 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi all,
We are looking at driving from London to Les Arcs this year (arrival 23rd March) with 2 children. Staying in self catered apartments. I have been scouring through the posts on self-drive and making notes of tips from those who drive regularly and wanted some of your opinions please. From what I can tell, it is not peak week so roads should not be too congested.
We have 2 options:
1. Leave morning Fri 22/3, get Eurotunnel for 9/10am and drive through to Lyon for overnight stop (breaks along the way). Early start on 23/3, supermarket stop on way up and aim to be in resort for midday or just after. Our accommodation is not available until later but they have said we can park the car and use ski storage so can hopefully get a couple of hours on the slopes that afternoon
2. Leave after school on Thu 21/3, Eurotunnel 7pm and drive until 9/10pm - open to recommendations on where. Slightly more relaxed start on Friday and head to Annecy then upto Les Arcs Sat morning with aim of skiing for half day.
Second option is more relaxed on the Friday but is it worth spreading over 2 days?
For journey back, we are thinking leave late afternoon/early evening Saturday 30/3, drive down to Lyon and stop overnight then back to Calais on Sunday, hopefully home by evening.
As we want to ski on arrival, is it worth getting the full Paradiski lift pass which allows skiing from midday on the day before the pass starts?
Any other tips?
Thanks so much
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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The cost of an extra night's stopover en route is quite considerable. And the journey does seem longer, the longer you take over it! Without kids I'd just drive through, but I recognise kids do make a difference.
I'd prefer your first option, but break the back of the journey on Friday, probably stopping nearer the resort (would need to book accommodation as hotels near the resorts get busy on Friday nights). Skiing on arrival, without accommodation, requires careful planning so every last glove and neck warmer is readily available without pulling everything out of the car!
Careful planning and packing food and drink essentials before you leave means you could minimise what you need in that last supermarket shop - which will leave you with loads of bags filling up every last bit of room in the car. Have the bags for that shopping handy - or buy some in the supermarket.
Finally, I'd look into route options. Not sure I'd go via Lyon, but you don't say where you're crossing the Channel.
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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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option 1 - travel most of the way down.....Lyon leaves you around 2.5 hours on the Saturday. you dont say how old the kids are, but we stayed in Hotel Gatsby on Lyon outskirts near A432.....this had a bowling alley in the bar that the kids loved. Hotel helped organise a delivery of kebabs and pizza we then ate in the bar with a few beers.
journey back, crash it out in one hit on the Sunday, it won t be that busy.......saves an extra nights hotel
the local Arcs pass should also give a PM option to use before the weeks pass starts....it did in La Plagne last year
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How old are the children? Stops add so much to the journey, are you sharing the driving?
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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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In the past when our son was young the easy way was to simply drive through the night both ways, Friday night on the way down and Saturday night on the way back. He would sleep the whole way and we'd have 8 days skiing. Now, as we have our own apartment and are retired we take it a bit easier and set off sometime around 4-5 in the morning and get to the apartment about 8 that evening, depending on the M25 and the tunnel. As I like to call in on a friend in Grenoble on the way back we leave after skiing on the Saturday, stay at his place which we leave about 10 the next day, getting home around midnight. Our son, now an adult, still sleeps the whole way.
Of the 40 or 50 journeys we have done we have only stopped overnight twice. Once when we broke down and once to visit Troyes (in the summer). It seemed to make the journey go on for ever and we found it much more tiring. I would certainly find speading the journey over 3 days, your second option, very tiring.
@snowwithkids, Leaving late on Saturday gives you the option of skiing that day. I would reccomend it. Though the Essentials pass does give you an extra 1/2 day I would cost up just buying a classic pass for 6 (or 7 days if you intend skiing on the last Saurday) and a local area pass for the first day. These are not well advertised and are only available in the lift pass office but are cheeper than an extra half day pass for the whole area. Though we have essentials passes we have them for the queue jumping capabilty and in fact rarely go over to La Plagne. Over the Christmas period we skied for 12 days and didn't go across once.
Where are you staying?
Tips:
Podcasts and talking books are IMHO essential.
Have plenty to drink in the car
Have packs of boiled sweets to suck
Have at least 2 drivers and swap every 2 to 3 hours.
Allow more time than you think for the shop. The SuperU in Bourg gets very crowded on Saturdays and you can easily end up queuing at the checkout for 30 minutes (the Intermarche is better, the Aldi less expensive). You need a euro coin for the trolley
Have bags for the shopping.
The roads into the resort will be busy but not as bad as Febuary. If you arrive early they would be fine and almost certainly clear of snow, but I have to mention of the twice I've needed chains on the road to Les Arcs once was in April.
@pam w, The route to Les Arcs skirts Lyon and passes by the airport. We will be driving down that week, though I'm not sure when, probably the Monday and returning early April
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It’s a holiday after all, so if you’ve got the time/availability to do so go on the Thursday and give yourself a relaxing trip on the Friday and take the time to look over places such as Annecy etc.
Depending on the kids ages don’t discount stopping off in Dijon and wandering around the ‘owl’ trail in the town centre or indeed the ‘elephant’ trail in Chambery which takes you into some lovely parts of the old town.
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Wed 17-01-24 14:56; edited 1 time in total
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One consideration is how happy you are driving long hours at night. I am, providing conditions are good (clear night, good vis). But some people suffer much more from sleep deprivation than other. My sister, like me, can drive long night hours (always stopping every 2 hours for a coffee and walk about in the fresh air) whereas her husband, who regularly drove very long trips for his work, just couldn't cope with driving all night at all.
The other important thing is not to be too set on your pre-planned itinerary. Be ready to be flexible. Several times I've driven off a motorway and stopped overnight - both for heavy snow, near Bourg en Bresse and for fog, near Dijon. Drove into Dijon in heavy freezing fog, squinting at the signs to find a random hotel. I've also spent much longer than planned at a service area near Troyes, in snow, whilst the authorities were pulling all HGVs off the roads (notified on the motorway radio, always worth listening to in bad weather, despite the ghastly music). Having driven up a very slight incline into the aire behind a truck that was slowly rolling back towards me, I chose to wait till they'd all gone!
Rolling down an empty French motorway in the wee small hours, alone or with your passenger asleep, stars above and your own choice of music or an audiobook on the radio is a great way to travel.
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| pam w wrote: |
| Not sure I'd go via Lyon, but you don't say where you're crossing the Channel. |
From Calais, and assuming no detours for an overnight hotel, my sat.nav says the route via Lyon (passing the airport) is the quickest, being marginally faster than the A39 option. It’s the route I use most often, there and back, unless the sat.nav suggests unusual traffic levels mean a different route is significantly quicker.
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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: |
Allow more time than you think for the shop. The SuperU in Bourg gets very crowded on Saturdays and you can easily end up queuing at the checkout for 30 minutes (the Intermarche is better, the Aldi less expensive). You need a euro coin for the trolley
Have bags for the shopping. |
I shopped in the SuperU on the evening of Saturday 6th January, expecting it to be very busy, even on one of the quietest Saturdays of the winter. Place was empty, not a single queue for any of the checkouts. It was a bit spooky!
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I always take the A39 rather than the A6. There is almost nothing in it in terms of time but I find the 2 lane motorway a nicer drive than the 4 lane A6. A friend always takes the A6 because the tolls are slightly less.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Don't overthink it. I have the Accor app on the 'phone (and Louvre and Booking). When I've had enough, find hotel and stop. Waze governs the route, including if I'm avoiding tolls.
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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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It depends. I dislike the A6 but that's an old prejudice about the number of HGVs and perhaps out of date! I'd probably go Bourg-en-Bresse, then towards Geneva and down the (newish) motorway to Annecy. That's what viaMichelin suggests. If you ask google maps for a bike route it will take you through the Arly Gorge to Ugine - a really interesting route, actually!!!
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Thank you all so much for your responses, giving me lots to think about. In answer to questions - we plan to do LeShuttle to Calais. Children are 5 and 7, it is our first time doing such a long car journey with them so it is going to be a learning curve for us too.
We will split the driving but we want to stop overnight for the first time and see how it goes. Pre-kids us would have not booked anything and found a hotel when we were tired of driving.
We are staying in s/c apartments in Arc 2000. We intend to pack accordingly so we can easily ski on the Sat. Apartment owners said if unoccupied, we can check in early but I am not banking on that and planning as though we wont get in until 4/5pm. If we stayed closer to resort Fri night instead of Lyon, is there anywhere in particular you would recommend? We are open to an earlier start on Fri even though don't want to drive through the night. How long does it take to get from supermarket to resort?
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You know it makes sense.
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Annecy is still quite far from Les Arcs - the bottleneck is from Albertville through to Aime la Plagne, so if you really want to avoide queues then get throught that as early as you can. We once aimed to arrive in Ste Foy in the early afternoon, but the traffic was so bad it was almost 7pm when we eventually got there - and that was NOT a peak week. We queued from Albertville onwards.
Conversely two weeks ago on 30th Dec, we stayed at the Ibis Styles in Albertville, just off the main road but still reasonably quiet, having spent an extra day travelling through france. We left Albertville about 08:15 and the queues were already building around La Lechere, well before Moutiers. We nipped into Decathlon at Aime, then went shopping at Super U - very busy, with the parking quite full, but all the cash desks were open so we weren't delayed too badly, but it was still 1pm before we got into resort
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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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| Quote: |
How long does it take to get from supermarket to resort?
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To 2000 I would say about 3/4 an hour. I normally reccon on 1/2 hour to parking up in 1600. Of course if you get stuck behind a lorry it could take longer
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Poster: A snowHead
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| snowwithkids wrote: |
Thank you all so much for your responses, giving me lots to think about. In answer to questions - we plan to do LeShuttle to Calais. Children are 5 and 7, it is our first time doing such a long car journey with them so it is going to be a learning curve for us too.
We will split the driving but we want to stop overnight for the first time and see how it goes. Pre-kids us would have not booked anything and found a hotel when we were tired of driving.
We are staying in s/c apartments in Arc 2000. We intend to pack accordingly so we can easily ski on the Sat. Apartment owners said if unoccupied, we can check in early but I am not banking on that and planning as though we wont get in until 4/5pm. If we stayed closer to resort Fri night instead of Lyon, is there anywhere in particular you would recommend? We are open to an earlier start on Fri even though don't want to drive through the night. How long does it take to get from supermarket to resort? |
chambery or albertville
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@snowwithkids, Just a question. Where are you parking in 2000. If you arrive early and plan to ski that day it may be worth having a look around 1600 and starting from there, but it will be a hike with two young children from the car parking to the lifts. Or, even more left field (I have no idea what that means), stop off somewhere else on your approach. On one occaison we left Les arcs early and skied a day in Valmorel.
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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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Thank you, good to know. Sounds like aiming for Albertville is better than Annecy if aiming for second option and one to consider for first option with an earlier start.
Sorry one more question - two of us are vegetarian - how easy is this to find when grabbing food or shall we plan to take it with us for the whole journey?
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@johnE, we have underground parking with our apartment which they have said we can use from morning
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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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I wouldn't worry about getting some vegetarian food (provided you're OK with cheese!) unless you're very fussy, but some familiar snacks from home never go amiss.
It's a long way, with kids that age, and I'd be inclined to drive late into the Friday night in the hope that they'd sleep - though some kids do have an annoying capacity not to sleep when you want them to! Perhaps stop earlier in the evening for a snack then get them into PJs, and into the mood. Then they can just be lifted/hustled into the beds at the hotel.
I've written elsewhere recently about the pros and cons of that "big supermarket shop in the valley". It does take time, though the kids might quite enjoy it, especially if it's a novelty. I'd be more inclined to plan really carefully in advance, take stuff from home (definitely including frozen dishes for the first supper on Saturday night when you've collapsed exhausted into your apartment) and then get fresh stuff in the resort. Things will be a bit more expensive in resort, and there'll be less choice but, just for a week, are these really crucial factors? Simplicity and ease score quite high for me in that situation. Those vast French supermarkets, especially when you're not familiar with the layout, can be quite hard work.
A day spent driving on some busy roads, sorting out the whole family to ski "from the car" (do you have your own boots and skis?) taking them skiing, picking up keys and getting established in an unfamiliar apartment, perhaps having to make the beds and look after kids tired after a long day is ENOUGH for me, without adding a big supermarket shop and having to cram the bags of stuff into a car already littered with the aftermath of 24 hours travel! But perhaps I'm a wimp!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| rob@rar wrote: |
| pam w wrote: |
| Not sure I'd go via Lyon, but you don't say where you're crossing the Channel. |
From Calais, and assuming no detours for an overnight hotel, my sat.nav says the route via Lyon (passing the airport) is the quickest, being marginally faster than the A39 option. It’s the route I use most often, there and back, unless the sat.nav suggests unusual traffic levels mean a different route is significantly quicker. |
That's what we do
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Thanks for tips @pam w. One place we have a lot of experience with is self-catering trips with the kids so we will be doing exactly that for the first night's meal - it will be ready to put in oven as soon as we get into apartment! We also intend to meal plan, take certain things from home and will have a specific shopping list when we get to the supermarket to avoid a long aimless shop where we buy things that dont get eaten! Saying that, will consider if easier to buy in resort rather than supermarket at bottom. One thing I haven't mentioned is another family is joining us but they are flying. They will arrive much later that evening so will probably eat out that first evening.
We are hiring skis - this is booked and will be collected near the apartment so fortunately one less thing to be unloaded from the car.
I am not sure which way it will go in terms of sleep and my kids but if gets later then expected, happy to stop for dinner and then straight into bed after checked into hotel. We want to stay overnight for this reason - at least we all get a good 8 hours in a bed but if it gets late and they are up then thats how it is!
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| snowwithkids wrote: |
| We are staying in s/c apartments in Arc 2000. We intend to pack accordingly so we can easily ski on the Sat. Apartment owners said if unoccupied, we can check in early but I am not banking on that and planning as though we wont get in until 4/5pm. |
Smart. And that's what we do. I would say 8 or 9 times out of 10 we get access on arrival. Before kids we'd not do a supermarket stop in the valley and be up the mountain for first lifts. Especially when the kids were younger we opted to shop in the valley and sometimes ski, sometimes not. These days we usually ski. Usually we'd ski all day second Saturday except couple of times late season the conditions meant we dacked out.
| snowwithkids wrote: |
| How long does it take to get from supermarket to resort? |
We shop at the Intermarché SUPER Albertville next to the main drag. To get to Arc 2000 google says 1h15m which sounds about right. Saturday morning late Jan shouldn't be any significant traffic issues.
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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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| snowwithkids wrote: |
| As we want to ski on arrival, is it worth getting the full Paradiski lift pass which allows skiing from midday on the day before the pass starts? |
We always have, even when the kids were young but then we stayed in Les Coches and so would ski both areas and get use. Some of the skiing just over the VE is really good and there are trees - you don't have to go all the way to Plagne Centre or Champagny for a full pass to be useful. In fact the fun slope under Arpette, tunnel run and new snowpark at the top of Bijolin would all be great for your kids.
Also, take a look at using SAMEDI JE SKIE https://www.lesarcs-peiseyvallandry.com/en/offres-speciales for the second Saturday - so you getting a 6 day pass (with the 3 half day) and then just loading it with the special offer.
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Are you absolutely 100% sure its cheaper to drive than take the train to Borg?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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We are planning the same trip - apartment from 23rd March in Arc 1800 with kids aged 8 and 10.
Our plan is to leave at lunchtime on 21st, tunnel around 17:00, stop for PJs at our first EV charge in France, then drive with them asleep until somewhere near Dijon, which I expect to be 1-2am and stay in an Ibis with 24hr check-in and hopefully an unoccupied charger.
Next day have a day out somewhere on the way and sleep in Bourg, then on the 23rd get up to Les Arc early, sort out skis and take advantage of the 1/2 day pass on the first day.
On the way back we plan to take a few days, with the option of more skiing if the kids haven't had enough, or seeing some more of France.
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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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Based on prices quoted to us by our accomodation, there is a 40 euro per adult and 33 euro per child increase for the Paradiski vs Les Arcs pass. Although we are unlikely to visit La Plagne, being able to use this from 12.30 on arrival day plus discount on luge means this is probably better value. We will probably then just the offer @Layne posted for the final day
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Great to know @Wyeski, we will see you there if not en-route! We were actually considering exactly the same on return but are now looking at doing some inter-railing in Europe this summer so will save it for the warmer months! Have you booked accommodation in Bourg?
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You know it makes sense.
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@snowwithkids, the other thing you and the kids will love going over on the Vanoise Express - even if you just go straight back over.
I am guessing they are in ski school in the morning so time limited? And I guess at 5 & 7 things take time.
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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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Not yet - I just checked and the accommodation is running low, so I best get it booked!
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Poster: A snowHead
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@Layne, exactly as you said, they are in ski school from 9am-1pm each day so by the time we have some lunch and factor in exhaustion, I can't see them having the energy to ski over La Plagne. Depending on their progress, we can potentially tag team with the other family so one of us possibly gets to go over one day and the other sorts out kids post lesson - saying that, we have skied La Plagne several times so don't mind too much whether we do go across or not.
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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: |
Are you absolutely 100% sure its cheaper to drive than take the train to Borg?
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Sorry I missed this one. There is no direct ski train running in March and we don't want to deal with the hassle of transferring between stations in Paris for train. In terms of costs, driving will be cheaper if we stick to the one night stopover, if we make it a break and do second night, we will probably break even
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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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Generally train is far more expensive than driving, for a family.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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After looking at all the posts, we are planning to stay near Folkstone Thu night (we have family around 40 mins away from tunnel or budget hotel) and do early morning crossing on Fri at 7-7.30am. We will aim to hit around Lyon for dinner and then continue onto Chambery or Alertville for overnight. Will be flexible on plan for food shop and aim to be in resort for lunch on Saturday.
If all goes well, we will go for longer driving hours next time (either through the night or earlier start on the Fri)
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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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@snowwithkids, sounds a good plan. You'll get to France about 9:00 to 9:30 then its about 7 to 8 hour drive to Lyon and about another one to one and a half to Albertville. Possibly more as you will be hitting Lyon around rush hour. Going down the mountain, because I never set the clock going up, it is just over an hour from 1600 to the start of the motorway at Albertville.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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We stay at the Premiere in at Ashford on the Thursday before the tunnel on the Friday early morning as it's only a 5 minute drive away. Only cost £41 this year so pennies and helps cut another 2.5 hours off the main drive
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We did alost exactly your plan 1 last year to the 3V. Left south london at about 6 in the morning I think, at tunnel just after 7, crossing around 8, out the other end and down to Lyon. Torrential rain made it a bit of a slog but it was fine in the end. For some reaon I drove the whole way and my partner read magazines or something. We stayed in the F1 in Lyon for something like 35 euros for all four of us and got a pizza across the street. Drove the 2 hours to resort the next day stopping at the supermarket. We actually brought a load of our pre-made frozen food and stuff from Cook. We had about 4 nights worth of food and bought the rest at the supermarket.
Drive was fine, must have been, we're doing it again at the end of march. This time we're staying on the bypass and in a hotel just past the airport in Lyon. Last time we diverted into Lyon which wasn't worth it as all we did was sleep then leave.
Way back was more relaxed, we split it into 2 x 6 hour chunks and didn't rush. Stayed in some tiny village somewhere in Champagne and had a really nice last night.
Was much cheaper than flights and transfers when we looked to book. Inc tolls, fuel and tunnel (which was pretty expensive at that time) the whole car was 800 return, door to door. And no faffing round an airport. YMMV, in both senses.
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@snowwithkids, having done the journey many times, and given where you’re starting from, I’d go with Option 1.
I wouldn’t go as far as Lyon, but look around Macon. We use Macon Ibis Sud. With the hour difference in a 9am crossing it’d be 10:30 when you get to Calais. A full day driving with stops will get you to Macon around 6 at latest.
To Arcs valley is around 4 hours.
Reason I suggest that is it’s 2 days of travel, a Thursday start just seems more days in car.
I’d go with the Lyon route, bypassing Lyon on A432 - tried the other route and found it seemed longer
Been doing it with my three from when they were 10-months, they’re now all in 20s
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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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Can't thank you all enough for the tips! Makes such a difference speaking to those who have done it regularly with children to work out what is realistic.
@Rob_Quads, thanks for Premier Inn tip, we have made a reservation with free cancellation for now and will pick between that and staying with family - the 5 min vs 40 min drive will probably help in getting an earlier train.
@B., sounds like a successful trip if you're doing it all again! Having done the sums, we can only afford to continue skiing with children if we drive and self-cater through the school years so need this year to work. We last drove with family friends 15/16 years back and had same experience with Lyon - the detour into the city was not worth it and delayed us considerably (heavy snow on the way up added to this).
@Boris, thanks, we are now looking at Thu eve drive to Folkstone, stay overnight and early crossing Friday so majority of the drive is done Fri. We will book somewhere for Fri night that can be cancelled that day so if weather deteriorates/slower than expected, we can cancel and stay closer. Hope we manage to continue this trip until our children are similar ages
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FAQ
