Getting to the Chamonix Valley, France, from London, UK
As I said in the last post (earlier post) there are 3 options for getting to Chamonix Valley or Morzine:
- Drive
- Fly
- Go by train
Driving: This is a non-starter for me. The drive from London to Chamonix Valley or Morzine (I first a ‘Chamonix Drive’ in the mid 1990s) is long, boring, tiring, time consuming and expensive.
The route is relatively easy. Drive from London to Dover. Catch a ferry (POFerries, and Cheap4Ferries) or use Eurostar. Then drive from Calaise or Bologne to Chamonix Valley. This is roughly a 600+ mile trip and will take around 14 hours (including crossing the channel). In addition to the cost of the fuel there is also a significant number of ‘tolls’ to pay for using the motorways in France.
Flying to Geneva: This is a viable option. It can be very cheap (although may mean you need to go from an ‘obscure’ London airport) and quick (the flight to Geneva, from London, is about 1 hour 40 minutes). Once at Geneva there are a number of ’shuttle’ or taxi services (these need to be pre-booked) that run up to Chamonix Valley. These services can be surprisingly expensive for the 45 – 60 minute journey. Alternatively a car can be hired from Geneva airport.
I ended up checking Opodo for cheap flights and car hire.
By train: There are a number of train options from London Waterloo to the Chamonix Valley region. It is possible to get a train from London to Geneva (this can be a bit expensive) or to Annecy (France) which is about 40 miles from Chamonix. See the Eurostar website for more detail.
To get the train to either Geneva or Annecy involves a change in Paris. In general the train option is relatively painless and can take around 8 – 9 hours to get to Annecy. Once in Annecy (or Geneva) a car can be hired to get to Chamonix Valley.
I ended up checking Eurostar for train details, and Opodo for car hire.
Also, don’t forget the travel insurance!
Chamonix, France – map it
