How to Get to Geneva & Get Around: Airport, Cornavin, TPG & Léman Express

Few European cities connect air, rail, tram, and boat travel as compactly as Geneva. Because the international airport sits only 4 kilometres northwest of the city centre and all major Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS) trains pass through Gare de Genève-Cornavin on their way to the airport terminal, you can step off a plane and reach the harbour quays in under fifteen minutes. Use this guide alongside our Geneva travel guide and where to stay in Geneva to plan smooth transfers.

Within the canton, every mode of public transport, from urban trams and electric trolleybuses to the yellow-and-red harbour water taxis and underground cross-border commuter trains, operates under a single integrated tariff system. Once you understand how Unireso Zone 10 works, moving between the right-bank diplomatic avenues, the hilltop Old Town, and the suburbs of Carouge and Meyrin becomes completely straightforward, allowing you to follow our 3-day Geneva itinerary without ever needing a taxi or rental car.

Arriving by Air at Geneva Airport (GVA) in Cointrin

Approved by the Grand Council of Geneva on 11 October 1919 as a 54-hectare grass airfield at Cointrin in the municipalities of Meyrin and Le Grand-Saconnex, where the first 405-by-21-metre concrete runway opened in 1937 and the first terminal building (now winter charter Terminal 2) opened in 1946, Geneva Airport (IATA: GVA) runs directly along the Swiss-French border and passed 15 million annual passengers in December 2014. Today Main Terminal 1 (divided into piers A, B, C, D, and the French-sector Pier F) serves as a primary operating base for Swiss International Air Lines and easyJet Switzerland.

Because the northern perimeter fence of the single main runway touches French territory, the airport incorporates both a Swiss sector and a dedicated French sector giving road access toward the Pays de Gex and Haute-Savoie. For travellers heading into Geneva, follow signs from baggage reclaim to the underground Genève-Aéroport railway station. Every long-distance SBB InterCity and InterRegio train departing the airport stops directly at Gare de Genève-Cornavin in the city centre just six to seven minutes later, while TPG trolleybus line 10 and urban buses also link the terminal forecourt with central neighbourhoods.

Gare de Genève-Cornavin and High-Speed Rail Links

Gare de Genève-Cornavin on the right bank is Switzerland's third-busiest train station after Zurich HB and Bern, handling an average of 156,000 passengers per working day in 2022 and more than 720 daily train departures across eight through-platforms. Stepping out of the main station hall onto Place de Cornavin puts you at the central interchange for urban trams and buses and within a short walk down Rue du Mont-Blanc to the lakefront and the Bains des Pâquis.

Platforms 6 and 7 inside Cornavin feature dedicated French and Swiss border controls for TGV Lyria high-speed trains to Paris-Gare de Lyon (running every two hours via Bellegarde and Bourg-en-Bresse) and seasonal services to Marseille, as well as French TER regional trains to Lyon-Part-Dieu, Annecy, and Chambéry. Domestic SBB InterCity and InterRegio trains run hourly or half-hourly east along the northern arc of Lake Geneva to Lausanne and Montreux and onward to Bern, Lucerne, Zürich HB, St. Gallen, and Brig, complemented by four daily EuroCity trains through the Simplon route to Milano Centrale.

TPG Trams, Trolleybuses, and Key Visitor Routes

Transports publics genevois (TPG, established as an autonomous public corporation on 1 January 1977 to succeed the 1900 Geneva Electric Tramway Company) operates five tram lines covering 55.91 kilometres and 135 stops, six electric trolleybus lines (routes 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, and 19), and a dense urban and cross-border bus network reaching neighbouring French communes. Tickets must be validated or purchased at the stop vending machines or via the official mobile app before boarding, as all trams and buses operate on a proof-of-payment inspection system.

Three tram lines cover almost every major landmark in the canton: tram 12 (a historic electric tram route running through the Rues Basses, Place de Neuve, Plainpalais, and across the Arve into Carouge), tram 15 (linking Plainpalais and Gare de Genève-Cornavin directly to Place des Nations), and tram 18 (connecting Carouge, Plainpalais, and Cornavin with the CERN Science Gateway in Meyrin). To reach the crest of the Vieille Ville without climbing the steep stairways, electric shuttle bus 36 loops up from Place de Neuve and the Rues Basses through the Old Town lanes.

For pedestrians and cyclists, Geneva complements its tram and ferry network with continuous lakeside paths, dedicated cycle lanes along the Rhône embankments, and footbridges linking both shores. Walking from Gare de Genève-Cornavin down Rue du Mont-Blanc to Pont du Mont-Blanc takes less than ten minutes, and from the bridge you can continue on level waterside promenades either northeast past the Bains des Pâquis toward Parc Mon Repos or southeast through the Jardin Anglais toward the Jet d'Eau and Parc La Grange.

When crossing between the Left Bank commercial streets and the Right Bank hotel quarter, boarding one of the yellow Mouettes Genevoises launches turns a routine transit hop into a scenic harbour cruise at no extra cost beyond your standard Unireso Zone 10 ticket or hotel transport card. Clear digital departure boards at every tram stop and pier show real-time waiting minutes across the entire cantonal network.

Mouettes Genevoises Water Taxis and the Léman Express

• Unireso Zone 10 (Tout Genève): A single Zone 10 ticket or day pass covers all TPG trams, trolleybuses, and buses within the Canton of Geneva, the airport rail link to Cornavin, regional trains inside the canton, and the harbour water taxis; visitors staying at registered hotels, hostels, or campsites in the canton also receive a digital Geneva Transport Card valid on Zone 10 transit for the duration of their stay.
• Mouettes Genevoises harbour ferries: Founded in 1897, the four yellow-and-red water bus lines cross the Rade harbour continuously: M1 (Pâquis to Molard), M2 (Pâquis to Quai Gustave-Ador/Eaux-Vives), M3 (Pâquis to Genève-Plage), and M4 (Genève-Plage to De-Chateaubriand).
• Léman Express cross-border rail: Launched on 15 December 2019 via the underground Cornavin to Eaux-Vives to Annemasse (CEVA) tunnel, the 230-kilometre, seven-line Léman Express commuter network carried 70,000 daily passengers by 2022 and links Cornavin with Genève-Sécheron, Champel, Eaux-Vives, Coppet, and French stations in Haute-Savoie.