A friend has offered us an appartment in Samoens in February next year over the halfterm weekend. He's recommended we drive down but its a 12hr drive and I'm not too keen on it as I'm the only driver.
Rail Europe's prices are about £750 for two return from London to Cluses. Booking Eurostar to Paris, then Paris to Cluses is slightly cheaper at about £650. Easyjet flights from to Geneva aren't any cheaper at £685.
It is always this rediculously expensive at half term?!!!!
Any ideas what it'd cost to drive there and what precautions I'd need to take, for snow conditions.
Thanks.

I'd drive. Samoens is in the valley bottom – snow shouldn't be a big issue, buy some chains for £30ish at a supermarket on route – DO NOT buy at the bottom of the mountain (£££). Give yourself an extra day each end and stop overnight on the way at something like a Formule 1 motel. Four tanks of fuel should do it. Tolls will be significantly under £100.

Have fun.

Samoens is about 550 miles from Calais?

I guess fuel cost depends on how heavy your right foot is/size of you engine/number of people in car.

Other cost to consider is Tolls. This is route dependent. A couple of mates did roughly the same journey to Morzine and spent in the region of £100+ each way on tolls. I've no idea what route they took.

Other things to note:

If your going anyway in the alps, take snow chains. And practice fitting them before you go. Also if you drive in France it's now the law to have a high viz vest in your car. I can't remember if this is for every person or just the driver.

If you did fly take into consideration the cost of getting to Samoens from Geneva. Will be roughly £25+ per person each way by transfer bus.

Sadly half term is always expensive 🙁

Hope some of this is useful.

It takes 8 hours if you don't stop everywhere and keep your foot planted.

It's actually not a bad drive.

We did it in 8 hrs to Zebruggee in August with 3 young kids, easy drive and we stopped loads, well, you have too with their small bladders. Samoens is fab!

It's probably more like 9 hours to Samoens from the channel (we did Zeebrugge to Morzine in 9 in 2007). 2 tanks of diesel should see you right.

Samoens itself is pretty low down (about 600m) and not far off the Autoroute Blanche so should be easy enough to get to (come off at Cluses, over the low pass to Taninges and up the valley).

As others have said you'll get nobbed for weekend flights at school holidays – any scope to go on, say, Friday, and stay until following Monday? A few extra days' holiday and might not cost you much more than the Super Saturday flights.

You need a warning triangle and flouro vests for each person inside the car so they can get out wearing it (we stuff them under the front seats). Tolls are about €60-70 each way from memory. Green card and prob euro breakdown cover. Never been in winter so no idea about snow chains.

French are pretty hot on m'way speeding now – if you see a speed camera sign and/ or a speed limit reminder sign odds on there is a fixed camera on the autoroute. The one coming down the Cote D'or escarpement in Burgandy, and one between Bourg en Bresse, and one going round geneva all work. (Crosses fingers….)

Ok, this is quite encouraging! Thanks for all the tips.
The car is a diesel Focus and I reckon 4 taknfulls would be more than enough as theres just two of us for now.
8hrs you say, is that from Calais? I'm leaving from Norwich, so a good 3-4hrs from Dover depending on traffic.
I'd like to leave Friday afternoon/evening and drive through the night to get there Saturday morning with a view to be on the slopes by lunch. Is this far too optimistic?
On the return trip I want to leave at about 4-5pm and overnight in a motel and continue on Sunday.
Daft and optimistic?

Just 2 of you? Why go at half term then? Have you checked other airlines? sometimes BA and Swiss come up quite reasonable, at least then it'll feel like a holiday…

Those flights sound insanely priced. We've got some friends with an apartment in Morrillon (not too far from Samoens) and when we've stayed there we've flown in to Geneva for about 70 quid return each, hired a car for the week and driven up there. Much easier and less thean the £685 you've quoted in total. I'd shop around for plane tickets.

i'd agree on the chains though no matter what you do, up to 700m it shouldn;t be a major issue but we went one year and just couldn;t get any further, we have to drive back down to the valley, bought some chains off a grinning swiss bloke who charged us a fortune and then headed back, and that was in a 4WD car!

I've done that journey a few times, and even with a hefty right foot I've never done it in less than 10 hours. Traffic, tolls, food/fuel stops, it all adds up

The best way to Samoens in winter to avoid the traffic is not turn off the autoroute just after annemasse and take the vallee verte route up to Taninges and then go straight through to Samoens. This saves the long slow busy drag from cluses to taninges which is always very busy in winter.

Time wise it depends how you drive. Best I've done from Calais to les gets (slightly further) is 6.5 hours, average around 8.5 keeping moving most of the time or 10 if you want to stop a fair bit.

Having snow chains is compulsary in the winter and I'd get some before you leave so you can practice fitting them at home in the warm and dry first.

use http://www.mappy.fr to work out the toll prices.
From Norwich (I come from North Walsham originally….), have you considered the Harwich ferry? might be able to get a night crossing stragiht after work then drive down through Holland. This can work out cheaper and easier: roads better on the continent than the patched up track that is the M20, and fuel potentailly cheaper too.

Calais or Boulogne to Lyon is 8 hours, whatever we do, however we do it, whatever we do it in: ranging from a C15 van (chug a chug a chug) to a turbo diesel estate. We used to do it a while as my wife is from Lyon, but now we're here, and if we go back to UK we fly as it's just for a weekend.

I'd take the train as it's just so much less hassle.

If you do drive only a hi-hiz for the drive is obligatory along with a set of bulbs. If you overnight in a motel don't leave anything in the car. We prefer to sleep in the car with the trucks in service areas, any hassle hand on the horn.

Most certainly viable to be on the slopes by lunchtime. Our regular trip is to leave Central London at 6pm Friday night, getting to resort by 8am is perfectly feasible. You will b etired when you arrive but getting out on the slopes will soon perk you up.

*** Note this is in weather conditions, should be unlucky and get snow/blizzards journey time will increase dramatically

there is a bus from Geneva airport – about 2,1/2hrs compared to 1hr by car

also a free bus that drives round the town to and from the lifts – so a car isn't essential if can get cheap flights and fits with the bus times which i think are on the grand massif resort website