UKC

Hi guys, looking at going to the Alps for the first time with my girlfriend in the summer for some walking. Question is how easy is it to drive and wheres the best place to go to with limited time...
Thanks in advance.

In reply to spacemaker:

It's dead easy to drive but a bloody long way for a few days. About 16 hours to Chamonix and 20 or so to Ailefroid in the Ecrin alps non stop for instance.
Maybe get a flight to Geneva and do the Geneva to Chamonix section of the GR5. The steady pace guidebook time is 5 days but if you get a move on I'm sure a day (or two) could be taken off this. To get back to Geneva take one of the many mini bus shuttles that run to the airport.
Or, again fly to Geneva and get a shuttle to Chamonix. If you stay in the valley there are loads of day walks. You could combine one of these with staying in a hut if you wished and continuing on the next day.
Or do the Chamonix to Courmayer section of the Tour du Mont Blanc. I think the standard steady time is three days. Me and a mate did it in one very long day, 18 hours! After beer and pizza you can then get a bus back through the tunnel to Chamonix.
These are some of the more popular walks so you won't be alone, but do go through some stunning scenery. have a Google.

In reply to lostcat:

The driving times are from North Wales by the way.

In reply to spacemaker:

I think twice about driving to the Alps for a long weekend & I live in Paris, but I do use the night train from time to time. If you really want to drive rather than fly (I assume your in the UK somewhere) think about going to somewhere like the Chartreuse which isn't far from the autoroute & is one of the nearest parts of the Alps to the UK

In reply to spacemaker:

It’s simple enough to drive, assuming you share the driving, but it would be a long weary haul for a weekend. As a general rule I aim to spend more time, preferably much more time, on the hill than I do travelling to get there and back. More so as I get to be an old fogey and find driving a bit of a chore. Even assuming (a) you’re somewhere in the South-East, (b) you’re taking a 5-day ‘weekend’, and (c) you’re aiming for some of the most readily accessible quality walking in the Alps, you’ll need to do quite a lot of hard walking to offset the 20+ hours you’ll spend getting there and back (not to mention ferry/Chunnel fares and the autoroute tolls, c.€75 each way). Would make for a strenuous, not to say exhausting, long weekend.

I agree with Lostcat that you’d save time and fatigue by flying to Geneva or to Lyon and then hiring a car or taking train and/or bus to Chamonix, Courmayeur, the Ecrins, the Vanoise or Paradiso. Great walking in any of those areas.

In reply to Doug:
Takes a hell of a long time to get to the Chartreuse, even longer than Chamonix. Beautiful place and all that, but not close to the UK.

On the other hand, you can book a ticket by Eurostar direct to Grenoble (well, with a 2 stop RER change in Paris), that takes about 6-8 hours, quite comfortable travelling, then hire a car for the lowest possible amount when you get there. MUCH more relaxed than driving, also no need to get to airports and hang around there, fairly cheap if you are judicious with when you travel. Clearly still most of a day travelling, but will leave you much less shattered than driving all the way there and back.

Were some queries about taking ice-axes etc, but this chap wants to walk so shouldn't worry about anything more than ski-poles, also no-one objected to my ski-rando crampons a couple of weeks ago.

In reply to Simon4:


if you're driving from the north using the A6 its the first massif you come to, & if taking a train to Grenoble, its about a half hour drive/bus journey.

In reply to spacemaker:

If you fly to Geneva and get the Cham Express to Argentiere you can stay a night there and start the next morning with the chair lift up to the Col de Balme (which is just a tedious plod otherwise). From there you've got the TMB routes to choose from or improvise your own - would advise taking in the Fenetre d'Arpette and maybe a stay up at the Cabane du Trient on the glacier.

When I was there the chair lift closed at 4:45 for the journey back. I made it with 2 minutes to spare after 4 days walking! Would have missed the shuttle and my flight if I'd had to walk down. The Cham Express picked me up from the lift station on the way back.

Hope that helps.

In reply to spacemaker:

I drove down last year for a 'long weekend' (5 days). We left Southampton at 4am and arrived in Chamonix at about 3pm. Its a hell of a drive for the amount of time spent in the Alps. I flew a few years ago and it was a much more pleasant trip.

Either way you choose to get there, have a great trip

In reply to spacemaker:

If you walk below the snowline you could easily fly just hand luggage with the usual suspects. The time saved flying would give you an extra days walking.

If it's just you and your girl walking for a weekend price for plane tickets will be much lover compared to driving.
Driving makes sense then you have 4 people in Octavia with skies on the top of the car and ropes in the boot.

In reply to Doug:



Simon was getting mixed up with the Himalayas again. Easy mistake...

In reply to jon:

Well they are big, they are a long way away and they have got snow on them!