Lift07 practical information

When

2007, February 7, 8 and 9 (that would be Wednesday to Friday)

Where

The Wednesday workshops will be held at the University of Geneva, Unimail building, boulevard du Pont-d'Arve 40.

On Thursdy and Friday, the conference will be held at the International Conference Center (CICG) of Geneva, Switzerland. Ranked number one in the 2005 Mercer World-wide quality of life survey, Geneva is the city where the web was invented by Tim Berners-Lee 12 years ago.

Here are a few pictures of the CICG:

How to come to the conference center

The center address is
CICG
17 rue de Varembé
tel. +41 (0)22 791 91 11
fax +41 (0)22 791 90 64

To come with the public transports (TPG):

Take tram 13 or 15, direction Nations and get out at the last stop.

Take bus number 8 and get out at Appia UIT (it’s much closer).

Take bus number 5 and get out at Varembé.

For maps try map.search.ch.

Laurent told me tonight that it’s quite possible to walk from hotels in the area of the main railway station to the CICG. this map of Geneva showing pedestrian times might help; Laurent’s instructions were to simply follow the tram line.

Fondue

Edelweiss Restaurant
2, place de la Navigation
1201 Geneva
Tel : +41 22-544 51 51

Bains des paquis
Quai du Mont-Blanc 30
1201 Geneva
Tél : +41 22 732 29 74

Maps of Geneva

How to get to Geneva

From Switzerland: you would be crazy not to take the train, but if you persist get a map.

From France: try the TGV (click here to book your trip with the SNCF) or try to catch a plane if you come from Paris (click here to see a timetable of flights from Paris to Switzerland).

From Europe: we have a great airport in Geneva so you should easily find reasonably priced tickets from Easyjet, Swiss, Air France, British Airways, Fly Baboo, Virgin Express or any other airline.

You might also want to check the online travel agencies to have an overview of the available flights: eBookers, STA, Carlson Wagonlit and all the others.

For a complete schedule of flights going to/leaving from Geneva check the airport's page. This might be a good start to check who is flying to your place and then book your ticket directly from the airline.

Where to sleep

To connect to Geneva’s official hotel booking system and get negociated prices, click here. Another good way to get discounted prices is to go through GTA Hotels. The hotels listed below are cool choices to be close to the conference. The prices shown are estimates.

Currency note: As of Nov. 1, 2005, 1CFH = $0.8US = 0.61 euro

Youth hostel

City Hostel

1 Bed in a 3 bed dormitory CHF 28.00 (US$ 23.93 / € 18.42)

1 Bed room (single) with tv(CHF 63.00 (US$ 53.85 / € 41.4)

1 star hotels
Hotel St Gervais (95CHF)

Hotel Cloche (unknown price but nice situation)

2 stars hotels

Hotel Bernina (From 140CHF, in front of the Train Station)

3 stars hotels

Hotel Capitole (from 169CHF, free WIFI)

Hotel Admiral (from 149CHF, free WIFI) - transit | placemark

Hotel Cristal (156CHF, WIFI)

Hotel Eden (180CHF, WIFI but not sure it is free)

Hotel Strasbourg & Univers (150CHF, WIFI but not free)

Hotel Suisse (155CHF single, 195CHF double, WIFI but not free)

4 stars hotels

Hotel Cornavin

Hotel Tiffany

Hotel Novotel

Royal Manotel Hotel Geneva

5 stars hotels

Hotel Intercontinental (from 270CHF, WIFI but not free, 5 minutes from the Conference Center)

More hotels on the Geneva Wikipedia page.

What to do before the event

There will probably be some events organized by and for all those coming to the conf early. Watch this space for more information. By the way, did you check the workshops on Wednesday?

What to do after

Ski. You can not escape it. Here are some links to the greatest ski slopes around:

in Switzerland:

Les Diablerets, with its Glacier.

Verbier, nothing more to be said...

Villars, Nice and Cosy.

Crans-Montana, Glamorous and Sunny

in France:

La Clusaz, a 45 minutes car drive from Geneva. Be sure to eat at L'Arbé, one of our all-time favorite.
Chamonix, maybe the greatest ski of your life.

and for the Jet-Setter in you:

Courchevel and Megeve.

Travel info: To get there, you can either use the train, or the Bus.

Weather