 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi all.
For those who have driven to Val Thorens, what route have you found best?
My sat nav is showing two routes:
1. Skirt round Lyon then via Chambery.
2. Skirt round Geneva then via Annecy.
We’ll be hitting either Lyon or Geneva About 4pm
Thoughts?
Many thanks.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Hi,
Assuming you come from the North on the A39, going via Annecy takes about 20 minutes longer in traffic-free conditions, is a bit more complicated especially around Annecy, but is also more scenic.
Half-term traffic jams can make the Annecy option faster - you will need to check while on the road - but if you do take it, it is better to drive on the east side of the lake (exit Annecy North - direction Veyrier du Lac) towards Albertville, as the west side has some very jammed bits through Annecy itself, Sevrier and Saint Jorioz.
Oh, and the gendarmes will likely stop you from using the old road from Albertville to Moutiers to avoid the dual carriageway traffic jams.
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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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Did the very drive last week, albeit to Val D'Isere. We chose route 1, a bit longer and few more EUR on the tolls but decidedly quicker - have been caught out around Annecy before with slow traffic.
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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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I have a software package on my mobile telephone called google maps which I find quite useful. It shows live traffic information as you drive along and can forecast how long it will take to reach your destination from your current location via various routes. I found this particularly useful a few years go when driving back from the Dolomites when it seemed every motorway in Germany was jammed solid. May I suggest you aquire this software and see what it suggest as you are approaching Djion.
For the record I have always found going through Annecy a nightmare.
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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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Thanks for all the replies, looks like Annecy is probably to be avoided. My car’s satnav has live traffic updates so hopefully this should help too. Just handy to know which route most people aim for.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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We favour they Annecy route but usually it's first thing in morning when through there, it's a beautiful drive alongside the lake.
At your timing you'll ordinarily get mixed up with local Saturday traffic in both Annecy and Chambrey with probably less interaction via Chambery route as you're skirting the main conurbation as opposed to going right through Annecy.
If it's a bonkers traffic day from Albertville onwards then Annecy is a better place to sit it out for a while, to then drive onwards to destination. There's a big carpark down by the lake from which you can have a walk around go to café etc, preferable to sitting on autoroute between Albertville and Moutier for hours and just creeping along.
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Forgot to mention a third "middle" route that can be useful on a Saturday in Feb / early March. Probably better than the Annecy route, even.
Coming from the North, you exit A42 at junction 8 and follow green signs to Chambéry along D1504. This follows a valley, crosses the Rhône, reaches a short tunnel and leads you directly to the expressway through Chambéry, thus avoiding any traffic around Lyon, the A43 tunnels and the Chambéry junction.
It's not a very fast road - you drive through some (not all) small towns and villages - but saves a few miles and tolls too.
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If you use an app called Waze (google use it or bought it....can't remember), it collects data from all the other subscribers and plots the route according to where the traffic is etc so you avoid parts that are blocked etc
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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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Lyon every time. Why would you not go dual carriage way all the way?
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| Quote: |
preferable to sitting on autoroute between Albertville and Moutier for hours and just creeping along.
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There isn't an autoroute between Albertville and Moutier, Are you thinking of the autoroute between Chambery and Albertville?
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My car’s satnav has live traffic updates so hopefully this should help too.
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My wife's VW columbus set is terrible at live updates. At times it gets hilarious in France, for example it will report the Lyon to Chambery motorway as closed and send us on a detour taking several hours longer. I suspect the problem lies with the uk and French highway agengies not updating their notifications. We use the google maps system,which as @Dan, reports using live updates from google map phones in other vehicles. I find it remarakably accurate. It is, of course, a live stream and not a forecast as to what it might be like in the future. So not much use in deciding a route around Lyon at 2:00 when bypassing Rheims.
One summer I tried the route over the Comet de Roseland to Bourg. It was very, very scenic but took a long time. It is not suitable during the winter however.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@johnE, I know it's not, strictly speaking, "an autoroute" but it's the only main connect for all Tarantaise domain from Albertville onwards.
Being practical, if you know that's badly delayed then may welcome somewhere more hospitable to sit a while rather than on that road.
We've been on there with tour op bus in delays (formative years skiing) of vast proportions too many times to volunteer the same if we can avoid it.
If not arriving at destination until after lifts close, then it may suit some to avoid if possible. Personal choice really.
That lakeside is absolutely stunning too 
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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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Car has sat nav with live updates, plus two passengers looking at google maps and waze. Preferred route = round Lyon. We had to divert off between Lyon and Chambery last time due to a smash,
Have done the overnight stop in Annecy once on the way to Tignes. That was a nice drive early in the morning.
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| cameronphillips2000 wrote: |
| Lyon every time. Why would you not go dual carriage way all the way? |
Because the tolls are more expensive, it's less scenic (ie you miss the lake at Annecy) and (adhering to the speed limits), in my experience, no quicker.
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You know it makes sense.
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We did the D1504 option which goes through the tunnel du chat....the road runs through a quiet but good road through Belley Valley.. Tunnel comes out across from Aix Les Bains and then u head for Chambery. It was painless last Easter and has options for supermarket and diesel.
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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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Tempted by the Annecy route for the scenery but I’ll opt for Lyon route as by that point of the journey I suspect we’ll just want to get there. Apart from the satnav live traffic updates I also have Apple car play which features google earth/maps with the live traffic updates so I’ll give that a go too.
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