Riding the Grenoble Cable Car

Entrance:

The cable car starts in a lovely part of old town Grenoble, with a lot to see and do nearby.

The ride has a wide range of operating hours that vary by month and day of the week. In June on Saturdays it’s open from 9:15am to midnight, so there’s plenty of time to schedule it in your trip.

We first arrived around 5pm—there was a really long line so we went to get dinner instead. When we came back a couple hours later, there was no line.

An adult round trip ticket cost 9.50 EUR.

Ride up:

The seats inside the pokeball face outward from the middle, so everyone has a great view.

From bottom to top the ride takes about four minutes.

Head’s up: do not close the doors of the cable car! They’ll close automatically.

At the top:

There are a lot of activities once you get to the Bastille: a nice restaurant, a couple museums, caves, an obstacle course, and hiking trails. You could easily spend an entire day there.

We got there around 7pm so most things were closed, but we took the stairs to the restaurant’s roof, which had a fantastic view of the landscape.

There were signs in French and English discussing the history, geology, and geography of the area.

Afterwards we walked around a bit more and then headed back down.

Leaving was just as simple as arriving, and only took a few minutes. The ride was smooth and, as someone who is a bit afraid of heights, no problem for me.

It also would probably be fun to walk down, but we didn’t have much time and were tired out from a day of activities.

Five snacks!