 Poster: A snowHead
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I was considering driving to the ALps for Easter as it's a late booking and flights are seriously expensive.
It's just for a 3/4 night trip - is that crazy?
I don't mind the way out, drive from London to Chunnel Thursday night, few more hours, camp overnight in Belgium or Germany, then 6 hrs the next day through germany to Austria.
Fri ski afternoon/relax.
Sat ski
Sun ski
Mon return.
Google says 12 hours total including Chunnel - can it be done quicker with Easter traffic?
Anyone know a good campspot in Belgium on the way?
The way back is what I'm worried about...driving 12 hours on a Monday direct...pretty knackering.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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12 hours is about right. Done it for 3 days skiing several times, but with another driver. Would be a bit much on your own
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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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Suppose I could Pro Plus it on the way out and get more ski time but would end up a bit shattered.
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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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I think you're being optimistic thinking you will ski on friday
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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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OK living in Londaon you are almost there already. You have certainly covered the hard part of the journey. Forget about camping just keep going. If you need a sleep just sleep in the car for a couple of hours. And why even consider relaxing on Friday when you are on holiday; ski instead. You can relax for the rest of the year at home. And what is wrong with driving overnight back on Monday night? Go for it.
OK I am just Jealous in that I cannot get away skiing this Easter but I have regularly driven overnight and skied the next morning.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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GordonFreeman, we did similar trip to Austria years ago, similar timing overnight driving, couple of days skiing returning on Monday. There were two of us driving though, I wouldn't want to do it with just one driver.
And I have just remembered driving to Courchevel one Thursday night - arrived about 7 a.m. Friday morning, found the friends we were joining, skied with them all day, dined and drank in the evening, skied Saturday morning, cleaned up and attended the wedding of one of the couples in the afternoon and more partying afterwards. Drove back on Sunday, and we arrived back before all of those who had had a transfer and then flown back.
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French Alps may be nearer, I think. We took the earliest Eurotunnel train and arrived about 5pm in Val Thorens. On last day set out after skiing and do half the drive to Calais that evening. All of it if you are a masochist or there are two of you - but the train will have to be the next morning.
Last edited by Then you can post your own questions or snow reports... on Mon 2-04-12 9:18; edited 1 time in total
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Guess could arrive back in London 4am on Monday/Tues, which means leaving at 4pm from the Alps.
Although Chunnel stops at midnight and starts at 6am?
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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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GordonFreeman I am currently in Austria and also planning to return on Easter Monday.
You could think about a break in the journey (as we are doing) by finishing skiing on Sunday then driving for 4/5 hours in ski gear to a hotel/campsite(?) somewhere on the way? Makes the second leg of the journey significantly easier (I hope!)
For what its worth we are in Voralberg so journey out is Bregenz-Ulm-Stuttgart-Koblenz-Aachen-Dunkirk. And as a bonus, no Autobahn tolls oh and no speed limit 
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GordonFreeman, We always return on tunnel services between those times, although that usually on a Sunday am.
There are services between midnight and 6am even on a Monday/Tuesday. If it's Tuesday 10th April there are currently 3 services shown:- 01:22, 03:25, 05:29
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Formule 1 hotels are extremely cheap (and futuristic in a "Mon Oncle" sort of way) and mostly next to motorways and since they use computer technology you can arrive at any time of night and get in using the code they give you.
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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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12 hours is easy. It'll be no bother. It's only when you get past 18 hours that journeys need careful planning. You could ski Monday morning til noon then blast off and be home for midnight.
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Perfectly do-able in one hit if you have 2 experienced drivers. We just went to Les Arcs for 4 days. left home 5am, arrived 6pm going out, skied 4 days flat out, cleaned the flat, left at 10am, arrived home at 11pm via French Motorways and Tunnel and 3 hour UK stretch. No bother. Went to work at 7.30 am on Friday. Oh and had 2 hour time change on the way out as clocks changed as well but were still on skis by 10am Sunday. PS all at legal speeds- not exceeding 130kph!
Would be quicker if resort nearer - somewhere near Geneva?
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You know it makes sense.
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GordonFreeman, Perfectly do-able, just got back from St Anton yesterday but we live in N Yorkshire so came back via Rotterdam-Hull ferry which is a great (but expensive) option. We've done the chunnel many times and its very do-able but you really do need 2 drivers as snowyowl, says and a lot of patience in Calais, loads of weekend trippers blocking the terminal up IME.
We leave Arlberg at 7.30-8am, via Arlberg Pass then Bregenz, Ulm, Stuttgart, Koln, Koblenz............ then you'd go west via Aachen, Liege, Calais etc (poor Belgian/ French roads compared with Germany), you should be easily to tunnel for 8pm crossing (but expect queues if Easter Monday), back home in London area up M20 for 10pm, but its not safe IMO unless you sgahe the driving.
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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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Agree the above - definitely do-able with 2 drivers. Near French Alps are relatively easy (if pricier due to tolls), haven't done Arlberg etc myself but depends on your attitude to night driving. I tend to prefer it as less traffic, more expereinced drivers on routes.
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Poster: A snowHead
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a lot of patience in Calais,
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Only when waiting for your QUICK burger at Calais (which isn't remotely..). At 8pm on a Thursday night the place was pretty much deserted. But it's Easter and that's definitely bad news.
PS going out of UK use the bacon sandwich van at the parking/queue for embarking..quicker, cheaper and better than the terminal. There's a loo in the area too, you don't need to go in the UK terminal at all!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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snowyowl, Bacon sandwich van? Where abouts is that?
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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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FraserP, It's at the UK tunnel, after passports and customs, where you queue up in rows to wait for boarding onto the tunnel train. If you aren't queueing right next to it, take a look around. It's in the middle of the area, quite far towards the barriers. Near the coffee machines. They make a mean breakfast bap.
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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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snowyowl, At Feb Half term we were only in that queue for about 2 mins before we were released to board the train, certainly no time to get out of the car. If we get time on Friday I may give them ago.
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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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FraserP, Lucky you! When it's busy they are more efficient.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Well, 13hrs on the way there because the German autobahn was way too busy and had roadworks evey 50km or so + a few accidents.
On the way bac, I took the Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Calais route and it wa smuch much quicker, no tolls to pay, and hardly any traffic. I think the auotbahn would be the route to take only if there were no roadworks along th way.
13hrs on autobahn.
9.5 hrs on the Swiss, France, Alsace, Lux, Belgium route...go figure.
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GordonFreeman, I don't know which route you opted for on the way down, but all the motoring organisations here are reporting the quietest Easter weekend on the roads since they started keeping records. There were no significant traffic jams at all according to the news reports this morning.
I had friends meet me in Austria who drove down from the Amsterdam area on Thursday night and they said they had never had such an easy drive. They had time to catch some Zzzs in a car park before going skiing because they arrived 3 hours earlier than planned.
There are some well-known long term roadworks that people have been avoiding all winter (e.g. the Drakenstein road widening scheme on the A8 between Stuttgart and Ulm), but in winter most road works have to stop, so the mild weather last month did produce a crop of start ups. The A5 (the Frankfurt - Basel route) is being upgraded on a rolling basis as is the A3 (Köln to Frankfurt and on to Würzburg).
How did you get away with paying no toll in Switzerland? Did you avoid the motorways or just not get caught? My last trip through the border controls at Basel, they slapped a Vignette on the windscreen and lifted 30 Euros out of my purse before I had time to protest that I was not using the motorway.
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I hadn't intended on going through Switzerland but the SatNav directed me that way
Only thing I can think of is that they didn;t see or they mistook my resident permit card for a vignette as it is also placed in the top left of the windscreen.
There were definitely jams on the autobahn, took the Liege, Cologne, Koblenz, Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, Ulm route, was a complete nightmare in certain parts....also because of being able to speed, I actually used up a lot mor epetrol on the way there than on the way back.
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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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You routing advice was duff to be honest. Several of us have posted web sites you can use to avoid some of the worst long term roadworks. The A61 (west side of the Rhine) is only 2 lanes in each direction and is being upgraded from the southern end northwards on a rolling basis. It will take several years to be honest because of the number of bridges and viaducts involved.
St Anton to the coast is quite easy if you prepare in advance and check things online first. It definitely does not include swinging up to Köln and the area around Liege should be avoided at all costs! The most appalling road layout according to friends who live around there.
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Well, I did the same route Markymark suggested above.
It was 9.5 hrs back through Swiss, Alsace, Lux, and Belgium so that's the same time as on German routes isn't it?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Samerberg Sue,
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You routing advice was duff to be honest
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Nothing wrong my duff route week before, (nor on the south-bound route the week before) I did St Anton to Rotterdam on return journey in 9 hours, IME its all about timing, get up early and beat the crowds, we always pack the night before and leave 7am absolute latest and beat the traffic every time using my "duff route"...........an hour or so later and its highly likely you'll hit hold-ups at pinch points, no mention from GordonFreeman, re timings. Easter is always a bad time to travel in Germany, loAds of people on the move, motorway services full etc, personally I try and avoid it (also resort full of kids) hence the reason we went the week before.
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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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Markymark29, My friends from Amsterdam use the Luxembourg route especially to avoid the roads on the obvious route along the Rhine. As I'm travelling that way later this year instead of going to the Channel I'll check it out against yours, either on the UK bound or homeward route.
As you say timing is everything, took my friends 6.5 hours to drive down through the night last Thursday, about 3 hours faster than usual the traffic was so light. Going home last night it took them again about 7 hours having left Zauchensee at the end of the skiing day to change and shower in the hotel. They then left Altenmarkt at 17.00 and were unloading in southern Amsterdam at 00.30. And that was a bank holiday Monday evening with all Germany, Austria and the Benelux countries returning home after the long weekend.
The only "jam" mentioned on the news yesterday evening was the Drakenstein section of the A8 -20kms of stop-go, instead of the usual stopped and parked!
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Driving through the night isn't always that easy though. I can count a few times where I've nodded off at the wheel for a second.
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You know it makes sense.
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When I was younger a few of us used to ski most weekends. We would leave the office Friday evening, drive though the night and be in resort ready for the first lift on Saturday morning. Then would leave Sunday evening and be back at work for 9 on a Monday. 3 in a car taking turns with driving while the other 2 slept (each of us did stints of around 4 hours behind the wheel).
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