Last year we drove (from Gloucestershire) to Les Deux Alps and it was a full on drive.

Tempted with flying but then it’s the hassle of taking a bike on a plane but it will still take about the sametime and cost probably more. .

Whose done flown and driven to the alps from the UK and which do you prefer?

Lightweight, should try a drive from Aberdeen to alps

Aberdeen to the Alps…christ, that’s a jaunt. 😕

Train is way more pleasant than either, but could pose some luggage issues.

http://www.seat61.com/

I’ve flown, gone on the train and driven, I prefer driving, can take a couple of bikes, full set of spares etc. Have a van, so tend to take other peoples bikes so they can fly unencumbered.

Drive for me definitely. But then I’d be going alone so I could sleep/live in car.

Drive. Costs less, means you’re mobile once there and if you stop halfway down for the night (maybe in Dijon, try the mustard) it’s an OK jaunt.

I did some maths on this question. For 2 people coming from Sheffield, there was very little difference in time or cost when comparing driving vs flying. If you take the tolls, it can be a hundred or so euros and when you take into account the cost of diesel, ferry and tolls, it wasn’t significantly cheaper than Easyjet to Geneva.

Basically you choose which you find most palatable. Driving and having all your kit / spares etc or flying which is a bit more relaxing (for me, at least).

Obviously if there are more people then driving becomes cheaper.

Flown once
Left home at 630am, airport for 8am, in resort at 4pm, on bike at 5pm, beers/pizza at 7pm
Stressed about meeting airline weight limit, stress they would take the bike on my plane, stress bike would be OK, taking a peep at baggage reclaim more stressful than the birth of my kids

Planned to fly on next trip
Booked tickets in Feb, got email in June to say flights now rerouted through Paris and its a train to Lyon instead so cancelled and made other plans

Train
Not sure of current state of play but at the time you had to have bikes in a case on one service but not on the other. So you either got to Paris and needed a bike bag, or else arrived in Paris and had to store one. Transfer around Paris difficult with luggage and also expensive all in

So we drove, which is now my method of choice with bikes
Leave Cambridge at 6AM with a couple of drivers on the insurance and woof it down the Eurotunnel and Peage to arrive around 7PM or so. Big plus is you can take all you need inc track pumps and clothing options for all eventualities. Its a heavy day in the car but I enjoy the road trip banter

If I was using hire bikes Id prob fly, taking your own its a no brainer drive now

Cheers

Having done all three (fly, drive, train) I preferred the drive.

I’m pretty sure that flying was the quickest but, like above, I find putting my bike and luggage on the plane gave me too much to worry about. It’s supposed to be a holiday!! 🙂

Driving for an MTB trip leaving at 5pm and sharing driving overnight also means an extra day on the trails. We arrived at 6am had an extra couple of hours sleep, solid breakfast and hit the trails for the first lift. On the way back left at lunchtime home by midnight.Need a decent sized comfy wagon though..

Drive. 2hr driver stints, stop for fuel only, no dicking around.

Cons: extra day of travelling, can be tiring. tolls and (possibly hotels) make it about the same cost as flying. It’s going to put a couple of thousand miles on your car (if that bothers you)

Pros: can be less stressy than flying, you can carry more spares, if you’re self catering, means you have a car available.

Done both, overall I prefer flying.

Done both loads of times. Would prefer to drive everytime.

Drive, that way I can bring as many spares as I need and I have transport once I’m there should I fancy a day in a different resort etc. But I don’t mind long distance driving, did Calais to Verona in a single 13hr stint last year solo and it didn’t bother me

Usually drive. Leave Friday evening, dinner on the ferry, a few hours into France stop at a cheap hotel. Up, back on the road, pick up supplies in the supermarket, in the resort after lunch. Don’t like getting up early to fly, we take as much as we need and a load more, handy to have a van there. Lots of pros and its much cheaper if there’s enough of you.

I think if there’s a couple of you carrying bikes an the bikes a big part of the holiday then a drives gonna be less stressful and you can pack car with any bike(or bikes) kit you might want and pack in wine on the way back.

Air travels a bit harsh on bikes 🙂 first day could be in a bike shop getting stuff to fix it …

I find the worse parts driving to the port/train in the UK other sides much more pleasant.

Overnight driving can Make life easier, found it much easier to navigate Madrid late at night on one of my jaunts but a long drive can be tiring if your not used to it and the falling asleep at wheel is surprisingly easy :-(.

So stops an coffees .

I don’t know why so many people have difficulty with air travel. I’ve done it 10+ times and never any damage. I’m not doing anything clever / unusual either – just a bog-standard soft bike bag and a bit of thought. Maybe I’m lucky.

Anyway, I’ve driven and flown to the alps and would do either again, but I’d prefer to fly given the option.

Drove from North Wales, trip across was split with an overnight stop close to the tunnel. Drive back was done in one go. 12 hrs with a couple of stops.
That was to Samoens.

I’m quite ok with big drives, so it’s no surprise that I’ve not really investigated the flying option.
But I do know that on one snowboarding trip to Avoriaz, that my mate and I jumped in the car in Worcestershire at about the same time groups of friends left homes in Hull and Cardiff to get flights. By pure coincidence we all arrived at the apartment reception within ten minutes of one another.
Big bonus of the drive is that you can take everything you need and stop to eat, drink or pee, pretty much when you like.
Not having to lug kit on trolleys and catch taxis or transfers is good too.
I sometimes have to fly for work, but the whole thing stresses me a bit anyway ( claustrophobic, not driving , can’t see out the front, fear of suddenly not flying as Billy Connolly would say), all in all not very relaxing for me !

So, sounds like drive is the way forward – not that keen on plane for the faff and hassle of having to be picky on what you take

Another question, considering Bikes on roof (Estate) or inside – less passengers or higher fuel bills – personally I’d like to try bikes on roof but think it’ll cane the MPG.

Drive.
Found it lots cheaper once you add getting to the airport, parking, hiring a car (or tranfer) the other end to your flight costs.
Plus general flecibility to go to different areas.
And of course you can take more gear.

Also if you happen to feel a bit rough on the last day you can phone in sick on monday and drive home a bit later 😉

Tow bar mounted rack made very little difference to MPG, roof rack took 11MPG off a diesel golf!
But the biggest issue with roof rack was dead flies on fork stanchions.

can’t see out the front, fear of suddenly not flying as Billy Connolly would say), all in all not very relaxing for me !

Ahh not just me then …I’d be happier flying if I was doing the flying …..strapped in with a usefull life jacket in a tight tube and the usual screamer on take off ….. Yep relaxing 🙂

can’t see out the front

Just come back from South Africa on Turkish Airlines and they have a camera on the front so you can see out of the front – awesome on landings and take offs.

11 MPG off a diesel golf

Jeez – Got a diesel Audi so that might be an issues – maybe two cars – one with bikes and the other with people.

Another question, considering Bikes on roof (Estate) or inside – less passengers or higher fuel bills – personally I’d like to try bikes on roof but think it’ll cane the MPG.

Been there, done that. Depends on your right foot, but bikes on the roof does indeed cane the MPG. Sometimes there’s no other way (driven to the Alps 4 up several times, and you just take the hit and split it 4 ways), but even bikes on a towbar mounted rack will be preferable.

My experience of driving distances with a car 4 up and 4 bikes on the roof vs 2up with bikes inside the car, is that even if you drive slightly slower to compensate, you’re going to use 50% more fuel. Did the trip in an old 2 litre 5 series beemer I used to own, it returned 30mpg everywhere pretty much. We struggled for 20mpg over 1500 miles 4up there and back to Morzine. By contrast, did it in a shitty old Citroen Xantia I used to own one year, 4 up, bikes on a towbar mounted rack, and the economy was only slightly worse than normal.

Even if there’s no option other than bikes on roof, driving is still far less stressful than flying IMO. I’ve flown loads, it doesn’t bother me normally. But carrying any kind of expensive equipment in a cargo hold (bike, snowboard etc.) would fill me with dread. I’ve seen and heard of way too many horror stories! Also, when there’s 4 of you going, it’s nice to take a toolbox, trackpump, a couple of spare tyres etc. along too, as you often end up using them all, and the prices of bike parts in the Alps will make you wince more than the price of the Beer!

Drive. Door to door for me it’s not much difference in time factoring in transfers, time at the airport etc.

If it’s a short trip or an event I would be thoroughly pissed if my bike hadn’t got on the plane or ended up somewhere else and the trip is written off. I’ve had luggage go missing for a ski trip and only was okay because it was a long trip and I could deal with rental for a few days until the stuff turned up. Also had luggage go missing on return a few times and not keen on an expensive bike being given to some taxi driver who just dumps it on your doorstep as I’ve had with skis.

So much faff pulling the bike apart and reassembling flying. Limited in tools and spares you can take and can’t take CO2 carts. Not keen on bike + baggage handlers either.

Only time I catch colds is on stuffy flights with someone coughing their guts up.

I’d consider flying though if it was just me. Shared drive… road trip!

Plus a car is often handy to get about locally when there.

Done both, prefer to fly – it’s about 6 hours door to door which is Cardiff to Bristol airport, fly to Geneva and transit van transfer to Morzine. Driving is 14 hours plus fro
Cardiff.

I always think it’ll be useful having a car there, but I never end up using it – last time we used the boot to store tools etc, but I never went anywhere, Morzine is a small place and of course I’ve got my bike.

Economics are pretty straight forward Via Michellin say its 768 miles each way, even driving at 70 / 82mph (I can’t spend 16 hours studying every bridge and lay by for the Fuzz) my car will do 35-38mpg with bikes on about 21 gals worth – even French diesel is still £5 a gallon now so that’s £105 in fuel, £50 in tolls (total £310 both ways) Ferry is usually about £100 so give-or-take £400 for the round trip.

I can fly from Bristol to Gen for £110 on EasyJet, I think they want 50 for the bike and its about the same for a transfer so 200 ish, I think you can fly from Cardiff now too.

Which is cheaper really comes down to how many paying passengers you’re taking of course, 3 and you’re in the money – 4 is better, but you need a pretty big car to take 4 people, their luggage and their bikes, it’s pretty shit sitting in the back for 14+ hours too.

Diesel is €1.20 a litre at the moment in France and with the exchange rate been good makes it less than £1 a litre and the toll will work out cheaper too.

fly = more time on the bike
Holiday time is too valueable to be spent driving

Drove last year as was having a weeks biking then a weeks climbing in a different area. Was going in a van can sleep in though so stopping not a problem. Flying this year as only going for a week. All depends on time for me.
Cost difference not a big issue for me as I like road trips.

Driven the last 3 years from Cardiff to Chatel, twice solo and once in a group of 3 drivers. Will be (hopefully, waiting for the OK from work) driving again this year too.

The journey is part of the holiday for me. Not a fan of all that hassle waiting in the airport plus having your own car at the other end is far better. I like driving and hate airports so car every time for me. The big plus – as others have said – with a biking holiday is that you can load up the bike plus as many spares as you wish. The added bonus is that you know the bike will arrive in one piece! I also like the flexibility of stopping when I feel like it, whack some tunes or podcasts on and the 16 hour journey wafts by. Last year I had breakfast before the tunnel, a snack sitting in the old grandstand at Reims, a late lunch on the shores of Lake Geneva and pulled into the chalet as the rest of the guys had the BBQ starting 😀

It depends on what you fancy doing. I’ve driven (counts on hand) 8 times, flown twice and flown + rented a car on arrival.

If you are only going to one destination then flying makes alot of sense, especially if you’re staying somewhere with some tools/workshop facility to use while you’re there.

If you are going somewhere really far (like Finale Ligura) then flying and then renting a car makes sense as it’s only really practical to drive there if you have a trip that’s over two weeks, I know I’ve driven there twice from the uk! Part of the pain with this is you have to carry bulky bike bags in the car too!

But, imho, if you are going to the alps and are reasonably comfortable with riding abroad, the real joy is driving there and going to different places because you have a car. I’ve done a season, a mental two week trip (going to 14, yes 14 destinations!). This taught me just how close places are in the alps. This year I’m going for a week and visiting 5 places! In the alps you can hop between places with a short drive and that makes for an epic trip.

I think the economics are irrelevant as even with two people in an average mpg car, the cost is only slightly more than a cheap flight but you get alot of flexibility.

unlike friends who arrived at geneva to find their bikes never made it onto the plane and had 3 days without their bikes.

Two of us are going in July…mate for 4 nights, me for 7.
If we’d both gone for 7 we’d have driven – share costs and the drive.
Doing it on your own just doesn’t work financially and it would be a long old drive on your tod!
As it is we’re flying together but coming back separately.
Flight is 7.20am so will be on the trails early afternoon 8)

I’m flying for the week I’m staying with Whiteroom and then driving for the two weeks with my wife later in the year. We’re doing a week with Whiteroom and then a week on our own in Les Arcs. The car allows easy trips to La Rosiere, La Thuile, Pila/Aosta & Tignes.

My mate has a lovely T5 so we drive. Overnight – leave after a days work (herefordshire) and get the chunnel. Drive through the night and you’re riding after breakfast. Sure you’ve not had much sleep but you’re on holiday so you don’t care. Drive back in the day, yeah sure it takes a while but I’d still prefer it than the ball-ache of flying.

We recently drove to just east of Perpignan for 5 days riding. Ace having the van and spares (we needed two wheels after beating them to death with rocks). I really don’t like flying much either. With 4 of us in, it’s a bit cheaper as well. We have one of those toll-dongles so we can drive through at 30KPH. Which is always exciting…

I’ll be driving from Aberdeen this year with a couple of mates and heavy bikes. It means I can take a bunch of spares, guarantee my bike arrives and not have to arse around with airports and transfers. I’m going to be there for two weeks so it means I can get to other places if I fancy.

One bit of advice for the drivers is that you can now get a TAG for the peage using a UK bank account.
Saves the passenger being awake for the tolls also saves stopping just roll through. The queue for the TAG lanes move much quicker during busy time, you can save loads of time.

The other thing is the Flexi plus tunnel option, saves loads of time and stress for the crossing. plus you get a hamper bag of food drinks for free*
*You have paid for it obviously

EDIT didn’t read Alex post RE Tag..