Driving to France

[FrowningOwl]

Hi all,

We are driving to France to Alp d’Huez and wondered if anyone had any tips for driving to the alps? We have regularly driven to France but never to a ski resort so want to be prepared for driving in the snow and ice!

Thanks

Put your snowchains on a couple of times so you know what to do. Take something to kneel on, rubber gloves, head torch, wet wipes. Cat litter was suggested to me to get grip if you do get stuck. Keep hat, scarf, warm clothing accessible.

Think about getting stuck and ensure you have warm clothes, full tank of fuel, food, drink, loo roll (oh yes) all to hand so you don't need to empty the car to access them. It doesn't happen often, but it can be a very very long time in a car if you get caught in a snow storm.

@dontcallmethatyoucunt Thank you for the great tips! Never thought about the cat litter thank you! We were told to buy snow chains abroad as it would be cheaper but we would definitely need to practice putting them on!

Freezing cold, pitch black, filthy freezing hands.... worth every penny of a few trial runs. Also much cheaper than divorce

Put proper winter/ snow tyres on your car if you haven’t already.

You can keep them for a few years and use in winter in the UK too so they wouldn’t be wasted.

Thanks @Giraffesarequitetall I did ask OH if he would want snow tyres and that’s good to know it will still last a couple of years, seen the weather forecast and it’s -7 degrees!

@dontcallmethatyoucunt Oh god putting snow chains on in the pitch black, that sounds awful! Yes definitely need to practice and be prepared! Hopefully the roads won’t be too bad, I’ve been on coach trips with school when I was younger and never recalled the roads being that bad but better to be safe than sorry!

Snow tyres are legally required in a lot of places in France. If you have a crash and your non winter tyres are to blame you'll pay for your own damage and the other person's. Insurance won't cover. Check your policy!

My DH does rather take the piss about my disaster movie take on the downside risk. However as you say, better safe than sorry! The last time couple of times I've left in a snow storm. The BMW that went off the road wasn't looking to clever.

Hi - we drive to the Alpes d'huez area regularly (we have a small chalet in one of the neighbouring resorts). My top tips would be:

• buy snow socks not chains - far easier to use but practise putting them in so you are not doing it for the first time in a blizzard. Make sure a torch and snow boots accessible.
• if you are going on the chunnel then upgrade to a flexiplus ticket - at least for the way back - especially if you are travelling in Feb half term. Jumping the huge queue is well worth it.
• consider getting the little chip you put on your window that means you can drive through the toll plaza at 30km and it deducts the charge from your UK bank account . You need to arrange this in advance but it was very easy to set up (Google French motorway token or equivalent). It's a 'nice to have' if you drive to France a couple of times a year. If you don't do this, make sure passenger has credit card somewhere accessible for tolls;
• alpes d'huez about 9 hours driving from Calais. We tend to cross the channel on a Friday and get a cheap ibis budget hotel about one hour south of calais then make a really early start on Saturday morning (6pm or earlier - plan to have breakfast in car - I even take a travel kettle and make a flask of coffee. In peak weeks it can get really congested on the roads if you arrive at the resort when everyone else does so an early getaway really helps (I actually pack lunch in the UK too then supplement with some baguettes we buy at a service station so we don't have to stop at a big service station - just an aire - but we don't do long stops;
• have lots of snacks, a phone charger, loads of CDs, hand gel (some of the 'aires' have pretty limited facilities), loo roll in the car!
• if you have time/space in car, plan to do a quick supermarket shop of real essentials before you start the hairpins - everything so much more expensive in resort (assuming you are self catering there).

Have a wonderful time in Alpes d'huez - it is a fantastic ski area :)

On the subject of snow tyres again!, they are useful in temperatures of less than 8 degrees C so useful in a UK winter too. We are on the third winter with ours now, only one of which we have gone skiing. By using them for 4 months of the year roughly, the summer tyres also last longer. You can definitely feel the difference and I am happier in the current weather as have a better grip. Look online, we found it a lot cheaper to import them from Germany via eBay than buy from a UK garage.

Thanks for all the pointers! Definitely feeling more confident now and can’t wait to go!