CERN is located a few kilometers north-west of Geneva, at the border between Switzerland and France. This Google map (click on it) highlights all points of interest discussed below.
Reaching CERN:
Reaching CERN from Geneva airport:
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By public bus: bus Y runs every 30 or 60 minutes from the airport directly to CERN, in about 20 min. Other connections are also possible. See the route planner (input From: 'Geneva airport', To: 'CERN').
Notice 1: take the bus towards 'Thoiry' (not 'Ferney-Mairie'!), find its stop on the departure-level plaza, to the left behind a building: see the pointer in the Google map above.
Notice 2: pick up a free bus ticket from the machine in the baggage delivery hall (see Note below). - By bus+tram: at the airport, take one of the bus lines that stop at Blandonnet (bus 23, 57, 28, and even Y), get off at Blandonnet, take the elevator up to the tram platform and take tram 18 towards CERN.
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By the free CERN airport Shuttle: see the schedule and information.
Notice 1: find its stop on the departure-level plaza in front of Door 4, see the pointer in the Google map above.
Notice 2: in principle you should already hold a CERN access card to be allowed to board the shuttle, but (if you don't have one yet) you can ask the driver to be left outside CERN's gates. [If, by mistake, you enter CERN campus on board the shuttle, you will be left at the shuttle stop in front of Bdg. 500 (see map): you will have to head back to the normal entry points: the Reception (Bdg. 33) or Entrance B: see the Access instructions below.] - By taxi: it should cost around 40 CHF and take 15/20 min.
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By tram: board tram 18 at the Cornavin train station downtown and get off at the terminus (CERN).
Notice: if staying in a downtown hotel, ask for the 'Geneva Transport Card' (see Note below). - [From other points in dowtown Geneva] By tram + bus: board tram 16 or 14 downtown and get off at Jardin Alpin (three stops before the terminus). Then take tram 18 to CERN.
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Get directions here. CERN's address is 385 Route de Meyrin, Genève, Switzerland.
Lat: 46.233058, Long: 6.055692.
Note: public transport tickets in Geneva: every visitor staying at a hotel in Geneva is entitled to a free 'Geneva Transport Card', which allows for unlimited travel on the bus and tram system of the city: ask for it at the hotel desk.
The airport offers to all arriving passengers a free "Tout Geneve" ticket, which is valid for 80 minutes, available from the automatic ticket machine situated in the baggage reclaim zone.
Access into CERN campus:
Every participant was given a CERN access card. Your access inside the CERN campus and the way to obtain the access card depended on when you arrived.
- If you arrived on a weekeday between 08h15 and 17h45: you had to go to CERN Reception (Bdg.33), indicate to the receptionist that you were attending the DMUH11 Institute in the Theory Division, and he/she let you through. You passes the glass doors and followes the black line on the floor until you went through the Building 4 of the Theory Division (you can read the building number on most doors; a good trick was knowing that Bdg. 4 ends when the black line takes a sharp right turn).
- If you arrived on a weekday in the evening (from 17h45 to 01h00am) or on a weekend day and you had a reservation at the Hostel: you had to go to Entrance B (the Main Entrance), indicate to the security guard that you were attending the DMUH11 Institute in the Theory Division, and he/she let you through and direct you to the Hostel.
- If you arrived during the night (from 01h00am to 08h00am) and you had a reservation at the Hostel: you had to go to Entrance B (= Main Entrance), indicate to the security guard that you were attending the DMUH11 Institute in the Theory Division, and he/she gave you the keys to your room in the Hostel. The key was valid to go in and out of campus, but only until the next morning, when you had to do the proper check-in at the Hostel reception.
Registration and CERN access card:
Upon arrival, you please had to go to see the Theory Division Secretariat. It's located in Building 4, second floor (room 4-2-004, see the map above or this map). The secretaries welcomed you and gave you instructions on how to obtain the access card.
The access card was needed to get in and out of campus, to open some of the doors to the offices and for the payment by CERN (if you received money from us).
To obtain the access card you had to visit the Registration Services, located in Bdg. 55.
Offices: Most of the participants could sit in offices in the Theory Division buildings (4, 53, 58). Some had to sit in new rooms in building 52, some in a collective 'burotel' in bdg 510. Some of the participants knew that unfortunately we could not provide a desk to them: they were able to sit e.g. in the library (if desks were available, please giving priority to library users) or the canteen. All these buildings are pointed at in the map above.
A list of occupancies and internal phone numbers was available at the secretariat.
Visa: Based on your nationality, you may have needed a visa: see here for the conditions concerning Switzerland and here for France. A visa to Switzerland was enough if you came to CERN and/or stay in Geneva hotels. A visa to France was necessary if your hotel was located across the border. In any case, you please had to tick the box in the registration form. You were contacted by the secretariat.
Health Insurance: In view of the extremely high cost of health care in Geneva, we strongly recommended that all participants ensured that they have health insurance including in the the event of professional or illness cover valid for Switzerland for the duration of their stay, covering illness and accidents. This is a standard requirement for all visitors to CERN. You please had to make sure that you had brought with you proof of this (a card or attestation/contract).
