 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi, I know it's been asked before but on the off-chance someone has a better idea,
I'm trying to get to Tignes on the 9th of March, arriving on a late flight landing at 5:20PM. So far the only option we had, alpybus seems fully booked (also it took around 5 hours leaving around 7PM). Transfer quotes are crazy expensive quoted around 800 return. Rentals are high as well. What options do we have for 2 people? We tried looking for a blablacar like we did last year but so far no luck. Train to St Maurice and taxi from there? If we can find a cab at 11PM in Maurice to take us to tignes
Any comments/tips appreciated !
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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Hmmm. Are your flights already booked? A small rental car (looks like about £300 for a week at the moment, which is reasonable) might be your best bet. It's quite a long way from Gva to Tignes - a 3 hour drive. You would need to research parking near your accommodation.
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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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3.5 hours according to Google!
Once upon a time, I drove to Tignes (alone). Skied for a day. Drove to Lyon, picked somebody up, drove back. Madness!
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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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How is the drive up to tignes? A bit embarassed but I never drove in icy/snowy conditions, found a cheap seat ibiza to rent, you reckon it would do the trick?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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thanks, I'll have a look!
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Any car will be fine, but make sure you have snow chains just in case. The drive up to Tignes is totally straightforward, the road is absolutely fine, generally well-ploughed, the only thing that could be problematic would be if it was absolutely chucking it down with snow, hence need for snow chains.
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@timmystone97, I'd amend your flight to an earlier one if possible.
If not you could do train from lyon to bsm plus transfer from BSM to tignes
Or do train from Lyon to BSM, stay the night at basecamp lodge and get the first bus up to Tignes in the morning but you'd lose a night of your accommodation doing that.
i think hiring a car could work out expensive as as well as the cost of hiring it and fuel and tolls you need to make sure you have adequate insurance, pay extra for chains and possibly pay £100 a week to park it at your accommodation. There isn't much parking in Tignes Val Claret if that's where you are heading.
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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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@BlueSky, I've been up and down that road a couple of times (in coaches and in taxis) in conditions where I wouldn't have even considered driving it as someone not heavily experienced at driving mountain roads in the snow, never mind in a car without winter tyres. Parts of the road are pretty vicious in the wrong conditions. On one of my last trips, even the very experienced local taxi driver waited for a gap in the snow and wind before crossing the exposed section across the dam.
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Drive up to Tignes is a doddle. Autoroute / Dual carriageway all the way into the Valley then decent route to Bourg.....last bit up the mountain from Bourg is a decent road all the way (we drove it in a blizzard a few weeks back and no issues). Last bit where you turn off to go over the Dam to 1800 then up to Lac is where it probably starts to get interesting if it's really heavy snow but none of it is mega steep.
From doing it a few times, it gets ploughed super efficiently so unless you're trying to get up in the middle of a bad storm then you'll have no issues (and if it's a really bad storm then any kind of transfer is going to be delayed).
So long as you've got chains for absolute worst-case conditions and you take it steady it's absolutely fine.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I've driven up there several times. Not in bad weather, but I've done lots of other driving in bad weather and in bad weather, despite what @paulhinch says, that wouldn't be a fun drive for somebody new to it. It's not steep but it's long, with lots of paravalanche shelters which I always find slightly intimidating. You would certainly need to be ready to use chains - which if you've not done it before means practising in the car park at the airport! It's not rocket science, and there are videos available to watch. It becomes rocket science if the chains you've been given are the wrong size for the wheels - another good reason to practice.
Driving in snowy conditions is largely commonsense - stay off the gas as much as possible, keep the revs as low as possible, keep everything gentle and smooth, leave a big gap behind the car in front (like the French driver on your tail up that road won't be doing). I've not driven an automatic in snow - where you have less control over the revs. And stop to put your chains on at the first sign of loss of traction (keeping the drivers window open helps you hear this and will acclimatise you to getting out and putting the chains on  )
And remember that you want snow. Snowing is good.
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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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I don't think it'd be a fun drive but it wouldn't be super intimidating unless it was an absolute howler of a storm. We drove up in the blizzard that was forecast to be Snowmaggedon (but wasn't) the other week and it was actually pretty self managing. Traffic was queued and moving slowly. Visibility wasn't great but we were moving. Took us maybe an hour from Bourg (vs just over half an hour normally?).
Agree on the length of it. If it's chains weather then the distance would definitely come into it but in reality, it's not likely to be chains weather. We stayed in Val Claret and there were a few cars with chains on between Lac & Val but I didn't even consider it with All Season tyres on.
Biggest thing is just take it steady as you say. Keep your distance, don't worry if it takes you an hour longer.
I go back to the point though that if it's that kind of weather then unless you're driving a piste basher it's going to be a pain whether you're driving or on a coach or in a minibus transfer.
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@Origen, Pretty much all automatics have a manual function which allows you to select a specific gear and change whenever you want. There is no difference to a manual in that regard, at least when it comes to winter driving. Normally the electronics will not allow you to select a gear that would allow dangerously high revs, but you should not be in danger of that if driving carefully on a snowy road!
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You know it makes sense.
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Thanks a lot for the tips guys, much appreciated. Ended up buying another earlier flight to Geneva for 90 euros pp inc luggage, ends up a bit cheaper than renting a car, less hassle, shorter ride up the mountain with the bus and we'll meet with our group at the airport as well. Lesson learned
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