Yahoo News Geneva Motor Show 2017 – what is it, when is it, and how to get there?
The Geneva Motor Show is one of the biggest events in the European automotive calendar. Held every year in March, it gives manufacturers an opportunity to reveal their latest creations to the world, and it gives us a chance to glimpse these exciting new cars before driving them later in the year.
It takes place in Palexpo, a colossal convention centre close to Geneva airport. The site is around 500m south-east of Switzerland's border with France, on the other side of the runway. It's organised by the Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d'Automobiles (OICA), which is responsible for a number of high-profile auto shows around the globe, and is more than a century old.
Visiting the Geneva Motor Show 2017
The Geneva Motor Show is open to the public from the 9th to the 19th of March 2017. During the week, the show is open from 10am until 8pm, and on the weekend this is brought forward to 9am and 7pm (Switzerland uses Central European Time (CET) which is an hour ahead of Greenwich Mean time).
Switzerland also uses Swiss francs (CHF), which at the time of writing (February 27) 1 franc is worth 80p, or 94 euro cents. Entry to the show costs CHF 16 for adults, CHF 9 for children aged six to 16, pensioners and disabled visitors, and CHF 11 if you buy for a group of 20 people or more.
Ticket prices are halved after 4pm on the day. For more, visit the official website here.
Geneva's tourist board, Geneva Live, offers competitively-priced packages for motor show visitors that includes tickets to the event as well as hotel accommodation. For more information, visit the website here.
Getting to Geneva
The show's proximity to the airport makes it easy to access from the UK, with flights taking under two hours from London airports. Driving is more interesting, but allow for a realistic journey time of 12 hours. Note that everything is extremely expensive in Switzerland, including parking.
Given how popular the Geneva Motor Show is every year, it's worth booking well in advance for accommodation. The 'best' hotels will already be fully booked, so consider staying over the border in France. If you plan on driving into Geneva on the day of the show, allow an extra two hours. Details of local public transport can be found here.
What's on at the Geneva Motor Show 2017
As always, we already know a lot about what to expect, but there will inevitably be surprises waiting to be revealed. There are the usual suspects – fashionable superminis, bloated SUVs, preposterous hypercars and dubious concepts – but this year there are some particular areas to watch out for: the British contingent has some strong entries, the return of Alpine promises to get heads turning, and the new Honda Civic Type R looks better than ever.
We'll be updating this page as we learn more, adding to it all the latest details and photographs of what to expect. You can also keep up-to-date with the latest Geneva Motor Show news on our dedicated page here.
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