 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi all, we are skiing in Les Arcs 1950 for new year. We like to arrive in resort earlier on a Saturday transfer day so that we can do a bit of exploring, get our hire skis and settle into our accommodation without too much rushing.
I was wondering where you would recommend stopping for a night on the way down? We will be staying in a folkstone premier inn on the Thursday night so that we can get an early tunnel on the Friday morning. Happy to do as much driving as needed on the Friday.
Any recommendations would be great! We only want basic accommodation (must have en suite) and near the route we are on.
Did consider getting all the way to B.St.M. But not sure. 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@breeze11, we tend to stay in Albertville on the Friday nights of any of our recent trips, this way we manage to get a big shop in on Friday before setting off early (7:30ish) sat morning to get up to resort for some skiing in before gaining access to the self catering apartment.
though just looked and there is not a great deal left for your date, but it may be different depending on the amount of travellers in your group.
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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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@breeze11, If you get an earlish crossing on the Friday morning, say 8:00 you can easily be in Les Arcs for 20:00 that evening (we do it regularly, getting a crossing between 8:00 at 9:00. I would be targetting either getting to Les Arcs or Bourg st Maurice, but I do recall once staying in a hotel for the weekend in Aime. From there it is less than an hour to Les Arcs. Park up for the day and go skiing.
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Calais to Les Arcs is about 10 hours when we've done it. All depends how far down you want to get and how early you want to be there on the Saturday.
You could definitely make Bourg if you wanted to or maybe find somewhere nice that's not too far (Annecy is lovely if you fancied going that route and avoids messing with Lyon).
We stayed in a great place in Dijon on the way back last time but that's probably a bit far out the other way round (5 hours from resort). - Best Western Dijon Quetigny if you end up that far out.
Last edited by You need to Login to know who's really who. on Sat 21-09-24 13:51; edited 1 time 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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We stayed in Auxerre, which is about halfway between LA and Calais. But that was because we had a 3 hour drive to Folkestone first, so we did about 8 hours of driving on that first day. As John says, you could comfortably do the drive in a day, but that would get you there a day early and presumably your accommodation is already booked for the Saturday?
In Auxerre we stayed in Hotel B&B. Comfortable beds, ensuite toilet, and a Lidl directly opposite for cheap pastries for the road, or your full weeks shop before heading down to 1950. You could leave Auxerre at 10ish after your shop, and still be in 1950 just after lunch. Most accommodation won't let you in much before about 4pm anyway. We left Auxerre at 11am and all the pinch points (Albertville etc) were clear. Even with stops, we were still in resort before the hire shop closed and we were late enough that we could check straight in.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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The last few years I've tended to stop at the Ibis Budget just off the motorway exit for Amberieu-en-Bugey and then go cross-country to Chambery. Rooms are very basic (very very basic) but it suits me fine, with light breakfast available (additional option when booking); fuel stop just down the road at the Intermarche. Around 3 hours driving from there to Arc 1950 if roads are clear, although I stop at LeClerc at Aime to stock up. Bear in mind that apartments are officially not available until 5 p.m. so settling in any earlier may not be an option. The village is small, so exploring won't take long.
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Ibis budget is ideal - has bathroom ( which means not very basic.....) but all will be very busy that night. Book well in advance.
If you're organized you can ski from the car that first Saturday ( and the last, good quiet days usually).
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| paulhinch wrote: |
| Calais to Les Arcs is about 10 hours when we've done it |
That's non stop and on an assumption that there are no delays. In practice add 2 hours for toilet/snack stops + X hours for delays.
Last year we set off around 7:00 AM from Calais and made it to LA1950 almost at midnight. It has never been this bad though, it normally takes around 12-13 hours.
This time I am booking an overnight stop - it's not worth it.
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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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| Quote: |
In practice add 2 hours for toilet/snack stops + X hours for delays.
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I have that factored into the 10 hours but apart when we broke down we have never had any excessive delays (well one year we did have to follow a snow plough over the Burgundy Plateau and that cost us an hour). I think the 3 drives each way this year have all taken less than 10 hours including stops. And I do not exceedd the speed limit. We alternate drivers, each doing about 3 hours, stopping to refuel once when we buy sandwiches and visiting the toilet when we change drivers. The stints are now pretty routine one of us drives to the tunnel (the hardest part of the drive), one then takes us to just south of Rheims, the next stint is to somewhere between Dijoin and Bourg en Bresse for a refuel and the final stint to Les Arcs. There may an intermediate stop on that last leg. Normally it takes about 15 hours from Les Arcs to home in the Midlands, but that depands a lot on the tunnel. We have had a couple waits of over 2 hours.
May I ask what was the problem was that made you take 14 hours.
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Two nights accommodation for the drive to Les Arcs seems an unnecessary expense. I live 90 minutes from the terminal at Folkestone and have always done the drive in a single day (typical timings 7.50am train, arrive in Arc 1800 around 7pm, although I usually avoid driving on busy Saturday transfer days).
Wouldn’t it be cheaper to get a Eurotunnel/ferry crossing Friday morning, choose an appropriate overnight stop close to the Alps and then an early start on the Saturday morning to beat the transfer traffic?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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We are also going the Friday after boxing day but getting a tunnel around midday so we can enjoy boxing day with family. As we're getting a later tunnel than usual, I think we're stopping around Dijon kids will be well fed up by then! Personally I love driving and happily keep going but need to keep family happy.
Doesn't really help you just wanted to write my plans down as really looking forward to getting out of the uk the new year week find it so depressing after boxing day.
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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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| johnE wrote: |
| Quote: |
In practice add 2 hours for toilet/snack stops + X hours for delays.
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I have that factored into the 10 hours but apart when we broke down we have never had any excessive delays (well one year we did have to follow a snow plough over the Burgundy Plateau and that cost us an hour). I think the 3 drives each way this year have all taken less than 10 hours including stops. And I do not exceedd the speed limit. We alternate drivers, each doing about 3 hours, stopping to refuel once when we buy sandwiches and visiting the toilet when we change drivers. The stints are now pretty routine one of us drives to the tunnel (the hardest part of the drive), one then takes us to just south of Rheims, the next stint is to somewhere between Dijoin and Bourg en Bresse for a refuel and the final stint to Les Arcs. There may an intermediate stop on that last leg. Normally it takes about 15 hours from Les Arcs to home in the Midlands, but that depands a lot on the tunnel. We have had a couple waits of over 2 hours.
May I ask what was the problem was that made you take 14 hours. |
Every single time we drive that way Google shows around 10h to go from Calais. Google doesn't take into account stops - every stop adds up on top of that 10h. We make quite a few stops - young kids want to stretch, have a proper lunch, etc.
I don't know, may be I have been unlucky. I consistently drive at 130 km/h when traffic allows.
Last Christmas drive down was especially bad, constant queues all the way down, especially around Dijon, Lyon, Chamberry.
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Yes, last Christmas was bad though I was curled up with audiobook in the back of van driven by my son in law. Lots of slow and crawling traffic. And the queues for ladies toilets were shocking!
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You know it makes sense.
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The longest unexpected delay for me was on a quiet, unbusy evening when horrendous thick freezing fog forced us off the motorway to find a hotel in the dark and murky streets of Dijon. "Savoir renoncer" as they say in France. Following a snowplough across Picardy wasn't much fun either, but nowhere near so dangerous.
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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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I never set time targets if I can help it.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Oleski wrote: |
| paulhinch wrote: |
| Calais to Les Arcs is about 10 hours when we've done it |
That's non stop and on an assumption that there are no delays. In practice add 2 hours for toilet/snack stops + X hours for delays.
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No. That's elapsed time including decent stops. It does assume you aren't held up with huge snow or insane traffic which I guess you could be on new year (but not on the Friday I'd have thought).
Google says it's 966km and 8 1/2 hours driving.
We have regularly done it with a couple of decent stops and a couple of stretch / driver / toilet stops in 10 hours.
Every time we go, we get a 6am tunnel and are always in resort for tea time (5-6pm even in a blizzard up to Tignes last year).
Agree on delays though. That's the reason we leave super early. Aim for a tea time arrival and if there's a couple of hours of traffic problems you're still there at a sensible ish time.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Is anyone concerned about the possible delays at border crossings due to the introduction of new EU entry requirements? We went through the Tunnel in August and they were almost finished (believe now complete), but even with a well organised team, it could create backlogs. We live in Kent and hear that KCC are looking to find areas near the M20 to store traffic if backlogs appear.
I just went through Dover/Calais this week and they are not finished at all, but presume will be ready for November.
I guess we will see the two weekends before Xmas as the first examples of peak travel to the continent, hopefully will be sorted by Friday 27th.
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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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@The_Gate, EES entry requirements have been delayed again, there is a thread on "the piste" here regarding it, it was due to come into force after the October half terms, they seem to try and get a quiet (non holiday) window to introduce it, but they cannot get it ready by then.
not sure when the next one will be, if at all, before next ski season, it may well be held off until between easter and summer holidays
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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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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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We’re only an hour from the tunnel so don’t need the Thursday stop in the UK but our route to Les Arcs is always the same. The aim is to ski after lunch on Saturday which sounds like what you are looking to do. We get a tunnel around 7.15am and have a couple of coffee stops at most plus one circa 45 minute lunch stop. All in the service stations on the motorway. We stay in Chambery and typically get there about 7.30pm, sometimes earlier if the traffic is really good. Then get on the road in the morning about 8.30am. It’s a 90 minute or so drive to Les Arcs from there but it can get very busy on a Saturday. We do a shop as quickly as we can at the big supermarket in Bourg st Maurice and then get up the hill. There is a Kyriad in the centre which is basic but nice and some really good restaurants nearby.
I guess as others have said you could find hotels nearer Les Arcs than Chambery but we like it as it’s a nice town and some good food. Personally can’t see the point getting to Les Arcs itself on Friday as I am not sure where you would stay at New Year. Pretty sure most if not all accommodation is Saturday to Saturday only.
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I'm doing something similar (albeit at the end of Jan) and am staying in Chambery on the Friday night with a view to get on the road for 6:30ish the next morning to hopefully be up in the resort before the lifts open.
I've always just driven through the night though (I'm not sure I'm up to it anymore!) so not sure how it will all work out.
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| Warnergb7 wrote: |
We’re only an hour from the tunnel so don’t need the Thursday stop in the UK but our route to Les Arcs is always the same. The aim is to ski after lunch on Saturday which sounds like what you are looking to do. We get a tunnel around 7.15am and have a couple of coffee stops at most plus one circa 45 minute lunch stop. All in the service stations on the motorway. We stay in Chambery and typically get there about 7.30pm, sometimes earlier if the traffic is really good. Then get on the road in the morning about 8.30am. It’s a 90 minute or so drive to Les Arcs from there but it can get very busy on a Saturday. We do a shop as quickly as we can at the big supermarket in Bourg st Maurice and then get up the hill. There is a Kyriad in the centre which is basic but nice and some really good restaurants nearby.
I guess as others have said you could find hotels nearer Les Arcs than Chambery but we like it as it’s a nice town and some good food. Personally can’t see the point getting to Les Arcs itself on Friday as I am not sure where you would stay at New Year. Pretty sure most if not all accommodation is Saturday to Saturday only. |
I'm doing a similar thing for the first time in January. Staying at the Ibis just off the Autoroute (isn't skiing oh so glamorous?!). Never been to Chambery before but will be looking for somewhere for dinner on the Friday night. Do you have any recommendations?
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We stayed in the Brit Hotel in Chambery last April (not far from the Ibis) & ate at La Côte et l'Arête, which was very nice indeed (which was a bit unexpected, given the location). It looks like the Ibis is virtually across the road, so I think you need look no further 
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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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we are driving down to Ste Foy on Friday 27th....stopping overnight in Albertville Ibis Styles
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Aim for an early run up to the resort on the Saturday - the run to Albertville-Moutiers-Bourg gets heavily congested on peak weeks, and if it dumps then it gets very bad (worst for me was New Year 2017, Albertville to Menuires in 10 hours  ).
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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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@raino,We may have been in that same queue. 7 hrs from Lyon to Arc 1800. Nightmare.
@breeze11, get a toll payment device. The queues at busy times are horrendous if you need to stop and pay with a card.
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Hi all, but of a delay replying sorry! Some great advice and suggestions here. I think we will try to book somewhere in Chambéry as a few of you have suggested. Then a food shop on the way up early on Saturday.
And fingers crossed there’s no repeat of the 2017 trip you had. That does NOT sound fun!
Thanks all!
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