Hi David,

Free parking in Geneva is practically nonexistent.  I strongly suggest to rent a place to park in your building if you want to bring your car. 

Most likely, the building management (the Régie) will complain if you park both your car and your motorbike on your private parking spot.  Perhaps you should consider instead finding a garage large enough to accommodate both. 

It is possible to park a motorbike in the street (inside the appropriate parking space for motorcycles) for free (for now!). 

Thanks for all the comments.

There is lots of information online about the parking of cars just not a lot on motorcycles. Thanks TheOmegaMan for that info about free motorbike parking.

Maybe the local parking garage will have a reduced fare for motorcycles? We will be posted for three years so I don't want to be parted from my motorcycle for that long and my wife only drives a car. I know it seems terribly North American to be considering bringing so many oil-eating gadgets but I can't live without motorcycling.

No need to apologize for bringing a bike - they are one of life's essentials and they're mostly quite "green".  It's also a great way to get around Geneva, which is a very bike friendly place.

If you don't mind keeping your bike outside you will have no problems with parking.  There are lots of designated bike parking spots, but you can also legally park on pavements (i.e. sidewalks) or anywhere else that there is space, as long as you're not in anyone's way.  It'll be clear how it works when you get here.

Car parks usually allow bikes to bypass the barrier and park free, but some don't allow them in at all, so it's worth checking. 

Good luck!

Andy

I was going thru the same when moving here. I brought my car a couple of months after moving in, so I was able to check my area and the parking availabilities. Decided there was no way I would leave my new car out in the open, so I ended up renting an underground garage. Homegate should help you as well:

http://www.homegate.ch/rent/parking-place-garage/switzerland?tid=16

Just search the area where you will live, if you know that already... There are usually several availabilities at least in the city area, most apartment buildings have underground garages and open for rent to anyone. Some need you to be living in the building, some don't. That should be mentioned in the listings in Homegate. You will propably need to rent via an agency, as I did. So being here physically helped, as I needed to visit the agency and sign a whole bunch of papers.

A lot of the people in my garage have a motorcycle (scooters mostly) AND a car in the same spot. My car is big, so I would have no space for a motorcycle. Check this with the agency and go see the garage.

All in all it was a bit of a hassle getting the garage, but I right now I could not be happier. Getting a spot on the street is difficult at best, even though if you have a permit (macaron). There's simply too many cars in Geneva. Also, people park REALLY close to each other, so getting out might be impossible at times. The French also tend to bumb other cars when forcing in or out of a parking spot...

Summa summarum: get a garage.

"but you can also legally park on pavements (i.e. sidewalks) or anywhere else that there is space, as long as you're not in anyone's way."

If you are talking about a motorbike (as the original poster was), it'clearly illegal to park on the pavements. Even though the police are quite lax, and usually let it pass, it doesn't change the rules.

According to http://www.ville-geneve.ch/themes/mobilite/velos/circuler-velo/stationnement/stationner-trottoir/ :

"Les scooters et motos qui stationnent sur le trottoir sont amendables."

Now you've got me worried that my motorbike will be "amended".

The fact is that it is allowed, as it is in many European countries, as long as you are not in anyone's way. 

One could argue that it is de facto legal; based on the common principle that civil laws which are routinely not enforced become legally unenforceable.

Do you have actual examples: location, type of bike etc?

I suppose I will have to choose a neighbourhood first. 

My wife's job will be near the UN so we were thinking the Paquis area.

We will want to be downtown but I was reading that the majority of the Old Town is pedestrian. Sounds great but since we will be bringing a car I imagine it would get a bit annoying. 

We probably want to stay on the North side of the river for convenience for my wife's work.

I've been doing research about the neighbourhoods in that area but there really is not that much info online. Any recommendations for streets or neighbourhoods? We are young (33) professionals with no kids and we like coffee, drinks, and eating out!

Hi David,

I know you said your wife has a car and you have your motorcycle but just remember that Geneva is small. The public transports system 9 times out of 10 is wonderful. It cost CHF70 per month for a monthly pass which is valid on all public transport in the Geneva area. If you take a train further out you will need to add-on a small amount but it's by no means costly.

Personally, I wouldn't live in Paquis, yes it is the hub but it can be quite frustrating and noisy there. One or two streets in either direction can vastly improve the quality of life. If your wife is based in the UN then there are tons of areas to consider which will be easy for her to commute while still being 10-20 mins from centre ville walking or tram or bus. Being on the North side (Rive Droit) you have areas of Servette, les Grottes, St Jean, Nations/Bude further out (10 mins) Grand Sacconnex, Petit Sacconnex. On the south side (Rive Gauche) you have Rive, Eaux Vives, Plainpalais, Charmilles, Grange Canal, Carouge all really accessible to the UN via Bus No. 8 or a short tram ride. Here is the website of the public Transport system in Geneva http://www.tpg.ch/fr//horaires/rechercher?p_p_id=PlansReseaux_WAR_PlansReseauxportlet&p_p_lifecycle=0&p_p_state=normal&p_p_mode=view

FYI if your wife is working at the UN and she chooses to to park there (parking is normally difficult to get /first come first served inside the UN with a UN parking sticker). There is public parking called Nations which for a monthly fee you can get discounted parking right in front of the Palais des Nations under place des nations, it's safe and maintained. Hope this helps.

BCRover

Hi David, I can't give advice on parking, but being around your age and also child free Paquis is great! I'd recommend the end further away from the train station, it is a little bit nicer. You can also look at the surrounding areas like Secheron. Personally I like being close to the lake as I run and it is nice to run by the lake rather than on roads, hence part of why I like Paquis, and the convenience of restaurants, bars and work (I'm also in the UN area). Depends on what you are after, there are plenty of other areas to consider but I can't see myself moving far from Paquis!