 Poster: A snowHead
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Sometimes stumble across this forum when I'm googling stuff, thought I would bite the bullet and join. You seem like a knowledgeable bunch of Alp goers so I thought I'd ask you this:
Do you think we're mental!?
Thinking about driving my transit van from my home here in Aviemore all the way down to La Thuile, picking up a couple of friends in Glasgow on the way.
At first the idea was a bit of a joke but as we started looking more into it we realised that it could actually work out to be a relatively cheap way of doing it. By our calculations fuel, the ferry, accomodation and lift pass is all coming out at 500 quid each. Also really like the idea of a road trip, avoiding the tedium of the airport as well as the cost of taking our own equipment. Plus the whole feeling of it being a bit of an adventure driving there!
Anyone driven to the Alps and got any useful tips aside from the obvious? Anyone ever actually driven to La Thuile and care to share any local knowledge? Living where I do I'm pretty confident with driving in winter conditions and will obviously be taking snow chains and all that Jazz.
Cheers,
Paul.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Piece of cake, have done it several times from Perth. Mont Blanc tunnel and your nearly there. Do it in a oner, 28 hrs, especially if there is more than 1 driver.
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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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La Thuile is a great little resort, do it!
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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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Do it! Have done it a few times from Stirling to Morzine/les Arc and The 3 valleys. I enjoy the road trip.
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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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Did la plane in a sherpa minbus once. needed a tachograph. took us 20 hours from norfolk.
to keep costs down, leave the autoroute and fill up at a hypermarket.toll fees will be higher for a van too.
The French bit will be an absolute breeze. The UK skirting Manchester, Birmingham and London could be more frustrating.
can you fit an old mates in the back of the van? always good if your doing it in one hit
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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when we do the trip in the other direction we get the ferry across from Amsterdam to Newcastle. Then you miss most of the UK motorways, which for me is the worst bit.
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No problem. BUT some dates will be far easier than others. Avoid school holidays (7 February for 4 weeks in France) when roads will be very busy on Saturdays.
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It's a hell of a drive but if there are 4 of you sharing the drive it can be done in 1 hit.
The other alternative would be to drive to Newcastle and get the ferry to Amsterdam. It's the more expensive option but a bit more civilized. From there it's an 8 hour drive to Morzine. Not sure how much more of a drive La Thuile is.
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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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If you do Amsterdam to morzine 650 miles in 8 hours you are very lucky, some would say reckless. That's averaging over 80 miles an hour
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No snags, but check the height of your vehicle and see what class it is on the French tolls site to see how much it will be. You could also consider Hull to Zeebrugge as a crossing - its overnight and you get a cabin for 4 - it saves driving darn sarf!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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Cheers guys, I knew you would be behind the idea! 
The van actually has a wee DIY camper conversion in the back, so it does have a bed. That's half the reason for taking it, means someone can have a kip whilst the others are driving.
Have had a look at the crossing from Newcastle to Amsterdam, it only actually shaves 190 miles off the journey each way. Although it would be more civilised to have the overnight break in the journey it's double the price of the channel ferry and would mean a very early start on the day we leave to get back to Amsterdam in time. Haven't looked at the hull ferry but I'm guessing it would be similar.
Been googling the toll roads this morning and the van price comes in if its over 2 metres. According to the handbook my van is between 1.9 and 2.3 metres. I'll need to get the measuring tape out once I've got the winter tyres back on!
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| Quote: |
Bertie Wooster wrote:
It's a hell of a drive but if there are 4 of you sharing the drive it can be done in 1 hit.
The other alternative would be to drive to Newcastle and get the ferry to Amsterdam. It's the more expensive option but a bit more civilized. From there it's an 8 hour drive to Morzine. Not sure how much more of a drive La Thuile is.
Ijumiden to Morzine is 663 miles to it would take way more than 8 hours. Oh wait, he's doing it in a Tranny so that may be possible. NehNeh NehNeh NehNeh
Seriously, La Thuile is 689 miles from Ijmuiden so realistically a 12-14 hour journey with stops. Certainly doable with 2 or more drivers. Aviemore to the Newcastle ferry would be 5-6 hours so overall 2 days of travelling would do it but it would be a very late arrival in to La Thuile.
A straight through journey via the Tunnel or Ferry from Dover would be 1200 miles. I've done the Dordogne to Edinburgh (977 miles) in a single day via the Tunnel. We left at 7:20 (CET) and arrived him at 22:46 (BST). That was hard going and I was in a comfy 3.0 diesel A6 but I wouldn't contemplate doing it in a Tranny. Laughing Laughing
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To be honest I actually find the van a lot comfier to drive than a car, plus it has the added bonus of the sleeping arrangement in the back.
Probably a lot better on emissions than an Audi too!  (Sorry couldn't help myself!)
| Quote: |
Aviemore to La Thuile in a van?
snowHeads Forum Index >>> The Piste
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You know it makes sense.
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Be wary of ferry companies charging you commercial rates - particularly over the North Sea. In my experience DFDS seem quite flexible on this and have charged me private rates on a 7.5 tonne 'camper' out of Dover.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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that newcastle-amsterdam ferry makes more sense if you're heading for Austria. less so for french alps. plus there's only one sailing each way per day, so you're restricted to when you drive. when I do frankfurt-aviemore, it saves a lot of driving (there's only me), and my overnight stopover gets me closer to the destination.
hull-zeebrugge might make more sense for aviemore to french alps if you do decide on breaking the journey.
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Poster: A snowHead
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We go to Pila (next door to La Thuile) every year but fly via Geneva and it takes about 2:30hrs from there. Which may help the time planning or checking google estimates.
Carol who runs Pilaski.co.uk drives 3 trips a year, by herself, from Pila to Skye where she lives in the summer. She does have an over night in a hotel and goes via the tunnel I believe. You could go on her website and ask her for more details if you wanted, I am sure she would be happy to give you as much info as she can. Not so sure the tunnel can be relied on at the moment though.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Don't think you are mental at all, go for it, my sister did it from Aberfeldy to Meribel in a straight through drive - complete with four children. Hubby and I do it every year straight through from Peebles to La Plagne, we just keep changing driver while the other snoozes. If there are a few of you, easy, get going and enjoy the road trip, I'm sure the craic will be braw - you will probably find that the last leg on the way home from Dover/tunnel to Aviemore will feel a little tedious though but probably not enough to stop you doing it again. Happy days.
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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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If you go Hull - Zeebrugge and then drive via Luxembourg you can fill up on cheap fuel in Luxembourg and get a fair way into France before you start having to pay for the Autoroute.
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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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This sounds like an absolute mission, however if you have time sounds like a blast.
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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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Sounds like fun!
I like la Thuile, and with the van you can get around to all the local spots:
Cormaeryer and even around the Chamonix
Crevinia and over the hill to Zermatt
Aver the local hill to LA Rossiere
So thats three countries.
Is it a comfy Trany ?
Its a long drive .. I'm guessing your heading for the Planebelle apartmants.
Good Pizza in the cellar of the place next door.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I've tried both Newcastle ferry & Eurotunnel to the Alps in the last year - from Aberdeen in a VW Kombi. The worst bit is the drive to Dover, but I'd still prefer the tunnel over channel ferry as it can be under 1hr motorway-motorway and you can usually pitch up early and get straight on. Only place I got stung for van charges was the toll around Birmingham! Amsterdam Ferry is pricey as they charge a lot extra for cabins over the van price and only really saves driving if you are heading to Eastern Alps / Austria.
We usually stop en route for a kip as no point in arriving knackered, usually stock up on wine on the way back too
Only other tip would be avoid the M25 near rush hours and Friday after midday...
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I read something online recently about delays coming back into the UK at Dover because of the border controls. It could be apocryphal but worth thinking about in terms of route planning.
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We drive 3 or 4 times a year from Fife to Aosta, usually using the Channel Tunnel, by car or VW Transporter. The driving, with stops, takes about 24 hours. With enough drivers it can be done in a 'oner'; otherwise we tend to stop in Calais - Ibis Budget or B&B chain. Autoroute is pricey, but fast and straightforward, assuming ok weather and no jams. Transporter is Class 2 on Autoroute and Mont Blanc tunnel; same price as the car. TMB is expensive if you are only doing one return journey (single is even worse); if you know anyone in Chamonix or Val d'Aosta it might be worth considering a 10 journey ticket and doing a deal with them for the balance. PM me if you need any more info.
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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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Thanks for all the responses guys, you've all come up with some excellent info!
Looks like there's plenty of folk driving to the Alps from Scotland and not just from the central belt so that's a good sign.
Our plan at the moment is to drive down overnight on the Saturday night and get the first ferry in the morning. We've decided to go with DFDS sea ways from Dover to Dunkirk as its the cheapest but it's also a flexible ticket so it means we can change to a different sailing if we hit any major delays! Also quite like the idea of avoiding Calais as it seems to be pretty susceptible to big hold ups. (Maybe Dunkirk is just as bad though?).
Then on the way back we're planning on leaving La Thuile the following Sunday morning and having a day at Les Houches before driving back again overnight and getting the first ferry Monday morning.
Thinking one of the big advantages of taking the car is avoiding the expensive food in the resort, does anyone know of a hypermarket that's handy en route for stocking up?
@Bongonog,
do you know roughly what you pay for tolls in the Kombi? I reckon that must be about the same height as my van.
Cheers!
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Biggest hypermarket is Carrefour in Sallanches, just off the Autoroute. They also have a fuel station and prices are significantly cheaper than Italy. Not sure about the exact toll cost from Calais to Chamonix as my tag stopped working at the last two stages, which are only about €6 in total; the overall cost is in the region of €80 (I think!).
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Kenski,
That Carrefour sounds ideal then! I'll scope it out on Google maps. Was looking at getting one of those tags for the toll's too, looks like it could make things a bit easier.
I punched the route into a website called Mappy and it reckoned for a class 2 vehicle it would cost about €170. But I suppose that's probably including a one way trip down the Mont Blanc tunnel too.
Cheers.
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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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I think the Transporter just squeezes in under 2m so is Class 1? The Tag is very convenient but I'm not sure about the economics if you only use it very occasionally. Remember there is a legal requirement to have winter tyres or chains in the vehicle and obviously at a practical level it can make a huge difference! Wouldn't fancy trying the final stretch from Pre St Didier to La Thuille without either (or both!).
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Peage tolls for my Kombi were same as a car on last trip ..unlike the new average speed cameras on the A9 which recently cost me 3 points and a fine for doing 60mph on a single carriageway! Kombi is 1.9m without bars.
I usually carry a triangle, safety vest, spare bulbs, extinguisher & 1st aid kit. Also handy to have registration docs as well as driving license as you'll be asked for them if you need a tow off the toll rd, or have an accident. The gendarmes occasionally pull you over immediately after the toll stations for random document & breathalyser checks anyway.
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You know it makes sense.
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Just been trying to count up and I think we have driven from Edinburgh to the alps over 40 times without problems. We have done it as one continuous journey but prefer to take 2 days and stop overnight somewhere, even with 2 drivers. Have tried the Hull ferry and motorail but prefer Dover/Calais and buy a season pass for 3 return journeys each year now - usually 2 in winter and 1 in summer. That allows you to change booking without penalty otherwise it gets very pricey if you don't make your booked ferry. Its about 8 hours to Dover, meal on ferry then drive another hour or two to overnight stop. Next morning its then only another 8 hours to alps depending on where we stopped. As suggested do not buy motorway fuel as there are plenty of hypermarkets where its much cheaper. Also allows you to shop out of resort and bring back plenty of duty free wine etc.
We have only needed to use chains 3 times but the last time we had them on for the whole time in resort (a couple of years ago) and one of the links in one chain actually wore through! We use the French motorways and pay the tolls as other routes add so much to the journey but if travelling to Austria or Eastern Switzerland etc the route via Luxembourg is good and fuel in Luxembourg the cheapest.
Good luck.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| pagcelt wrote: |
| @Kenski, But I suppose that's probably including a one way trip down the Mont Blanc tunnel too. |
Obviously you will be getting a return ticket as they are much cheaper
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FAQ
