By
plane
To
Geneva, to Chambery, to
Lyon, to Grenoble
The most popular airport to fly to is Geneva, about a 2.5hr transfer
away. You can hire a car there or we can arrange private
transfers for you - get in touch with us for prices as these will
vary depending on the size of your group - generally it's worth it to
get a taxi rather than a bus for a group of 4 or more. Bus transfers
are also available and cost from around £70 return. The closest
airport, however, is actually Chambery which is barely a 1.5hr transfer
away and has direct coach transfers to Sainte Foy. It's also possible
to get here from Lyon and Grenoble airports, both around 2hrs away.
If you're bringing your own board/skis, airline carriage costs can be
expensive and baggage limits tight. We recently discovered a company
who will ship your gear to Sainte Foy before your trip for £15
- could be worth a look: www.skis2you.com.
Flights
to Geneva
There are flights
to Geneva from all over the UK with several different airlines.
Easyjet fly
from Glasgow, Edinburgh, Belfast, Leeds-Bradford, Liverpool, Manchester,
Newcastle, Doncaster, Birmingham, Luton, Stanstead, Gatwick, Bristol
and Bournemouth.
British Airways
fly direct
from London City, Gatwick and Heathrow.
Swiss fly
direct from London City and Heathrow.
Flybe fly
from Exeter, Southampton, Isle of Man and Jersey.
jet2 fly from Edinburgh,
Belfast, East Midlands, Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle.
BmiBaby fly
from Birmingham, Cardiff, East Midlands and Manchester.
Coach
Transfers from Geneva:
www.alpski-bus.com
Coaches
leave Geneva every day. Departure times on Saturdays are at 1000, 1100,
1215, 1330, 1430, 1530, 1645, 1915 & 2000,
on Sundays at 1000, 1215, 1530, 1645 & 1915. Return transfer to
Bourg Saint Maurice costs €99.50 per adult (discounts for young
people and infants). We can collect you from the bus station. There
are also coach transfers from Bourg Saint Maurice up to the resort in
Sainte Foy and in some circumstances it may be quicker to take this
if our transfer minibus is busy elsewhere.
www.bensbus.co.uk
Ben's Bus run transfers from Geneva to the Tarentaise on Saturdays and
some Sundays. Timetable varies throughout the season. To book a transfer
to Sainte Foy, book a transfer to Tignes through the Ben's Bus site,
then email stu@bensbus.co.uk
to request a drop in Sainte Foy. The bus will drop you at the Monal
hotel. We can pick you up from there or you can take the free ski bus
up to the resort. Return transfer costs £69. We recommend emailing
or calling before booking to confirm that a drop in Sainte Foy is possible.
Flights
to Chambery:
British Airways
fly direct from London City.
Flybe fly
from Exeter, Southampton and Birmingham.
jet2 fly from Edinburgh,
East Midlands, Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle.
Snowjet
fly from Bristol, Gatwick & Stanstead.
Coach
Transfers from Chambery:
www.altibus.com
Coaches leave Chambery on Saturdays at 1030, 1500 and 1700, on Sundays
at 1315 and 1730. Weekday transfers are not available. Return transfer
costs €50 per adult (discounts for young people and infants). Transfers
can be booked right through from the airport to Sainte Foy but check
the timings - there can often be a long wait in Bourg Saint Maurice.
In this case, contact us and we may be able to arrange a pick-up in
Bourg to get you to the resort a bit quicker.
Flights
to Lyon
Saint Exupery:
Easyjet fly
from Edinburgh, Liverpool, Stanstead, Gatwick & Bristol.
British Airways
fly direct from Heathrow.
Air France fly
direct from Birmingham.
Coach
Transfers from Lyon
Saint Exupery:
www.altibus.com
Coaches leave Lyon Saint Exupery airport every day. Departure times
on Saturdays are at 0900, 1230, 1530 and 1830, on Sundays at 1230, 1530,
1930 and 2230. Return transfer costs 90€ per adult (discounts for
young people and infants).
Transfers can be booked right through from the airport to Sainte Foy
but check the timings - there can often be a long wait in Bourg Saint
Maurice. In this case, contact us and we may be able to arrange a pick-up
in Bourg to get you to the resort a bit quicker.
Flights
to Grenoble:
Easyjet fly
from LIverpool,
Birmingham, Gatwick, Stanstead, Luton & Bristol.
Ryanair fly
from Dublin and Stanstead.
Coach
Transfers from Grenoble:
www.bensbus.co.uk
Ben's Bus run transfers from Grenoble to the Tarentaise on Saturdays
and some Sundays. Timetable varies throughout the season. To book a
transfer to Sainte Foy, book a transfer to Tignes through the Ben's
Bus site, then email ben@bensbus.co.uk
to request a drop in Sainte Foy. The bus will drop you at the Monal
hotel. We can pick you up from there or you can take the free ski bus
up to the resort. Return transfer costs £79. We recommend emailing
or calling before booking to confirm that a drop in Sainte Foy is possible.
Car
hire
Hiring
a car at the airport and driving to Sainte Foy can often be the cheapest
way to get here if you have a group of 3 or 4 people. There are many
options for car rental at the various different airports - too many
for us to make a recommendation (although EasyCar from Geneva often
have very reasonable prices). Having your own car in resort can also
be useful if you want to make trips to the surrounding resorts above
and beyond those included in our holidays. Directions from all the nearby
airports are given below:
Directions
from Geneva airport
Directions
from Chambery airport
Directions from
Lyon airport
Directions
from Grenoble airport
A note on driving
from Geneva: there are shorter routes to the Tarentaise valley from
Geneva airport which are often suggested by Sat-Nav systems and internet
route calculators. These will direct you either via Beaufort and over
the Cormet de Roseland or through the Mont Blanc tunnel at Chamonix
and over the Col de Petit Saint Bernard. Both of these high-altitude
passes are very, very closed in winter! Please use the directions provided
in the link above.
Private
Taxi Transfer
There
are several private transfers firms operating services from the airports
to Sainte Foy. Prices vary significantly depending on the day of transfer
(Sundays and weekdays are cheaper than Saturdays) and the group size
- eight is always the best/cheapest group. We recommend Cool
Bus but contact us for the best options and prices.
By
car
To drive takes
around 10hrs from Calais and it's a pretty easy cruise on the motorway
most of the way down. Our suggested route is to take the motorway all
the way to Bourg en Bresse, then travel via Annecy to Albertville. Motorway
tolls will cost somewhere around 60€ each way.
You can also stay
on the motorway all the way to Lyon then go via Chambery to Albertville.
This is significantly longer, but is on faster roads so time difference
isn't much, however you will pay an extra 20€ in motorway tolls
each way.
Click
here for directions from Calais.
By
Train
The alternative
way of getting here is by train. If you live in or near London, this
can be a great way to get to the Tarentaise valley. You can take the
direct SnowTrain from Saint Pancras to Bourg Saint Maurice. This leaves
London on Friday nights and arrives in Bourg early on Saturday morning,
in time for a full day on the mountain. There are other options as well.
For example, you could get on the Eurostar on a Friday evening, change
to a sleeper train in Paris and arrive in Bourg St Maurice at 7:30 on
Saturday morning. This way, you still get an extra day's riding in.
Repeat the process on the way back and all of a sudden you've changed
a weeks trip from 6 days riding when travelling by plane to 8 days riding
when taking the train! Price varies, but generally costs around £190
return (£99 for the Eurostar and €112 for the trains between
Paris and Bourg Saint Maurice), almost certainly cheaper than a flight
+ board/ski bag charges + airport transfer. Some people even choose
to break their journey and spent a night or a day in Paris en route.
Oddly, train prices
seem to vary depending on how you book them. The SnowTrain should be
booked at www.eurostar.com.
If you want to do the two-leg journey, book the two parts separately.
Book the London-Paris train at the Eurostar site, then book the Paris
to Bourg Saint Maurice train at www.sncf.com.
This generally works out significantly cheaper than booking the whole
thing via a site such as RailEurope but check all the possibilities
as it seems to be a bit random. If you need any help with train bookings,
just ask and we can arrange it for you. Train tickets are often not
available until 3 months before the date of travel.
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