Average Cost of Driving to Alps/Sainte Foy

A snowHead

Hi all

I have ummmm and ahhhhed over booking for Easter week...when, when and should we.

So have decided to and of course flights are super pricey and thoughts turn to driving. Want to do a cost comparison.

Would those who drive be able to help please to make sure I am including everything. Cost would include:

Tunnel - Will check this out
Petrol obv depends on car, we have an Audi Q5.
Tolls (read elsewhere 60 each way?)
Hotel for stop over - 150
Snow Chains - any idea on price. Internet says from 60 up to 250!
Snow tyres. Do we need these as well?

Hope you can help and thanks in advance!

Celia!

A snowHead

you can do without snow tyres (this will probably start an argument but it is nonetheless true). Chains don't have to cost much though cheap ones are more difficult to use - but you can practice! If you have normal tyres it really is essential that you can put your chains on easily if necessary.

You don't say how many people. But you should be able to get a night's stop over for less than £150 and if you time the journey right you don't need to stop over at all if you have two drivers, or one driver used to doing long distances. French motorway driving is easy. If expensive. wink

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

hi.

We are 2 adults and 2 children...thus I was guessing up to 150 for the 4 of us. I get tired driving so would need to stop. Was thinking of driving me and kids to Lille on the friday, hubby euro staring it there at 5pm and doing another couple of hours and then stoppping later on friday night.

If we had to buy tyres as well we probably would be better off flying.

Ideas Ideas....

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Hello
We have just done this - tunnel at new year was about £50 each way - earlier you book the better
The viamichelin website if you plug your route in it gives you the cost of toll and petrol approx cost - I think £60 each way is about right.
We stayed at the Hotel Mercure in Troyes which was brilliant - with a couple of restaurants around the corner really easy - secure underground parking so didn't need to completely unload the car and about midway - 5 hours from calais and 5.5 to the alps (unless you get caught in snowmaggedon chaos - but that of course is another story), Anyway it was €154 per night I think and really nice. You can go much cheaper - formule un or Premiere Klasse - have only done that once and never again!
Snow Chains - we bought some £150 (they were really hard to get on and then ripped the wheel arches to shreds - we didn't need them as we had winter tyres anyway - should have just got cheap ones that we could put on if we got stuck in deep deep snow. But we have learnt that now.
Winter tyres are the way to go - but for an Audi Q5 you are looking at £250 a tyre (thats what they were for A6)
There are whole threads on here on winter tyres vs snow chains etc ….
Hope some of that helps

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@CeliaCo,

we are doing Sainte Foy for one of our weeks this year so a few prices for you from my spreadsheet Toofy Grin

Tunnel - flexi plus return £160 (don't know normal cost as we booked the flexi plus in a package with Peak retreats)
Fuel - I'd say a tank and a bit from Calais to the Tarentaise. Price depends on your car/fuel. Ours is bluemotion diesel and a lot more efficient on trips to the alps than local pottering. So overall 2 1/2 tanks if you live in the south east or more if you live further north.
Tolls - £68 each way (will vary a bit with exchange rate - check on via Michelin route planner)
Hotel - approx. £100 each way for Novotel bed and breakfast for family of four plus cost of supper and any other meals en route
snow chains - can't remember how much we paid for these as bought 2 yrs ago
winter tyres - can't remember cost either but you need to allow for approx. £50 changeover cost every time the season changes on top of the cost of the tyre unless you are buying a second set of wheels. I think they are worth having.
If you haven't driven in Europe before you would need to buy/borrow the luminous vests, spare bulbs etc.

You'll need to Register first of course.

Chains can be bought for £25 at Hypermarches in the valleys.
http://tinyurl.com/mjh6x7v This is one way. I reckon a Q5 is going to cost you between £150 and 200 if it's diesel and you're running about when there.
Ferry savers are offering DCFS for £99 return at Easter - I prefer it to the tunnel as you get break and a meal which saves a pitstop on route if you're not near Dover.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

@CeliaCo, one good way of saving is to use Tesco Clubcard points to get a free or reduced price crossing on Eurotunnel.

If you don't live too far from the tunnel you can cross around 8 in the morning and easily get to Ste Foy by bedtime, saving a lot on an overnight stop.

Easter is low season for French accommodation - despite it being a "peak time" for British travellers and therefore the high flight prices. So don't get bamboozled into paying too much for your accommodation.

After all it is free

Hi

Thanks all. Heading out on the 28th March....so wont coincide with the Belgians. We are south east based so prefer the quickest route to cross...and I get sea sick so tunnel defo best for me Happy

Thanks for the info on pricing from the hyper markets on snow chains. Will do some more research but driving seems the most sensible option.

Q5 is around 90 to fill so as @cameronphillips around 200-250 including trip from home.

Thanks all...will get calculating!

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Book the Ferry savers deal today if it's still on. It wasn't there two days ago and will not be at that price for long. I was researching a week leaving on 28th March too but unfortunately our family friends coudn't make it. We did find a great looking place in St Gervais for 450 euros for the week which seems great value (sleeps 7 )

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Go here:
https://www.saneftolling.co.uk/
And get yourself a doofer - it will cut down a lot of the queuing at the tolls.
As anadvocate of snow tyres you should be OK with normals late march as St F is quite low but you must have chains just in case - especially for that last mile into resort.

As for hotels try
http://www.hotel-bb.com/en/home.htm
I use the one at Troyes St Parres, 2km off the motorway, a Le Clerc Petrol station next door (Cheap as frites!) and a nice Italian to eat at.

snow reports

http://www.amazon.fr/Picoya-Chaine-neige-IDEAL-taille/dp/B00B9G1FZI/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420992702&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=chains+du+niege+235%2F55%2F17&tag=amz07b-21

Snow chains for 30 euros.

In my experience accommodation costs round here are the same from the end of the vacances scolaires (7 March this year) till the end of the season. Plenty of places available from €300 sleeping 6 (cramped), 3 bedroom places from €500, plenty of choice for all budgets. I don't imagine Ste Foy is much more expensive It's an excellent time of year to choose to ski and highly likely, this year, to have better snow than christmas/New Year (not that there are any guarantees.... wink

)

You know it makes sense.

Hold back on winter tyres..if this year is anything like last yr at Easter, you'll need tee shirts and flip flops. See you there!!!! We love Foy, we are also there for Easter

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Oh and it's worth driving to the Ibis at Albertville, £50 for a room for three. Local supermarket to stock up first thing Saturday and a 1hr drive up to Foy on the Saturday morning. There won't be horrendous queues at that time of year and certainly not at 8/9 am Saturday morning.
And the T card doofer is brilliant. If only for the wind up value as you drive past all the Frenchies who think the daft Brit has gone in the wrong lane at the toll... Wink

the bill arrived about five weeks later...i

A snowHead

Thanks everyone. with all this talk I am actually getting excited! (I am not a great skier!!).

Will have a look now at the ferry....and have booked marker the doofer page.

Based on tunnel (150) and snow chains being 160.....the travel would cost 835. Higher than expected.

Thanks!

A snowHead

Just as a comment regarding cheap chains, you really must check if they are compatible. After lengthy research and discussions with reputable firms it transpired our Tiguan wasn't suitable for normal chains due to limited clearance behind the wheel. We now have some K Summit Thule which cost us £250 last yr, but they don't go behind the tyre and won't wreck my suspension. I highly recommend you check with the Audi dealer to see if you have the same issues...

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Love that Fruity...right up my street....the frenchies thinking you are in the wrong lane Happy

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2014
I paid £24 with Tescos club card points for the tunnel
£205 diesel but that's dropping daily... Someone reported diesel less than £1 a litre at the tunnel station over xmas
£150 max tolls, also depends on exchange rate on invoice as again, it will be cheaper this yr. Sanef convert at a really good rate when they invoice you
£60 hotel bill including breakfast, it's only one night so the Ibis was fine.
Remember, this time last yr the exchange rate was almost £1:€1, its much more in our favour now

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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@pam w, I'd agree that outside New Year and French half term there will always be availability of some sort. However for the resorts and apartments we have chosen we have often found the residences completely full in the first week of April if the first week of UK school hols is the same as the Belgian Easter holiday. Eg. MMV Hameau des Airelles, Montgenevre, CGH Chalets de Flambeau Val Cenis. Therefore based on my past experience if I wanted to stay in an MMV or CGH residence in Sainte Foy this Easter I would not leave it till the last minute to book. If the OP isn't fussed about the kind of facilities these residences offer eg. pool etc than she can probably leave it till the week before and find something in sainte foy. There is also a chance things might be less busy this Easter as the UK holiday is split and the first week of UK holidays does not coincide with Belgium.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

@CeliaCo, have you booked accommodation yet?

After all it is free

nope...but have checked there is availability.....so will book that tomorrow as well

Through the tourist office? We always book direct, their deal with ski pass is exceptionally good value

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

@snowymum, yes, I agree that there's no point waiting to book - prices will not fall. The only price advantage of very last minute booking is with TO packages (though late booking of accommodation can obviously help if snow cover is the issue).

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

snow reports

and don't forget that if you get flights you'll also need transfers, which can be surprisingly expensive.

you can sometimes rent chains on a "sale or return" basis. More expensive than rock bottom supermarket costs but there's a good chance you won't need them. We did this one year when renting a Transit to take a load of furniture to France in mid December. We did need to use the chains though, and they were too big for any subsequent vehicle...... Sad

You know it makes sense.

My brother hired a car, French side at Geneva airport last yr, cost him about £300 for the week plus fuel and tolls. It had winter tyres on and he paid for chains as well. So factor that once plus four flights... May as well drive Wink

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

We usually pay between 400-500 getting a car of four there and back. That includes crossing/tunnel/tolls/fuel. 160 for chains? Buy the cheapest. It's hugely unlikely you'll need them and, if you do, you'll be glad you bought the cheapest ones which will be the simplest to put on.

A snowHead

Based on Eurotunnel 153 ( I dont have a tesco clubcard).
Hotel - 150
Tolls - 120
Petrol - 250
Snow Chains - 160 (high I know but just wanted to factor in a higher price one).

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

£835 is certainly a lot more than it costs me, even counting the tunnel crossing as £150 rather than what I actually pay, which is nothing (OK, opportunity cost of the Tesco vouchers isn't £0, but it feels like it's free!). But I have a fuel-efficient car and if I stop over, which I usually don't, it's somewhere like IBIS budget.

We do get quite a lot of shocked posters on Snowheads who think they've got bargain flights then discover that transfer costs are around £100 a head.

I don't mind driving, have winter tyres (and no problem with chains which I have not infrequently required) regularly do the whole trip as the only driver, and seem usually to have a pile of junk to take with me, but for people who really dislike driving a flight and a private taxi transfer could make the difference between a relaxed enjoyable holiday and a load of stress. And I live only 2.5 hours from Dover - living way up north would make a big difference.

When we did family holidays my kids were adamant that they'd rather go by coach than be squished together, 3 of them, in the back of the car.

Horses for courses.

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@CeliaCo, petrol could work out cheaper, a lot cheaper if you don't gun it, you honestly don't need to spend £150 for one nights hotel either

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@cameronphillips2000, she will need compatible chains for the Q5. We couldn't get normal chains to fit ours. I challenge you to find them for the Tiguan without wrecking the suspension

You'll need to Register first of course.

http://www.thule-snowchains.net/scripts/rbvehsel4_tab.php?emulate=snowchains&query=7532&vptype=496009&brand=Thule&prodid=24100&TID=333 We had to buy these

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

@CeliaCo, investigate snowsocks. They're much cheaper than chains and you may not need at all at Easter

After all it is free

Yet another reason for not buying those expensive cars. wink

For ordinary sort of cars winter tyres are cheap and chains easy to find and fit.

Diesel is, of course, a lot cheaper than petrol in France - €1.07/8 at the moment in supermarkets.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

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Average Cost of Driving to Alps/Sainte Foy

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