Has anyone ever DRIVEN from manchester to Chamonix in a TD6 at all?

I know i'll have to stop somewhere part way through france to fill up so that increases costs a bit but just looking for 5 of us to go there and back for a week.

Its looking like i can get self catering with flights for about £430PP OR self accom for £900.

Now 3 full tanks of Juice would be £405 + ferry crossing so say another £200 max for the ferry.

So the total thus far by car would be £1505 vs £2150 so a £600 saving.

Now can 5 decent sized lads REALLY do that trip in 1 day just blasting down the motorways and autoroutes?

I know the car could swallow all the kit required and leave some space for a beer stop on the way there once off the ferry as well

I'll need all the usually guff for frogland, all of which i have bar bulb set and breathalyser and of course chains or snow socks. (has anyone really had to use them in that region when wearing almost brand new Pirelli Scorps or Goodyear Wranglers?)

Im thinking of Friday to friday and thus going over we can drive through the night and thus avoid any traffic, quieter roads and the like and also a good rest on the ferry if we dont chunnell it. I cant go more than 2hours sat in the car with a pitstop (dam failing kidneys and guts!) which helps break it up a bit and split the driving.
Then coming back we can also take our time without rushing as we'd be checking out at 1000hrs i guess and have plenty of time to make a midnight type ferry back to blighty.

Any advice anyone?

PS no Ski's or boots will likely be taken so that helps a little as we'd be renting out there anyway  FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
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I drive very year from Peterborough to somewhere in the French Alps - TDV8 now but used to do it in a 4.4 petrol.

Don't forget the tolls - that will most likely eat about half your calculated saving.

It takes me 12-14 hours - so you can do it in a long ish day, but wasn't the most comfortable when we went 5 up one year - 3 in the back is a bit cosy for such a long trip.

You need to carry chains (socks are ok I think) in the Alps - I've never used them but do run Vreds in the winter.

Saturday is the quietest day - we usually check out in the morning - ski all day the head off - overnight stop in Reims then do the rest of the trip home on Sunday.

We'd used to drive up from Rotterdam area in the Netherlands to Three Valleys in a day no sweat at all. I guess if you get an early Chunnel train across it would be no worries there. Check for the "black Saturdays" though when the French have school holidays, it can be very busy. Also Saturday is changeover day so traffic on the mountains can be quite a lot I have been told, I never had issues myself.

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Done it a couple of times but Argyll is just too far , I fly now . You will need chains ( or equivalent ) because if a Gendarme says you need to put them on it doesn't matter what tyres you have on he wont let you any further.
If you can share the driving and get some shut eye in the car all the better because it would be a long day . 2008 MY Supercharged
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Yup - we've done the equivalent journey quite a few times in the TD6 and it's easy!

- The French autoroutes are far quieter than the motorways in the UK which makes it a more relaxing drive
- I advise getting a toll transponder (there are some topics on here), which mean you can use the far left (fast) lanes on the toll booths and drive through at about 30mph without needing to stop - this allows whoever is in the passenger seat to sleep!
- We use the tunnel for speed and convenience rather then the ferry - just book the double height section (same price) - you can squeeze a FF on the single height, but the roof is very close to your GPS aerial ...
- We stop every 2 hours and change driver, the previous driver then has a sleep for 2 hours
- Although we started off driving through the night, we found it hard work to stay awake and arrived feeling tired the next day. So we now set off early (4am ish) to get an 06:30 tunnel and drive through the day. If you are doing Friday/Friday then that should be ideal. Everyone sleeps (apart from the first driver...) and we found that a less tiring approach.
- I've noticed an increasing number of mobile radar traps on the autoroutes however, so just stick the cruise control at 130kph.
- Good diesel stop at the exit of the chunnel in France, take the first right turning to Cite Europe and there are huge car parks with an underground 24hr (takes VISA at the pumps) garage - far cheaper than the motorway prices.
- We then usually stop for lunch near Dijon (leave the autorute, go to a large supermarket for diesel, beer, wine and food for a lot of the week - it's far cheaper than in resort)
- Arrive fairly relaxed in not much longer than flying (door to door time), except you have most of your food & booze for the week sorted ...

Cheers guys

The driving bit wont bother me too much as i can stick another driver on the insurance for 2 weeks to cover it.

Its more than fitting 5 people in Boot space wont worry me as i can get a cargo guard and fill the boot and leave a section for beer, beer, oh and more beer! and possibly some food though i forsee laziness and budgetting for eating out a bit and sleeping till noon lol!! FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
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I did it a few times many (many) years ago. Best trip was: set off from work on a Thursday - three of us in my RS Turbo. Catch the ferry and arrive in France between 10 and 11pm. Then two hours each at the wheel (first and last stint for me) and we were in Chamonix by about 6 am ready for breaky before the lifts opened. Its about an 8 hour run from the ferry to Chamonix. Then 4 days skiing before a return drive overnight Monday straight into work Tuesday AM. 4 days skiing for two days holiday - awesome ... if a bit expensive! Mike - MPx

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Well this could be back on the cards as it looks like the cheaper way to get over to the alps and back and sort our own accomodation as we can take as much crud as we can fit in the boot.

Only downside is i need to get snowchains

Can i get away with just getting one pair or do i need 4??

Also whats better for over there? Pirelli scorps and wranglers or my MTR's ?

Its about 900 miles each way from my house so im thinking 4 tanks of juice maybe a bit more but filling up outside calais with beer, food and fuel(will be way cheaper than the alps shops!) and then somewhere near dijon/lyon if this sounds about right from others experience. a nice quick break while i put in a tank of fuel to get us up to the chalet and back at a decent price?

Also the route im thinking is ignoring google et al, but going Rheims, Dijon, Lyon as most routes seem to want to send me via Paris... Not my idea of fun driving round there at all as they are ruddy fruit loops so sticking to the east of the country and the much straighter longer roads adds a few miles and about 5 minutes to the journey.

14hrs of driving all in, 4.5hrs to the chunnel/ferry 1hr of kip at best and a short drive to fuel up, then break at Troyes, Then Lyon if not before and then final push on. I have a bladder the size of a pea pod and need to drink at lot as my kidneys slowly self implode so should be ok with these breaks and shared driving

Also the list of things i need to get are,
Breathelysers
Warning triangle,
Bulb set,
Snow Chains/socks.
Do i need an extinguisher as well?

From pictures i've seen most roads get swept to a decent extent around the resorts im looking so should easily be capable for the FF and im leaning towards the scorps/wranglers over the MTR's just for road noise alone  FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
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Don't forget the reflective jacket, also mandatory these days I believe.

We did this trip from say Rotterdam area (bit north actually) to Val Thorens/Les Menuires etc. several times. One trip we decided to have an overnight stop in Lyon, which resulted in being very rested when we arrived early in the morning. On the way back we drove it all the way through.

If you are swapping drivers doing it in one go is OK, if only one driver it gets dangerous after say 10 hours of driving.

For route I'd suggest to have a good look at avoiding the potential traffic jam locations, that mainly depends on the holidays in France (lots of car on the roads then).

Anyway, hope you guys have a great time !!! Will be thinking of you when I am blasting through the snow in Northern Sweden on a ski-doo  MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
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KP, the Troyes Lyons route is the best. Avoid Paris! Check out igluski.com or ski club of GB for more route info.

1. TYRES: My wranglers were awesome in the bad snow 2 years ago. Didn't need chains at any time.
2. CHAINS: only 2 needed. I put any old set in from any car just to satisfy the froggy fuzz that I have some but have never been checked ever. you can buy them for the rangie on eBay from time to time. I paid around £50. If you want to borrow them I am near J18 M4.
3. KIT: you need to carry a fluorescent jacket INSIDE the car.
4. FUEL: I averaged 28 MPG at 80 mph for the while trip (real time, brim to brim) so over 500 miles per tank.
5. ACCOMMODATION: try the chalets direct website which have a forum offering accomm or you can out your request for accomm on.

Send us some snow reports when you are there!

Cheers Eugene

Got some hi vis stuff from old work places so fine for that. Will prob take my bottle jack, wheel bar and a toolkit just incase anyway

Im far from a great skier, just getting into parallel turns now but enjoying it non the less and if i get bored i can go find an empty car park weeeee doughnuts! FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
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We drive down every year, sometimes more than once. Remember that I'm in Kent, so it's a much shorter journey, but with 2 drivers we do it in one hit easily (petrol/pee/coffee stops only). We usually do it overnight so it's 7-8 hours from Calais into the middle of the Alps; Cham is a bit nearer being at the northern end.

Budget-wise, and not including extras like chains, bulb kits, all that faff, we budget approx. £500 return including tunnel and tolls and 5-Star cover, and our usual vehicle is a D3 TDV6 running fully-laden at 26-ish mpg. Add your Cheshire > Channel costs and there you have it.

I took the FFRR earlier this year for a trip which was just me & MrsC, but since I have a UK fuel card, I managed to get most of the way to Geneva "free", so that doesn't quite compare

Cheers dolphinboy thats where i hooked this price of £400 or so for a week for 5 of us

I have snow socks but they wouldn't fit the tyres i have. Is it worth the risk or just spend the £30 on a cheapy set?

28mpg on the run is pretty good i reckon I aimed at 25 in my calculations so that should be good  FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
Mantec Sump Guard, Rigid Load liner, MY10 BT upgrade.

Cheers Cappo

UK fuel cost going down there is about £50 though probably more coming back up as i'll not be able to fill up with biod from the tunnel exit but would fill up near calais as its much cheaper and will need it anyway on the route back

4hrs to Dover and a bit depending on traffic but its a straight enough run from here I've done before for work.

then mapping stuff says about 8-9 to meribel(where we are looking at now as its a partyish place I've been told )

And don't worry there will be loads of photos, i'll be putting the panoramic feature to the test and uploading sheds to flickr

EB, your lucky!! i want to do a euro tour next summer but think the upper circle is a bit far for me to go just to play in the snow in the FF  FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
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