 Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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We did some coach trips, to save money, no problem (some people make a mighty fuss about it though). But it was with Tour Operators (Ski Olympic and Snowcoach) and maybe that makes a difference. We had younger kids, no problem (they were a bit agog at Edward Scissorhands) except my 8 year old was constantly pulling her jumpers off and on all night, as the heating in the coach was a bit all or nothing - making one minute, cold the next.
Does it really take 19 hours? Our trips didn't. That's a bit long.......
Yes, sitting on a coach is similar to sitting on a plane, but they do stop so you can get out for a bit and stretch legs; not recommended on a plane.
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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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How much is the coach compared to flying? It would have to be a massive difference for me to even contemplate sitting for that amount of time going to the Alps.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I am going to phone the snow coach people but they quote leave Victoria 19:00 Friday, Arrive 14:00 Saturday.
If they are executive coaches with reclining seats then it may be more comfortable than flying for the same amount of time, as you state they will stop along the way - when we drive down it takes 9 - 12 hours (from Le'Havre, traffic allowing) & we only stop when we need fuel.
I did a quick check last night for the 2 of us:
Self drive with ferry = £678 no cabin overnight on ferry, incl fuel & tolls.
Fly Geneva (as end of season other airports were restrictive over dates & costs) = £342 (max wasy Flybe £660 no luggage) with skis + £261 car hire (then add tolls & fuels costs + additional hotels).
Coach, including connection to Victoria = £385 total (the chalet owner will pick us up & drop us off + the pick up time allows for end Saturday change over day skiing.
So I am begining to think it is worth a little pain & patience, so long as there aren;t any horror stories...
Noisey
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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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noisey, Have you checked the trains? I'm not sure if they run that late into April, but might be worth you having a look.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Got a coach back from La Plagne last year due to the ash cloud and it took 23 hours!
Sounds really bad being on coach that length of time but it wasn't too bad TBH. Your son will probably fall asleep, you probably won't!!!!
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I'm having to phone later this morning - train web sites are awful - even the snow train one, how can I check 4 different airlines + various airports in the time a train web site locks you out & doesn;t confirm when you can travel.
They claim I can travel on the dates we require but it won;t allow me to select them... Arghhhhh 
I'll confirm what they say later.
Noisey
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noisey, that's a really big saving. Ricklovesthepowder, if somebody offered you a night's work which would be paid the difference which noisey is quoting, and all you had to do was sit on a bus in a reclining seat and get out for a walk around every now and then, would you turn it down? I wouldn't. For people not in lower paid jobs, how much time would they have to work to earn that amount, net?
noisey - there are some good tips on coach travel on snowheads somewhere. Take plenty of water to drink, take a comfortable pillow, ensure you wear super comfortable clothes (no tight waist bands or close fitting shoes) and good "layers" so you can adjust to the possibly fluctuating temperatures. MP3 player, books (if you can read on a coach - I can't but my lads read pretty solidly all the time they weren't asleep). You can buy tablets called "Syndol" which have a component which helps you sleep - or at least be really relaxed - available OTC and worth a go.
I hope you have a great time. 
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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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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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pam w,  Hadn't ever thought about this - I do this all the time!
noisey, I used Snowcoach a couple of times with my two sons. We all thought it was going to be awful but actually was fine. As pam w, has said you need to make yourself as comfortable as possible and there was an earlier thread http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=48586&highlight=. It's a shame you don't arrive a little earlier to ski. We were on the piste by 12.00 which blew the cobwebs away and the journey was quickly forgotten. We slept better on the return trip after skiing the day before we left in the evening. There is the advantage of not carting your luggage around airports.
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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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| noisey wrote: |
If they are executive coaches with reclining seats then it may be more comfortable than flying for the same amount of time,
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You could fly to Hong Kong in 19 hours.
Have you costed Easyjet to Geneva?
I would rather fly non stop to Hong Kong than sit on a coach again for that amount of time.
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Well I've done plenty of long distance flying (much further than Hong Kong) and frankly I don't think there's a lot to choose - it's just a way of getting somewhere, it's never particularly enjoyable, but you just get on with it. The most uncomfortable overnight journey I think I ever did was on an elderly ex-Townsend Thoresen ferry which had been sold to the Fiji government and plied between the islands. It was quite blowy, and wavy, and we lay on the floor underneath the tables and sort of slopped around. But we got there. It was cheap as chips, and an adventure.
To save the amount of money involved here, an uncomfortable night really isn't a big deal.
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You know it makes sense.
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I'd rather replace skiing with origami than go to the Alps by coach again.
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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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You could look at getting a coach with www.skimeribel.co.uk.. comfy reclining seats, pillow, blanket and personal entertainment system. Have seen many people arrive in resort from this coach happy 
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Blimey PamW your well travelled - I have a similar philosophy, so long as your moving, I love it when people shout & stamp and make a fuss over absolutely nothing then get taken to one side by customs....Teee Heee.
I've done the Isle of Man Steam packet in some serious gales so I know how it feels - although they never have been cheap just poorly run & old.
Steam packet once brought a ferry from a mediteranian company but then had to fill it full of concrete to give it some depth - the med is pretty flat in comparison to the Irish Sea and as a result it would be flung all over the place in a gale. We sat and watched it from our pub window one holiday having arrived on an earlyer ferry. It took 3 attempts for it to arrive in Douglas and each time it just reached the harbour entrance the wind would toss it back out to sea and they would have to steam around the island to gain speed and try again - they were at it for 12 hours +.
Snowretreat I will have a look thanks.
Noisey
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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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noisey, www.skiweekends.com do coach travel and aim to arrive in resort in time to ski the full first day (arriving about 8:30ish). I've done their short breaks a couple of times. They do week long stays to Chamonix and Meribel (Brides le Bain).
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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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| Quote: |
We sat and watched it from our pub window one holiday having arrived on an earlyer ferry. It took 3 attempts for it to arrive in Douglas and each time it just reached the harbour entrance the wind would toss it back out to sea and they would have to steam around the island to gain speed and try again - they were at it for 12 hours +.
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compared to that, the coach will be a breeze. Some people have obviously led a very sheltered life. 
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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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pam w, I've done my share - including in a double decker bus which we camped in in the car park in Tignes le Lac. Gave that up when the water tank leaked on our upstairs sleeping accommodation. I've done 24 hour trips in more salubrious coaches. I've done the Ski Olympic thing. I associate long coach trips with inadequate on-board luggage space, knee room and a numb bum. Never again. Real luxury coaches are another matter - but I don't think we are talking about those.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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achilles, well you've done your share. But in all those years your wish to go skiing without spending a fortune (I love the double decker bus in Tignes.....) clearly overcame your dislike of the discomfort. Depends what one's choices are. Yes, if a luxury option cost the same as a budget option, who'd choose the hardships? But that's not the issue here, is it?
Any photos of the bus?
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pam w, sadly, not. The lower deck was a sort of kitchen diner and shower. Upstairs we were stacked in bunks. Oddly enough, until the leak it was more comfortable to travel in than most coaches - you could wander up and have a chat with the driver, or lie down comfortably in your bunk. When the leak came a few mates and I opted out and rented an appartment. This was considered to be breaking ranks by some in the party, but they changed their tune when they found out we'd let them use our shower!
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UPDATE
We've booked with National express.
As they will get us from Gloucester via Victoria to Moutiers for 6am Saturday morning.
Our chalet owner will collect us for breakfast so we can be on the slopes for 9:30...
The return collects us at 5:45 pm on the following Saturday - so we can get 8 days skiing for the cost of 7 nights in the chalet.
Pam.w - Saved money & spent some of it....
Brought a loverly pair of Salomon Mission 6 boots from our local camping shop today for £160.
They have a 10% sale and I got a bit more off by showing them that Decathlon are doing the same in Glasgow for £129 (the head office of the company I work for is in Glasgow)...
So after an hour fitting & adding insoles (co's of my bad feet) I walked out with the most comfortable, well fitting boots I have ever worn (ok with only 7 weeks total skiing my experience dwarfs in comparison to others) but they fit fab.
PLUS I now know how boots should feel when they fit right. Some of the black magic isn;t black magic after all, there was no harry potter waving his wand over the boots to make them fit, it is just having it explained to you correctly.
I have been skiing on Mondo size 29.5 to 28 depending on hire shops & boots I have got off Ebay, although as my experience and ability has improved I have realised I needed better fitment of boot (suffering a lot of heel lift).
With correct fitment I am perfectly comfortable in a pair of 27 mondo boots.
So it will be off to local dry slope or Tamworth to run them in a bit before we go in April.
PS. My son has started to count weeks until we return to the slopes in anger.
Thanks for all your help & discussions.
Noisey
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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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Have a great time
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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flipperthesnowholedigger
That is exactly what put me off the train - not just the hassle in Paris, but arrive at Paddington then trapse across London to St Pancreas to catch the other train ...
It is what cost you put on that inconvenience and additional hastle.
Different when your single or new couple but I've done my fair share of hassle, sleeping in ditches, camping in the rain (no tent..), stowing away on ferries + many others.
Coach definately seems to span the gap between affordabililty and lack of hassle.
Let us know how you get on in Meribel, there are some lovely runs to & from St Martin (nearest resort to our chalet) to Meribel (so long as it isn;t icy / hard compact piste), well for us I don't know how more experienced skiers would rate it, possibly not too demanding.
Some guys that we work with are in Meribel village in the 2nd week in Feb - their first visit to the 3 valleys - so I marked up a piste map for them. So if a whole load of ancient Glasweigens grumble & sing their way past you, they have nothing to do with me.
Noisey
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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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Don't know if you're still looking at this feed, but there's a great website for train travel to ski resorts, and you can book package holidays with train too. www.snowcarbon.co.uk They can even pre-book you taxis to save hassle at train changes. Less uncomfortable than coach as you get a bunk in the overnight train.
Hope this helps! 
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I have booked along with some friends (all lads) to go on a cheap 2nd trip. We will be staying in brides les bains with half board accomodation and travelling from LV by coach. We have booked with skiweekends.com and its cost us £249 for the holiday with an aditional £30 return upgrade for extra leg room (reclining) seats..... Our coach from Leeds to london was £22 rtn pp...
I think this is reasonable and the times stated for the travel are, leaving LV @ 17:00 sat and we arrive at the hotel at 09:00 sun ready for breakfast... I cant see it being too much of an issue on the caoch as i think most people will be sleeping. I dont sleep well at all when travelling so i have some strong sleeping tablets at the ready. Take 1 of these when we get to france and hopefully if all goes to plan wake up sun morning ready to ski.... 
The only downside i see to this hol is that were staying so far away from the ski area, however im a realist and understand something has to give to get a cheap hol... Unless you book a last min deal for next to nothing. However im told it only takes 20 mins to get into Meribel on the cable car so no real issue....
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You know it makes sense.
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We were back about a week ago from Meribel - and did it via overnight coach with ski Meribel. It was great - I was pleasantly impressed and would go again. They have a dedicated sleeper coach, leg rests, good recline, blankets, pillows the works - I slept really well. But I don't think I would do a regular coach tbh.
Brides les Bains to Meribel Chaudanne is 25 mins in the Olympique cable care - you'll be fine.
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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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Crispyapplepie, I've done that trip a couple of times. It certainly maximises your weekend. First time there was a bit of a delay so we didn't get the full first day skiing, but did the second trip. I slept fine, (but can sleep anywhere)!
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Poster: A snowHead
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Just got back and thought I should praise the coach trip.
It was run by 2 drivers, who did their best to ensure everything ran smooth.
The coach is run by skibusuk dot com and I would definately use them again. You can book direct with them.
They ran to schedule, catching up time to bring us back into London an hour early, allowing us to catch an earlier coach home.
Throughout the journey they made sure you knew what was going to happen, with a couple of toilet stops.
We had 2 films each way, which was fine & they handed out inflatable pillows.
The toilet was okay, being of a typical plane toilet size.
There was a good mix of people so I think our trip was indicative of a typical run.
The seats were good with better room than flying.
Noisey
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FAQ
so flying is a no no although has been known 