 Poster: A snowHead
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We have just booked a week skiing for Feb half term ... I'm so excited!!! We are going to Les Houches, near Chamonix.
We have taken Eurostar previous years but we this year we'll be driving (looking forward to just chucking everything in the car instead of trying to fit boots, chunky ski clothes etc in two suitcases )... Any tips for the journey would be great, we live near London and will prob try to break the journey in half (any recommendations for cheap hotels on the way?). It will be two of us and our 4 and a half little tyke.
Also, should we book the hotel where we intend to stpo (prob Ibis, Formule 1 type). I would prefer to have something booked with so many people driving to the Alps at the same time (will be Feb half term week!!) but we really have no idea how long we'll be able to drive on Friday evening... I wouldn't want to book a place too close and potentially be able to drive a couple of hours more if we are not tired at that point, or somewhere too far where we might struggle/ be delayed with traffic and not get there soon enough to justify staying the night ....
Thanks a lot in advance
-Evap
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Evap, welcome to  I would advise booking for half term week as every Tom Dick and Harry will be hurtling down the autoroute that weekend. We tend to drive in a day (even with a baby) so can't help on stopovers but I am sure you will get some suggestions from others and there are some threads on this topic if you search hard enough!
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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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Evap, get away from London as early as you can on Friday. I've driven on half-term weeks on a few occasions and it can be terrible. Once cuaght stuck in an 8 hour traffic jam on the way to Flaine (same direction at Cham/Les Houches). I agree with Mouth that it would be a good idea to book your overnight accommodation on the way down. Work out your Eurotunnel times and then how far you might make it down France and book something with a bit of a safety margin for possible traffic (we've never been caught in heavy traffic until we get closer to the Alps). I think we used to try to get to Reims and stop somewhere near there if we left promptly after work on a Friday night.
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Evap, Welcome to ! I forgot to add on the other place that we did a summer drive to down the Auvergne several years ago. Not the same as driving during half term week in the winter but we had an easy drive to Dijon via Reims (I think it's the A26 and it was quieter than going to Paris) and stayed there overnight. Google maps then suggest it's about 3 hours from Dijon to Les Houches.
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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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Evap, Would recommend a search on Logis de France website - we use them for cheapish stopovers and you usually have a decent meal as well.
I'd look around Jijon areas as a suitable break - would recommend that you get up early and skip breakfast and try and leave around 6.30 - that way will miss wost of queues around Lyon and arrive in resort in time for late lunch and to sort passes etc out
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Evap, welcome to Snowheads. You are a brave man. Or woman. Presumably you or your partner are teachers, so bad luck about having to go at half term. If you have any choice, go for a Sunday/Sunday stay. Or is it too late already? You are unlikely to need chains going to Les Houches, but if it looks like being snowy at low altitude during your journey, or if you plan to drive during your week, you should think about them and try to practice putting them on in a comfortable place unless you are already an expert!
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Evap, welcome to snowheads. Having a car in Les Houches is a good idea.
As for your journey, I would advise doing it all in one go.
My two were driven to the alps every year from nappy age.
Your Little Darling may have a different attitude, but ours much preferred one long session in the car.
The idea that two shorter sessions were better than one long one was never accepted as having any logical sense.
You can do London to Chamonix quite pleasantly with decent breaks for meals and play in one day: 15 hours door to door was usual for us.
So relax Friday night and get up real early Saturday morning.
Boris suggest you leave 6.30. I would try to leave nearer 5.30am.
The alternative is take the overnight ferry from Portsmouth to Caen
(there used to be a P&O ferry to Le Havre).
Most kids love the adventure of being on a boat.
Definitely get a cabin.
This way you are on the road in France at 0700, and through Paris by 10.30.
You should be in Les Houches by supper time.
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Done this to the Grand Massif and surrounds half a dozen times since my son was around the same age.
On the basis of our most successful trip:
If you haven't already got one think about a DVD player for the little tyke
Get an early am ferry on Friday am if jobs allow.
Drive down to Annemasse ( the Reims, Troyes route) or similar and stop in F1 - I spend most of the summer in a tent so don't have the issues with them that some on here do)
Arrive in Les Houches well before lunchtime ready to ski the quietest day on the slopes. ( or at least have a leisurely day getting yourself sorted out if 4.5yr old makes that a priority.)
My priority would be to aim to get through Geneva tolls Friday evening (pref) or VERY early Sat am. They can be horribly congested (i.e. we've waited 2hrs plus) on Saturday and it's soul destroying being so near......but yet so far from resort.
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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: |
My priority would be to aim to get through Geneva tolls Friday evening (pref) or VERY early Sat am. They can be horribly congested (i.e. we've waited 2hrs plus) on Saturday and it's soul destroying being so near......but yet so far from resort.
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Sounds hideous. I stay off the roads on Saturdays in holiday time, but would it be helpful to have a telepeage badge? Maybe it would be worth it just for one trip, when people have no choice but to be on the roads at peak times?
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pam w, It WAS hideous! and made all the more so my husband and friend not accepting that it would be hell - so going for the reasonable hour and leisurely breakfast option. There was not a great deal of satisfaction in the 'I told you' so moment - but a lesson was learnt and no one argues about holiday tactics now 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Thank you all for your responses!!!!!!! All of them very useful to us!
Pam - we're not teachers but with a 4 year old at school, we are limited to school holidays if we want a chance for good snow ... next holiday they have is late April and we would be risking it them!
We'll definitely take snow chains (husband to test tehm before leaving). As we are restricted to leaving on Friday after 3pm due to school, I think we'll try to reach Reims and stop overnight around that area (none of us is used to driving through the night/ long trips in the car) so although would be nice to get closer to Les Houches we'll go for the sensible option... (at least for once  )
Just a silly question ... if you have stopped overnight in a Formule 1 (what's wrong with them? have never stayed in one of those...), Ibis type hotels, do you take your luggage in the room while you're sleeping? Or is it completely safe and shouldn't really bother?
Thanks again!!
-Eva
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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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with a 4 year old at school, we are limited to school holidays if we want a chance for good snow
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? You are a lot more bothered about schools than I ever was!
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if you have stopped overnight in a Formule 1 (what's wrong with them? have never stayed in one of those...),
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Personally, for the very low cost, I don't find anything wrong with them. I am used to camping and small boats. However, those who cannot contemplate 12 hours without their own private bathroom make a bit of a fuss about the shared facilities. If you're driving till late, and setting off at dawn, why pay more? But on that weekend you will need to book. As for taking luggage in, it's a good question. Of course it isn't "completely safe" and I certainly wouldn't leave expensive items on show - but neither do I cart everything in. Personally, I take a little backpack with PJs and wash stuff, and clean underwear, and leave everything else in the car, shoving the laptop under a ski jacket! We have done that overnight all over France, and never had a problem - but I'm aware there's always a first time. Going to the other extreme, I have seen English families carting whole carloads of skis and boots in and out of a Formule 1, to the bemused amusements of those partaking of the cheap but not exciting Formule 1 breakfast. We always get an hour or so down the motorway to a rest area for coffee and croissants.
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Evap, just a further thought.... all those hotels, not just Formule 1, tend to have grotty pillows, as does quite a lot of ski accommodation. We always take a couple of nice goose down pillows with linen pillow slips, which make all the difference. Yes, we take them camping and on boats, too - off tomorrow, for three days camping in the Camargue on the way to our little shared boat on the Cote D'Azur. I've rarely found a hotel, even an expensive one, with decent pillows. One of the benefits of travel by car.
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You know it makes sense.
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I know you dont want to drive through the night but if you do this will reduce the are we there yet? and how much further is it? questions. Also there will be no hold ups at the peage. The amount of sleep you get in a formula 1 is about like the price (not a lot).When you leave to come home be no later than 8am or you will get caught in all the traffic. I recomend taking the autoroute from dijon towards bourge en bresse -geneva it is much quieter as you avoid all the 3v, val,les arcs etc traffic.
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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 don't think you're any less likely to sleep, or not sleep, in a Formule 1 than any other cheapish hotel. We have stayed in quite a few, and they've been generally quiet enough.
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I recomend taking the autoroute from dijon towards bourge en bresse -geneva it is much quieter as you avoid all the 3v, val,les arcs etc traffic.
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Absolutely. Go nowhere near Lyon! You might like to look at the thread on telepeage, the automatic badge to save holdups at the tollgates. Might be worth doing, as the queues can be horrific. I sympathise with your dilemma about where to book - but you can't afford not to, or you might waste hours driving round the industrial wastelands, when you could have been doing 80mph towards your destination.
There are a number of ways of doing this, none of them easy. One option might be for your 4 year old to miss 1 day of school so you could leave early Friday and join the convoy of GB plates heading down the motorway (preferably from Calais, it's a lot quieter than the Paris-Lyon side), getting beyond the A40 tolls on Friday night and staying somewhere like Sallanches (need to book there, too). When you leave, to avoid the absurd Saturday morning herd, you could leave Friday evening and get a few hours up the road before stopping for the night. Or ski on Saturday, which will be nice and quiet compared to the weekdays, and leave after the slopes close, when your 4 year old should fall straight asleep! Again, stop after a couple of hours, leaving a much more leisurely drive on emptier roads on the Sunday. The roads really can be absolute mayhem, especially if the weather is bad; it's worth thinking it through as carefully as possible.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Evap, A 4 year old will learn more skiing than at school. Take the kid out next year.
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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 think the Formule 1 have shared bathrooms? For a few extra Euros I prefer my own shower.
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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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| rob@rar wrote: |
| I think the Formule 1 have shared bathrooms? For a few extra Euros I prefer my own shower. |
You are correct, but I have found them to have the most reliable automatic payment system.
I find I can get out slightly quicker in the morning with an en suite shower.
My preference is Villages Hotel/B&B, Premiere Classe then Formule 1. All either side of 30 Euros.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Evap,
I'll try and pick up as many of your points as possible.
Times I suggesting bellow are based an averages, nothing specific, but it will give you an idea. You can go faster, slower, longer...
I dont know where yiur starting from, or the time to Calais, so I've put down time s from Calais.
Calais to Chamonx 555 miles - 7 to 8 hours (at authorised speeds)
From experience I'd allow nearer 9 hrs on the continent, fuel, tolls, 'rest' stops.
Leave Friday, as early as possible. (after 3:30 pm you said), why not straight from school? Alternatively, as others have suggested, take your nipper put of school for the day and leave Friday morning. That'll resolve most traffic and time based issues you'll encounter on the way. To me, that would open up accomodation oppertunities as well.
FRIDAY PM START
Your thought was Reims, that's is 165 miles and 2 - 3 hrs from Calais, that would still leave you 390 miles and and 5 - 6 hrs to go.
Can I suggest Troyes? 3 - 4 hours and 250 miles from Calais.
FRIDAY AM START
Get as far as you can. For this try Bourge-en-Bresse, for instance. 6hrs+ and 440 miles from Calais. This will have broken the back of the journey.
Quickest way across the chanel is the tunnel.
Remember, you loose an hour in europe as the clocks are different.
Plan on the roads being busy on a Saturday in France, particularly as you approach the Alps, Saturday's the main French change over day. Also the weekenders will be attempting a mad dash to the slope of the weather's right. It can be vbusy and toll booths can be backed up a peak times. Consider a telepeage tag for your car. Get an early start on Saturday morning to get
Weather en-route can also throw you a curve ball, I've had snow, sheet ice and fog and that was before Reims!
Is your car to be garaged at the resort? If it's going to be outside, then ensure you have the kit to dig it out! heh, plan for it to snow!
Where ever you decide to stay en-route book it. Unless you're a real 'must see the pretty city' person dont plan to go into large cities, keep as close to the main route as possible.
Look up Accor hotels, this chain includes Etap, Ibis, Formule1 and many others. Villages are another. Whatever you pick, have an ensuite, think formule1 you have a shared shower room that can delay you. Be sensible with whatever you leave in your car, even if the car park is 'secure'. I always look for a secure paking as part the hotel facilites. Some of the budget places are on industrial estates and are not secure though.
Again on the Saturday morning, dont get luled into the 'we've got all day' approach or the last stage will take you ALL DAY!
With a 4year old, consider enroute entertainment, diversion. It's a long journey anyway but even longer at that age.
On your return, leave the resort early or you may get caught up in the traffic again.
It needn't be a military operation, you just need to be aware of certain issues that may arrise and prepare accordingly.
Good luck!
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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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Uhmm ... not sure about having to share a shower at the Formule 1 I think we'll go for a Campanile style place better (also not sure how it would work with bathroom trips with the 4 year old in the middle of the night!!!).
This is the current plan:
- Leave home (Surrey) at 4pm after school, reach the Chunnel at 6.30pm (allowing for traffic etc)
- 7pm arrival in France (well, 8pm since they're an hour ahead...)
- Stop overnight somewhere around Troyes or Chaumont (... is this too far? we are not used to long car journeys or driving at night so wouldn't want to struggle getting to our overnight stop...)
That leaves us with 4.30 hours to do on Saturday ... if we get up early enough we should be there by lunch time?!
What do you think?
Thanks in advance
-Eva
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
What do you think?
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If you arrive in the middle of the day You will find you are driving through the A40 toll barriers, and up the road into the Chamonix valley at the same time as everyone else. Also, those timings are pretty optimistic and based on "normal" days, and for people accustomed to driving long, fast, stretches with few short stops. I have done that journey a lot (without kids) and I certainly never get to Chamonix in 9 hours from Calais. We stop every 2 hours for coffee, a snack, stretch legs. Saturdays at half term you need to add at the very least a couple of extra hours - I suspect you won't do it in less than 12 hours, if all goes well. You will, without a shadow of a doubt, spend some significant time in queues, even if the weather is good. Is there no possibility of an earlier start on Friday? If you don't start till 3.30 Friday from London, and you need to overnight in a hotel, there is no way you are going to escape the traffic. It's just not possible. I do see your point about a 4 year old needing the loo in the middle of the night though! You need your own bathroom. But the price difference is, I always find, more than the "couple of euros" people talk about.
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Evap, I think Troyes or Chaumont is a bit optimistic on those timings without driving well into the night. Is there any chance you could take your child out of school at lunchtime on Friday and leave at 1pm? Would make a big difference in terms of avoiding the Saturday traffic as you approach the Alps.
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rob@rar, Troyes is only 3h from Calais, I have stopped there after getting on the last SpeedFerries crossing.
There is a Villages Hotel next to a big E. Leclerc (for petrol) at the Thennelieres turnoff.
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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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Hotel B&B Troyes is my normal stopping off point. As for booking I woud suggest even extending this to restaurants. In February this year I had to wait 2 hours for a table at the nearby COTE A COTE restaurant on the way home.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Evap, have a great holiday, and don't forget to tell us how it goes!
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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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Evap, a good plan 
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We did similar last easter, although I still think your times are a bit optimistic. We took an 11am eurotunnel which meant we were off and away at about 2pm. At a steady 130kph we reached Dijon about 7pm and Dole (where we stopped overnight) 30 mins later, that was with only one stop of about 45 mins. Traffic and tolls were not too bad with the busiest being around Reims.
In terms of accomodation, we stayed here - http://www.leparcey.fr/pages/indexpag.html which is very near the A39 (the best route via Bourg-en-Bresse), and I would recommend it. Small family run hotel which did not work out much more than staying in one of the chains. Also had a decent restaurant which is handy after a long journey and a small playground (well a swing and a slide really)!
On the Saturday we were away from the hotel by 9am and hit the Geneva tolls about 10:30, this took about 30 mins to get through. Again, this was Easter so I would think half term would be longer.
Anyway good luck in whatever you choose, we are doing the same again at Christmas (after some nightmare flights from Heathrow last year, I dont think I ever want to fly again) so once you have driven then I don't think you will go back to flying.
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You know it makes sense.
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Again, this was Easter so I would think half term would be longer.
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Yes, I'm afraid half term is definitely busier than Easter, and more often plagued by bad weather.
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I still think your times are a bit optimistic
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Me too. Dijon to Les Houches is 331 km. 3 hours non stop at an average speed around 70 mph. Michelin's 3 hour estimate is on a normal traffic day and doesn't count stops. The chances of getting that sort of average speed at half term are, at a rough guess, nil. 5 or 6 hours would be more realistic, provided the weather doesn't turn nasty.
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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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If you can't bring yourself to take your child out of school for the full day ( still the best option IMO!) then 1pm is a good compromise. I'd agree that timing is still a bit optimistic - not impossible but very unlikely. I'd go with the attitude that it is going to take longer and be pleasantly suprised if it's not.
If I remember correctly lots of the 'off motorway' hotels have pretty good cancellation policies i.e no charge if you cancel by 6pm. It may be worth booking your ideal destination and one closer to this side, then cancelling one or other depending on how you feel......or take the view that just over £20 isn't too much to lose if you can't decide. (Check the cancellation policies though - I may be wrong!)
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Poster: A snowHead
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Evap, sounds like a good plan, but I agree that it will be more than 3 hours from Dijon at that time of year....and if you possibly can, it would be good to leave earlier on Friday. If you really can't though, I'd grit your teeth for a very early start on Saturday, we aim to be on the road at 6am when we stay there:shock:
One thing I was wondering though - will you be able to check into your accommodation when you arrive? A lot of chalets have a 4pm check in to allow for the changeover, so it might be worth taking a slightly more leisurely pace?
Annie, that's a good tip about the cancellation, I'll look into that
We normally wing it, but rarely go at peak times. When we went at Easter, I printed out a list of phone numbers for hotels and TOs in Reims, Troyes and Dijon and called ahead to book when we had an idea of how far we'd get.
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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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Evap, an even better plan!
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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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That was quick Rob, I love this forum! 
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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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Evap,
We have 3 kids, now 8, 7, 5. We take them out every eyar and go skiing first week of Jan. The slopes are empty, the kids learn to ski. Life is not all about school. 2 friends teach my kids age group and they say 1 - 2 weeks a year makes absolutely no difference to the childs education. Enjoy your holiday.
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