Mr.C and I have driven to the Alps with 2 kids in summer and winter from the north with one overnight stop.It is alot less stressful than flying and we can take all the kit we might need with out paying any extra. We went this winter and got Eurotunnel tickets free with Tesco Club Card tokens. We saved a fortune compared to all our friends and families who flew, but it was at half term.

It's an easy drive. Have a stop over in the UK and get an early ferry?

Took me 8 hours (Calais to Morzine) and 7 hours the other way. The French roads are excellent as are the drivers road manners.

The only comment would be take snacks! The French road side services are rubbish! You'll queue for 10,000 years for a manky croque monsieur or the loos. Just do as the French do and stop and wee in the car park, eat your snacks, move on.

Oh, and it's easier to have a co-pilot to stick a credit card in the toll machines (wrong side innit otherwise…..)

I'd happily drive again. The bonus of being able to take lots of kit / spares / bikes far outweighed the hassle of travelling by air.

It costs a bloody fortune to drive solo. I did it last year and took me 22 hours from Blackburn. This was with 2 1 hour sleep stops. Very dangerous, but I was excited so it didn't matter. Didn't use my car much whilst there for the season.

Not driving this summer, too much hassle, cost and tomfoolery and need to get back in a hurry to start job in September. I just hope the flights are OK in June!

Where you driving to?

Edit: The first toll stop you get to has a British side to give you a sense it'll be alright. After that it's a pain reaching over all the time.

I've driven it many times solo. I used to do it from Gothenburg, Sweden to Chamonix and back quite regularly, even for long weekends and that's over 20 hours driving time and 1200 miles each way! It helped that I could class it as work time and it cost me nothing.
Road trips rule.

I'm off late july by myself and like most have said so far take plenty of breaks and drink loads of water so you will have to stop (p Stop) I pick the booth on the toll with the least traffic and just walk round the car, the french drivers seem quite patient. I will be using a sat nav as opposed to an atlas and I can leave the motorway to refuel as its cheaper.Did it overnight last time but choosing to travel in the day light this one. See you in the services.

Almost there

I have driven several times.It is not difficult, but make sure your departure does not concide with one of the big French /Paris departure weekends.
If it is just yourself though it works out pretty expensive with channel crossing fuel and tolls. Have you thought about taking the train? Often the most relaxing form of transport. Earlier you book hte cheaper the ticket usually.

i drove back on my own 2 years ago (could only blag a week rather than 2 that all my mates managed). wasn't that expensive if you stay off the toll roads, but pricier than just flying and getting transfers. I did the whole lot with just one stop (for fuel), other than that cruise control on, trundle along. my tip for a 12 hour jouney would be audiobooks – keep you awake and interested

Don't know where you're from in the kingdom, but you'll be fine. I did dieppe cannes in one go, only stopping for fuel and wee. Stick to the speed limit and enjoy the music 😀

Waaaaah! I'm getting so excited!
I'm sitting in the stuffy uni computer lab and just let out an involuntary girly squeal!
😀

*EEEEEEEEP*

We always drive, 5 times now, although i don't drive myself. Nick, who does all the driving(complete petrol head) loves it. It's an easy journey and fast with him driving, last year , got to Nyon, our first stop before Champery at 2:30 pm having left Calais at 7:30 8 ish that morning. Good good fun. No bike holiday to the alps this year but doing a two week road trip through france, will be excellent!

I'm driving down (or rather being driven!) this year too for the same trip as bruce.

Road trips make bike adventures better. I'm hugely excited by it, it's going to be great.

It's only 13 hours from Leeds. We've driven about that from up here to Dorset for rides in the past.

Did it in 2000 in a Saxo – it was fun!

Hopefully the Volcano will continue to vent its angry self all over the skies so us lot with vaaaans will be the only ones in the alps, imagine that!
😀

13 hours from leeds …hmmm.

After driving last year I can't see the point in ever bothering with the hassle and cost of flying again.

As above – it's an adventure, you can take spares, you don't have to worry about idiots breaking/damaging the bike, you have more flexibility, you're not at the mercy of the ash clouds.

Aye, driving North Yorkshire to Alps this summer…bit of a combo trip. Drive down with mate for a week with The White Room, then drop him off at Calais to catch the train back to York, and pick up wife and kids from the same station for a week in Normandy…result (if it all goes to plan)

Epic Journey Story!

I've driven to the Alps 4 times, 3 times to Chamonix and 1 time to Zermatt.

The last timne to Chamonix the weather was so bad we decided to drive to Finale Ligure for the last 4 days. Just as we were leaving the campsite to come home on Saturday morning the (company) car started to play up, loss of power, engine lights on dashboard etc. Upshot was it needed to go to a garage rather than drive 1000 miles back to Bristol. Unfortunately my company had let Europe-wide recovery lapse despite telling me otherwise when I asked.

It was with much sympathy that the owner of the campsite told us we would have problems as it was a local holiday for the whole of the next week. We ended up having to get a train to Nice then Easyjet to Luton. Hired a car in Luton (which thankfully work paid for as I needed something to get around in) and drove back to Bristol.

Not too bad, the epic bit come when trying to pick the car up two weeks later which was August Bank Holiday. I had booked to go to Cornwall.

So, on Wednesday afternoon, drove hire car back to Luton, Easyjet back to Nice, found hotel in Nice for the night. Next morning (Thursday) at 6.30 caught train out of Nice to near Finale where car had been repaired, taxi from train station to garage. Paid for repair (which was only about 80 Euros for all this trouble!) around 10 a.m. and hit the road. Spent the rest of the day driving to within an hour of Calais where I crashed in a service station about 10 p.m. for some sleep. Up early next morning (now Friday) and drove to Calais and got on 9 a.m. ferry. Arrived in Blighty at noon having lost and hour, stopped at my parents in Folkestone for some lunch and got back on the motorway. Round M25 and along M4 on Bank Holiday Friday and got back to Bristol at 6 p.m. Unpacked 2 week old gear from car boot and repacked for weekend, had some dinner then went to supermarket to get food for weekend. Left Bristol about 8 p.m. and got to Land's End at 11.30 p.m. Thankfully the pub was still serving as I needed a drink by then! Got tent up around 2 a.m. on Saturday morning. Phew!

Anyway, driving to the Alps (or further) isn't too bad although it is easier with someone else to share, just plan to take a short break or swap every 2 to 3 hours. Population densities aren't generally as high in Europe so roads tend to be less congested. Also the weather tend to be a bit better as you head south so it's not unpleasant driving. Bear in mind Motorway tolls add up and the Mont Blanc Tunnel is quite expensive. Seriously consider European recovery.

I've driven down to les Arcs for both skiing and biking quite a few times over the last 20 odd years.

It's a dead easy route for starters and around 600 miles from Calais.

I've done it on my own with a rest stop for an hour. It's much better with a couple of you sharing the drive.

Tolls are not too bad, fuel is not much cheaper then here. It's a doddle and much more fun than flying.

Well worth checking your car/van over beforehand as someone might have tried stealing your wheels in the UK and left all four being held on by the locking bolts only for the whole trip down. (luckily there was a VW garage in Borg St Maurice)