Local Information

PASCO 2010 will take place in the city of Grenoble, France. Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère, with about 157,000 inhabitants — 550,000 taking into account the metropolitan area. It is located in a valley surrounded by nearby mountains (the Chartreuse Mountains to the north, the Belledonne range to the east, and the Vercors Plateau to the west and south) that make Grenoble known as being the "Capital of Alps".

For touristic and practical information about Grenoble, please visit the following websites: Grenoble Tourism Office (in English and French), Isère Tourism Office (in English, French, and Dutch), and the city official website (in French).

Conference site

The conference will be hosted by Grenoble University. PASCO 2010 conference and the Programming Contest will take place at Ensimag:

Ensimag — Amphithéâtre E
681 Rue de la Passerelle
Domaine Universitaire
Saint-Martin-d'Hères, France

The easiest way to reach Ensimag from downtown is by tramway. Ensimag — Amphithéâtre E lies between the stations Gabriel Fauré and Bibliothèques Universitaires of the line B (see map and time table).

Unfortunately, engineering works are planned during the period of the conference and a bus replaces the tramway in part of the journey. This map shows the area affected by the works.

From the main train station (Gares station), take the bus called Navette Travaux. The buses and its stations are indicated by blue totems with the logo . Take the bus direction Verdun-Préfecture and get down at the terminus (Verdun-Préfecture station) — this bus also stops at Docteur Mazet and Victor Hugo stations. From this station, there are two alternatives:

Walk from Verdun-Préfecture to Sainte Claire-Les Halles station and then take the tramway, line B direction Gières – Plaine des Sports. Walking distance is about 5 minutes (450m), see the map for more information. This is the fastest and recommended option.
To avoid walking, take the bus line 31 (at the bus station located at Rue Lesdiguières street) direction MEYLAN Maupertuis and get down at Île Verte station. Then take the tramway line B direction Gières – Plaine des Sports.

From downtown, the easier option is to walk to Sainte Claire-Les Halles station and then take the tramway line B direction Gières – Plaine des Sports. Walking distance to this station is about 3 minutes from place Grenette and 7 minutes from Victor Hugo station.

The tickets must be bought in advance in one of the vending machines available in every tramway station. The same ticket can be used on both buses and tramways and are valid for one hour.

Accommodations

We have compiled a list of hotels and student accommodations in Grenoble.

How to reach Grenoble

By plane:

The town is served by two airports: Lyon Saint-Exupéry (100km from Grenoble) and Grenoble-Isère (45km from Grenoble).

From Lyon Saint-Exupéry airport (LYS), take the Faure Vercors airport shuttle. The ticket must be bought in advance at the company's desk at the airport or online. The timetable is available online.
From Grenoble-Isère airport (GNB), take the Grenoble Altitude airport shuttle. Their timetable reflects the timetable of the airport and there is one bus for each arrival at the airport. Tickets can be bought on the bus or in advance online.

You may also consider coming from:

Geneva Airport (157km from Grenoble). A shuttle service to Grenoble is provided by VFD. Tickets must be bought at the Accueil France desk at the airport or online. Please remind that Geneva Airport is in Switzerland and different documentation and visa requirements may apply.

By train:

Grenoble is served by two train stations: Grenoble and Grenoble-Universités-Gières. Several high-speed trains (TGV) connect Grenoble to Paris, Lille and Nantes. Regional trains (TER) connect Grenoble to several French cities. For more information about the trains, timetables and tickets, please refer to the French National Railways website.

By car:

Take one of the following highways:

A41, from Geneva (via Chambery)
A46, from Lyon
A49, from Valence
A51, from Aix-en-Provence or Sisteron

Map

Going to ISSAC after PASCO?

ISSAC 2010 will take place at the Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany, right after PASCO (July 25 - 28, 2010). If you are planning to go to ISSAC, there are daily direct flights to Munich departing from Lyon Saint-Exupéry and Geneva airports.

Tip: even if you are not coming back to Lyon after ISSAC, sometimes round-trip or multi-city flights are cheaper than one-way flights.