Anyone driven to their ski holiday?

[HexBramble]

We drive to France every summer and are toying with the idea of doing the same for skiing.

Anyone done this? Is it difficult? Cheaper? Any info will be a huge help.

Hi I have driven with my family to the Alps for ski holidays many times. It depends what time during the ski season you go but generally we have always found it pretty straight forward. The roads are all clear of snow on the main motorways the only time there can be some traffic is on the mountain ascent roads. Certain tour operators offer Eurotunnel fares when you book the accommodation with them and Erna Low offers the free upgrade to Flexiplus return tickets which is worth it's weight in gold over the ski season. www.ernalow.co.uk/eurotunnel

Yep, we do it at least once a year, twice this year. We always stop for a night there and back to break the journey, we make it part of the holiday. You will need the correct winter tyres and/or snow chains, depending where you go, and don't arrive or leave the Alps on a Saturday If you can possibly help it, traffic is hell!

And yes we always get eurotunnel flexiplus too, at least for the return, which eases the pressure.

Fantastic - thanks both
Do you take your own equipment?
Do you find it cheaper?
Where have you stayed?

Yup. We drove from South West UK to Chamrousse at Easter. Was fine. Lots of dvd.'s for kids in the back and regular breaks. We did stop overnight both there and back in Rheims but would only stop on way down next time.

We will definitely do it again.

Ps - my advice if you do stop part way is not to stay at the Formule 1. It was nasty! Pay a few euros more for a more comfortable hotel.

We don't carry equipment usually (once DH's new snowboard), as we always stay at a friend's chalet so all our kit lives there. It works out a bit cheaper than flying, even with a hotel, but we do it because we enjoy it as much as anything! Plus it's easier not to worry about luggage for flights, just throw whatever you want in the back of the car!

We often stay in Reims.

We drive out a couple of times a year, to the Swiss alps. Our kit lives in the apartment but friends pack their kit into the car each time. We also take a cool box with meat in because that's killer expensive compared the UK. It helps having a car with all the mod cons though. Other costs you may need to factor are euro breakdown if you dont already have it and all the faff for France, but may not be an issue if you already drive in the summer.

We drive non-stop through the night and it is around 14-15 hours door to door including meal and toilet stops, and the tunnel. I have winter tyres (sensible in the UK for RWD...) and we take chains but not had to use them yet. Only had to dig/push the car out once from the car park space but fine once it was on the roads between the spaces, usually we park underground where possible.

For 4 of us it is certainly cheaper than fly to zurich/geneva plus train to resort, it breaks even at about 2 people depending on fuel price and flight cost. We never go saturday to saturday, usually 12 days so we get 2 weekends, but this might be more tricky if you are booking accommodation in peak season, in which case look for sunday-sunday lets as then you wont join the queue on a saturday to get in.

We don't bother with taking equipment as we have no problem filling the car. It really depends on when you go and where you are driving from in the UK, if you are tied to school holidays then it is cheaper as flights are normally extortionate and booked up early. Definitely recommend you pre-pay the tolls www.saneftolling.co.uk so you can whizz through and also recommend taking your time, stopping over and arriving either early in resort and skiing until you can check in which is normally late pm or late so you miss the traffic down in the valley.
Let me know if you have any other questions.

We drive twice a year. Something to consider, particularly if you are on a budget is staying in the valley and driving to the resort each day. Yes it is more hassle, but gives you flexibility to visit different lesser known resorts.

I did it once, wasn't overly keen. But mainly because we went self catering and I hated cooking every evening!

Three years ago, drove to Corchevel 1650. Cost us £800 for a two bed apartment which was lovely. And it was nice having our own sitting room and tv. Previously we had always stayed with Esprit.

We went via the tunnel, stayed in a formula1 place about 90 mins South of the tunnel. Set off again first thing sat morning, 7am. Didn't get to courchevel till after 10pm. All the shops were shut and we went to bed hungry, not even a cup of tea! I hadn't realised it would take so long....traffic jams were awful.

Yes we took our own skis. We bought snow chains but didn't need them, but you have to have them because if it's snowing the police won't let you up the mountain without them.

I'm not sure that with the fuel, the tunnel and the tolls that it was much cheaper. Probably a bit. I think tolls were about £120 in total. Fuel must have been at least £200 and we have a good mpg diesel.

It was a lot quicker coming back. About 8 hours from courchevel to the tunnel.

Drove first time this year to Les Arcs, good drive down through euro tunnel, stayed in Lyon on way down and then in lille on way back, making more of a holiday, get a sanef tag, avoid the toll queues, really felt like a family road trip, good fun and a very enjoyable skiing trip, booked for next year already !! :)

Must admit, driving to the Alps with my 2 young kids is not my idea of fun, although we did manage to get to a camp site near Nantes back in July, and we are all still together as a family! Friends of mine train it to resort, and absolutely love it, so it might be worth a look at??