[Closed] Alps trip, costs?

Depends on how you get there / where you stay / what you consume etc etc.

This year we opted to drive the straightest route (Payage) return fuel to Wales - £240
Chunnel - £120 return
Payage - £70

We took our tent and camped £90 for the week
We cooked our own grub mostly and ate out a couple of times £150 for two for the week
Lift pass - £150 for two

All told about £500 each for a mega week of fun
You could fly cheaper and combine with a Chalet / All inclusive but I reckon it would be about the same costings

This year my cost were as follows
Channel Tunnel £140
Fuel Approx £140
Tolls £120ish return
Chalet £700
Insurance £140 for the 2 of us for 12 months multi trip
Liftpass £75ish
Food, drink etc extra

There are cheaper chalets!!

How long is a piece of string 😕

A typical guided week long holiday costs about £400-600 with food provided. Lift passes max would be about £100 probably less with guide company provided uplifts. I personally think that's outstanding value, food and beverages alone aren't cheap in the Alps if you eat out and cooking after a long days riding 😥

You can fly out quite cheaply with a couple of transfers adding say £50.

What's harder to quantify is what you might spend on your bike before in preparation and after in repairs ! Things like more durable tyres/pads/brake pads/etc

You can save money by camping / self catering and the most flexible thing to do is drive out with mates sharing costs.

£1,000 all in would get you a very nice holiday with a specialised guiding company transport to/from and some gear for you and the bike plus a bit for repairs.

£600 on a budget, sharing driving, camping/self catering ?

I'm definitely more interested in the budget end of the holiday market! Camping and driving there with mates for sure, with minimal eating out and plenty of cheap stubbies bought from a hypermarket down the mountain!

Thanks for the replies guys. Something to chew on. Can I forgo the annual ski holiday and replace it with a biking holiday?! Difficult one to call....

@swingbing, I love my skiing but the mountains are amazing in the summer and you tend to get to places you don't see in the winter (unless you are into touring) as they are cut off.

I would repeat myself, don't rule out a guided trip you'll get your money's worth and more for sure.

STW favourites in mo particular order Trail Addiction (who I went with this year), White Room, Bike Riviera, Basque MTB

This year the total for two of us for 15 days was £1200 all in. This includes:

Fuel.
Tolls.
Lift passes.
Tunnel.
Camping.
Insurance.
Food.
Pop.

Cheap skate Northerners though. 😆

Marko

Proper budget option would be tigne. Campsite (really nice one 7 km from the resort) less than 10 euros each per night, free lift passes for tigne and Val d'isere. 2 hrs a day on a canyon test bike if you want it.
Getting there, costs as above. Ferry rather than tunnel saves a bit as well.

My first trip to morzine this year. All costs split four ways.
Fuel £350ish
Tunnel £100
Chalet £280 (3nights)
Tolls 140 euro
Insurance £41
Lift pass 17 euros per day
Driving things (hiviz, breathalyser ect £27
Dh tyres & tubes £85
Full face £85

Worth every penny!

Most food & drink out there was slightly more than here but not too bad.

Not got the exact cost breakdown but we drove to alpe d'huez (ferry from Dover to Dunkirk) for 12 days in a chalet with a hot tub for £1600 including lift passes but not food, split between 4.

I didn't keep track of costs but I guess we ended up something like...

Week of guiding, accomodation, beer/wine and meals most days, + airport transfers = £515
Lift tickets- about 40 euros I think, 3 days.
Flights- because Edinburgh's a long way from France- £260 all in
Insurance- £56
Some assorted out-of-pocket expenses for day-off stuff, lunches etc- maybe another 40 euros

Oh and something like £150 worth of bike repairs afterwards! Big tyres etc I already had but are worth the investment IMO.

Massive bargain...

It's obviously possible to go unguided but personally I wouldn't, we wouldn't have found most of the best riding. Never mind the emergency backup and logistical support. I look at everything in terms of money but also time, if you get less riding done and it's not as good then spending less maybe doesn't pay off, we squeezed every bit of riding toothpaste out of the tube.

back from White Room the other week. one of our guys broke his arm on the hill. having a guide there, who spoke fluent french, and was probably taken a bit more seriously because he was a registered guide, was worth it's weight i reckon when it came to getting a helicopter out for our casualty.
then sorting out getting the bike/kit off the hill back to the chalet, then bike back to the UK after it was packed.
and finally popping in to visit him in hospital, taking in his stuff, and helping with dealing with the staff there too.

between all that, the amazing food, wine and beer thrown in, and wonderful trails, i value my holiday time more than saving a couple of hundred quid cooped up in a van, with 4 other blokes for 10 hours getting there, getting back, and then trying to find my way around by ourselves in between. YMMV 😆

i just want to relax when i'm on holiday. on these trips all you really have to do is turn up and ride yer bike. well worth it IMHO.

FWIW the costs (IIRC):
holiday/food/transfers/booze £450
flights inc. bike ~ £150
airport parking/diesel £25 quid ( this was split between 3, our chosen airport was an hour away )
1 day's lift pass £15
couple of lunches/coffees/beers out ~ £40
staff's day off evening meal inc. beers ~ £35

i don't really count bike expenses as it's all just servicing really. it probably motivates me to sort my bike out which is no bad thing.

work pay for my travel insurance but you might buy that for any other holiday anyway?

probably a few more incidentals in airports, and we went in to geneva on the day of return because one chap had a flight much earlier than ours, but it was only a few quid spent really beyond that.

great value.

You can do it cheap, we have prefected it over many years, culminating in a group of us buying an LDV High top and cramming 10 of us in, see [url= http://wideopenmag.co.uk/news/8152/issue-14-is-go ]here page 54[/url]

This year 4 of us went to Bourg (Les Arcs) for 8 days and it worked out pretty cheap. We managed 7 days of riding too as oppose to 4 or 5 with a hol company.

(All Return costs)
Ferry £85
Fuel £290
Tolls £145
Camping £150
Car Insurance for extra drivers £90
Breakdown cover £26

£786/4 = £196.50 each

Extras were
lift passes (70 euro/week for Les Arcs)
Food and drink - Varies depending upon if you go out or not, but noticeably cheaper this year as uk prices have risen and the euro is better for us

We did spend extra going out for meals and beers, had a day guiding from Stevo at the White Rooms, and bought lift passes daily as rode la Thuile twice and planned to go elsewhere too.

You can save on camping if you really want to, we never used to pay for camping but rode somewhere different each day and got that pissed in the van we didnt care where we ended up sleeping but im getting too old for that now, ill pay £37 to camp in a camp site for the week and chill thanks.

The fact i blew a grand ona new frame, wheels and forks etc a week before i went is just minor detail (and it 90% recovered now by selling the old stuff - thank god!)

Morzine on a budget!

The ferry is cheaper than the tunnel, book ahead. Get onto the ferry operators mailing lists to catch any offers there might be. Use the comparison websites too. Time saving is irrelevant unless you are planning to arrive before the lifts shut. Anyone who can get from the coast to an alpine resort in one hit before the lifts close is driving rather too quick IMHO. It is possible if you fly though.

Apart from buying a Telepeage I’ve yet to find a way to reduce peage (tolls) unless you use the N roads and/ or non-peage A routes. This can be really rewarding if you want to pootle down and ‘experience’ France but is very time-consuming. It will probably take more than a day to get from the coast to eg Morzine. You will be able to camp easily in pretty much any village or town. The smaller the town the better IMO.

Lift passes can be much cheaper than you might think. I'm only familiar with Portes du Soleil area but there are bargains to be had. A good place to start is here:

http://en.portesdusoleil.com/mountain-holidays-offers.html

Note especially the last line on the page- if you have a winter pass you get a 50% reduction on your summer one. I think it works both ways. Get on-line to ask to buy someone’s old pass.

Also, re: passes, if you buy a pass with a fixed number of uplifts any unused will remain in credit- thus you can use them any future time you want. Just as well as I have 6 unused Les Gets lifts to my name at the moment.

Passes also accrue 'Points Bonus' which can be further added to reduce prices. If you are provided with a pass by your accommodation you possibly won't get the points. Nor will you get them with Passport's du Soleil passes, but those entering the event get a free day pass to the whole area anytime that season. If you can get a 'MultiPass' it is well worth the 1 Euro cost. It gets you free swimming and other activities.

Self-catering apartments really can be had at stupidly cheap prices if you shop around and are prepared to be away from the main resort. We got a nice apartment for 8, two double bedrooms, two double bunk rooms for £250:00 per week, plus Eu 100 cleaning fee. This included secure bike storage. Cheaper than camping!

If you are OK with a map I’d forget about hiring a guide, just get hold of the local trail map (free at the lift stations) a guide book or two (In English, Vtopo and BikeFax spring to mind, there are French guides too) and a decent IGN map. All of those in total will cost way less than a day’s guiding along what may well be included in one of the books anyway. Don’t forget GPX routes too, very useful indeed, plus advice off here. There are quite a few Alps regulars posting who seem to give good honest advice.

Good insurance is essential- doublecheck that it covers MTB. The French medics and Rescue services are super-efficient and very competent indeed. There is a cost though that may bankrupt you if you aren’t covered when you need it. Also, get an EHIC card.

Done it most ways, most preferred was as Del described all in at the White Room was very reasonable considering food and drinks were in. We drove but could have flown cheaper if booked early. Paid a little more for lift passes as we did a lift week.

Next option is chalet with mates pack the cars up etc. Good value just get the money sorted up front.

Lastly did the Van/Camp for 2 weeks only paid for accommodation every 3rd night. Was fun until it got really wet 🙂

My garage has enough kit to alpify 2 AM bikes so that was no real issue.
Would suggest including some bigger rotors, Dual Ply Tyres etc. into the budget.

The top option was good as an all in know what your going to get option (and 5 days of supurb guiding) Removing the food/drink from the budget is good considering the mark up in the alps. After a good days riding the voice in your head will always say pub/food etc rather than cook. We just got back munched the cake fettled bikes and drank cold beer.

If you go to one of the big resort areas (Tignes, Deux alpes, Alpe d'huez or the portes du soleil) you don't need guiding. There is plenty to do.

If you go to one of the big resort areas (Tignes, Deux alpes, Alpe d'huez or the portes du soleil) you don't need guiding. There is plenty to do.

[b]ianv[/b] - Member
If you go to one of the big resort areas (Tignes, Deux alpes, Alpe d'huez or the portes du soleil) you don't need guiding. There is plenty to do.

You can indeed go to these resorts, especially PdS, and with a piste map and some info off here put together a decent week's riding. However it won't even be close to a guided holiday in terms of quality, quantity and variety.

@swingbing - out of interest what would you pay for a skiing holiday and how would that break down in terms of flights/accommodation/food/lift pass/equipment (rental vs your own vs upgrades each year)

From my perspective I'd spend £750-£1000 for a week's guided biking and £2,000 for a similar fully guided off-piste/touring ski week or £1,250 for a week's skiing self-guided.

Good question jambalaya. I've always done it on the cheap having done winter seasons in Deux Alpes. Cost breakdown for a weeks skiing would be something like:

£250 - fuel
£70 - tolls
£70 - ferry
£100 - to buy a thank you meal for the people who's apartment we crash in
£170 - lift pass
£450 - about £150 each on food/beer money (cooking for ourselves every night except for the meal above and drinking drinks in the bars at seasonaires prices)

£1110/3 = £370 each. Probably a bit optimistic so lets call it £450 each.
Obviously if we were to get our own apartment we couldn't do it anywhere near that cheap, but still around the £650 mark I'd think.

We have our own kit. Have not done a season for several years now so the same set of skis have done me that time and I expect will be good for quite a few more holidays. I rode 1 set of skis a season, every day for 4-5 months. Take care of them and they'll last. So I can't justify new skis for a holiday!

So, I am a cheapskate when it comes to holidays, but then I can't afford to be anything else at the moment.
As it looks like biking can be done for around £500 for the week, I am very tempted.

Thanks for all the replies guys, lots of good ideas here.

Our total cost for the week was £326 each group costs plus £75 for 6 days lift pass plus about another £75 sundries. Admittedly my new DH rig meant my sundries were a little more substantial, but...

That covered:

Additional driver on insurance and breathalysers etc
Tunnel
Fuel
Tolls
All food and drink
Camping in Montriond

There was more than enough for us to do for the week hitting the marked trails across Morzine, Les Gets, Avoriaz and Chatel. Fabulous trip, helped out by some great advice from here and other forums on what to try.

We did DIY one year and it quickly stacked up to roughly the same cost of a holiday with www.bikeverbier.com, and going with Bike Verbier would have been a way better bet in every respect (much more riding time, far better food, hassle-free transfers and, most importantly of all IMO, access to some ridiculously special off-the-beaten-track trails). Think carefully about your budget and just what you want to get from the trip.

If you have access to a van, you can do it even cheaper. There are lots of places to park up and doss, and the French are pretty cool about it.

I have a van. It gets 18mpg. I don't think it will be cheaper!
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About £2k for the two weeks in Morzine this year.

Drove down and used the Chunnel.
Nice chalet 200m from centre.
Rode the PPdS.
Two days guiding.
£300 on repairs and spares - although this is twice as much as the last four years combined.

interested in this thread as me and a few mates are going to les arcs next year and wondering wether to fly or take the vans

If you value your bike then take the van.

few thieving gits over les arcs then?

Had a week in Les Arcs with Trailaddiction last week..

Costs were;

£525 + £50 = weeks guided holiday + transfers.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner was included
£190 for flights
£150 spends (Airport spends, Coffee, beer, cake, lunch and tea on the day off)

Then £20 for a set of brake pads

Few other bits and bobs, so came to just under the grand.

Worth it though.

[b]spudnick[/b] - Member
few thieving gits over les arcs then?

spudnick - Member
few thieving gits over les arcs then?

As said above. Bike bags get very very rough treatment once you hand it over to the airline. I saw one bike thrown from the baggage hatch on to ground - although they were aiming for the trolley which was a few feet off the ground. So it was a 20ft drop rather that a 17ft drop.

To be honest once you factor in the transfer costs at both ends and the real chore of dragging a bike bag and a suitcase around driving becomes a lot nicer option.

thanks for the info on travelling by plane. deffinatley dont fancy letting the baggage handlers getting there mits on my bike now. sounds like a cool drive is on the cards

i've used one bike box 5 times now for flying with bike. that is, a cardboard box used to deliver a new bike to a shop. i firmly believe this is a better bet than taking a bike bag, unless you go for a rigid evoc bike box or similar. bags can be thrown using handles/straps.
i tape up all hand holds on the side of the box so it takes two handlers to move it effectively, and trying to throw something between two of you just isn't very easy.
that box is looking pretty battered now so i might have to get a new one. it's been through geneva both ways 3 times and malaga twice. 8)
so long as you're careful to make sure nothing can find it's way through the sides ( from inside ), that there's never going to be any pressure applied to stanchions or discs, space the forks and rear dropout, remove mech and chain ( tuck the mech inside and cable tie it to the dropout spacer ), and make sure that the whole thing can't move about inside the box. wedge top with saddle and bottom with bash guard, front and rear with spares box and boots. i don't think it's a problem at all. takes about 3/4 an hour each end.

having said all that the company i work for ships kit worth ~80k in cardboard boxes all over the world all the time. you can be damn sure the couriers give that stuff a harder time than any baggage handler ever would and we very, very rarely get problems. 😀