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Grenoble or Chambery

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I have found a holiday I might well book for the family trip to La Plagne in January 2013, its about £250 cheaper to fly into Grenoble from Bristol than the same package flying into Chambery.

My question is having never flown into Grenoble or taken a transfer from there is it likely to be well worth the financial saving or is it a nightmare of a place to transfer from or fly into?
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Nothing wrong with Grenoble! It creaks on a Saturday during the season but January isn't likely to be that busy, Chambery is probably the same (although I've never flown there). I would think (but have no experience) that the transfer is a little longer but not that much. £250 is well worth having isn't it, go for it.
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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?
I have only flown into/out of Grenoble but it was OK. It's very small so as Colin B, said it's pretty busy on a Saturday - coming back we did spend most of our time there queuing but for a £250 saving I'd go for it!!!
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jirac18, Grenoble is a little bigger and more civilised than Chambery but both are very small by UK standards. Both creak under the stress of ski holiday flights. Chambery is more risky for landings being diverted but is 1/2 - 1hr closer to the slopes. Saying that Grenoble is still close than Lyon or Geneva (does anyone still use Lyon?)

PS Grenoble is no where near the city of Grenoble it's past it an onto the plain beyound
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Thanks folks, sounds like its certainly no worse than Chambery which we used last year so for £250 saving looks like we'll plump for Grenoble.
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Not sure what Grenoble is like but Chambery is very prone to fog and closing in bad weather.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
thefatcontroller, yes I heard that before last years trip and was a bit concerned about but we got in and out ok. Chambery was fine arriving but pretty chaotic departing.
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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!
Colin B wrote:
Nothing wrong with Grenoble! It creaks on a Saturday during the season but January isn't likely to be that busy


I'd agree with that! We flew in there on Sat 10th March this year, and there was our Easyjet flight, a Monarch flight, and another flight arriving at about the same time.

This meant there was around 400 passangers going through passport control, of which there was 2 (two) people manning it.

So it took a while, but we'd have only been stood waiting for baggage if we weren't stood there, so no real complaints.

I found the availability of transfers to be very limited, but I think this was due to the lesser-known resort we were going to (Valloire), but for La Plagne you shouldn't have a problem. I got recommeded BENSBUS, but they didn't go to Valloire rolling eyes

We ended up hiring a Ford Focus Estate at about £200 for the week, then it was a very easy 2 hour drive to the resort Very Happy

I've flown in/out of Chamberry once, maybe 7 years ago, and from what I remember it was brilliant, very smooth and quick once our plane landed. It was at Christmas so maybe it's not as busy then? I've since read the stories about fog etc, but worked a dream for us, maybe we were just lucky...
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If you are hiring a car, Grenoble is great. You step out of the airport, across the road and the depot is right there. So quick and easy. The facilities at Grenoble are limited in terms of food, drink etc so as long as you are not expecting international shopping opportunities, I recommend it. Although I have not flown to Chambery for years, I recall that the airport and the railway station are not co-located, so involves a bus or taxi and the resort bus transfers tend to be weekends only.


Quote:

does anyone still use Lyon?)


Only if we have to. It's busy, you have to get on the bus to get a hire car, on the other hand the train station is at the airport...and you can get good flight deals. And the roads round Lyon are awful at peak times.
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Grenoble does burst at the seams a bit on Saturdays....never flown from Chambery but have friends that have down both Grenoble and Chambery and they say Grenoble is slightly better then Chambery.

Only one eatery in departures from what I recall so either take some food with you or grab something before you go through security - at least a couple of places you can get a sandwich or snack from whilst the other half queues!! We didn't realise its limitations the first time we flew trough here so didn't know, did manage to get a decent sandwich and soft drink in departures for about 8 Euros I think, so not too bad so far as airport prices go!

You can do duty free in about 2 minutes flat......tiny.

As you say, if not much between them, go for the saving!
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In days of old (i.e. the early 2000s) when Crystal flew to Chambery on Sundays (only for their Club Hotels, IIRC), it was great; no waiting for luggage on the way in and quick check-in on the way out... and we were never diverted. Now that all the flights seem to be Saturday-based it is mostly chaotic and sometimes hell; it depends on the timing of the flights. This year, on my one trip through Chambery, four planes landed in close succession and the two luggage carousels couldn't handle the volume; not helped by the airport people putting the wrong flight numbers on the carousels. Check-in on the return was also awful. In previous years, the Saturdays were becoming increasingly hectic at Chambery and I believe that it is now operating beyond its capacity in people handling terms. By contrast, Geneva has been relatively painless the last few times I've been there.

I haven't experienced Grenoble but nothing will ever tempt me to go via Lyon (Charter) again - once was enough.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
As others have mentioned both will get busy - but because of the special requirements because of Chambery's almost unique position (proximity to mountains) you are much more likely to arrive at Grenoble than you are at Chambery if the weather is iffy, its not unsafe to go to Chambery but the limitations to operations are much more exacting.
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Again, lots of good advice. Neither airport would feature on anyone's A-list, but you are less likely to be diverted from Grenoble, and it is marginally bigger, and the £250 would clinch it for me.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
good tips here, thanks. flying from edinburgh, we get the choice of chambery and grenoble (skiing in meribel in march '13). both have good prices at the moment (esyjet to grenoble and flybe to chambery) but i might go for grenoble and accept the longer transfer. we had a nightmare 5+ hr transfer from geneva to val d'isere last year when the bus driver appeared to get lost once and miss another stop. not sure that has much bearing on decision for this year but anything that gets us that bit closer is worth considering.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Grenoble is brilliant if transferring to Alpe D'Huez or Deux Alpes , not so sure about going into 3V's or La Plagne, however last year we were bused from Chambery to Grenoble after Fly Be refused to land at Chambery due to the lack of the right de-icing facilities, though we thought there might be more to this than de-icing since other airlines were more than happy to land and take off. I am increasingly a fan of driving, as airline and car hire costs go up, if there are 3 or more of you driving makes more sense, especially since this opens up some cheaper accommodation options if you are prepared to disregard ski-in ski-out.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
My view on things.

Chambery - Location wise for the 3v's and nearby areas it can't be beat. Yes it does get closed down due to weather and that is one of the risks you take (but in many years I have only had one issue at Chambery which resulted in a coach elsewhere). The facilities are basic and (very) limited and don't cope well if it's busy and usually it's much worse on the way home as all the usual suspects arrive with the guests about 4 hours before the flights are due so the check-in and seating areas are rammed.


Lyon (st exup..) - I personally think this is a pretty good alternative to CMF (Chambery), it's about 30-40 minutes further away (from the 3v's anyhow), but it's better for car hire, flight reliability and also a lot of the low cost carriers go there. One tip with LYON st exup is when flying out don't go through security till you have to as there is little to see or do, or eat, or drink (particularly if it's late in the evening.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Chambery is one north of Grenoble station by train.
How are you doing the transfer.
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