Champgny/Paradiski/Chambery/Geneva

A snowHead

OK folks, here's the rub, I've asked about transfers from Chambery to Champagny en Vanoisse and had some good replies, but the lack of shuttle/buses had me concerned, so now I've looked into it and I'm a bit confused, as it stands we've paid for nothing so the trip can be cancelled and we have time a plenty to find something else for Christmas, soooo

1) we're flying out December 24th to January 2nd, staying at Hotel Ancolie (reserved but no desposit paid at the moment), has anyone stayed there, is it any good?

2) no Tour Operators have Chamapgny en Vanossie in their brochures, is this because the village don't want to the TO's or the TO's don't want the village?

3) What's the skiing like, we stayed in Courchevel 1850 last year, is it the same area (with the joys that a rammed Meribel brings?)

4) do we fly into Geneva or Chambery, which is the easiest/best drive

5) if we don't drive, is £200 each for a transfer from the airport "about right"

6) from looking we can't hire a car from Chambery on the Saturday as none of the hire companies open at Chambery on a Saturday

7) the ski pass for Paradisiki looks heelsih expensive for 9 days (about £320 each), again, is that worth it

????????????????????????

any advice, suggestions/go give your head a bang replies are welcome

Standee

A snowHead

Champagny is a super resort and the hotel ancholie is very well situated,We have always driven from the uk.However some friends came out on the snow train to Moutier and then taxi up.I have not been for several years now ,but spent 5 excellent years staying at the Club Alpina next door to the ancholie. Some one on here has an apartement in champagny perhaps they will come along and help you.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

thanks brock, I just got a sense that everything was going against the trip for some reason, I await further comments with more hope than I had!

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I will try and answer some of your questions:

1/ Cannot comment about the hotel.

2/ Not sure why TOs do not offer Champagny; it is very beautiful resort and though I almost always go there in the summer it has a nice atmosphere about it. A telecabine takes you to and from the La Plagne domain. If the snow is low enougth you can ski back to the resort.

3/ Courchvel is visible across the Bozel valley from Champagny but I am not sure what "rammed Meribel" means

4/ Chambery is much closer than Geneva and a taxi from the airport to the railway station then train to Moutiers and a bus from there is the easiest and cheapest transfer

5/ A return train ticket from London to Moutiers should cost about £200 then you need to add about 25 euro to get to Champagny

6/ The car hire companies may close early on Christmas eve, but Argus car hire say they have cars available ranging from £250 for 9 days

7/ Remember Champagny is at one extreme end of the Paradiski ski area and you may not wish to go to Les Arcs that often. You can save a lot of money by just buying a La Plagne pass then getting an extension when you want to cross the vanoise express. And yes a 9 day ski pass is a lot of money.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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There's lots of good news in Champagny this year after a very hard time for them with the snow last season. The bottom of Hari Kiri and Kamikaze were pretty much useless all season and Mont de la Guerre was really never open but this season that can't happen again and at last we should get a chance to use the re-modelled Mont de la Guerre properly. I hear they have put cannons on Bozelet but best of all will be the new replacement Verdons Sud lift. This will make such a difference to skiing in one of the best sectors of the Paradiski. We live in Les Coches and we make it our first port of call with new guests each week. There are too many great places to eat and drink in Champagny to mention but make sure you go to Borseliers early in the week in case you can't resist returning again and again.

My suggestion is to take a Discovery (Découverte) pass that will give you one day across the Vanoise Express but choose your day carefully. If you go with someone who knows how you should be able to make it up the Aguille Rouge (don't forget to walk the last bit) down to Villaroger and home in a day. Make sure you keep moving as it's a long way back if you miss any of the lifts home.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Standee, Hopefully I can answer some of your questions on here, if you want to call and talk more about the resort, transfers etc. I am happy to help. My contact details can be found on the link in my signature.

1. I have never stayed at the hotel l'Ancolie but have never heard any bad reports about it, it is in a good location close to the gondola and village centre.

2. Most of the accommodation in Champagny is relatively small, either individual chalets or apartment blocks of under 20 apartments , locally built with the majority owned by French people (mostly owned by local residents). It is an old farming village that has developed both Winter and Summer tourism in the last 40 years. The only 'major' residence is the new MGM residence on the edge of the village, Lagrange are the property mangers who advertise the residence and only a couple of smaller tour operators (peak retreats are one) include Champagny in their brochures. I think most of the locals are happy with the way things are and don't want it to become too commercial.

3 & 7. You have easy access to the La Plagne ski area, the village is at 1250 metres, the gondola takes you up to 2000 metres where it is easy to ski to most of the La Plagne ski area. It normally becomes busy after Boxing day, the main bottleneck is Plagne Bellecote but you can avoid the queues if you time it right. It takes just over an hour (if you are of a reasonable standard) to get to the Vanoise express if you fancy a day in Les Arcs. You can drive to Courchevel le Praz in 20 minutes if you fancy a day out in the 3 valleys. I would just buy the La Plagne lift pass, you can pay extra to upgrade for the days you wish to go to Les Arcs.

4, 5 & 6. From Hull the easiest option is to fly from Leeds to Chambery, it is just over an hours drive from Chambery to Champagny. Flights are currently 140 pounds return, car hire would be 240 pounds for the 9 days using carrentals.co.uk. It shouldn't be a problem renting a car from Chambery airport on the dates you require.

After all it is free

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thanks to everyone, we're now sorted, I decided to just book what I could find at the prices I could get, so we've now got

Leeds<>Chambery on Dec 24th, coming back Jan 2nd, £380 (including meals, baggage etc etc.)
Car from Chambery (2ltr Focus Diesel or similar) with no damage excess etc for the 9 days, £357, decided to get a car so I can drive to Tignes one day and take my other half to Val D'Isere possibly on another day, also so we can chose where to go on NYE, Tignes was great last year but La Plange looks pretty good on You Tube.

we're now looking at renting Ski's (we have boots), does anyone have any suggestions as to where to use, ideally somewhere with lockers near the bottom of the lift so we can leave walking/snow boots in there for when we get back.

Also a suggestion as to where to eat Christmas Day evening, preferrably that we can book in advance (ie:now)

again thanks snowHead

proving as wonderful as ever!

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Standee, there are lockers for hire at the gondola station in Champagny both at the top and bottom. Or there are two hire shops in the village centre, down the lift at bottom of gondola and you can leave kit there so no need to walk more than 2 mins in ski boots.

It's quite a drive round to Tignes, at least 1hr 15 I reckon and longer if there's much traffic.

For a day or two skiing elsewhere I'd just drive over towards Courchevel instead. From memory parking is free in Le Praz and from there's it a quick Gondola ride up to the middle of 1850.

snow reports

Ok, I wildly overestimated, the average time is 2.5 hours, not 3. I wonder how possible that is, though, on a busy changeover Saturday - even assuming super dry weather and not a snowflake in sight? I love Chambery airport, personally, but I've never been near the place on a peak week Saturday.

You know it makes sense.

Standee,
I wouldn't think it is worth renting a ski locker, it is only a short walk across the car park to hotel Ancolie when you come out of the gondola.

There are 5 ski hire shops in the village centre, 3 skiset, 1 intersport and Belvedere sports. We usually go into ski shop Vanoise (1 of the skiset shops), mainly because they have a good selection of clothing in the upstairs shop and I am dragged there by my wife and daughter. It is usually cheaper booking online before you go, especially during the peak weeks.

If you're not eating at Hotel Ancolie on Christmas day you could try Hotel Les Glieres, it is only a 5 minute walk and is usually very good. If you fancy a walk, the restaurant at Les Rochers has a good selection and is highly regarded. Le Poya in the centre also has a good reputation but is probably the most expensive place to eat in the village.

We have never stayed there for New Years eve so can't comment on what's it's like from personal experience. I understand they have entertainment organised in the village centre with a firework display at midnight, you can also look across the valley to Courchevel to watch their displays. I don't think it will be wild, you could drive across to Courchevel or Meribel for something livelier.
The tourist office have a welcome evening every Sunday or Monday, they give out free vin chaud and hot chocolate and let you know what's planned for the week. You should get a feel for what's likely to be happening then.

pam w, I've not flown into Chambery in the last couple years, the last time I flew out from there at a weekend it was very busy. Flights during the week always used to be a pleasure, it was very quiet and quick and easy to check in and board.
I always used to go the the car hire desk as soon as we landed leaving my wife and kids to sort out the luggage, that usually helped us get off to a quick getaway.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

thanks skichampcouk, I was looking at Vanoise yesterday with SnowRental, I'll have a look today and see if they have their own website, we'll go to the welcome evening (nothing to do with the vin chaud, honest!)

A snowHead

I was in La Plagne last season, I really like the Champagny area (I was based in LP 1800). This was January and it hadn't snowed for a while, I recall coming down the Kamikaze looking behind me during a couple of turns to check on a mates progress to find my turns were expsoing dirt and gravel!

I'd agree over getting the full area pass, It was a trek down some sketchy runs (due to the conditions it was pretty icy low down with iffy coverage at times, as required to get the the v-express). Did it once but LP is such a huge area there's little point to head over there other than for the one day-not sure how the price would work out taking a local pass and the one day away vs area pass. Being an engineering geek the V express is worth seeing/riding for that alone!

A snowHead

another quick question, what is parking like in Champagny, are we going to struggle with the hire car?

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Standee, You will be able to use the free 4 storey car park in the centre, the top level is only just across the road from the hotel.

Grizwald, It was a very bad year last year, it was good early season up until around 10th January but hardly snowed after that. From then it was the worst I have seen in the 9 years we have been going there. Hopefully next season will be back to normal.

Help!!

Champgny/Paradiski/Chambery/Geneva

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