GregWTravels

This was just a quick long weekend away to get another ski trip in, and wasn't sure I was going to write it up. Then I did a search, and saw that there haven't been many trip reports, and certainly nothing in recent times on what it is like to travel by what is quite a unique method of travel - loading your car on a train, and riding that under the sea. So my trip report on driving from London to the French Alps via the Eurotunnel.




Eurotunnel Booking and Pre-departure

A group of friends was going to be down in Les Houches, which is a ski resort in the Chamonix Valley on the main motorway between France and Italy through the Mont Blanc tunnel. Myself and another friend, plus a friend of hers weren't able to get away for a full week, but a long weekend was possible. We found an AirBnB (one we had stayed at before) without issue, but flights to Geneva were proving expensive, and so we decided to drive down on Wednesday night to be on the slopes Thursday morning.

People may think that driving 10 or 11 hours through the night to ski the next day is a daft thing to do, and you may be right. But I've done it before, and it isn't as bad as you think it will be, especially if you can split the driving. And when it comes to costs, you have to pay fuel, tolls and the Eurotunnel booking, but offset that against the flights, extra baggage fees for the ski equipment, and having to book a car anyway to transfer from the airport up to the slopes, it can be more cost effective.

And so we booked in on the Eurotunnel, and reserved the AirBnB.




For booking a Eurotunnel crossing (also known by their new branding "Le Shuttle"), you choose a date and time to cross, and enter the details about the vehicle you are taking. There are different classes of tickets, depending on the length of your trip, type of vehicle, whether you want the trip refundable, and whether you want to have the flexibility to turn up at any time, or lock into a specific crossing time (more on the actual flexibility on this later). For our trip from a Wednesday to a Sunday, we got a Short Stay Saver fare.

To book a fare, you need to enter the number of passengers and the details of the vehicle you are taking (vehicle type, number plate, type of fuel).

Initially we planned to head down in my friend's car. However, it is a rather long in the tooth Audi A3 which was having some reliability issues. As her car was both shaky on if it would actually make the trip, and also awfully small for 3 people and their ski gear, we made a pivot and I ended up renting a car from Enterprise. Luckily, you can easily change the details of your booking with no fees, assuming you aren't changing the class of vehicle you are taking.

Prior to your trip, you do need to fill out an API (advanced passenger information) for each passenger. When making your booking, you need to specify the number of travellers. This includes name, gender, date of birth, nationality, and passport details for each passenger. This can be entered any time after your booking, and doesn't need to be entered all at once, so each member of our party went in and filled in their details individually. You can add, remove and change traveller details any time up to entering the Eurotunnel site.

Though it was only a week and a half ago from when I travelled to today, already the Covid travel requirements have changed for both France and the UK. So at the time, for the trip down I need to provide a vaccination pass and a "sworn undertaking to comply with the rules" form. This could be done anytime from 4 days prior to your departure time.

Car Rental from Enterprise, Hammersmith - March 9, 2022

As previously stated, we decided to rent a car to go down. I booked from one of my local rental agencies - a branch of Enterprise. I have rented from them multiple times, and have always found them very reliable and excellent.

To take a rental vehicle out of the UK, you need to pay to have the paperwork that says the owner of the vehicle (in this case, Enterprise) allowing you to take it out of the country. In addition, you pay additional for EU roadside coverage. As we were also splitting the driving, we paid another £15.60 a day for the additional drivers. In all, the rental and all the extra gubbins cost us £558.18 (though I was able to get some discounts for what was about to happen).

As we had ski gear, I rented a "Nissan Qashqai or similar." Everything was all set when I got a call at 10AM on the 9th of March, 2 hours before I was meant to pick up the car. Seems the car they had planned to give me had been returned with mechanical issues. Would I be happy to pick up the car at 4PM instead of noon?

As our crossing was at 5:20PM in Folkestone, there was no way to pick up the car that late and make it our train crossing, so I said we couldn't. The agent said she would call me back.

It was a tense 20 minutes while I waited for a call back, and I went through various permutations and combinations of what we might do (take my friend's car anyway? rent from another agency? change our departure time?).

Enterprise called back and had found a solution. And so I was able to show up at midday and pick up a Hyundai Kona, a hybrid small SUV.




The car was alright, but felt a bit small to me as compared to a Qashqai. I also found rubbish in the car from the last rental. I mentioned my disappointment at those items, but as it was the only suitable car available, I took it. Enterprise refunded me £59.30 (15% off the base rental price) as a goodwill gesture.

This was the first time I have had issues with this branch of Enterprise, and they seemed very keen to try and make things right for me, so I'd still recommend them if you ever need to rent a car in Hammersmith, London (your only other option is Sixt, which is always priced much higher than Enterprise).

And so I went home, loaded up the car, picked up the two passengers and loaded and reloaded the car a couple of times, and away we went.

GregWTravels

Eurotunnel Experience - March 9, 2022

The Channel Tunnel, opened in 1994, connects Folkestone, UK with Calais, France. It is the longest underwater rail tunnel, and the third largest rail tunnel in the world, at over 31 miles. It carries the passenger Eurostar service, freight trains and the "Le Shuttle" Eurotunnel service, which is a roll-on, roll-off service for cars, coaches and lorries.




Heading down the M20 towards Folkestone, we get off the motorway and into the complex. First order of business is checking in for your booking (or buying a ticket if you don't have one). Pulling up to an automated machine, an automated reader read our number plate and brought up all the information for us to confirm - passengers and vehicle.

We were then offered to select which crossing we wanted to take. On the way there, we arrived 50 minutes before our departure, and due to Covid, Eurotunnel is still running a reduced schedule, so the next departure was our booked departure. However, we could have chosen two later departures with no additional costs. With most fares, you can usually take trains a couple hours earlier than your booked departure if space is available.

Once all the self-check out items are checked, a rear-view mirror hanger is printed out with a letter and a number (H5 in our case). The letter (H) indicating the time of the train you are on, and the number (5) indicating your boarding group.




Once on site, you can pop into the Victor Hugo Terminal building to grab some food, stock up on supplies, buy some duty free, gamble a bit or visit the lounge if you have booked an appropriate ticket. At least, you used to be able to, and you probably will again. But with levels of traffic as they are now, most everything is shut up. So a visit to the toilet and a a trip to WH Smith for drinks and snacks for the long drive the other side, and we were back to the car.




This terminal area is where you wait until the time of your departure is called to go through to the immigration process. For all the frequent fliers here, think of it like hanging around in the lounge or bar at the airport waiting for your gate to be posted.

Once you leave the terminal area, you pass through the immigration, customs and security checks. First up you clear British exit checks. As Eurotunnel has both European and British/Irish drivers to cater for, the booths are set up on alternating sides, so you can choose a lane so that the officials are on the side of the vehicle of the driver.




The Brits check all the passports of the passengers, and then we were on to security. We pulled over, and the car's door handles and the steering wheel were swabbed. Sometimes you don't have security, sometimes you have the checks like this trip, sometimes dogs are brought out to sniff, sometimes they'll pull your car apart. Such is border controls.

After clearing that, we moved forward to the French Immigration. Similar to the British side, you pick a lane that has the booth on the side of the driver, and pop over your passports. They will ask to see every person in the vehicle and compare the passport, so be prepared for people in the back to stick their heads forward through the front seats or out the window so the agent can see them. Stamps issued (still surprises me since Brexit), and away we go.

Once passed all the immigration, you then get to queue up again, waiting for the specific time to board. There are multiple lanes to queue into, depending on your letter and number. However, as loads were so low, everyone was sent into the same lane.

When queued, there are toilets and a dog walking area for those two and four legged entities who need a little relief. Usually there are toilets to use onboard the train, but yet another Covid downgrade, they were closed during our trip. Perhaps they will be opened again soon.

About 30 minutes before the departure time, we and the other cars queueing were released to head down to the train.




You drive down this ramp and are directed on to the train. The train is double decker, so you will either drive into the first door and up a ramp to the second deck, or to the second door and through the train on the first deck. This is directed by marshalls getting you on the train.

The train is drive-through, so you keep going until you reach a point where a marshall is parking people up. They will tell you to keep pulling forward until you are in position.




Once you are parked, you put your car in park (for automatics) or 1st gear (for manual transmissions), put on the parking brake, put the windows part-way down (this is to avoid air pressure differences as we descend underneath the English Channel) and turn off the engine.

Once we are all on, the safety announcements come on in English followed by French. In non-Covid times, you can get out of the car to stretch the legs and head to the toilet, but Covid restrictions say no. I did get out of the car to fit headlight reflectors (more on that below), and the group behind us seemed to use the roof of their car as a table the entire voyage, so it doesn't seem enforced. Though the toilets are locked up.

The cars are all positioned specifically so no vehicle bridges a gap between the train cars, and there are doors which close between the carriages. Unlike a ferry, there is no restaurant or bar or casino to head towards. You sit tight in your car (if you are lucky like the folks ahead of us, you have in-car entertainment, and get to watch a classic like "The Dam Busters.").

Doors secured, security announcements done and away we go. Through the small windows to the side, we see the last views of the UK and a white chalk horse on the side of the hills beside the Folkstone terminal.




The trip itself takes 35 minutes. It is a trip through a tunnel, so out the windows is nothing but darkness, and due to the depth your ears may pop, but soon enough there is light out the window and you on dry land in France.

Once the train stops, we wait for some security and safety checks, and then doors open, cars start up and we follow each other out into the French evening. As all immigration checks were cleared over in the UK, we head out directly onto the motorway and start our trip down to the Alps.

Requirements for Driving in France

When taking a car into France, there are specific things that you need to have with you.

Firstly is the ability to adjust the headlights. In the UK, as we drive on the left side of the road, headlights are often aimed to point to the left to highlight signs and items at the side of the road. In France, they drive on the right, and thus headlights should be aimed to the right side of the road. For UK drivers, they require you to adjust your headlights so they don't "dazzle other drivers." Unless your car has a mechanical way to do this easily (some cars do), the easiest way to do this is to buy stickers to put on the lights that change the focus of the beam. These are easily available in automotive stores. I paid £6.50 for a pair at Halford's.

You also need some specific equipment - reflective jackets for all passengers and a warning triangle. You used to have to carry a breathalyzer, but that isn't required anymore, though we had one lying around so brought it along anyway.

Finally, your car has to be identified as being from the UK (so that they know where your number plates are from). This used to be either a GB sticker, or having a number plate with a GB Euro flag on it. In September of last year, the UK government changed the signifier of the to UK. Thus, you need a UK sticker on the back of the car, or a UK number plate.




Another £14 dropped at Halford's for the triangle and the UK sticker.

A Few Notes on Driving From Calais to Les Houches

The Eurotunnel announcements are keen to remind you, many times, that you should drive on the right hand side of the road (it's similar on the way back, but in reverse). For us, we get dumped out onto a motorway, and are on Motorways until we get to Les Houches some 7-ish hours later, so it isn't that hard to keep yourself in the lane.

That said, I will say I am amazed how easy it is to switch back and forth from the correct lane depending on the country. Maybe it is because I grew up in Canada, and moved to the UK after years of driving and now have years of driving in the UK under my belt that I'm used to both. But it isn't as hard as people think it might be (as I did when I first did it).

As there were two of us driving, we shifted over driving a few times. My friend drove from the UK until our first fuel stop in France. I then drove for a couple hours while she napped. Then we swapped over, and I napped while she drove. I took the final shift taking us through the night to arrive in Les Houches just around 2 AM. The third person in the car wasn't driving, so napped on and off, but was mostly up to keep the driver awake (whoever they were).

A lot of the drive between Calais and the Alps is via toll-routes. You have multiple options to pay the tolls. If you do nothing in advance, then you can pay cash or use a card at each booth. Being frequent travellers to the Alps, we had a transponder attached to my friend's current account, and thus can breeze through the gates and have it charged afterwards.

France has speed cameras, and if you have a rental you'll get dinged if you are caught. If you have a GPS that notifies you of speed cameras, that's illegal if driving in France. You should turn it off. That's what the law says. That said, sometimes I felt like slowing down for no specific reason, and then speeding up again. That's just the way I drive.

Our AirBnB wasn't booked to start until the 10th of March, with check-in at 3PM. However, we had contacted them ahead of time, and were able to secure an early arrival at 2AM, so keys were waiting for us in the post box, and after bring in the essentials from the car, collapsed into our beds. Alarms set for 7:30AM to head out skiing.

GregWTravels

Les Houches, France - Easy like Sunday Morning


After only getting into bed around 2AM, morning came very early. The resorts beckoned, but when in France there is something even more important to get done in the morning. As the Lord's Prayer says (in a way), it was time to give us our daily bread.

And so early morning walk from the AirBnB up to the boulangerie.





It is common practice in France to visit a boulangerie at least once a day. The French love their bread, especially the baguette. A baguette, though, lasts only a day, and so you need to top up your bread every day (unlike our loaves here in the UK and other countries, where a loaf can last a few days).

As the peasants revolted, and Marie Antoniette quipped they could eat "cake," As the guillotines were rolled out, it was recognised that whatever followed, a baguette would be amongst the base requirements. So ensuring bread was available every day became law.

The visit to the boulangerie was to secure both breakfast croissants to add on to the porridge and fruit, and a nice baguette to use for sandwiches on the slopes and something to dip into our pasta in the evening.

As my body clock was the attuned most to rising early, I was up to the boulangerie every day. A baguette, a few croissants, and back home. It was always a lovely walk.

GregWTravels

Skiing 10 March 2022 to 12 March 2022


Skiing was decent though not great. For the first three days, it was warm and sunny during the day, but cold overnight, so you had hard conditions at the start of the day and increasingly slushy conditions as the day went on. However, it was lovely weather to stop for an extended coffee break, a cheeky beer or a long lingering lunch in the sun. We skied at Les Houches, St. Gervais Les Bains and Les Contamines during our 4 days there.








Kandahar, Les Houches World Cup Run


Cool Area? Can't believe I was let in.


Croix du Christ, St. Gervais


Stop for lunch


I'll take a beer in the sun


These guys are just chillin'



Me on the slopes

nequine

Thanks for your TR and not often we see ones like this, but glad to hear of how the Shuttle process is.

Looks very picturesque the skiing resort!

GregWTravels

Off the Slopes

The weekend we were down in Les Houches was the 2nd last weekend of the Six Nations rugby, and after skiing we headed to the Kitsch Inn to watch the rugby. It was lively, with France doing verty well in the tournament and many British fans in attendance as well.




We also had dinner out one evening at Le Basilic in Les Houches. I had an onion soup to start, and then the tartiflette. It was delicious. Despite our warnings to the contrary, a few of the party hadn't been to this part of the alps before, and decided to order a bottle of the local wine. As a wine making region, the Haute-Savoie is an excellent cheese making region.

Return to the UK via the Eurotunnel - March 13, 2022

On our final day skiing, we woke to a very different kind of day. Instead of the warm sun of the past three days, it was gray, cold and very windy. We skied for a couple hours, and had an extended hot chocolate break to warm up, but soon agreed that it was too cold and the snow too hard and unforgiving to continue, so we headed down the mountain and hit the road early.

After winging our way across France, we arrived at the Eurotunnel terminal in Calais more than two hours ahead of our scheduled time. Luckily, when we pulled up to the check-in, we were offered a spot on the next train. On Wednesday when we came down, they were only running trains every hour. However, on Sunday night on our return Eurotunnel was running a train every 20 minutes, which was its pre-pandemic schedule. It was good to see frequencies back to normal, if only on the weekend, and likely running at lower loads than previously.

The process on the French side is very similar to the English side. We pass through France immigration to get our exit stamps, got pulled over where a dog was brought out to do a sniff around our car, and then through to British immigration.

One of our group had recently renewed their passport, and thus had the new blue coloured covers, which includes the four flowers of the four nations embossed on the back (if you can call a thistle and clover a flower). The other two passports were the old Euro burgundy. My friend commented that even though our two passports looked identical from the outside, it was amazing just by handling you can usually identify your own passport. You know the way it bends just by feel. I agree.

We loaded up on the train, and 35 minutes later were departing the train onto British soil. Another couple hours and after dropping off the two others, I was back in Hammersmith and looking forward to falling into bed.

That said, all and all it wasn't bad driving the distance. Maybe it's partially because I'm from Canada, and so used to having long distances to drive to get other cities, but spending a few hours behind the wheel doesn't bother me.

And that's it for skiing this year. One trip by plane to Italy and one trip by car to France. I'll be back to the Channel tunnel soon enough though, when I take a trip by train to Paris in April. After not travelling for almost two years, 2022 is starting out to be a year of planes, trains and automobiles.

GregWTravels

Thank you. I've done it a few times now, so it's a bit commonplace for me, but as I knew I was planning to write this up as a TR, I paid a bit more attention and it was nice to be reminded how unusual and very cool it is to be able to grab a train from Britain to France.

nequine

Thanks too for the final part.

Interesting about getting your passports stamped too - has that always been the case or since Brexit?

glasman19

Thanks so much for a very different kind of report. Enjoyed the read. Not that I would take a car under the channel anytime soon - But at least I now know what to expect.

GregWTravels

Since the official withdrawal of the UK from the EU on 31st of January, 2020, yes.

Thanks for reading. I always like to see trip reports of stuff I will never likely get to do either (or may not ever want to do). Armchair travel.

GregWTravels

A follow up on this trip. Arriving back on the 13th of March, went to bed. On the 16th felt a bit off - probably a cold, I thought, and the antigen test I took confirmed it wasn't Covid. On the 17th, another antigen test was negative, but was invited to do a PCR test. The next morning, the positive result came through.

So somewhere in my trip (most likely at the pub watching the rugby) I picked up Covid.

Good news is that I didn't suffer much. A few days of being really burnt out. 2 weeks of not being able to really exercise. But now back to normal.

expatboy

Thanks for this TR GregWTravels - we’ve just got back from our annual week in the French Alps and thinking about driving next year to reduce cost. We’re in Aberdeenshire and so it’s a long trip, but flights for 6 plus the transfer works out at around £1900. So a timely TR to see what the Le Shuttle experience was like - thanks!

I was looking at Standard tickets based our trip length - do they let you on an earlier departure if space is available, or do you need the fully flex one for that?

MalFr

They may do, but “it depends”.
if you arrive too early they may refuse to check you in.
Or request a fee to move you up a train or too, especially if it’s in a different 2hour band.
Or just bump you up to the next train.
you do frequently see though those booked on multiple services on the same train.

a few days ago I was booked on the 1852. When I arrived at 1805 they were only running 1 train an hour, so was moved to the 1920. Which was delayed until 1935. We left at 1928.
Go figure….

GregWTravels

Glad you enjoyed the TR, expatboy. We drove down again at Christmas. Snow wasn't great, but looks like it's great now. In one of the bubbles, we got chatting to a woman and her two girls who lived in Northern England. They take the ferry over to Holland, and then drive down that way. The ferry is overnight, so it's a longer overall trip, but it does break up the drive and avoids having to drive through Southeast England and the associated traffic. Might be another option for you to consider

MalFr covers the answer on the showing up early and getting an earlier train.

expatboy

My parents are in Essex so we plan to drive to them and stay for a night to break things up that way, but the ferry could be good option for anyone in the north who doesn’t have easy stopover options. We will probably also stay somewhere south of Paris too (Dijon maybe) so travel over to France on the Friday to avoid the early evening rush to the resorts (as much as one can avoid the Saturday changeover traffic 😂&#128584.