The distance from my house in North London to Tignes is almost exactly 700 miles (1150km). I did the trip yesterday and the total journey time, including ferry crossing and three fuel stops was 13 hours. You can reduce the total journey time by one hour if you use the Eurotunnel to cross the channel, more if you break speed limits (not advisable).

I started from my London home at 10.15am. It took me just over 1.30hours to get to Dover. Not bad, considering I have to cross from North to East London, navigate Blackwall tunnel and cross the M25. I always plan for a minimum of 3 hours for London to Dover ferry departure as I have been caught out in traffic before and missed my fair share of ferries. I also use any spare time before ferry departure to refuel the car, check tyre pressures etc. Gets me further into France without stopping and currently fuel is cheaper in the UK too.
Ferry left on time(they normally do) and with a crossing time of 1.30 hours I reach Calais at 4pm local time (don’t forget you loose one hour travelling to the continent). Also make sure you take the ferry to Calais, not Dunkerque or any of the other port, otherwise your crossing will be longer and your drive to Tignes too.

The route goes broadly Calais – Reims – Troyes – Dijon – here you got a choice either Lyons – Albertville or direction Geneva – Annecy – Albertville. The Lyon route is longer, faster but higher motorway fees. I always drive from Dijon direction Geneva to Annecy – Albertville – Bourg St Maurice – Tignes. Shorter distance and less expensive and if you drive into the night there is no time penalty.

Calais to Reims is just under 200 miles and you are in the centre of the Champagne region. The Champagne is a fairly flat but obviously many wineries and vineyards. If you are driving from the Midlands, this is probably half way point and not a bad stopover. I always do the journey in one day, but I do stop to buy Champagne. My tip here, don’t buy near Reims where all the big Champagne makers are based, drive on another 100miles and stop near Troyes, which is still the Champagnes. For me this makes a perfect first fuel stop (300miles into the journey) and gives me an excuse to pass my favourite Champagne makers.

After Dijon, you pass the Burgundy region, another possible stopover and opportunity to buy wine, this time Burgundy!! From here you either drive via Lyon to Tignes or drive via Annecy (Geneva). The Lyon route is quicker, but the Annecy route is more scenic and cheaper. Both routes will lead you to Albertville from where you climb the mountains towards Tignes.

The total drive time from Calais to Tignes will be 9 hours if you keep your stops to a minimum and short (8 hours if you are super fast and have a big petrol tank). It took me 8.30 hours but I had to stop 3 times for petrol. If you drive the first time or if you travel with a young family you should plan for 10 – 11 hours from Calais to Tignes. If you try to avoid motorway charges and drive route national, you save 65Euro (£50) but you journey time will be more like 12 – 14 hours.

Cost to drive to Tignes, ferry £80 return, motorway charges £50 one way, petrol £120 one way, which makes return trip cost (by car) about £420 – £450 depending on ferry cost and fuel consumption of your car. Normally driving makes only sense if you are a group sharing the cost. There are four regional airports with low cost flights, good car hire and airport transfer options. Do the maths.

I always leave London late morning 10amish to beat the traffic. That normally gets me into Tignes around midnight. I have lunch on the ferry and only stop for fuel. Because I pass lake Annecy late, I also beat the traffic along the lake.I don’t like to get up early.

Of course I have been thinking about contingency plans for how to get back to the UK. To be honest not really hard as there is always a way back from France.

For once you can easily drive back to the UK. Journey times to the French ports are less than 10 hours and if you keep the stops to a minimum you can do it in less than eight hours. I checked with my car hire company and I would be able to drop-off my car in Calais.

Not that I am in  a rush, snow conditions in Tignes are fantastic and even the off-piste is still good. Yesterday I skied Vallon de la Sache all the way down to Tignes Les Brevieres. I had a 10cm soft cover of snow on top of the dense solid snow foundation. … all to myself.

I love skiing Tignes late April, more often than not the snow is great and the past five years we had fresh snow even as late as early May.  The days are longer, the sun is warmer and a lot less people. Temperatures are still minus degrees, keeping the snow nice and consistent. Yes there is the odd slush lower down in the afternoon but it is April after all.

Skiing down the Grande Motte is still like sking in January, with firm, gripping snow ideal for racing long carving turns. No queues at the bottom of the Grande Motte cable car, no delays just continuous up and down on one of the most spectacular runs in the Alps and the world. Yesterday I managed almost 4 runs per hour from 3450m Grande Motte all the way down to Leisse chair lift.

Back to the vulcano and the current traffic chaos. You need not have to rely on flights getting to Tignes anyway.  There are direct train connections between London King’s Cross and Bourg St Maurice, from where it is just a 30min transfer to Tignes. Many transfer operators and busses operate on the route form Bourg st Maurice to Tignes. there should be no problems making arrangements at low cost.

As I am writing this blog post (sitting in my apartment overlooking Tichot) the first flights landed in Geneva airport. It looks like the air traffic ban has been lifted in London after a 6 days shutdown and it seems a large part of the British air traffic is expected to resume its works.

I for once had made my contingency plans.  Having said so I don’t have to go back to the UK before the end of the week and I could think of worse places to be stranded than Tignes. In fact, I wish the flight ban had been introduced later so I could stay to the end of the ski season.

Oh well there is always next year.

Ski hire is an obvious one. We all have seen the offers for 20% and 30% reduction on skiing and boarding gear. Never mind all the banners from websites offering reduced rates for online bookings. How much of a real discount you are getting depends which starting price you take.

The problem with ski hire, everybody want to make a cut. If you are getting 20% discount via your booking agency or via a ski travel website you can bet that they are making 10% to 15% on you too. As always, direct is the best way to go. A friend of mine just came back from Tignes. He told me that he got a 45% discount on all the ski gear for his entire family including helmets and safety wear. I can’t name the shop (for obvious reasons). Just browse around in Tignes town and negotiate. There are plenty of ski hire shops in Tignes.

It is safe to assume that snow gear for sale is heavily reduced in price too. Most ski related business will have had an average, if not poor season to date. Businesses in Tignes are no different. I bet that sales for ski, boards, accessories and ski wear have already started. You should expect discounts of 50% – 80%. Now is the time to buy, if you are in the market for a new pair of ski or a snowboard.  Shops will still have all brands and sizes. Prices might be low at the end of the season too, but stocks will be limited.

Looks like airport transfer operators have started to discount too. If you are looking for a ski transfer to Tignes, submit your request to Ski Transfer Finder which should get you some transfer options. I have been told that some providers offer good midweek deals. A friend of mine booked a midweek private Grenoble airport transfer to Tignes and got a 50% discount.

Ski accommodation seems to be in plenty supply too. I know this first hand as I still got my Easter weeks free for this season. Here you go, even the last rental weeks in my ski apartment are on sale:  Ski apartment Tignes – 25% discount, directly from the owner (me).

Expect to see more happy hours and more meal deals in Tignes as the ski season progresses into April but don’t expect any discounts on ski passes. Also don’t bank on any preferential rates in Tignes many mountain refuges and restaurants . Things might be bad, and most things in Tignes are on sale. However it will take a lot more to break the cartel of lift and refuge owners in Tignes.

The most convenient airports for an airport transfer to Tignes are Lyon and Chambery, both 2.5 hours transfer time away. Geneva and Grenoble airports are also options but the transfer tends to take 3.5 hours or more. Either way you have four airports to choose from for your Tignes transfer. If you decide to come by train there is Bourg St Maurice train station, less than 40 min transfer time away from Tignes. Again there are plenty of transfer operators competing for your business.

The latest low cost transfer provider operating out of Geneva, Lyon, Chambery and Grenoble is Alps2Alps Transfers. The company claims to provide the cheapest airport transfers to Tignes due to its unique operating structure. Should you want to explore other ski transfer provides just submit your airport transfer request to Ski Transfer Finder and see what quotes you can receive.

Here you go, there is no excuse not getting to Tignes.