 Poster: A snowHead
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Starting to plan next winter and how to get more time skiing I have been looking at www.skiweekends.com who use overnight coach travel.
This years prices seem quite good but what about overnight on a coach ?
Has anybody tried coach travel recently. Is there really enough leg room ? is it possible to sleep or do you spend the next day as a sleep deprived zombie?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I first skied by coach 30 years ago (to Scotland), repeated the experience many times, and did one return trip to the French Alps by bus. I didn't repeat that experience, but bear in mind that I'm 50 and far too old for this sort of thing.
The journey out is no problem. The journey back is a big problem. Do you like to feel you've been on holiday?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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It's OK, just. You should get four or five fitful hours of sleep on the way out. You will be looking forward to getting on the snow so much that you won't feel tired. Don't make the mistake of trying to catch up any sleep. Ski as long as you can, then go straight to a bar. If you go back to the hotel for a couple of hours sleep then you are done for. Do the same thing on the Saturday night. The ski hard on the Sunday. I promise you will sleep on the way back!!!!
I did one of these weekends last season and was back in my office at 9 on the Monday morning. I was however rubbish and should have gone home.
I notice AB that you're from Northhumberland, thats another six or seven hours on top of the main coach journey. Are you sure you want to do this???????
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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AB Ski, there is usually enough legroom unless you are over 6 foot tall, if you are forget it as your knees will be bruised before the holiday starts.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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It completely depends on the coach. Some are barely upholstered cattle trucks that smell of stale vomit and p*ss and some are virtually air sprung gin palaces with curtains around the couchette chair. I’ve traveled on both, guess which I prefer?
I hooked a lift back on a Ski Olympic coach last year and it was high up the list of decent travel options and VERY relaxing.
Best get them to send you the coach specs and some interior pics then make your decision. And if the reality doesn’t meet that, then I can hear a compensation claim being filed!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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The quality of driver also comes into it. On one occasion, on the A74 near Glasgow, our Cairngorm-bound bus of skiers was subjected to a violent thumping sensation.
I awoke to see the coach off-piste, with the front passenger violently shaking the driver back to consciousness. He was arrested when we reached our destination, the reserve driver having taken over.
It's a plus point for trains. They don't usually go off the rails, in terms of driver or vehicle.
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Yep and in blizzards the driver only needs to be able to see the signals, unlikely to be diverted to a station 50 miles away to !
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I went to Val d'Isere by coach. It's ok but not the most comfortable way of doing things. We left Dover at midnight and got into Val at about 3 in the afternoon. So it was about 15 hours of travelling of which a good 12.5 were on the bus itself. Ironically we flew back and the flight was 8 hours late.  You can all do the maths!!!
There is a Eurolines service that goes to Chambery and also to Chamonix (I think). It costs around £50-60 return (I think!), so definitely worth looking into. As far as packages by coach go I have never found anything that is so cheap that it justifies itself. With a bit of research you can always find a deal with flights that is comparable or certainly a self-drive option.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Don't know where do I fit in. People are not happy to be driven all the way to ski?
Have to drive myself (wife refuses). 650 mile each leg usually. Didn't bother me at all. Driving is more engaging and you should never get bored. Need to have one nap of about 20 minutes though, on top of the usual one fuel stop and one lunch break. Charge into any slope after a good night sleep. No problem on the return leg either because of a overnight stop visiting a different city each time.
The only problem is two weeks are needed to justify a self-drive trip.
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Echos of David's story I last travelled on a coach to Italy about 25 years ago, it was about 20 hrs of travel virtually non-stop. I distinctly remember at about 3AM when the crew thought everyone was asleep watching the drivers change over whilst the coach was travelling at around 70 mphs on a French autoroute.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Yep seen that happen once on a trip to spain by coach, makes you wonder sometimes !
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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And I've seen it done on the M1 on an intercity Edinburgh - London so it's not just Johnnie Foreigner who pulls stunts like this.
Mind you it was a very very long time ago.
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Thanks for the comments folks. I have actually done coach travel to the alps myself before (twice), but it was 20 years ago and I wondered if the comfort of the coaches used has increased much since then. I seem to recall being rather cramped and either too hot or too cold, but I see that club class seats appear to be avialable now.
Think I'll keep it in mind, at the end of the day I suppose if it was coach or no ski I'd definitely pick coach!
Ken Lingwood, yes there is the extra journey from Northumberland to London but I've always got to travel to get to an airport anyway. Newcastle, my nearest, doesn't seem to have any budget routes to the alps. I ended up flying from Edinburgh and East Midlands this year. Have a main line train station less than 5 minutes walk from my house so it might be a good option just to hop on a train and spend a few hours with a good book and a few tins of beer 
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You know it makes sense.
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Sounds like you've made up your mind AB, it's a good weekend, you'll enjoy it.
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