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Serre Che travel advice?
 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead

We start the long drive for Serre Che on Friday evening (14th Jan) and would like some local info on avoiding traffic through the valley to Chantemerle. We're doing the trip in a one-er, sharing the driving.

Now, I've read that the valley gets very busy around the junctions for Alp D'Huez and Les Deux Alpes. So, what are the times to avoid on Saturday if said traffic is to be missed?

We've got a ferry crossing that drops us onto French soil at 0330 (CET). 9-10 hours from Calais would put us into resort for Saturday lunchtime (1330) or sometime after - depending on the traffic.

Thanks in advance,

Ben


*If this should be in resort reviews/trip reports can a moderator move it*
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person

BenW, it can get busy during the peak weeks, but at the moment everywhere is very quiet. No real way to avoid those junctions, but once you are past LDA and climbing up to the Lauteret it shouldn't be too bad. Even at it's worst it is not so bad as the Tarentaise. Busiest section is often just after you leave the Rocade Sud towards Vizille.
Late morning most of the traffic will probably be going the other way I expect. Mid-afternoon is usually the worst. We came up on Sunday and in our direction there was hardly a soul on the road, it was all going the other way.
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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?

We're driving down to Puy st Vincent on saturday with tunnel booked for 8.50am (a bit further on from Serre Che) but are going to spend saturday night in La Grave. We've done the drive quite a few times and never had traffic problems (although we don't normally pass through till 6-7pm ish). I think you should find it fine as this should be one of the quietest times of year, I would imagine the only dodgy bit could be between Grenoble and Bourg D'Oisans as it is mostly single carriageway.
Good luck with the drive, looks like it should be a sunny drive down which means the Col du Lautaret shouldn't be a problem.
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 You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.

BenW, I've driven the journey on 3 occasions - only half term (Feb) was a nightmare one year (6+ hours from Grenoble into Chantemerle Shocked ) . Both other times it was straight through with no delays - very similar times to those you're doing. The Bourg D'Oisans bypass generally seems to keep things a little smoother now according to a friend who has property in AdH.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Thanks for the replies all - much appreciated. I've been looking forwards to this trip since we were there in March last year!

All I'm hoping for now is a good journey down and plenty of snow when we get there!
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 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.

We drove last week and it was OK just a bit of traffic through Monetier but always moving. Landed at chantemerle about 11:30 Sunday morning 02/01/2011. The driving time was 10 hours from calais. Hope you have a good journey and great time.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

timbarrett, 10 hours is good going, esp with traffic. Out of interest which way did you go south of Dijon? We usually keep left on the A39,A40,A42, (ie Bourg en Bresse) rather than A6 (Macon)as I've heard traffic round Lyon can be a bit of a nightmare.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!

timbarrett wrote:
We drove last week and it was OK just a bit of traffic through Monetier but always moving. Landed at chantemerle about 11:30 Sunday morning 02/01/2011. The driving time was 10 hours from calais. Hope you have a good journey and great time.

You may well have driven past me in Monetier that morning. It was rather slower going in the other direction that afternoon, the '2 hour' coach transfer back from Monetier to Grenoble Airport took 4.5 hours - the road was clogged with people returning home to go to work on the Monday. We arrived at the airport half an hour before the flight was due to leave - fortunately they'd delayed it 'cos most of the other passengers were also stuck in traffic on the same road.
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