 Poster: A snowHead
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K, I know this has been covered extensively but trying to put a plan together to drive down to the Alps for Christmas. We're about 6 hours away from the euro tunnel this end and faced with a 10 hour drive the other side. Was thinking about splitting the journey up into 3, one stop near Folkstone, one in Chambery leaving a nice drive up to the mountains in the morning, arriving reasonably fresh rather than a night time drive into the mountains, preferably avoidable at that time of year. Anyone do similar or do you punt it straight through once in France!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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If you have the extra days then yes go for it.
I would try and stay just a bit before Chambery. Assuming your arrival day is not intended as a ski day. Chamnery is close enough that quite a few people will be staying there to ski that day making it busy. Enjoying the drive into the alps in the morning light (weather not withstanding) is lovely. Being just late enough in the day to be behind everyone rushing to the mountains that morning.
My version of the drive, North Wales - Chamonix (1000miles aprox.) used to be set off very late, catch a boat middle of and drive straight through. That has now progressed to getting an early evening boat and staying Dunkirk or an hour south. Arriving late afternoon and not knackered.
Heading north always used to be a pre dawn start and get home (parents place) late evening , early AM. Best time was 16hrs total journey time in a car that wouldn't make 130kph, just no traffic! These days I tend to also stop around Dunkirk or just south.
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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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@beenative, from oop narf I'd be looking at the Hull ferry to Rotterdam or Zeebrugge?
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We drive to Folkestone prem inn after work on the Thursday, arriving about 20:00, meal, Tesco petrol, bed. Then up and at em for 0730 ish tunnel, down to Troyes for a late afternoon stroll around the beautiful town. Nice meal etc then leisurely drive to alps on the Saturday.
This year it is starting on the Wednesday evening as we are going to have a day in Troyes.
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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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@spyderjon, Hull to Zeebrugge ferries no longer run. P&O stopped them in February.
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@spyderjon, unfortunately they haven't been running the Zeebrugge ferries for nearly a year now. For us the ferry saves the very tiring UK drive, but every country having different Covid regulations adds its own complications and it is currently easier to go directly into France. Zeebrugge was better for the Alps, Rotterdam is only slightly longer on paper but the Antwerp and Brussels ring roads, and the heavy traffic on the Luxembourg-Metz-Nancy stretch, make it harder driving.
@Idris, where would you stop overnight heading for the Arve valley? Are there good places south of Dijon before crossing the Jura?
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| beenative wrote: |
| K, I know this has been covered extensively but trying to put a plan together to drive down to the Alps for Christmas. We're about 6 hours away from the euro tunnel this end and faced with a 10 hour drive the other side. Was thinking about splitting the journey up into 3, one stop near Folkstone, one in Chambery leaving a nice drive up to the mountains in the morning, arriving reasonably fresh rather than a night time drive into the mountains, preferably avoidable at that time of year. Anyone do similar or do you punt it straight through once in France! |
If you’re stopping overnight near Folkestone it’s pretty easy to drive straight through to the French Alps the following day without requiring the time or expense of another overnight stop. I’m about 90 minutes from the Eurotunnel terminal, so normally leave home around 6am aiming for an 8am crossing, then straight down to the Alps. Typically I arrive in Bourg St Maurice around 6.30pm in time to do some grocery shopping, then complete the drive up to Les Arcs arriving at my destination about 7.30pm. It’s a long day, but very doable even with just one driver.
One of the downsides of spending the night close to the Alps is that while you get to your resort nice and early, you might not be able to check in to your accommodation until late afternoon.
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The 6 hour drive in UK will be the worst bit. If you're driving from the North I'd depart 4am and get the northern motorways done in the early hours. Get to Folkestone around 10-11am, and drive as far as Troyes.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@beenative, I'm also driving to the Alps for Christmas. Though I'm not really sure at the moment one plan is spend the night at a friends in Ashford, mainly to see him and be sociable. Then leave for a 8:00 tunnel and drive non stop to Les Arcs. Unlike @rob@rar, I won't stop at the Super-U but drive straight up the resort. Otherwise we will leave about 5:00 and drive straight through. I'm not sure which is the most tiring, seeing friends or geting up at 4:00.
We have only stopped once, when the car broke down, on the journey through France. It does add a very long time and extra effort to what is actually a very straightforward journey.
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| j b wrote: |
@Idris, where would you stop overnight heading for the Arve valley? Are there good places south of Dijon before crossing the Jura? |
Bourg en Bresse or Macon.
If you are then driving through the Jura and the weather is nice and you want a good viewpoint. Get off at Catillon en Michaille and drive up the D101 for a few min to the parking at Catray (I once van camped up there).
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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From jolly scotland it’s a 500 mile, 9 hour including break day down to ashford. Over night there & then same again second day gets you to Chamonix.
The tunnel takes about 2 hours, up to you if you want to add this to first or second day. I add it to second on way there & first on way back as I find the U.K. leg of the drive far more brain draining
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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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Thanks @Idris, will google those towns for possible accommodation.
@Jonny996, for next time we are wondering about an overnight on the Calais side on the way back just so we are not driving against the clock. And in the hope it might be possible to find French accommodation more attractive than the Folkestone Holiday Inn. But then our UK leg is not much more than half of yours.
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@beenative, I'm just under 4 hours from Dover and an 8-9 hour drive the other side. I've tried various options:
1/ Stay in Ashford overnight, breakfast on the ferry and drive straight through;
2/ Drive to ferry in time for lunch, cross and stay somewhere around Beune/Dijon in time for dinner with a leisurely 4 hour drive and shop the next day;
3/ Drive to ferry, cross late and stay in Calais before driving straight through the next day;
or the one I seem to have settled on:
4/ Drive to ferry for the mid afternoon crossing and then 2.5 hours to a nice hotel just south of Reims in time for dinner. This leaves a comfortable 6 hr drive the next day with time for shopping and setting up the apartment before dinner etc.
I prefer the ferry to the train because you have the chance to unwind, move about, get something to eat or find a quiet corner for a power nap. The only time I used Eurotunnel it was backed up and ended up being no quicker than the ferry would've been for a lot more money.
The point @rob@rar makes above about whether you can access your apartment if you arrive early is important. Similarly, can you access it if you arrive very late? Most places won't let you in until 4pm and reception most likely closes at 7-8pm. If it's an agency, they may close at 6pm. The best time to arrive is probably around 5pm if possible, leaving you time for shopping, unpacking, ski hire etc.
If I was in your position, I think I'd suck up the extra 2 hours in the UK by leaving around 8am instead of 10am and still make dinner south of Reims (option 4).
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You know it makes sense.
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We did a stop over in Reims on our first ever drive down and found it wasn't worth it - additional expense, risk of a theft (you are not going to unload all the stuff), and just too much faffing about with kids who were happily asleep by the time we got to the hotel and complained the following morning for being woken up early.
We now take the shuttle somewhere between 5AM-6AM and then bolt it for the mountains with plenty of stops, arriving around 19:00 in time to pick up keys and get a dinner.
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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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@beenative, there are a few factors to consider. Such as how many drivers you have and how comfortable are they with night driving? Or is there a desire to take advantage of Saturday skiing? Are you able/happy to take off extra days at work? Or do we want to make the drive a part of the holiday?
The vast majority of my trips over 30+ years has been driving and most of the time getting doing the two Saturdays and not having unnecessary time off work has been a high priority and therefore driving through the night is a must. Driving through the night as it's advantages - no traffic being the biggest, kids/non driving adults can/will sleep most of what is boring motorway driving. But it is quite tough and ideally you need two drivers who can work in short shifts and happy to do so.
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Poster: A snowHead
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The ease of the journey will depend massively on the weather, and the dates you're travelling.
You say 'for Christmas'. Christmas day is a Saturday this year, and Saturday is usually Changeover day. If you're driving down on (say) Wednesday or Thursday, then traffic will probably be Ok in France. Friday/Saturday I would expect to be very busy. There is a French here : https://www.bison-fute.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/Calendrier_2021_BisonFute.pdf that predicts how busy the roads are likely to be on specific dates. Looks like they think Thursday and Friday are going to be busy.
You aren't going to know the weather forecast till a few days before you travel, but remember it's not just bad weather in the Alps that can scupper you. If it rains on the motorways, and the motorways are busy then the spray really slows everything down, and contributes to a lot more accidents.
We always drive non stop from the UK/London, get a Chunnel around 6am, have a couple of 1 hour stops (lunch around 1pm, Chambery Supermarket about 4pm) and get into resort around 7pm. However, if you want to arrive in daylight, I'd try and get the tunnel done on the first day, and get down to somewhere south of Reims.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Quote: |
You aren't going to know the weather forecast till a few days before you travel, but remember it's not just bad weather in the Alps that can scupper you. If it rains on the motorways, and the motorways are busy then the spray really slows everything down, and contributes to a lot more accidents.
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Worse of all is fog
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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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Thanks everyone for the replies and different experiences. We're way west in darkest Cornwall, while it has many things going for it quick access to major travel hubs isn't one of them...
Due to a number of factors probably best break it up into 3: One night near Folkstone, one night somewhere on the other side, fancy getting further than Troyes, pretty as it looks, then a quick run into the mountains and maybe an afternoon ski! Fortunate to have bit of time to do this rather than a full on bomb to get there. Scored this year as we're booked in from the 18th and get an extra days skiing as the apartment doesn't change over until the 26th, bonus 
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@beenative, although we’re only 3-hours from Do we, we sometimes take a few days to get there. Dull as it may sound, the Premier Inn in Ashford is a nice stop over and only 12 miles from tunnel. Troyes is only 4 hours from Calais so a bit too close I’d say, we always aim for Macon. A wide variety of hotels to choose from here.
An early start will get you to the Alps by midday, we usually shop in Albertville and get to resort around lunchtime. A change in car park, or if you’re lucky and can get in early, means a quick hour ski in the afternoon.
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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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We drive regularly via Eurotunnel from Durham. Leave around 6am, stop around 8.30 for breakfast and usually on a train by 12.30. We seem to miss most of the busy traffic at all potential points with those timings. Have left 5am ish, but then hit traffic around Cambridge and it only gained us 30 minutes. From Cornwall I guess your problem areas will be different to ours. We then cross to Northern France and stay somewhere around Reims/Epernay that evening, and complete our journey the next day. Have drove down afer work, stayed at Holiday Inn Express Folkestone, and on an 8am ish train. Usually stay closer to our destination on those trips on Friday.
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| j b wrote: |
Thanks @Idris, will google those towns for possible accommodation.
@Jonny996, for next time we are wondering about an overnight on the Calais side on the way back just so we are not driving against the clock. And in the hope it might be possible to find French accommodation more attractive than the Folkestone Holiday Inn. But then our UK leg is not much more than half of yours. |
Hi JB, hope your all well. We used to do the outbound tunnel on day 1 & stay in cheap Accor type hotel 2 minutes off the tunnel but then the “jungle” popped up & we decided not to, just habbit now as we know what we’re doing and it’s easy, also the ashford designer village is somewhere to walk around and get food to stretch legs
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Although I generally used to do the Saturday journey to Les Arcs in one go with an early start (live only 45 minutes from the tunnel), now that I have more time I prefer to leave at a slightly more civilised hour and travel on Friday. My route is to take the A39 from Dijon, past Bourg-en-Bresse and come off the motorway at Amberieu, staying at the Ibis Budget there overnight. Quite basic, essentially B&B, but it serves its purpose. Then the cross-country route to Chambery after a quick splash of fuel at the Intermarche. I stop at the newish Leclerc at Aime to fill up properly with winter diesel and stock up with stores before heading on and up to 1950.
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| beenative wrote: |
| We're way west in darkest Cornwall, while it has many things going for it quick access to major travel hubs isn't one of them... |
Another channel crossing option is the Portsmouth to Caen/Le Havre or Poole to Cherbourg. We’re South coast and use a late crossing Portsmouth to Caen with a night’s sleep in cabin rather than taking on the M25 and Folkestone. 12hr drive ensues avoiding Paris arriving Savoie early evening. We used to do the tunnel but it means a longer Uk drive and offers no real rest opportunity. We arrive fresher using the overnight ferry.
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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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Personally I would aim to get into France for your first stop, perhaps around Arras, Bethune or Cambrai, which are about an hour from Calais. This should mean the worst - UK motorways and tunnel (or ferry if there's a storm) - is behind you and your holiday can really begin 
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How many drivers will there be? We are 2hr from Folkestone - so not much to add there - but have done the winter drive all manner of ways. My preference is now to arrive in daylight, just in case we have to put snow chains on - we do use winter tyres now but an 8pm arrival at the bottom of the Mtn after a bloody awful drive in snow/fog to put on the snow chains is burned in my memory (might also be because other half was feeling so ill, I just dropped him at the Cabinet Medicale office in the village and had to unload, kids, dog etc into a cold / dark flat). If I have a choice in winter, I now like to get as far as Dijon and have an early start and arrive refreshed but we don't have to worry about getting into accommodation.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Cheesie168, There'll be 2 of us driving but for a few reasons probably best to split it up, not least having my 76 y/o Mum with us! Bonus is she speaks French like a demon and has done this kind of journey a few times with my Dad many moons ago.
@knackered knees, & @Grinning, I know what you mean but with the luxury of time no need to race to get into France. Had a few ferry interesting crossings but not been on the tunnel yet so kinda want to have a look.
Thanks @Boris, Macon looks good (Mum mentioned this too) or possibly somewhere further like Bourgoin - Jallieu? for an easy (hopefully) morning run up.
Will keep an eye on the weather forecast closer to the time, never know, might have to sprint up the mountain to beat the incoming snowpocalypse!!
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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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@beenative, another vote for ferry to leharve. I used to leave Dorset around 7pm, Portsmouth to leharve ferry overnight (6-7hrs sleep) then drive during the day and in the bar in verbier by 6pm. Very easy driving every time I did it
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+1 for Brittany Ferries although I don't think the Le Havre route is operating this winter. Portsmouth to Caen would probably be the best option.
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You know it makes sense.
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Currently sailing from Caen to Portsmouth and had a look at the route to Bourg St Maurice versus the journey from Calais. There is nothing in it and you can avoid Paris by heading via Tours and Clermont Ferrand. Could be a good option if the overnight sailing times work for you.
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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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| beenative wrote: |
| @Cheesie168, There'll be 2 of us driving but for a few reasons probably best to split it up, not least having my 76 y/o Mum with us! Bonus is she speaks French like a demon and has done this kind of journey a few times with my Dad many moons ago. |
So sounds like the journey is part of the holiday? What a fab idea. My Mum, just a bit older than yours loves the Tunnel, she is blown away each time we do it. If you are planning to really make a trip of it, how about cities where you can arrive early and have a mooch instead of holing up in a hotel as close to the autoroute? Lens (ugly town) but has the Louvre - well worth a visit. Reims is lovely, Beuane is a corker - sure others can chime in! Smiling just thinking of your trip! We will be heading down early this year as the teens break up on the 16th
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Poster: A snowHead
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Apologies for the derail - @knackered knees, can you recommend anywhere nearby these towns for an easy, autoroute-side stop? Without height restrictions preferably! Thanks for any suggestions...
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Skimum1 wrote: |
| Apologies for the derail - @knackered knees, can you recommend anywhere nearby these towns for an easy, autoroute-side stop? Without height restrictions preferably! Thanks for any suggestions... |
Hi @Skimum1, sorry no. I only mentioned the towns to the OP as alternatives to them stopping for the night before crossing the channel. Google B&B hotels or similar and see if they have any in the towns and how close to the Autoroute they would be.
I'm sure another SH will come along here and give you pointers.
KK
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