 Poster: A snowHead
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This time of year it can be difficult getting to a ski resort in mid-week due to airlines cutting flights and transfer options being thin on the ground usually ending up at very high cost for a taxi. I didn’t fell the urge to drive from Les Arcs to Geneva to pick up my son so asked him to sort it out using public transport. This is the result.
Bus to Stoke station
Train to Manchester Piccadilly
Train to Manchester Airport
Flight to Amsterdam
Flight to Geneva
Train to Geneva central station
Train to Culoz
Bus to Aix les Bains
Train to Bourg st Maurice
Funicular to Les Arcs
2 flights
5 Trains
2 busses
1 funicular
The journey took 14 hours and the transfer £37. It relied on lots of tight connections made even tigher by the flight from Manchester being delayed and difficulty getting off the plane in Geneva. I believe the flight was circa £100.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I am puzzled by the train-bus-train route from Geneva to Bourg St Maurice. Is it not possible just by train?
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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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| j b wrote: |
| I am puzzled by the train-bus-train route from Geneva to Bourg St Maurice. Is it not possible just by train? |
Been a while since I looked in detail, but connections from the French railway network into Geneva have always been appalling. There are some direct trains to major destinations, but very little into the local area, so you end up doing at least two or three changes for pretty much anywhere in the Alps, and this may often be more convoluted and take longer than with bus connections.
Last time I did any such, needing to get from AdH to GVA for a work trip to the US, I very nearly missed a connection sitting in the wrong carriage of a local train that split into two at some point - I think it was Annecy - which would have taken me another couple of hours before the next train back where I needed to be.
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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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We did a January trip a few years ago where my son left his passport at his student house in Liverpool, which we discovered about 3 hours before we needed to be at BHX.
3 of us flew BHX to Lyon and I drove the rental minivan up to Les Deux Alpes, and left the other 2 in the hotel bar.
Meanwhile he went Bham - Liverpool - Euston - Gatwick - Turin, and I managed to find a taxi willing to fetch him from Turin and transfer to Monetier Les Bains (top of Serre Chevalier) , in a massive snowstorm.
Amazingly the Col du Lauteret stayed open and I drove LDA to Monetier in a blizzard, grabbed a pizza and met him at about 10:45pm, we got to LDA around half past midnight (about 17 hours after he left home), but we skied fresh powder the next day.
The transfer cost €250 and the extra flight was another £100.  - things you do for a ski 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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| Quote: |
I am puzzled by the train-bus-train route from Geneva to Bourg St Maurice. Is it not possible just by train?
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It is usually, but the only connection that worked was that using the bus. There are trains to Chambery from Geneva, but that would have missed the connection in Chambery requiring a night stopover. Likewise the Blablabus would have missed the train to Bourg st Maurice. This was a timetabled SNCF route and the bus was provided by SNCF.
The route may only be possible on Thursdays when the funicular runs later.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@johnE, I had a very convoluted journey myself back in December.
Clevedon to Hintertux
Lift to Yatton train station
Train to Bristol
Train to London
Underground
Eurostar to Paris
Train to Mannheim
Train to Stuttgart
Hotel
Train to Munich
Train to Jenbach
Train to Mayrhofen
Bus to Hintertux
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@johnE,
Was flight to Paris & train to Bourg ever an option?
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| j b wrote: |
| I am puzzled by the train-bus-train route from Geneva to Bourg St Maurice. Is it not possible just by train? |
high speed train from Paris would probably take just as long if you factor in the shorter flight time.
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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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You're a miserable sod @johnE.I have just driven 820 miles to pick up my grandson in Genoa tomorrow and take him up to Les Saisies. Next Saturday I'll bring him back and drive home.
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@pam w, as I said...... 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Sorry no dog pics @Weathercam, can't have everything.
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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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And despite what lots of people on here say about the freedom and choice of independent travel, destinations and accommodations, and 'sticking it to the corporate travel companies', this is why I choose a package holiday, with a click of a mouse and it's all sorted for me.
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@pam w, gawd, les Saisies, tell me about it, 2nd of April and the road was ice covered this morning from Crest Voland. Luckily it had melted on the descent to Hauteluce a bit later on. Really shows you need equipment right through the season from November to May, not just the core winter months as the law suggests.
Still it looked pretty once I'd slithered into the resort.
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You know it makes sense.
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We did something similar at Christmas to save about £600 on flights.
Drive to Heathrow
Flight to Vienna
Train to Salzburg
Train to Taxenbach-Rauris
Bus to Rauris itself
And the same in reverse but with a taxi instead of bus due to timings. With a 9 and 11 year old in tow. Fortunately we've trained them to be good travellers, and we hope that by making public transport and connections familiar, they'll become confident doing it independently when they're older. I know far too many adults that learned to drive at 17 and are absolutely hopeless and terrified when asked to do something other than go in a car. Ours have seen us get on the wrong train in the Netherlands, but get it resolved with no drama at all (thankfully we realised before the next stop and it was a local one, so quick and easy to rectify by getting off and catching the next one back to the hub).
@johnE, It sounds like your son made good time, and I don't blame you for not wanting to make that return trip. His trip sounds okay to me, I'd do it. Especially at that price!
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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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To get a cheap flight back from the Dolomites to the North of England over the past few days, by public transport, did involve a bit of a trek. I needed to get to Venice for a 10.15am flight on Saturday 1st April but to get to the airport in time involved a cheap overnight B & B. The first two bus trips and the first train journey were free of charge using the local "guest card" given out by the accommodation in resort, and that gets you to the main trainline at Franzensfeste.
Bus San Vigilio to Zwischenwasser / Longega
Connecting Bus Zwischenwasser to San Lorenzen
Train San Lorenzen to Franzensfeste
Train Franzensfeste to Verona
Train Verona to Venice Mestre
Bus Venice Mestre to B & B
Overnight stop
Bus B & B to Marco Polo airport
Flight to Manchester
Tram Manchester to Oldham
Bus Oldham to Royton (mum's address where I had left the car)
Car Royton to Cumbria
It does sound very convoluted but I actually quite enjoy the journey so that becomes a part of the holiday. And in addition I get to spend a day with my 89 year old mum and do a few odd jobs for her.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@MajorQ, when I had to travel for work we had to use a corporate travel company. The procedure would go like this. I'd do all the research on flights, prices etc then tell the company exactly what to book it. And they'd book it at £50 higher price. It seemed daft to me.
If we left it to them they would do something silly like booking me on a flight from Heathrow instead of Birmingham
Ski tour operators are not really interested in your business if you just want to travel to a ski resort and not use their accommodation or it doesn't fit their model of flying to chambery from Gatwick on a Saturday during the middle of the season
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Great journey @JHS,
I have a friend in his late 60s who I thought of as fairly adventurous. He confessed to me that he'd never hitchhiked, picked up a hitchhiker or even been on a train.
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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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Not really convoluted, but mad all the same.
Second ever ski trip I'd just bought a new to me car and wanted to drive it. A friend of a friend fancied an adventure so we planned it together to share the driving....He dropped out right at the last minute though...Doh!
Crawley. Jumped in the car to Brighton to pick up last minute passenger (who didn't have car license!) but whose job it was to keep me awake.
Drive back up the A23 and round to Calais to get the chunnel.
Drive to Zurich.
Go clubbing all night with the original friend to meet up with the rest of the Swiss contingent.
Meet up with others in a different night club who had driven through the night.
Drive to Pitztal, Austria.
Unpack car and go skiing.
Bar. Eat. Drink.
Sleeeeeeeeeeeep!
Can't do that anymore. Not sure I'd want to either.
The car? A TVR, my ears were ringing for a month!
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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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| MajorQ wrote: |
| And despite what lots of people on here say about the freedom and choice of independent travel, destinations and accommodations, and 'sticking it to the corporate travel companies', this is why I choose a package holiday, with a click of a mouse and it's all sorted for me. |
| Owlette wrote: |
We did something similar at Christmas to save about £600 on flights
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A £600 mouse click 
Last edited by You need to Login to know who's really who. on Sun 9-04-23 4:05; edited 2 times in total
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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, You should have tried the MOD travel service. In my last years they would save the MOD £3 on a flight, but I would have to travel by car across the country and take the previous day off work. It was all paid, but hardly value for money for the taxpayer.......
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