Driving to Valloire

Hello all

I'm new to this forum. Any help and advice much appreciated.
We have tried to save money this year by travelling by car. I have booked Eurostar to Calais and then was planning to stay overnight and crack on with the journey the next day. We get into Calais at 8pm and have a nearby air bnb booked.
Myself and my husband plan to share the drive. I'm told it could take 10 hours
I was thinking we could get up at 4 am bundle my 6 yr old son into the car and get the first half out the way before brekkie.
I was then thinking we could swap and my hubby/or I take the rest of the journey.
Any thoughts advice on this truly welcome.
We are staying in the large hostel in Valloire for family week. I can't book parking in advance which is also a bit of a worry.

Many thanks for any advice

Belinda

Hi Beems2023. A lot depends on where you have started from in the UK and how tired you are, but personally I would push on from Calais and stop further on the route. You should be able to get to Reims in 2 -2 1/2 hours. From there it should only take about another 6 1/2 hours. Again, a lot depends on the dates and traffic, I'm guessing with a 6 year old, it will be half term week, so likely to be very busy and this will add to the drive. If the non driver can get some sleep, it would not hurt to come down as far as you can and even get to the bottom of the Alps and nap in the car before getting to the resort early. People will kill me for saying this, but you don't have to ski the first day, you can casually sort your parking, passes and any required ski rental. Recover from the drive before getting on the slopes.

So, I have never driven to Valloire personally, but several other resorts in the area. Things to consider. You must have chains (and know how to fit them!), ideally you will also have 3pmsf tyres, either cross climate or winter. I would STRONGLY advise that you get a tag for the motorways as this will allow you to use the automatic non stop lanes and also means the passenger does not have to continually deal with the toll sections. In bad traffic, the auto lanes also tend to move through a LOT quicker, especially when the booths are piled up with Brits trying to lean across to the wrong window.

There is likely to be a lot of traffic coming down from Belgium and Holland, so the earlier you can happily get on the road on Saturday, the better. Don't forget things to keep the youngster amused in the car and ideally little nibbles and water to drink.

I drive everywhere now, and have moved on to Austria and Italy. They don't take much longer to get to, and once you are used to doing it, we would not go back to flying.

Hope you enjoy your trip.

Hi Far Queue

Many thanks for your very helpful response.

We're going the week after the UK half term as this is meant to be quieter, but is still half term for half of France.

Do you know how we can get a TAG? I'll definitely get one that's a great tip.

We're driving from Worthing to Folkestone (around 2hrs) and then will have the wait for the Eurotunnel plus journey and departure wait, so Reims might be a good call. I've just moved us to an earlier train so get into Calais for 15.30 French time.

If we were to push on any further do you know where else would be a good place to stop if we decided to drive say 4 hrs?

Many thanks

Hi again Beems,

OK, the tags can be purchased through the UK site here... https://www.emovis-tag.co.uk/

There is a small annual cost, but I find it worthwhile to keep my tag for last minute journeys.

Troyes is approx 4 1/2 hours from Calais, so another good stop point. Not stopped there personally so cannot recommend anywhere. However, I would advise you look at the ViaMichelin route planning website.. https://www.viamichelin.co.uk/

I use it a fair bit as you can plan routes and show all the hotels etc in various vicinities for comparison. I would then usually book something with booking.com

FYI the crossing on the tunnel is only 40 minutes and you don't usually have to wait around long, once at Calais, you pretty much come out straight onto the motorway, so make sure you watch the signs for the correct one, there are a couple of choices.

Hello again

Thank you so so much for this advice.

Brilliant-

Never driven to Valloire but have driven lots of time ...why stop in the UK then travel ...it is so much better to cross the channel the night before and stop in France in Calais or nearbye you gain two hours as no time difference when you wake up and no channel to cross

I have done a similar journey many many times. The further south you can comfortably go on your day of crossing the better. You are well advised to get up early and start to drive if you are arriving on a saturday. It will be busy, whatever time of day on saturday but the earlier you arrive the more traffic jams you will avoid. If your day of travel coincides with a school half term holiday for Belgium, The Paris region and the UK, then add at least another 2-3 hours, 10 hours is when traffic is clear. Not sure about parking in Valloire, but first dump your bags, and then locate a space. Once again the earlier you are there, the easier this will be. Also, fill your car up with petrol somewhere around Reims, the closer you get to the Alps, the busier the petrol stations will be. If you are travelling and it's not a saturday, then it will be a lot clearer. On a brighter note, the roads are an absolute dream (when clear) the service stations are better, in fact everything is better! Just avoid the saturday traffic jam if you can.

We were in Valloire for Jan 22. We flew into Turin and hired a car so probably not much help to you coming from the other direction. There are a few small car parks from what I remember in and around Valloire and lots of on street parking although it can be busy. We managed to get a space easy enough anytime we needed to although it wasn't peak holiday time. Its a big enough town so worth researching parking on Google Maps if you can in and around your accommodation.

It was a nice town, good skiing with good variety and I would definitely return, although it was still Covid times when we were there so didnt get to sample eating out. You will definitely need snow chains. It snowed heavily the day we were leaving and its a climb up initially when leaving the town.

Enjoy!