Flyng is often thought of as being the only option for a ski weekend, but in reality most cheap airlines fly to the airports that are a longer transfer time to many French Alpine resorts (i.e. Lyon or Geneva), the transfer time can often be as much as 5 hours. So this time we decided to give the train a go for our ski weekend.

We arrived at St Pancras on Wednesday night and caught the 17:55 Eurostar to Paris. With the usual Eurostar efficiency we arrived in Paris at 21:20 local time. Originally we had planned to then catch the overnight train to Bourg St Maurice which would be a really good option as all you would need to do is get the Metro or taxi to Gare d’Austerlitz and then get the overnighter at around 11pm. This would get you into resort around 8am in the morning in time for your day’s skiing.

On the local train from Chambery to Aime

However we decided to stay in Paris for the evening and catch the morning fast train. We stayed at Hotel de France in Paris which was about 5 minutes walk to Gare du Lyon. This was a basic hotel, but clean and good value. We got the train from Gare du Lyon at 6.5oam, this took us to Chambery in about 3 hours. We then took a local train to Aime La Plagne. With a pre-arranged taxi to take us up the mountain we were in La Plagne centre by 12.30.

The total cost of the train journey was less than £150 return. We stayed in the UCPA in La Plagne centre and before we knew it we’d checked in, picked up our skis and were on the piste. This was helped by the fact that the UCPA is literally on the piste in La Plagne centre. The UCPA deal is all inclusive so you don’t have to run around when you get into resort picking up lift passes and skis. The lift pass is given to you when you check in and the skis can be picked up downstairs. The total cost for 3 nights stay, 4 days skiing was £250, including all meals, lift pass and ski / snowboard hire, you really couldn’t find cheaper than that! More about the UCPA in later posts.

Photo’s © Arthur Bullard

P&O Ferries are offering 100,000 tickets to France from just £20. Customers must book by Tuesday 2nd February and will be able to travel up to 31st December 2010. This offer is valid for car bookings only. Visit the P&O website to book, no doubt they’ll go fast!

Eurolines are yet again offering all customers a 10% discount on all ski travel bookings. The discount is valid on bookings made from now until 9th April 2010, for travel up to 9th April 2010 (excluding travel between 12th Feb 2010 to 19th Feb 2010).

Get 10% off single or return journeys from London to…….

Cluses
Chamonix
Moutiers
Aime
Bourg-St-Maurice
Tignes-Le Lac
Tignes-Val Claret

Visit the Eurolines website and enter code: SKITEN

I am a massive fan of getting the train to the Three Valleys, in fact I’m writing this sitting on a train from Paris to Moutiers en route to Les Menuires for our December 09 #TwiSkiTrip. It’s a pretty civilised way to travel in France and the trains pretty much have a 100% punctuality rate, take note UK!

There are many different options for travelling by train to the Three Valleys, and I’ll just run over some of them now, you can check out all your options and buy tickets at Rail Europe

The Eurostar direct train goes from St Pancras in London to Moutiers, at the bottom of the Three Valleys. It also goes to Aime la Plagne and Bourg St Maurice. There are two options, firstly the night option which leaves London on a Friday evening and gets you into Moutiers early on a Saturday morning. It leaves Moutiers on a Saturday evening getting you home early on a Sunday morning. This option gives you the opportunity for 8 days skiing if you’re awake enough when you get there! The overnight Eurostar train does not have couchettes (flat beds), you will have a standard Eurostar seat.

Alternatively there is a day train which leaves and returns on a Saturday morning. This is possibly a better option if you can’t bear the thought of the overnighter. You’ll get the normal 6 days skiing with this option.

The Eurostar direct train takes 8-9 hours and costs from £179 return.

Your second option is to get a French network TGV to the Three Valleys. Firstly, no matter what TGV you choose, you will need to get a Eurostar to Paris. To get the cheapest Eurostar fares book early as they open bookings five months before travel. Then you can either get French TGV overnight train or a day train. The overnighters go from Paris Austerlitz which involves a tube journey across Paris. Leave yourself at least an hour between trains for this. The overnight trains have couchettes, which are basically flat beds that drop down. There are six to a cabin in standard class and four to a cabin in first class. They aren’t like real beds but you get to lie flat. The train arrives into Moutiers early in the morning meaning you can get up to resort to ski that day. The overnight trains run every night, so pick and choose what suits you best.

The trains that run in the day are sometimes overlooked. You get the train from Paris Gare du Lyon to Chambery and then change to get the local train from Chambery to Moutiers. Getting from Paris Nord to Gare du Lyon is extremely fast thanks to the RER, the speedier tube. Take line D, Gare du Lyon is two stops down the line and takes about 10-15 minutes only. It’s still probably safe to leave yourself an hour for this transfer. There are numerous times available for this option so just pop in the day you want to travel into Rail Europe and it’ll list all your available trains and prices.

The transfer from Moutiers can be done by the local bus company Altibus, or we recommend Three Valleys Transfers taxi company for the journey to your resort.

Travelling by train can be cheap but as always it’s best to book early. One issue you may come across is the fact that you can book the Eurostar, and thus get the best fares, 5 months in advance, but you can only book the French trains 3 months in advance. This is what I recommend; research the train times for your dates on the fantastic Seat 61 website, choose your times and book the Eurostar to suit. Then go and book the French trains at Rail Europe when they release, fingers crossed it’ll all work out and you’ll get the cheapest fares for both the Eurostar and French TGV. Sometimes first class tickets are cheaper or similar to second class tickets so keep an eye out for those.

I hope you enjoy your journey to the Three Valleys.  Also see our post on driving to the Three Valleys and flying to the Three Valleys.

Driving is one of the most convenient methods of getting to the Three Valleys. The journey time is around 9-10 hours from Calais and for the majority of the journey you can travel on the, usually empty, French motorways. I’ve completed this journey many a time and I usually find it better to stay overnight in a “just off the motorway” hotel about 2-4 hours from Calais, or as far as you can get basically. The journey can be done in 1 day depending on where in the UK you start from, but you will be arriving very late into resort. Stay overnight and you’ll arrive in resort early enough to sort your ski kit out if hiring and have a relaxing evening.

There are two options for crossing the channel, a ferry or the Channel Tunnel. The Channel Tunnel is quick, at only 30 minutes and that includes offloading. The ferry is a good call if you have kids, it gives you time to get something to eat and have a walk around.

This is my usually itinerary travelling from Oxford to the Three Valleys assuming a Saturday to Saturday holiday.

• Leave work early on Friday afternoon aiming to arrive in Folkestone / Dover about 7pm.
• Cross the channel, arrive in Calais at 9pm local time (if using the channel tunnel, add 1 hour on for ferries)
• Drive for 2.5 – 3 hours, I would try and stop at Rheims, try the Etap Hotel there it’s very good value.
• Set off at 7ish in the morning
• Arrive in the Three Valleys from 3-4pm assuming several pit stops along the way.

This is the route I would take assuming the stopover in Rheims and visiting Meribel:
View Larger Map
Or if you’ve got holiday to burn you can do another of my favourite options. Leave early on the Friday thus making most of the journey on this day. Stay in a hotel at the bottom of the valley, Moutiers or nearby. Then you can get up to resort on the first day’s holiday and ski that day giving you 7 days skiing. The mountain traffic will be a lot clearer with this option as most of the transfers will come in later in the day.

We work on about £400 to get you to the Three Valleys and back which includes petrol and tolls. We drive a Ford Focus (1.6l).

Top tips for driving
1. If you’re taking children then invest in entertainment systems if at all possible, unless you want the children to drive you potty.
2. Going with a group? Try and share your journey with other holiday members, £400 is more than flights will be, but with 4 in the car it’s only £100 each which probably is cheaper flying or the train.
3. Take a sat nav, worth its weight in gold and saves marriages!
4. Don’t forget the snow chains, and also don’t forget to practice putting them on (I speak from a terrible snow chain experience that I won’t go into here!)
5. Check out where you can park your car in resort before you go. Some chalets / hotels will have their own parking, but some won’t. There will be a nearby car park, but it’s worth knowing where that is so you can go straight to it.
6. Last but not least, the French law states that you need to take a warning triangle and now also a fluorescent jacket in your car. Don’t forget it.

Hopefully your journey to and from the Three Valleys will be a stress free one! Also see our posts on flying to the Three Valleys and travelling by train to the Three Valleys.

Ski-concierge.com has got it’s hands on a great discount voucher from Eurolines. Get 10% off single or return journeys from London to……

Cluses
Chamonix
Moutiers
Aime
Bourg-St-Maurice
Tignes-Le Lac
Tignes-Val Claret

This Eurolines offer is available on bookings made between 1st October – 15th November for travel during 8th January 2010 – 12th March 2010 (excluding 12th Feb 2010 to 19th Feb 2010).

All you need to do is visit the Eurolines website and enter the code: SKITEN

Baggage is no problem for winter sports fans setting sail on a self-catering ski holiday with P&O Ferries – there’s even room for the kitchen sink. With heavy snow already reported across the Alps, keen skiers and snowboarders are starting to think about packing up and heading south for their winter break. Convenient, and cheap ferry crossings with P& O Ferries from Dover to Calais or Hull to Zeebrugge go straight to the heart of the European autoroute network with most Alpine resorts eight to 10 hour’s drive away. There is no wasted time in airport queues and there are no baggage restrictions.

For ski holidays in France, travel by ferry beats air travel every time You are free to pack unlimited luggage and ski equipment into, and on top of, your car and travelling by ferry also gives you the freedom to stretch your legs and enjoy our great onboard facilities. “For ski holidays in France, travel by ferry beats air travel every time,” says Sarah Staughton, P&O Ferries’ head of marketing. “You are free to pack unlimited luggage and ski equipment into, and on top of, your car and travelling by ferry also gives you the freedom to stretch your legs and enjoy our great onboard facilities.”

Ferry crossings this winter start at £25 each way for a car and up to nine passengers using the Dover-Calais service. The ferry company’s website also features travel and driving information, including recommended overnight and lunch stops en route, compiled by top travel writer Nicky Holford. Further information and reservations at the P&O website.

The Ski Resort Report investigated the costs of lift passes and equipment hire together with meal and drinks prices in 14 ski destinations across Europe and North America – both for individuals and families.

Foreign currency for all the destinations covered in the Ski Resort Report is available at the Post Office – the UK’s largest bureau de change provider.

Total costs of ski passes and equipment hire together with meal and drinks for one, with 2008 position in brackets. 
 

Of course this is just an overview using only 14 resorts, so can’t be completely used as a guide to the cheapest resorts, however it gives a good overview of the cheapest areas to ski. There’s no major surprises here, although seeing Courchevel go down is a bit of a surprise.

1. Choose a resort as close to Calais as you possibly can – good options include Chamonix, Flaine, Morzine, Avoriaz or Megeve. The nearest resort to Calais is Megeve out of all of those and it will take around 8 hours to drive from Calais.

2. Consider whether you want to take a cheaper ferry or a speedier Eurotunnel. The cost of ferries tends to be around £50 – 70 depending on the time of day and number of people. The ferry will take about 2 hours including the time needed to check in, the sailing, and offloading. A Eurotunnel crossing will cost at least £100, and at peak times considerably more, however the total time needed is only just over an hour. If you’re travelling late at night or at the crack of dawn, this time saved may well be a godsend.

3. Definitely take the toll roads. Do not, I repeat, do not, try and save money by taking the National Routes in France. It is not worth it, full stop! The toll roads will cost you about 140 euros return (using Megeve as an example) and will save you hours and hours.

4. When stopping for petrol, get everyone to go to the loo, when stopping for a loo break, fill up with petrol!

5. If you’re taking children then make sure you have plenty of in car entertainment. DVD players and games consoles may be expensive but worth their weight in gold on a long journey.

6. If you’re going with friends, then for the cost of around £20 each (obviously dependent on circumstances) you can probably get your friends insured on the car, thus ensuring you can just keep going without too many breaks.

7. If you’ve got time, an overnight stay en route will make the journey far more civilised. There are plenty of hotels right off motorways. The best bet is to use the Accor Hotels group. They own a range of hotel chains at different budget points. Choose from Mercure (prices around 68euros a night), Ibis (prices around 66euros a night), Etap (prices around 31euros a night) or Formula 1 (prices around 28euros a night.)

8. Make sure you take snow chains that fit. I have been caught out once before with snow chains that we hadn’t tested, and they didn’t fit. We discovered this at 9pm up Col du Montgenevre on the way over to Puy St Vincent. We made it over the Col without too many problems, but got stuck on the way up to Puy St Vincent. We had to find a B&B that had rooms available and then get new snow chains the next day. Eventually we made it to resort a day and a half late, and with many lessons learnt. Let it be a warning!

9. Try and check out where you can park before you leave home. Some accommodations will have access to free parking, i.e. chalets. Some resorts have free areas for parking too. Other areas you may have to pay for the week, Tignes Val Claret is an example of this and it does all add up.

10. Finally, when driving in France don’t forget to pack your driving kit. You must have a warning triangle, a reflective jacket and snow chains for snow covered roads.

That’s about it, the main thing when doing a ski drive holiday is to stay safe, stick to the speed limits and don’t drive when tired.

Lesley Kane, head of sales and marketing at Ryanair, said: “To celebrate these new routes and our increased winter schedule for Edinburgh, Ryanair is offering a million £4 seats for travel across Europe in late September, October and November.”