Drive To Geneva From Paris
 

Is it a good idea to drive to Geneva from Paris the first part of December? I only have one day to spare to do this. Is it doable and worth the scenic drive, that I am expecting?

The cheapest way might be an easyjet flight if you book now... but it will be time consuming in getting to the airport and so on...
You can also go by train, by TGV train, it is certainly a lot safer and faster (approx 3 hours).
Would you have to rent a car for that trip? That would make it really expensive, especially with the highway taxes.
Scenic... I don't know what you are expecting, but it isn't a scenic route. Furthermore, traffic will or should ask all your attention...

If one wants to go from Geneva to Paris, the first thought is to take the TGV train, the second would be an easyjet flight. Hardly ever one would think of doing it by car...

This is one of the great road routes of Europe - but is close to a complete waste of time if you try to drive it in a day, especially in early winter.

As baldrick says, it's not very scenic. There are detours you can take that are pretty scenic - but most of the Alpine drama is south of Geneva and the detours are practically undoable during the limited daylight available in December.

Similarly for the other glories of the road route: the food of the Lyons area, the Burgundy vineyards, the glorious architecture of Burgundy. They all take time to detour and take in - but in a December day, you just won't have that time. All you'll see is an unlovely motorway, chocked solid with 40 ft lorries bringing cheap clothes back from Eastern Europe.

From the train, the view is pleasant-ish. Far, far nicer than what you'll see from a car - and at least you can read a few good books.

I enjoy driving, but if you're in a hurry, this is a route to take the train.

Thanks all. I am going to be in Paris for three days and wanted to see if I can take in another city. The first cities that came to my mind were Geneva and Amsterdam. I will look at the train or flight for Geneva. Looks like it is a bad idea to drive to Geneva. What about Amsterdam? Same dilemma?

In case you do decide to drive from Geneva to Paris, let me pass along a tip that another Fodorite gave me recently, and which I made use of last week.

The Geneva Airport has ticket counters and rental car offices in both Switzerland and France. So, if you're visiting Geneva, but wish to rent a car and drive into France, you can go to the airport in Switzerland, walk through a little secured door into France, and then rent a car on the French side of the airport. That way, you save the international drop-off surcharge, which in my case was going to be something like 600 Euros.

That said... it seems like with only one day to get away to another city and back again, it might make sense just to find something that you haven't done yet in Paris, no? Or close to Paris -- I just went to Versailles for the first time, and was totally blown away.

Neither trip is exciting by auto. But they might give you a bit of frustration, especially the drive to Amsterdam.

By train, city center to city center:
Paris to Amsterdam 4h11m.
Paris to Geneva 3h35m.

Amsterdam is FAR more interesting.

What about the Eurostar to London?

Paris to London 1h34m
London to Paris 3h51m

??What??!! Different time zones.

I would also vote Amsterdam a *much* more interesting city than Geneva. But I think either one is too much if you are talking about a round-trip and returning to Paris in only 1 day.

Why oh why oh why would you cut short time in Paris? Have you been there many times before?

Yep, Susan's question is the first question to ask... Why cut short time in Paris???