General information about Grenoble

Grenoble, known as the “Capital of the Alps”, lies in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère.

Grenoble was well known in the 18th and 19th centuries for its glove industry. Because of its location near the Alps, hydropower industry participated to its development in the late 19th to early 20th centuries. Grenoble hosted the X Olympic Winter Games in 1968. The city is now a significant scientific centre in Europe, with an estimated 50 000 students. Grenoble is also well known as a large scientific center (nanotechnologies, computer science, physic) with more than 20 000 people related to research activities (11 800 academics and 7 500 in private research), 3 400 PhD students and interns, 450 patents per year, and 220 public research laboratories.

The climate at end of March is ranging on average from a minimum of 4.4°C to a maximum of 15.3°C (Meteo France). At the period of time planned for ECIR 2018, several ski resorts in a 1h30 range are still open.

A three minutes video about Grenoble is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpcvPHHmchs

Conference Venue

The conference will be held in Minatec, located near the city centre of Grenoble.
Minatec is accesible with the Tram b.
Here is the link to the bus and tram website of Grenoble : https://www.tag.fr/

Travel Information

Grenoble can be easily accessed by car, train or plane, as detailed below.

CAR

At the heart of the first motorway network in France, Grenoble is particularly easy to access:

  • From Valence: 80km (A49)
  • From Lyon: 100km (A48)
  • From Geneva: 120km (A41)
  • From Marseille: 300km (A7)

TRAIN

Several daily connections by TGV (high speed train) or intercity train to Paris (7 direct TGV trains per day in 3 hours), Lyon, Marseille, Lille, Brussels, Köln, Geneva… http://www.sncf.com

PLANE

Grenoble is accessible from 3 airports:

  • Lyon St Exupery airport is only 55 minutes away from Grenoble city centre. With 33 regular national daily flights, this is the second airport after Paris (http://www.lyon.aeroport.fr). Shuttles between Lyon airport and Grenoble station run every 30-60 minutes for 40€ return (http://www.faurevercors.fr).
  • Geneva/Cointrin airport is a 2-hour drive from Grenoble. It has an extensive network of 142 direct destinations, 23 of which are intercontinental. Five direct shuttle transfers operate daily from the Grenoble coach station (http://www.gva.ch/fr-info@gva).

Accommodation

Grenoble provides a large variety of hotels located in Grenoble city-center and closer to the conference location (10 min. tram / 15 min. walk from MINATEC). More than 7 hotels in the city center with a price ranging from 70 to 110 euros, more than 7 hotels in the city with a price ranging from 110 to 200 euros. Two low-cost hotels (“Formule 1” around 30 euros per night for 3 persons, and “Première Classe” at 31 euros per night for 3 persons) are located on the campus and provide access to MINATEC by tram. The University entity CROUS proposes student housing (Résidence Galilée, in the center of Grenoble, 300m from the tram line to MINATEC) for 43,50 euros/night per person.

Hotels/housing below 70,00 € per night

  • Hotel Formule 1 – Rue de la Condamine – Quartier de la Mayencin – 38610 Gières – +33 8 91 70 52 60 – Website
  • Hotel Première Classe – ZI Mayencin – 4 Allée de PAlestine – 38610 Gières – +33 4 76 42 31 71 – Website
  • Résidence Galilée (University housing) – 6 Place Pasteur – 38 031 Grenoble Cedex 01 – +33 4 76 94 32 51 – Website

Hotels between 70,00 € and 110,00 € per night

  • OKKO Hotel ★★★★ – 23 rue Hoche 38000 Grenoble – +33 7 78 41 84 69 – Website
  • Hôtel Splendid ★★ – 22 rue Thiers 38000 Grenoble – +33 4 76 46 33 12 – Website
  • Hôtel de l’Europe ★★ – 22 place Grenette 38000 Grenoble – +33 4 76 46 16 94 – Website
  • Aparthotel Adagio Grenoble Berthelot ★★★ – 13-15 avenue M. Berthelot 38100 Grenoble – +33 4 76 28 10 00 – Website
  • Park&Suites Grenoble Europole ★★★ – 25, avenue Doyen Louis Weil 38100 Grenoble – +33 4 76 69 60 60 – Website
  • Residhotel Central Gare – 8 Place de la Gare 38000 Grenoble – +33 4 76 50 77 88 – Website
  • ResidHotel Grenette – 12 Rue de palanka 38000 Grenoble – +33 4 76 94 45 45 – Website

Hotels between 110,00 € and 200,00 € per night

  • Citadines City Centre Grenoble ★★★ – 9-11, rue de Strasbourg – 38000 Grenoble – +33 4 76 15 02 00 – Website
  • Hipark Residence ★★★ – 6 rue Auguste Genin 38000 Grenoble – +33 4 76 39 20 00 – Website
  • Hôtel Europole ★★★ – 29 Rue Pierre Semard 38000 Grenoble – +33 4 76 49 51 52 – Website
  • Hôtel d’Angleterre ★★★ – 5 place Victor Hugo 38000 Grenoble – +33 4 76 87 37 21 – Website
  • Park Hôtel ★★★★ – 10 place Paul Mistral 38000 Grenoble – +33 4 76 29 43 79 – Website
  • Hôtel Mercure President ★★★★ – 11, rue Général Mangin 38100 Grenoble – +33 4 76 56 26 56 – Website
  • Grand Hôtel Grenoble ★★★★ – 5, rue de la République 38000 Grenoble – +33 4 76 51 22 59 – Website

For security reasons, bags must be checked at the entrance of Minatec. This means that entrance on the site might be slightly longer, please take this into account when planning your journey.