I’m looking at getting away for a week snowboarding in France and considering driving. I live in the north west so I know it’s going to be a fair distance, but A few people I’ve spoken to reckon it can work out cheaper driving.

I’m sure some people off here have done it/do it. Can it really work out cheaper?

What are the roads like near the resorts?

I have driven numerous times to chamonix. 1000miles glasgow to slopes
Use the toll roads around 160 for the return trip. Worth every penny. Quiet smooth roads.

Do it with mates. Its a great laugh taking turns to drive.

We’ve driven quite a few time. Generally works out well if you have a few in the car. Some resorts are a lot easier to get than other so choose wisely. The motorways can get very busy at certain times as you get close and the local roads may get a bit snowy. We’ve needed chains a few times. If you are taking your own board it should work out cheaper. I’m about 50:50 as to whether it is better. The biggest plus is you can leave early and get an extra day in.

It can work if there is a few of you going… on your own flying would be cheaper.

I’ve driven to France, Austria, Switzerland, Germany and Italy for snowboarding trips, not because of the cost really I just like to take 3 boards and all my kit for any eventuality and I like having a car whilst there.

Tolls can be quite a bit, Ferry is usually about £100, depending on car fuel can be anywhere up to £400 there and back. (based on civic Type R)

You need to cost it properly and take into consideration how much stuff you like to take.

If 2 of you are going to one place, well connected with transfers, with less than 23kgs of stuff, it’s cheaper and quicker to fly.

If you’ve got 3 or more, or want to take a bunch of stuff eg different equipment to swap between, or going to be hiring a car to transfer or drive between resorts, driving becomes worth it.

you also might have to factor in the cost of chains/snow tyres.

One plan I came up with was for a couple of us to drive down with everybodys’s gear, drop off one person and the equipment wherever we’re going to staying and then pop back to the nearest airport to pick up the rest of the group – should work pretty well if you have 5-6 people.

This would save loads on baggage charges and transfers, open up a wider choice of resorts and saves trying to find something capable of lugging all of those people across France. It’s a good option if you want to go self catering.

With less than 4 people, from the north – the economics of driving don’t really stack-up.

Thanks for the info. It’s likely to be two of us, maybe three, but me driving the whole journey.

We’ve got all our own gear as well and I’ll be driving an Astra 1.8.

What are the French like for taking Dogs?

What are the French like for taking Dogs?

There’s maybe the odd dog-napping but I don’t think they eat them or anything.

What are the French like for taking Dogs?

Generally good. there’s a bit of paperwork. Plenty of rest stops on the motorway. If you take the ferry the dog stays in the car and you can’t go to the car deck while the boat is moving. If it won’t like that then take the tunnel.

I’m going to price it up.

Does anyone recommend any resorts? Never skied in France.

Having both driven and flown to Alps D’Huez in the last two weeks, also from the north, could I recommend flying, particularly if you have only once person driving. It’s 4 hours to get to the ferry, 2 ish hours on the ferry then 8 ish hours on the other side. Apart from the historical interest of the drive following the line of the western front, it is incredibly boring and expensive. We worked out it would be the same cost as flying, but drove for the megavalanche so we could take tool kit, work stand etc. I remain convinced that flying is the easiest way, plus you can request chains for your hire car rather than buying something you would rarely use in the UK.

Have driven a few times now, to Mayrhofen and Alpe d’huez. For a family it cheaper and easier to drive: you can take more stuff, you don’t get *****d around by airlines/airports, have to leave at 4am for the Thompsons magical mystery transfer bus, endure the patter of the gap-year rep etc etc.

For Austria, we usually get the ferry from Newcastle to Ijmuiden on a Thursday evening, blast down through Germany to Munich & overnight there on the Friday. We can be skiing by 10am on the Saturday. Homeward we ski all day the following sat, head to somewhere on the Rhine for Saturday night then get the overnight ferry back on the Sunday evening in time for (a 10 am start) work on Monday.

For France, I’ve left at lunch on the Friday & got a 6pm crossing, overnight somewhere near Paris and I think made it to the slopes for late lunch on the Saturday. The drive through France is more tiring than through Germany – the run to Paris being as dull as. French motorways also have a tendency to suddenly grind to a complete multi-hour halt during the tiniest bit of snow. Both the French toll roads Co’s and German ADAC have good traffic apps and TMC data is generally better than at home.

Winter tyres are a good investment, but as yet there is no legal compulsion to use them in France or Germany. If you have an accident however and the plod believe that not having them fitted made a difference then you’re at fault. If you do buy winters, get some steel wheels with hammer-on lead weights and go down 1″ in rim diameter. Stick-on weights get water behind them which freezes and forces the weights off while parked up for a week at -15C.

Read up on the mad rules for french motoring – you need to carry: glasses, breathalysers, spare glasses, hi-viz for everyone, tin foil hat, emergency parachute, guillotine, a bewinged donkey (probably) €500 cash bribe money…