were thinking of driving to the alps this summer for some bike related amusements. How much does it cost to get there and is it really that much cheaper than flying?
Thanks

Defo worth it to have transport there and a bit of flexibility about where you ride. Based on last year.
Ferry about £120
Fuel about 2 tanks each way (from York) £250
Tolls (about £50 each way i think, can avoid by going on small roads)
Snacks/Red Bull-lots!

Thanks for the response. were thing is it worth flying? Were pricing it up and the two are close and we can’t be sure the numbers add up.

Not for biking but done it 5 or 6 times for family ski hols.

Numbers similar to lapierrelady:
~ Tunnel about £100 (booked well in advance)
~ Fuel was 150L diesel in Ford Galaxy (Macclesfield to Chamonix and back)
~ Tolls around £45 each way

Small kids meant that we stayed a night in a cheap hotel each way but without kids (and with another driver, pref two) I’d happily spank it all the way there.

Wheres a good place to stop if u have to im in the same dilemma about driving or flying but im lone driver

Five of us drove it in a van from Cardiff to the Swiss Alps for less than £350, for us the lack of weight limit (meaning some of us took 2 bikes & loads of spares) having transport when you are out there made a big difference.
Rather than flying on a Saturday, we just left Friday evening & chilled out on the ferry with a nice meal & took it in turns driving through the night.

Wheres a good place to stop if u have to im in the same dilemma about driving or flying but im lone driver

You could kip in the car in the service station car park or get a -[for]-S-[formule1]&xtdt=21763854]Cheap hotel room

According to the husband, avoid these budget hotels

http://www.misterbed.fr/

but Etap hotel are nice budget 🙂

Done it for the past four years to Les gets/Morzine, lapierrelady’s costs are about right, split four ways in a truck/van it’s good value no airport, bike bag and transfer gubbins plus room for lots of spares and fill up with booze on the way home.

Done it twice in a diesel Passat estate. Better than flying as most proper bikes will be pushing the weight limit. By the time you add your other bits you could pay a fair bit of excess baggage if they pull you up on it. We did threes up the first time and twos up the second and the cost seemed comparable to flying. France has cheap diesel, or at least used to.

If you borrow a roofbox and bars fro a mates Volvo owning parent’s, trial fit them otherwise an hour before you leave you will be zip tying it to the car!! Survived 100mph test, don’t underestimate zippies.

We always drive, winter and summer. Costs as above. Usually head off as early as possible on Friday, dinner on the boat, drive ’til late then stop in an F1. Work your timings out and book the F1 as the can fill up on the weekends. We usually stop around Troyes although one year we made it all the way to Evian and got a full day in on Saturday.

Dont think it’s worth trying to find a route to avoid the tolls. It really isn’t.

Ive driven to France the last two years. I think we booked the ferry’s for somtime in the early morning, around 2am. Im sure they were more like £60 rather than £150. And you seem to be able to turn up around that time and just get on the first ferry available.

as well as the tolls, if you go into Geneva you will have to pay a tax for your car. It was about 40 euros when we did it and they gave you a sticker for your car window ( they may not do it now ) also it took us 10 hours driving from London to Geneva including the ferry. we stopped at Geneva and went onto Morzine in the morning but if i did it again i’d just carry on and sleep at the hotel or chalet

I have just booked a ferry from Newcastle to Holland, it cost £900 for two adults and 2 children, so much for a cheap camping holiday in France!

I’ve just booked ferries with P&O, going out at around 2am on Saturday morning and coming back around 11 the following Saturday – £69. If you travel at slightly odd times (which is best for us ‘cos we’re coming from Hull) it doesn’t have to be too expensive.

We have two drivers though, I REALLY wouldn’t fancy doing it all in one go without a good break. Possible, but not a good idea.

I did it on my own one year. Set off at stupid o’clock on Saturday morning, something like 4am. Got the first tunnel train across and was in Morzine by 6pm local time.

It’s a very long drive to do on your own but I stopped pretty regularly. Once you get about a third of the way down the driving becomes fun because the geography gets more interesting. Champagne country was lovely for example. Then when you start to get near the mountains it all starts to get very exciting.

Were doing it for a 4 dayer from Surrey in July, 4 up in a Galaxy.

Le shuttle was 88 pounds leaving around 10pm on a Thursday arrive calais around 10.45.
We’re allowing £150 on diesel/tolls each way, the michelin route planning website has an estimator for this.

I reckon that £100 – 120 each person (depends on fuel costs) is good value against flying Geneva as in addition to the cost of flights there is also the cost of getting to the airport, extra luggage costs for the bikes and the cost of either car hire or airpost transfers (which are very expensive) etc at the other end + little worries about bikes getting damaged etc.

The main benefit is that we are going to be driving overnight so should have arrived at around 4-6am and will have time to catch a bit of sleep before hitting the trails on the Friday morning, ride Saturday, Sunday and a few runs on Monday home for around 11pm Monday night.

Can’t wait!

Drove North Yorkshire to White Room last year, took 21 hours from my door to theirs. Doing the same again in 4 weeks. Use Eurotunnel, its so much more convenient (IMHO) than ferries. IIRC it cost £350 for diesel, tolls and tunnel crossing last year, i suspect a bit this year given the rise in fuel, but the ability to take as much crap as you want is great, and you can disappear where you want when you want, and you KNOW that your bike is going to make it (yes Ryanair, im looking at you with evils).
Unless fuel was about £30 a litre i doubt id ever get a plane to the Alps ever again.

Hi,

I live out in France so we do the trip a few times a year and we normally drive unless we’re only going for a day or two. Plus one vote for the formula 1 at Troyes from me!

In general, with two of you plus bikes we reckon it works out the same to drive, make it three in the car and you’re onto a winner. Remember that the car takes you door-to-door but with flights you still have to pay to get too/from the airport etc which can be pretty expensive out here.

We run a mountain activity holiday company in the summer and tend to find that the guests who bring/rent a car get more from the week too as they can venture off to another resort for the day, or try some trails that aren’t lift accessible.

Hope all the replies help – have a good trip!

Jen