, maybe much more.

[simonhill]

Just did a Google on

"Geneva airport left luggage"

and got something that said they have lockers and a counter in railway station (presumably airport station). Dug a bit deeper and got this


"CFF railway station arcade, beside the CFF/SBB counter.
CHF 10.- per day and per baggage
maximum dimensions: 1.2m x 0,8m x 1m (excepted bikes, skis, surfs and snowboards: 2.75m)
maximum weight per baggage: 25 kg
maximum duration: 1 month"


So that's nearly £8 per day.

[mjr]

https://www.nannybag.com/en/luggage-storage/geneva at €4 + €6/day will work out cheaper for longer stays but still not cheap.

[Racingt]

Thanks for the nanny bag link! Brilliant solution, I’ve been troubled by this for some time.

[Nhammy]

Thanks for your responses and advice. I’m increasingly thinking this isn’t a great option. Having looked at the brilliant Man in Seat 61 website - https://www.seat61.com/bike-by-train.htm - it seems it’s possible (if ridiculously unstraightforward) to do the journey by train with a fully assembled bike. Which also has the advantage of being able to plan a linear route (as long as it ends at a station) without having to worry about getting back to Geneva

[NatGoodden]

Just a quick thought, if you do decide to go by train instead. A couple of years ago, trying to get from Geneva to Paris by train with a regular (non-folding) bike (so I could then jump on Eurostar), I found bike spaces booked solid for days. But then found that there's an alternative route to Paris from Lausanne, half a day's ride from Geneva, which was magically un-booked-up (Lausanne also has a much better campsite); worth considering too. Good luck!

[monxton]

Assuming you're talking about the TGV Lyria train services from Paris to various destinations in Switzerland, then as of December 2017 they no longer accept fully-assembled bicycles. You can use their services, but you have to carry your bike in a bag max 120 x 90cm.