Evian les Bains to Grenoble
 

We are taking our adult daughter to Grenoble to visit the sites of her birth, baptism, and first home: she was born during my husband's college year abroad forty years ago, and none of us has been back to Grenoble since, so this is an emotional and sentimental trip. We are staying in Evian les Bains. We have the plan of only spending one day in Grenoble. Would we be better to take the train, hire a taxi and walk the city, take a bus, rent a car, or see if we can find a driver for a full day with the driver picking us up in Evian, taking us around Grenoble, and driving us back to Evian .

I am leaning toward finding a driver to hire for the day but have had no success looking. I also tried asking our hotel for assistance but none received yet.

Any suggestions on which is the best choice and also, if a driver, how to go about finding one. Thank you for any thoughts any of you might have.

Why not just renting a car ? This will be the cheapest and simplest way.
Note that downtown Grenoble you have a nice tramway network. Very easy, cheap and convenient.
Enjoy your trip :)

Taking the train could be an easy option. The cheapest and funniest one could be to try the Blablacar car pooling system, with which a local will get a little money by sharing his/her car with a number of people. You'll need to speak at least some French to handle it, though.

Thank you all. The rental or the Blablacar system sound the best. Train is four hours each way! I'm looking into Blablacar. Never heard of it, but hubby is fluent in French. Thank you again.

I have nothing factual to add apart from to say this is a lovely trip :) Have fun :)

@kaija: if you're visiting between 8 July and 3 September 2017, you can enjoy a 40% off discount if you travel in a group of 2 to 5 people on the TER regional train with a 'illico PROMO VACANCES' ticket, which can be purchased online or via the app. For details, visit the TER Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes website: https://www.ter.sncf.com/auvergne-rh...promo-vacances (webpage in French)

After 3 September 2017, a similar offer is available if you travel by TER regional train on a Saturday: https://www.ter.sncf.com/auvergne-rh...o-promo-samedi

I'd suggest spending at least one night in Gernoble, in order to see it at night and have a dine leisurely dinner there. Visiting just as a day trip would give less of a feel for the place IMO.

I remember arriving by rental car late at night and checking in to a nice local hotel downtown on a square. It was fun to wake up the next morning and see an amazing mountain view from my window.

I'm not much of a fan of renting a car for use "in" Grenoble; the roads really can't handle the traffic they get in the center of town; you'll be doing a lot more driving/navigating than seeing/getting somewhere. And you don't need to! Grenoble's tram system is excellent, and if you're staying near the main train station, there are many places to eat and enjoy breakfast within walking distance.

But without knowing what you'd like to see, it's tough to really know what's best. If your areas of interest are on the outskirts of town, then a rental car is likely best. I would recommend making sure it has a navigation system, or that you've got a good roaming plan for your smartphone. Either will work well.

If you haven't been to France in ages, and you're taking the train, keep in mind that the trains themselves are very nice, but the train stations themselves not so much. Do not pay any attention to anyone asking you to sign a petition for anything. It may seem cruel to ignore kids who look like they're trying to do something to make the world better, but trust me, nobody legit is doing such things in train stations. I've been doing yearly trips to France since 2000, and what they continue to allow to go on in train stations still puzzles me.