 Poster: A snowHead
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We have driven ever since we started taking my daughter skiing. Except for three US trips! Still the cheapest way for us. Two cars. 4x4 Sierra initialy, now a 4x4 Mondeo. Ishgl, Galtur, Serfaus, Nendaz and St Anton.
Cruise control saves a lot of effort and makes one person doing all the driving much easier.
Tpeage is great even if only used once a year. Much less hassle.
Sat Nav. Horrid things and who needs them on the Peage anyway? Mind, I do have an amazing navigator. This year shortest ever back from St Anton to Calais at 620 miles. The difficult bit is between Strasbourg and Bregenz but that bit is a great drive in good weather.
One now needs winter treads but I compromised with all weather tyres with the snowflake. We will see what the summer wear is like. I have never used the Weissenfels.
Petrol cost was at its most this year. £240 largely because of the previously mentioned €1.21 on the Peage. Cheaper in Austria than the UK though, off the motorway.
We originally just had a ski rack but a box is more aerodynamic and better for the skis and there is room for snow boots, chains and other stuff up there.
Apart from having to 'make' the tunnel within two hours of your booked travel time the indepenance is also a bonus but as has been said, there are times when you have to stop becuase of the weather. That has happened three times for us, once on the way out twice on the way back. Of course, you never get delays at airports, do you?!
As we get older and if the daughter decides not to ski with the parents (unlikely as it's a cheap holiday!) perhaps we will be more inclined to fly unless someone does a train that at least gets you past the Paris change and is cheaper than it appears at the moment.
Until then, driving it is. 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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GordonFreeman, Somewhere between Troyes and Lyon if heading for the French Alps depending on what time your crossing is, how far you want to drive that day, etc. Loads of cheapish french hotel chains, I usually use Hotel B&B but there are others or independent hotels, many of them Logis de France.
This year I'm actually crossing about 9.30 in the evening, stopping near the tunnel at Coquelles, making an early start next day and driving through to LDA.
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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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GordonFreeman,
When it comes to accommodation nothing beats the French on price.
We always book with the big chains like Accord which has Formula 1, Etap and Ibis. One shares the toilet and bathroom facilities in the cheapest Formula 1 and pay something like 35 Euro per night. Paying 48 Euro in an Etap hotel one has en-suite facilities and about 67 Euro in an Ibis is a proper business grade hotel. These hotels are dotted in every ring road of every major city and town through France and can be pre-booked by Internet for any number of nights. Formula 1 and Etap have 3 beds in every room as standard.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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GordonFreeman, Something to look out for when booking with the roadside chain hotels, is that not all have 'family' rooms that will take more than three people. We are a family of 4, and had to book two hotel rooms with an adult and a child in each (wouldn't consider leaving the children in a room alone). This does make it more expensive obviously, but they are pretty cheap, clean and en suite.
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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 believe the b&b chain do have some duplex roons that will sleep a family of four though.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Helen Beaumont, They do, mostly on 2 levels with 2 extra beds on a mezzanine.
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| Quote: |
What's immediately apparent is how many of you have kids
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The reason of course is that if you are tied to school holidays then driving with >=2 people is almost always cheaper, whereas if you are travelling in say mid-jan then the flights may be worthwhile (typically £250 for feb half term vs £150 for new year vs £100 for easter vs £50 in the non-school-holiday times.)
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Just back to Nottingham from 3V by car cost €315 Diesel and Tolls Ferry £54 rtn (P&O). Split between 4 of us.
Left Notts 1830 in Moutiers by 1230.
Left Les Menuires at 1500 back in Notts 0830.
Had to go via London bothe ways to pick up friends.
Had 3 drivers it was still hard going. Took plenty breaks. Slept before and on Ferry for return leg. The worst part is that when its not you turn to drive you may not feel like sleeping either so when your turn comes round you can still be tired.
Got a fabulous morning sking before leaving in Val T pistes were in supeb condition after recent snow. 3 powder days one in sun 2 white out, the rest were sun and perfect pistes.
Sat nav was good too
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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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Get your fuel from the carrefour, much cheaper than on the peage and there are quite a few just off (Reims and Chambery spring to mind), consult the TomTom, there is usually a maccys next door as well. Diesel consierably cheaper than in the UK, unlike petrol which is more expensive.
Planning to go next year with a mate in my car for 2 weeks. 1st week my 2 sons and his daughter will be with us, for the serious stuff. Then after a week we will take them back to Grenoble or Chambery airport (minus there skis, which will come back on the roof of the car) Pick the other halfs up from the airport (they will have there ski bags, but there skis will have been taken by us).
On arrival back at Manchester airport My oldest son will take the wifes car back, which will only have been parked up for half a day  . Then after the second week the 4 of us come back in the car, with the 7 pairs of skis on the roof which we took out with us.
I have never done this before, but what can go wrong. Price wise its a no brainer 5 people get to go skiing for a week and 2 of us have a full 2 weeks. Will be going mid Jan so flights will be cheap and will not have to pay for ski carriage .Going through the airport should be a breeze, park up in the short stay at Manchster, stroll into the airport with just your luggage, then same on arrival.
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GordonFreeman, depends on what you want to pay and where you are at had enough driving time. We tend to stop in the Champagne region because we get there around 5 to 6 o'clock. We have found ok hotels in Reims and small outlying villages. My favourite is a little champagne house which does accommodation and their very reasonably priced champagne. Some campaniles are ok but there is one to avoid. It was awful, and I will ask Helen to remind me which it was for you. Plus the name of the nice Champagne House.
If you are further south by the time you decide to stop, then I can recommend Beaune. We also stopped once in a very pleasant hotel in Beaujolais.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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JulesB, Campanile is Reims Tinqueux. The Champagne house is Marcel Richard, and the website is www.alaloge.com
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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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| RPF wrote: |
| The worst part is that when its not you turn to drive you may not feel like sleeping either so when your turn comes round you can still be tired. |
Much better to be flexible. Drive when you fancy; sleep when you fancy. Sometimes you will reach the end of a "shift" and want to carry on; sometimes you will still be asleep. When I've done long trips with OH, the key is to swap when feel like it - rather than having a rota. At the flat spot in the early morning, shifts can be as little as 20 minutes. With 3 of you there is no excuse at all.
No point driving when asleep, nor sleeping when wide awake!
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James the Last, I agree with this - we tend to work to two hours on and two hours off - but if one of us is feeling fine and fresh still we might go on a bit more or alternatively if the weather has been foul, traffic bad then we just swap sooner. Bit of a fag doing the swaps but we are fairly adept to pulling in and diving round the front of the car, having a quick stretch on the way. The advantage in France is that there seem to be so many places just off the motorway that you can do this.
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You know it makes sense.
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| JulesB wrote: |
GordonFreeman, depends on what you want to pay and where you are at had enough driving time. We tend to stop in the Champagne region because we get there around 5 to 6 o'clock. We have found ok hotels in Reims and small outlying villages. My favourite is a little champagne house which does accommodation and their very reasonably priced champagne. Some campaniles are ok but there is one to avoid. It was awful, and I will ask Helen to remind me which it was for you. Plus the name of the nice Champagne House.
If you are further south by the time you decide to stop, then I can recommend Beaune. We also stopped once in a very pleasant hotel in Beaujolais. |
I have always wondered why so many towns in France are named after wine?
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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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Poster: A snowHead
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| Quote: |
Much better to be flexible
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My OH is a fan of "flexible". For example on one journey back he did 40 minutes from here to Albertville, and said he felt a little dozy. I then drove to Le Havre. 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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pam w,  My OH is 'flexible' but this usually coincides with a lunchtime glass of wine, or a visit to a wine cellar somehwere, otherwise he is firmly glued to the steering wheel. Being unable to drive for 5 weeks while he was injured was not happy for him, especially as we had a new car.
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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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Sorry if I am taking this thread slightly off track....but which route do you regular drivers to the Tarantaise take? I am driving to Tignes at Easter and both AA and Michelin route finders suggest skirting round the east side of Lyon and taking the motorway through to Chambery/Albertville. Having got held up badly at Lyon last summer, I wondered if it would be better to get to Albertville via Annecy, taking the scenic route?
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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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| Hawkeye wrote: |
| Sorry if I am taking this thread slightly off track....but which route do you regular drivers to the Tarantaise take? I am driving to Tignes at Easter and both AA and Michelin route finders suggest skirting round the east side of Lyon and taking the motorway through to Chambery/Albertville. Having got held up badly at Lyon last summer, I wondered if it would be better to get to Albertville via Annecy, taking the scenic route? |
Just quoting above so it's not forgotten while I post another question.
Is St Anton worth driving to or better flying? AA site says it takes 16hrs from Bristol - painful amount of time.
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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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| GordonFreeman wrote: |
| Hawkeye wrote: |
| Sorry if I am taking this thread slightly off track....but which route do you regular drivers to the Tarantaise take? I am driving to Tignes at Easter and both AA and Michelin route finders suggest skirting round the east side of Lyon and taking the motorway through to Chambery/Albertville. Having got held up badly at Lyon last summer, I wondered if it would be better to get to Albertville via Annecy, taking the scenic route? |
Just quoting above so it's not forgotten while I post another question.
Is St Anton worth driving to or better flying? AA site says it takes 16hrs from Bristol - painful amount of time. |
If 16 hours is your idea of a painful amount of time, then I'd give up on the driving idea. Most places are 9-10 hours from Calais on a good run and although I have never been there I'm sure St Anton will be similar.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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9-10 is fine but 16! maybe it's just the AA calculation plus the Autobahn is involved in that route so might be quicker
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9-10 hours is from Calais. You have got to get there from Bristol Which must be at least another 5 hours including the time spent at the tunnel terminal and time spent on the train. 16 hours will be about right for the total journey.
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GordonFreeman, I haven't checked but I think St Anton is further than, say, the 3 Valleys. Whether it's "worth" driving always depends on your criteria. We drive now because it's too expensive to hire cars for weeks on end. Some people drive because they quite enjoy the journey, some because they're so impatient that two hours kicking their heels in an airport drives them mad. Me, I'm quite happy to wait around airports, having spent many, many, hours doing so during my working life. I try to look upon it as a good opportunity to read, and have some time to myself. I can't read in a car (makes me feel sick) whereas my OH can happily read. He also plays chess on his Nintendo DS and/or falls asleep. It makes a big difference whether you have kids - though when our three were small the idea of a long journey squished together in the back of the car was always horrendous to them. They preferred - much - to fly, and also preferred to go on a coach. For them a long car journey would have been the worst of all worlds - though that was before the era of each kid having their own personal DVD player in the back of the car. Ours tended to while away the time squabbling about whose turn it was to go in the middle.
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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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I have driven 3 times and stopped in ETAP motorway hotels(near the motorway anyway)....
http://www.etaphotel.com/fr/home/index.shtml
All part of the Accor group. You can list hotels along an itinery. On a budget then use there Formula1 hotels.
Have 3 kids and found them pretty good. Hope that helps.
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GordonFreeman,
I think you have to be realistic when starting a journey from Bristol. I would say it is a 3.5 hours job to get to Ashford so your continental traveling is down to about 12.5 hours which is about right for St Anton.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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There's an Etap (-type anyway) hotel at the service station just north of Bourg en Bresse - so no need even to leave the motorway. French motorway service station food is OK, and they even serve wine (unlike in the UK) but will only sell one half bottle to you if you are driving!!! (even if staying the night).
Not my idea of a hotel, but if slope-time is all crucial, it's almost possible to make first lifts from an early start from there.
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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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If you're route allows it - nip into Belgium to fill up with deisel - 0.77 euros a litre yesterday! Not sure what the petrol price was but definately cheaper than France. Formula 1 in Nancy was 29 euros (squeazed 4 of us into the room - hubby took the top bunk, me and the kids in the double bed - although 3 year olds seemed to prefer the floor at various intervals throughout the night)
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elj221c,
What is a "navigator" as opposed to SatNav?
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You know it makes sense.
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Turns'n'turns,
A SatNav doesn't make mistakes itself. It might play death when you cross a tunnel.
A "navigator" can tell you to turn when it is too late to do so. If the person is your partner then you put unnecesary stress on the relationship.
Also you can ski with a "navigator" but a SatNav is useless on a slope.
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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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| Hawkeye wrote: |
| Sorry if I am taking this thread slightly off track....but which route do you regular drivers to the Tarantaise take? I am driving to Tignes at Easter and both AA and Michelin route finders suggest skirting round the east side of Lyon and taking the motorway through to Chambery/Albertville. Having got held up badly at Lyon last summer, I wondered if it would be better to get to Albertville via Annecy, taking the scenic route? |
thread here with some alternatives
http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=45549#1090683
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Poster: A snowHead
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Hawkeye, I drive regularly between Paris and the Three Valleys, and almost always take the Beaune-Lyon-Chambery-Albertville route. I find that hold-ups around Lyon are quite rare, even around rush hour. If the motorway signs on the Lyon ring road do suggest heavy traffic, you can leave that road early on the St Exupery airport road, then follow the Chambery signs from there.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Anyone know which are the busy weekends this summer?
Thinking of driving to the alps for our summer holiday.
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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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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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T Bar, though you didn't like driving?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| GordonFreeman wrote: |
What's immediately apparent is how many of you have kids!!!!!
Seriously though, where's a good place to stop in France on the way if stoping overnight? |
Generally stop on the edge of the Alps on the way down to get a days skiing in the next day, then leave the Alps at the end and drive during the evening upto Troyes which has a lot of hotels and restaurants and an outlet village for shopping then leave at lunch the following day to go get the boat. All that though is based on an overnight boat to Hull as we're Northeners tha knows.
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On the route and time front: We drive Rotterdam to Chamonix trough Holland, Germany, Switzerland into France. Tolls are nil (save the Swiss vignette at 40chf for the year) as using the autobahns mainly, distance is just over 700 miles if the pass at the top of the Chamonix valley is open (and it usually is), time is 10 hours driving (at a speed to coax a little economy out of a 4X4 pick up) and 2 hours stops (as I take a 2yr old). No problem with the driving, I generally do it all, and it's easy so long as you like to drive.
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Helen Beaumont,
Prefer flying but:
The cost of flights this summer is very high.
Going for two weeks also alters the economics.
Would have to rent bikes if we fly as cannot get all of them into a hire car.
I dont mind quite as much cutting my summer stay by a day to break up the return journey as a skiing day.
Still I may stay in Scotland rather than dirve through France on the worst weekend of the year but I would like a bit of guaranteed sun on my back and was thinking of Briancon again.
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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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T Bar, which dates are you thinking of, we're off out in July again, and the traffic isn't too bad then.
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Helen Beaumont,
Can't get July was thinking of the first two weeks in August, can't go earlier as no holiday available for me, can't go later as the kids are back at school. 
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FAQ
