Ski Road Trip: 4 Days, 3 Resorts, 2 Countries

FLY AND DRIVE FROM GENEVA

We took a late flight to Geneva airport and rented a car which was very easy. The rental desk is inside the main terminal, you 'check in' and confirm your booking and then take a five minute bus shuttle to the car park where the rental cars are actually kept. The whole process took about 30 mins.

The drive from Geneva to Bourg St Maurice was approx 2 15 hrs, initially following the signs to France A1 and on to the Autoroute towards Lyon/Chambery. The satnav suggests you go via Annecy, which can be a lovely, slightly shorter mileage route, as you see the lake, but the autoroute via Chambery is usually quicker although there are tolls to pay

As the flight was delayed by an hour, and we knew our arrival in France would be quite late, we opted to eat dinner at the airport in the UK. When we checked in the hotel at Bourg, we unpacked our ski things ready for the morning and just crashed out.

Note there is a petrol station at Geneva airport, just before the car rental return car park entrance, so this makes it extremely convenient to fill the car up on the return leg. All cars rented from the Swiss side also come with winter tyres. I would advise against renting from the French side as you have to return via Geneva itself which can cause traffic issues, as well as being trickier to locate and a longer journey; You also have to pay extra for winter tyres or chains/snow socks.

SKI GEAR FOR THE TRIP 

As it was a road trip tip, to benefit from moving around and saving on time, we took our own skis and boots. This definitely made life easier as we could arrive at the ski resort, find the public parking, change into ski boots and head straight to the lifts.  

SKI PASSES

For ski passes, if you have key cards already, just book online and load up the key card in advance. If you don't have a card, in all the resorts we visited you can grab a day ski pass from one of the ticket offices on arrival.

SKI RESORT SHORT STAYS

It is far easier now to find accommodation for short stays, either over the weekend or during the week, instead of being limited to the traditional Saturday to Saturday change overs. This makes DIY ski trips a feasible alternative to going with tour ops.

I always advise to book directly with hotels if you can as the rates are often better and you have a direct contact for any delays.

If you know you're arriving late, check that the front desk is manned 24/7 - or that there is a lockbox. If you're in a hotel with a spa, ask for a late check out so you can use the facilities to change ahead of the return journey.

We chose to finish in the Aravis as the journey was only 1 hr 15 mins back to Geneva airport and, therefore, had a full day on the mountain, with an evening flight return to the UK. The Aravis makes a great destination for a short break if you do not want to drive so much as it is such a short trip from the airport.

DAY 1: Les Arcs - Arc 1950

We drove 30 mins from Bourg as we wanted to have a bit longer in resort, leaving the car in Arc 1950 car park. You could take the funicular, which is a short bus ride from Base Camp, where we were staying for one night. At Base Camp you can either park in their covered garage (7€ per day) or there's free outside in parking on the road beside the lodge. Very easy.

Left 9.40am. Arrived Arc 1950 car park at 10.10am. You can use the public car park. Pay on arrival. 

This is the ski area for mileage-hungry skiers. Starting from Arc 1950 and working across to 1800, over towards Peisey Vallandry, back via 1600 and Arc 2000, you can get some serious miles under your skis in the Les Arcs ski area.

In addition, with a full day out, you can take the double-decker cable car across the valley to La Plagne, to explore the full 425k Paradiski area. We didn't have time for that this visit, as I needed to be back at Arc 1950 for lunch. With all restaurants and shops ski in/out, it's an easy place to refuel, and afterwards we managed to get to the top of the Grand Col at 2832m and on to the Aiguille Rouge cable car which reaches the peak at 3226m with its incredible views across to Mont Blanc.

A ski down the black under Lancehettes back to Arc 2000 and on to 1950 with tired legs, finished a great first day. As the village of Arc 1950 was fully booked, we stayed at the very cool Base Camp Lodge below the resort,. Arriving just before midnight the previous evening we'd also avoided the huge queues caused by a rock fall on to the N90 which had closed part of the road.

DAY 2: Skiing in France AND Italy

A 30 mins zig zag drive up from Bourg St Maurice to La Rosiere, directly across the valley from Les Arcs, was the choice for our second day on the mountain. I wanted to return to La Rosiere, one of the few resorts in the world where you can ski two countries in one day.

The plan was coffee in France, lunch in Italy and an afternoon 'apero' back in France. La Rosiere's stunning sun-soaked wide-open pistes can easily distract you from getting over to Italy, but with a two-country mission in mind, we joined the short queue to take the 1k+ long button lift across the linking plateau between the countries.

Hanging left from the top, heading to Italy, we ducked into Roxi , on recommendation by a friend who had been in resort the week before. With its Eric Clapton posters and rock music playing, it's quite an antithesis to the cute interiors and wood clad alpine vibe. Five euros for two cappuccinos later, total bliss.

La Thuile, on the Italian side, had received the lion's share of the fresh snow the previous week, and we managed to find some small pockets of powder in the north-facing valleys. Quiet slopes made for a speedy first time reccie of the far side of the resort.

Lovely long red run descents meet at an old slow chair, Arnouvaz, which connects you back to the fast Dura chair to start the return to France. With three connecting lifts to tackle, you are advised to head back to La Rosiere by 3pm. We made good progress and could soon see the old Fort de la Redoute, which has guarded the French side against attack since it was built in 1630 and rebuilt in 1892. 

Taking a quick look at the history of the fort, we enjoyed skiing some more on the flattering pistes above La Rosiere, and stopped in the warm sunshine for a late afternoon apero.

One day isn't enough to explore the whole resort, I love the sound of the weekly sunset run, 5k on snow. Also, we didn't have time to explore the far side of La Rosiere down to Les Ecudets. A reason to make another visit to this side of the Tarentaise Valley!

DAY 3: The traditional - Aravis

Waking up in the beautiful Hotel de la Croix Fry (image above), in one of just nine hotel rooms, was a special start to the last day of our French road trip.  The drive up towards the Aravis as the sun set the previous evening, had been incredible and arriving in the dark we hadn't been able to see the panoramic views across the valleys from our room.

In daylight, La Rosiere to Manigod is a beautiful drive via Ugine, Serraval, Manigod. It's 115k and takes 2,15 hrs if the roads are clear.

Left 4pm arrived 6.15pm

Manigod is a tiny old village which links over to La Clusaz by skis. Joined by my skiing friend Betony, who hadn't skied much beyond La Balme (on the UK Ski Tests which had been in the same ski area the week before), we gave her a tour of the five ski areas from Etale to Aguille via Furney to Balme and back via Beauregard, finally returning by the two-way chair over to Manigod. Wednesday afternoon is kids training day at Manigod so we made a few last laps of the tree-lined runs, watching the younger skiers ripping around the gates, before calling it a day.

Three great days of sunshine and blue skies, three very different but brilliant French (and Italian) resorts, Arc 1950, La Rosiere (incl La Thuile) and Manigod-La Clusaz. Highly recommend.