Travel, Site Access information & Accommodation

How to book your travel tickets and get reimbursed? (only for reimbursed users)

1. Book your travel tickets and get reimbursed for your other travel expenses ( concerns only reimbursed users)

The e-travel application “SAP Concur” will be available at the ESRF from March 2021.

Link to the e-travel application “SAP Concur”: the link will be sent to users by email once they are registered on the A Form for an experiment.

All reimbursed users are required to submit a travel request in the application as early as possible and no later than two weeks before arriving at the ESRF. Users will therefore be are aware of the level of reimbursement from the ESRF before making their trip.

During the preparation of their travel request, reimbursed users are requested to book their pre-paid air/train tickets directly via SAP Concur. This booking populates the travel request header automatically, and users are then asked to complete their travel expenses estimation with any other type of travel expense.

The ESRF highly recommends that users download the SAP Concur mobile application on their smartphone (accessible either from the App Store or Google Play) in order to facilitate their reimbursement claim procedure. This way, the traveling user will be able to take photos of his/her travel receipts (via this application) during their trip and get them certified automatically. Once certified by the application, the paper travel tickets are no longer required for their reimbursement by the ESRF.

Finally, SAP Concur enables the creation of the reimbursement claim from the approved request with automatically pre-filled expenses. The user will then be asked to upload the certified expense receipts and submit their claim electronically.

For users who don’t wish to use the SAP Concur mobile application, it is still possible to submit their reimbursement claim electronically via a computer. However, as the receipts won’t be certified by the application the user will have to scan each receipt individually and attach them to the corresponding expense in the SAP Concur application in order to submit the reimbursement claim, and send the original paper travel expenses receipts via mail together with a paper version of the reimbursement claim from the SAP concur interface as they used to do in the past.

Several video tutorials and training documents have been created to guide you through these new procedures - we recommend that you watch them carefully before creating your first travel request (and reimbursement claim), to become familiar with the software.

If you need further help, please contact:

SAP Concur User Service Desk
For technical difficulties with the application.
24/24, 7/7 - +33 (0)8.05.54.10.61 (France) ; +44 (0)2037.936933 (outside of France)
ESRF Travel Office or ESRF User Office
For assistance with your travel booking or reimbursement claim submission.
Monday to Friday - from 8.00 to 12.00 and 13.00 to 17.00 - +33 (0)4.76.88.24.17

2. Site Access

You will find all the information about how to get to the ESRF on the EPN campus website.

By air

Grenoble is served by three airports:

Lyon - Saint-Exupery Airport (formerly Satolas), with an hourly or half-hourly shuttle bus to Grenoble bus/train station (1 hour). We advise you to buy your tickets online from the shuttle service "Ouibus": http://www.ouibus.com
Geneva - Cointrin Airport, with several shuttle buses per day to Grenoble bus/train station (2 hours). We advise you to buy your tickets online from the shuttle service "Ouibus" (from 1st March 2018): http://www.ouibus.com
Grenoble St. Geoirs Airport (seasonal)

By train

Grenoble is well served by trains from throughout France and Europe, including direct TGV from Paris (3 hours).

By car

Reimbursement for travel by car is subject to the reimbursement rules for users receiving ESRF financial assistance. Go to the page Financial Assistance.

For additional information, consult the "Travel Rules" in the "ESRF User Policies and Rules"

3. Visa requirements

If you hold a passport from a non-European country, you will probably need a visa to come to ESRF for your experiment. More information can be found here.

Site Access Information (ID card or passport)

The site is a restricted area and you will be asked to report in at the site entrance on arrival. You will need to produce proof of identification.

Since 1st September 2018 the driver's license is no longer accepted as ID for entering the EPN site, even for French nationals. A valid passport or a valid national identity card (i.e. not expired) are now the only acceptable form of identification for all those wishing to access the site. Please ensure you have valid identification with you.

Accommodation

For additional information, consult the "Travel Rules" in the "ESRF User Policies and Rules"

Users participating in experiments will be accommodated in the Guesthouse, which is located on site. All practical information concerning the Guesthouse can be found on the EPN Campus website.

Do not contact the Guesthouse directly for a booking. Requests for accommodation must be made through the electronic A Form submitted by the main proposer of the experiment. Users will receive by email confirmation of the booking.

For users receiving ESRF financial assistance, the cost of the room and breakfast is paid directly by the ESRF and the guesthouse booking will only be done after the requested travel tickets have been validated by the travel office.

For users not receiving ESRF financial assistance: the guest has to pay for the stay directly at the Guesthouse (in cash, by cheque on a French bank or by credit card). The price per person per night, when paid by guest, is:

37€17 (VAT included) in a single room
30€07 (VAT included) in a twin room
2€71 for breakfast