 Poster: A snowHead
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@Timc, just looking at that it says: "Your friends or family can also use your tickets". Does that mean literally anybody. So I could punt them out to buddy's at face value or even sell on them on here for a small <cough> commission?
Buying 3 return trips is just £46 return. That's a pretty good price. However I'd have to pay a £30 supplement to travel on 3 of the days I would normally be crossing for skiing which takes the gloss off a bit.
Interesting option 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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@Layne, It's definitely £46 each way, so £92 return for 3 return trips.
Yes, in theory, you could dispose of them any way you like, although I suspect that buried somewhere in their T's & C's is a provision to revoke tickets that have been sold for a profit.
DFDS general practice on fares is to have non flexible price for their fares and then charge £20 more for their flexible fares so in reality the fares are £26 each way plus £20 for the flexibility.
The supplement days can be a pain, but as they are high demand days attracting premium pricing even with the premium the multi trip deal offers good savings.
They have been fair with us over Covid 19 as well. We had a trip planned for March which we were unable to go on so DFDS put our ferry crossing back into our "pool" and have extended the validity from one year to 18 months.
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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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| Timc wrote: |
| @Layne, It's definitely £46 each way, so £92 return for 3 return trips. |
Ah, I was being a bit of a muppet there.
What confused me was it lists each package by number of return trips i.e., 3. Whereas Eurotunnel counts each journey so if you buy 10 (their minimum) it's 5 returns.
Anyhow, in that case with the supplements it's not particular advantageous to me as I don't need the flexible tickets.
Good info sharing though - hopefully good info for others.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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As jb said st gervais is the easiest place we have driven to, it such a short way from the motorway virtually no climbing so very unlikely to hit problems with road conditions, we went for 8 wks last winter and loved it so much we are going again next time, lots of skiing and easy to ski over to megeve which is on the same pass. Look up peak retreats they give you a return flexiplus pass in the price of the accommodation.
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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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If you drive in Switzerland in the Winter months, it is the law that you have Winter tyres fitted - chains or not. This means changing tyres before you leave as to do it in Switzerland is very expensive. Friends of mine who drive regularly have two complete sets of wheels. Normal tyres on one and Winter tyres on the other. Motorway driving with Winter tyres on is not much different from normal tyres, so you fit them before you leave home.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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OK thanks for the info.
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A bit late to the thread, but we've driven plenty of times to France, Switzerland and Austria. For us, Austria is the best for drivers; the set up locally is more orientated to driving than France and TBH, over a long drive, the difference in driving to France is marginal. I think the start and end of the trip is often the biggest challenge time-wise, especailly in busy periods in France. You've also got the choice in many areas of doing a small tour or staying in much cheaper accommodation and driving in. Earlier in the thread, Salzburgerland was suggested (I agree) but also easy access to the big resorts in Tirol is possible.
As for the journey, if considering Austria, more recently we've done the Channel Tunnel across France to Strasbourg and then down through Germany, whcih has been the quickest and least stressful. If going via France, get a doofer from here http://www.aprr.fr/fr/telepeagelibert/particuliers/offre-occasionnels as its so easy and saves a significant amount of time at the tolls. Using these people, there is no charge if you don't use it and its billed to your credit card (we only were just billed this month for our December/January journeys). The toll-free alternative is through Luxembourg as mentioned in a previous post.
Travel through Germany is very quick, providing you check your timings and very easy. In fact its much easier than the UK. As for Austria, it's not worth the hassle to avoid the motorways to avoid the vignette for Austria; just us the ASFINAG app and pay the price of a couple of beers for a digital vignette https://apps.apple.com/us/app/unterwegs/id453459323 which saves having to stop for one at a shop.
We used to drive in one go, which is fine, but more recently stop off either in the French/German border or in Germany nearer the resort for an early arrival the next day. For hotels, we just use Trivago to find the best deal at the time.
There's mention of winter tyres, but I'm going to suggest not to bother - we've switched to all-season tyres which have performed superbly on the snow and are virtually indistiguishable from summer tyres in the summer. The latest versions are great, providing you check that they have the snowflake and mountain symbol on them. We're used https://www.mytyres.co.uk/ (actually a German company) as they have a good choice and prices, shipping the tyres to our local fitting station within the price. Other companies can supply in the UK, of course.
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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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| ptex wrote: |
A bit late to the thread, but we've driven plenty of times to France, Switzerland and Austria. For us, Austria is the best for drivers; the set up locally is more orientated to driving than France and TBH, over a long drive, the difference in driving to France is marginal. I think the start and end of the trip is often the biggest challenge time-wise, especailly in busy periods in France. You've also got the choice in many areas of doing a small tour or staying in much cheaper accommodation and driving in. Earlier in the thread, Salzburgerland was suggested (I agree) but also easy access to the big resorts in Tirol is possible.
As for the journey, if considering Austria, more recently we've done the Channel Tunnel across France to Strasbourg and then down through Germany, whcih has been the quickest and least stressful. If going via France, get a doofer from here http://www.aprr.fr/fr/telepeagelibert/particuliers/offre-occasionnels as its so easy and saves a significant amount of time at the tolls. Using these people, there is no charge if you don't use it and its billed to your credit card (we only were just billed this month for our December/January journeys). The toll-free alternative is through Luxembourg as mentioned in a previous post.
Travel through Germany is very quick, providing you check your timings and very easy. In fact its much easier than the UK. As for Austria, it's not worth the hassle to avoid the motorways to avoid the vignette for Austria; just us the ASFINAG app and pay the price of a couple of beers for a digital vignette https://apps.apple.com/us/app/unterwegs/id453459323 which saves having to stop for one at a shop.
We used to drive in one go, which is fine, but more recently stop off either in the French/German border or in Germany nearer the resort for an early arrival the next day. For hotels, we just use Trivago to find the best deal at the time.
There's mention of winter tyres, but I'm going to suggest not to bother - we've switched to all-season tyres which have performed superbly on the snow and are virtually indistiguishable from summer tyres in the summer. The latest versions are great, providing you check that they have the snowflake and mountain symbol on them. We're used https://www.mytyres.co.uk/ (actually a German company) as they have a good choice and prices, shipping the tyres to our local fitting station within the price. Other companies can supply in the UK, of course. |
I agree. Places like St Anton are only 50 miles more than Chamonix, even less of a difference if you do St A via Dunkirk.
If talking about the closest resort, hard to beat Villars at a mere 500 miles from the tunnel, Verbier not that much further on.
I even do the Dollies and that's a smidge over 700 miles from the tunnel, but tend to overnight in Luxembourg for that one.
So I reckon that between 500 and 700 miles from the tunnel you can hit just about anywhere in the alps worth going to and this season ain't no way I'm stepping onto a 'plane!
Whitegold Oberstdorf - nowhere near the nearest but not a bad shout for a few days. Lots of vertical and I remember it being fairly steep.
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St.Anton is not as convenient as other mentioned Austrian resorts, it is better accessed from Switzerland rather than Germany, from experience. Then there is parking in St.A. Traffic is heavy at weekends either from the west or east.
Verbier is much easier than St A, through France then over the Juras at Les Rousses to Nyon, then motorway via Lausanne and Martigny. Road up to Verbier from the valley is a sequence of bends.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Quote: |
I even do the Dollies and that's a smidge over 700 miles from the tunnel, but tend to overnight in Luxembourg for that one.
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Yes about 750 miles, but a very long drive. The last time we took two very long days to get to Cortina. IIRC it was 13 hours from our overnight stop at Saarbruken. First of all the German motorways were a complete nightmare both ways with some traffic jams over 20 miles long. Then it was a crawl over the Fern Pass and of course the inevitable camper vans all the way from Brixen. It may be better during the winter.
We are planning to drive down again this summer but may take the longer route through Switzerland.
Hopefully we'll also get a summer trip in to Les Arcs as well but that is a fairly easy single day drive.
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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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| Quote: |
St.Anton is not as convenient as other mentioned Austrian resorts, it is better accessed from Switzerland rather than Germany, from experience. Then there is parking in St.A. Traffic is heavy at weekends either from the west or east.
Verbier is much easier than St A, through France then over the Juras at Les Rousses to Nyon, then motorway via Lausanne and Martigny. Road up to Verbier from the valley is a sequence of bends.
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Not sure that we've found Switzerland better for St Anton - unless taking the S16 Arlberg-Schnellstraße then left before Bregenz south of the lake to Konstanz and Strasbourg for a very short bit in Switzerland - or up to Bregenz and either up through Germany and left.
TBH, the traffic is just as bad on a busy Saturday to say Val d'Isere as it is to any big popular resort such as St Anton and why we stay over night not too far away for an early arrival wherever we go. The same applies to anywhere for parking at busy periods and we found Verbier a bit of a pain to park, where it was easier to get the bus to the lifts. No wishing to be too much of a flag waver for St Anton, but Verbier isn't much easier in our experience; St Anton is easier once there with a car- park early in the Nassereinbahn car park, albeit at €7.
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@ptex, through Lux, Saarbrucken, over to the autobahn Karlsruhe, down to Basle, Zurich, south of Zurichersee, then Lichten, Feldkirch, S16.
Not much in it though whatever. I stay at the west end of St A and find parking a pain.
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You know it makes sense.
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This has been really useful reading.
We are driving for the first time this winter. I have driven lots in France (family live there, but sadly no where near a skiable mountain!) so no issue with that. But just trying to decide a resort. Was just considering the French resorts but now will consider some of the Austrian or Swiss options as well.
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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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@Fridge03, Add Italian ones to your list as well. IIRC Pila is about the same distance as St. Anton.
We just got back from a summer trip to Les Arcs. It took 15 hours from closing the apartment door in 1600 to opening the front door at home, which was, IMHO, a pretty good result for a red traffic warning day in France (a Saturday during the summer holiday period). There was very heavy traffic from Chambery to St Exupery airport and a 40 minute delay near Troyes due to a car fire igniting a field fire, but apart from that all straight forward. As usual the hardest driving was the 200 miles in the UK. It would be much easier if English drivers followed the highway code and drove on the left.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@johnE,
Instead of Kempten - Ulm - Karlsruhe - Lux I recently (three weeks ago) did Kempten, ignore Ulm, north towards Wurzburg, but turning west on the A6 past Heibronn, Hockenheim, Kaiserslautern and Lux. It's 40 ish miles longer than my normal route but Autobahn all the way so about the same time. Currently there are roadworks northeast of Elwangen, but compared to the Kalsruhe area and the queues near Hohenstadt (where the WW2 autobahn splits either side of the hill!) it was easy. I'll be going that way in a few weeks in the Defender.
As I've said elsewhere, if the traffic on the autobahn south towards Fussen is heavy, consider detouring via Pfronten, also the old road through Reutte.
Just after Reutte stop and look at the Tibetan rope bridge - highline179.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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We haven’t quite decided on a resort yet but it’s looking likely it could be Tignes for next year.
The plan is to drive over Friday catching a middayish Eurotunnel and then getting reasonably close to the resort before bedding down for the night.
Then up nice and early to get into resort, ski then check in Saturday afternoon, this getting our extra day!
Any recommendations for the first night stop? I was thinking somewhere in or around Albertville? Then that leaves a 1-2 drive into Tignes (or any other of the resorts we are looking at ie 3V, paradiski)
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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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| Fridge03 wrote: |
| Any recommendations for the first night stop? I was thinking somewhere in or around Albertville? |
My partner and I always drive as she's a darned teacher and flights are mad expensive during Feb half term. We're also cheapskates, so avoid tolls roads and hit the route nationale. Potentially unpopular opinion: sure, you add 40-50% to the journey time, but some of the RN roads are utterly beautiful, journey languidly through little towns and perched villages and I find the autoroutes so dull (my GF doesn't drive, so it helps for me to have the stimulation of interesting roads). We always stop both on the way down and the way back up. If we have the time, we'll do two nights in each destination, but often it's one 1 night stop and one 2 night stop. We've done this for the past 4 years so have had at least 8 mini holidays before and after the ski trip. Rather than making the long journey a necessary evil, it adds real value to the entire trip.
My recommendations - take it a bit easier and stay closer to 3/4 of the way to your destination and you'll find some gems. Good spots are Lyon (an obvious one but a bit big), Besançon (cute town with an amazing creperie that warmed my soul for a pittance after a very late arrival) and Dijon (definitely worth at least two nights, as the small towns and villages around the area are just fantastic). Last year we went more central as we arced round to Serre Chevallier and visited Clermont-Ferrand (a surprisingly lovely town with amazing hikes up to extinct volcanoes and an imposing cathedral made from black volcanic rock) and Bourges (easily exploreable in a morning before heading to Calais or Dunkirk for the ferry).
EDIT: Having reread your post about wanting to get some skiing in on arrival - if you're dead set on staying closer to Albertville, it's got to be somewhere on Lac d'Annecy. But I'd highly recommend time to enjoy the place, because it's stunning.
Honourable mentions: Nancy, Luxembourg and Troyes. We're running out of midway spots to see, so struggling to think of somewhere for next year.
P.S. Having seen some people talking about the economics of driving, I'll put my two cents in: we have a tiny 3 door Peugeot 107 that, amazingly, fits her skis and my snowboard in. So with an early ferry deal and wonderful MPG figures, we're talking ~£250 return all in for transport, London to the southern Alps and back. Given it's school hols and peak period, there's no way I've been able to get flights, transfers and ski rental that would compete. My friends who fly or get the train to meet us tend to spend at least £200-300 each more. Plus I can't put a price on the excellent bonus sightseeing we've been able to do in the aforementioned towns and cities.
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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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| Quote: |
We're also cheapskates, so avoid tolls roads and hit the route nationale.
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If we have the time, we'll do two nights in each destination, but often it's one 1 night stop and one 2 night stop.
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There appears to be a contradiction here. Saving 90 euros on tolls versus 2 nights in hotels. Though I assume that as a true cheepskate you simply sleep in the car.
I've just driven back from the Dolomites and it took two days. First of all the Dollies were absolutely rammed. It's peak holiday season and the sun was shining. The section from the top of the Sella Joch through Wolkenstein to the motorway was a long crawl. Then foolishly chossing the route through Austria over the Fern Pass (should have followed @Nemisis', advice), The German motorways were much better than the journey to Italy, but still heavy. It took 10 hours from Alleghe to our overnight stop in Saarbrucken, where we had a delightful meal in the Old Market square. The Sat Nav orriginally gave an 8 hour journey time. The trip from Sarrbrucken to Calais was the easiest part. We allowed 5 hours for the 320 miles and ended up driving at 110 over most of the French motorways to take extra time. Current UK Covid restrictions say you are not allowed to get out of your car in France and Eurotunnel said we were not to arrive more than 90 minutes before our crossing.
The really hard part of the journey was from Folkstone home. The 200 miles took 5 1/2 hours.
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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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| johnE wrote: |
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We're also cheapskates, so avoid tolls roads and hit the route nationale.
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And
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If we have the time, we'll do two nights in each destination, but often it's one 1 night stop and one 2 night stop.
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There appears to be a contradiction here. Saving 90 euros on tolls versus 2 nights in hotels. Though I assume that as a true cheepskate you simply sleep in the car. |
surely the number of hotel nights is constant for the holiday and required either on route or at the resort ?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
surely the number of hotel nights is constant for the holiday and required either on route or at the resort ?
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Quite correct. The more time you spend staying in hotels on the journey the less time you spend skiing. I suppose it depends on what you want to do with your time.
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| johnE wrote: |
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surely the number of hotel nights is constant for the holiday and required either on route or at the resort ?
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Quite correct. The more time you spend staying in hotels on the journey the less time you spend skiing. I suppose it depends on what you want to do with your time. |
Exactly this (which tends to be 10 nights for us). Also, whenever I've calculated tolls (for example Calais to Serre Chevalier) it's come out at €150 each way. Happy to be proved wrong on that by someone who's actually done it, though. And I guess depends whether you're further north or south.
Decent enough Airbnb's in smaller towns tend to be ~€30-€40 a night (there's no sleeping in our car - it's really got more in common with a roller skate, sizewise). So three nights is about €120 vs €300 on tolls. But, again, happy to be proved wrong on tolls. I used viamichelen.co.uk to calculate.
Plus there's the value of relaxing in an interesting new town for a bit.
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@Brownfish, The tolls to Albertville are €87.60 each way. To Serre Chevalier about €5 less. Are you sure you were not looking at the total cost including fuel? €30-€40 a night is pretty good.
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Plus there's the value of relaxing in an interesting new town for a bit.
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I cannot deny that having a look around new places is pleasant way to spend any excess holiday. I had a look around Saarbrucken Thursday night
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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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| johnE wrote: |
| @Brownfish, The tolls to Albertville are €87.60 each way. To Serre Chevalier about €5 less. Are you sure you were not looking at the total cost including fuel? €30-€40 a night is pretty good. |
Yes, I'm an idiot - that was including fuel in their calc. It's €80 each way for tolls in my example. (I just double checked and was logging in in the hope of editing my previous post before anyone noticed!  )
Saarbrucken is actually on our list of potential places to stop next time, so hopefully you enjoyed your time there.
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I assume that your partner is part time, as my teacher people would never get 11 days leave over half term, or do some schools now have two weeks in February?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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She's full time at a private school, which tends to finish or return a day or two earlier / later than state school. Next year it's a later return. So, covid dependent, we'll be out Feb 13th and back Feb 23rd, with the 24th the first day back at school. (Although we're actually looking to a potential Easter break instead of Feb half term for next year.)
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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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Fab, I did read somewhere about some schools shortening summer holidays and making the half terms longer.
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Feb half term great, October not so much
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FAQ
