car hire in a ski resport

Driving from airport to resort, parking for a week, then driving back to airport.

It's strangely about €100 cheaper than paying for the transfer bus (who are aunts and often leave you stranded for hours if your flight's delayed).

I've only done it once before with a quashai 4x4. Question is - roads are generally clear and town is slow moving (and as I say will only drive from/to airport) - DO I NEED A 4x4?

A Quashai is £220 and a ford C-Max MPV (front wheel drive) is £145.

oh, and it will be winter prepped with snow tires

No and I'm thinking about driving my Beemer to skiing this winter although might get winter tyres put on it for good measure. In all the years I've been skiing there have only been a couple of times where chains have been needed because arrival coincided with a dump of snow.

danke

Always drive from Geneva in a standard car. If you collect from Swiss side it comes with snow tyres and chains at no extra cost (as opposed to having to pay on the French side)...

almost...

not all car hire places will have a set of chains in the boot, but you will need a set of chains... so make sure you have them.

4x4 irrelevant.

are you actually planning on hiring in the ski resort? or at the airport? if you're hiring in the resort then you'll still need the transfer surely?

"for" a ski resort.

Chains are €45 extra. But has snow tyres.

I've done with a 4x4 on snow tyres absent chains - don't reckon I'll need chains to drive 10 mins through town to the chalet and the same on the way out. Will use the Skibus in the resport.

You may not need them but there are a bunch of the skiing countries where its illegal not to use them if its snowy aren't there? I would have thought a hire car would just scream "target" for the local po po.

A couple of years back we got caught in a white out in Les Gets and chains were the only reason we got out and made our return flight. Plus as arbiter says, it is a legal requirement in most places...

I have in the past seen police stopping every vehicle at the bottom of the pass and stopping those without chains proceeding further.

but only twice in quite a lot of visits. low likelihood, high impact.

not mandatory in France. Return flight is 2pm so will be leaving well in advance as one of kids will surely vomit in the car so need to build in a 30 mins cleaning buffer.

it's main roads all the way to alpe d'huez and chains are forbidden on them, so would have to drive on clear roads for 1hr15, put chains on for the final 4 mins through the town (also likely cleared) then taken them off on the way back.

that alone is worth the $100

a 4 x 4 is useless in the snow...

on the other hand DEFINITELY get winter tires - they are amazing and when you need them yo need them.

chains are for cars without winter tires

You can pretty much drive up ice on modern winter tiored

WE had winter tires on a 2wd S Max a while back and it got through a snow stormw whilst countless 4x4s were pulled off the road/slid into ditches

Put it this way, when I lived in Aple d'Huez I was driving a 1.2 Seat Ibiza with normal tires and chains in the boot. Never had a problem getting around. That said I would recommend all weather or winter tires. 4x4 is not a get out of jail free card. If you drive sensibly you will be fine. In winter most car hire places should be fine for the tires.

Drive to Alpe d'Huez is fine until you reach the main road and start the slog up the famous hill climb from Bourg d'Oisans. Look at the markers on each switchback turn which all bear the name of a previous winner of the climb and marvel at how much it would hurt on a bike.

blindtom - the forums suggest that the road to alpe d'huez is regularly cleared. Will be travelling middle of the day on a Saturday, pre-Xmas. Chains are for hire at the desk, so can make a call if it's dumping when we pickup.

In fact I think it is now illegal to drive in resorts without winter tyres - imagine the rental company might not let you have a car without winter tires if they know where you are going

the cars are all winter prepped, so has the winter tyres.

the chains are a €45 extra. Given I'm not driving to the lift daily, but am doing a single drive from Grenoble to Alpe d'Huez during daylight hours, I don't think I'll need the chains unless there's a serious dump on the brew.

Jellymonster when I arrived in resort for the season it was November and I had to put the chains on to get there having only bought them an hour earlier from a feu vert. Yes the roads are cleared but that doesn't help so much if it is chucking down when you arrive.

Based on several experiences of needing them I'd pay the extra €45 and get the chains.

Especially if I was driving with kids in the car.

If you are getting the chains, make sure they fit. Check the cover or ask the guy. Sounds obvious but if you are stuck halfway up a mountain trying to get them on, you will be glad you did. Had a very unpleasant trip on the way to Gressony because we were given the wrong chains. Might of course be my ineptitude but the guy in the resort who ended up digging us out with his tractor, and the car hire guy back in Miana confirmed they were the wrong size (so take that, my wife)

We do this every year, don't need a 4x4, front wheel drive is fine and just take it easy.