We are picking up a hire car from the French side of Geneva airport. Any tips or help for the drive up to Sainte Foy en Tarrantaise (Ste Foy)?
We are self catering so would it be worth stopping at a super market on the way before the resort??
Cheers folks.
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Hi,
Here goes....from the baggage reclaim go through the green (nothing to declare) exit and turn left and walk down the other end of the airport,you will see on the left hand side a flower shop and a ramp leading up to some offices.head up this ramp and walk to the lifts at the end.
Once in the lift press the button marked %26quot;enregistement%26quot; (think the spelling is correct) when the door opens you will see in front and to the left a glass partition with an entrance....this is the boarder gate to go from the Swiss side of Geneva airport to the French side.
Once through here the car hire desks are at the other end, once you have you%26#39;re keys go through the glass doors and to the lift, press the button to go down %26quot;again from memory i think it is marked %26quot;Parking Viotures%26quot;, once out of the lift turn left and go through the door into the car hire carpark....phew!.
Once you are ready drive out the exit and follow the road all the way to the main road (you will go under a bridge,which has the runway obove), at the end turn rightonto the main road, you will immediately come to a border crossing(this is back into the swiss side) follow the road up to the cross roads and go straight overthe road bares round to the right a little.You will then come to a little round about made up of red and white bollards....go straight over (this is the Route de ferney) follow this road road all the way, Eventually you will come to another cross roads,again go straight over this then becomes the Route du france,you will then come to another cross roads,again go straight over ,this then takes you down the side of Lake Geneva.
Follow the lakeside road all the way down to the bridge,go over the bridge (middle lane)at the other side of the bridge the road splits ,off to the left, straight ahead and to the right....go straight ahead and stay in the kirbside lanefollow this road all the way ,after about a mile or so you will see on the left hand side a car dealership(Nissan or Toyota from memory) and a turning to the right more or less opposite the dealership,it will also indicate on the blue sign this is the direction for the motorway, turn right down this road and at the end you will see a sign at the T Junction telling you to turn left for the French Motorway(this part of the motorway is the A411).
Once on this road after a short distance you will go through another border check Leaving the Swiss side and entering France....you then just stay on this road ....you will after a while see a sign posted for Annecy follow the motorway to Annecy,once on the main motorway this is the A40,follow this until you see Annecy A41 posted,and take this motorway to Annecy.
Once near Annecy you have two options,1 stay on the A41 motorway and head to Chambery and then take the A43 to Albertville,then the A430 to Moutiers, or 2 follow the sign for Annecy Sud (white signs with black lettering ) and take this into Annecy,once off the motorway and into Annecy follow the Green signs posted for Albertville these signs will take you along the length of Lake Annecy 19km or so, through Ugine, and onto Albertville, once in Albertville you just stay on the main road through (dead straight with a half dozen sets of traffic lights) at the end you will come to a round about go over this and then to another round about,at this one take the exit up the slip road posted for Moutiers (from memroy the third or fourth exit,just a small single lane exit).
This brings you out onto the N90 which is the end of the A430 motorway you would have been on if you had stayed on the motorway bipassing Annecy, follow this road all the way to Moutiers, once near Moutiers you will see white signs with black lettering for Bourg-Saint-Maurice ,Les Arcs etc...follow these you will go under a small tunnel in Moutiers so you know you are on the right track, head for Bourg-Saint-Maurice.
Once you have entered into BsM, you will come to a round about go straight over this (1st exit) and follow the road past the Lidl supermarket (this is the main road through BsM) at the next cross roads go straight over and down pass the train station on the right handside to a small round about,go straight over to the next round about.
At this round about you will see two supermarkets Intermarche and SuperU,these would be a good place to stop for provisions (all the chalet operators in the area come here as it is cheaper than shopping in resort),once you have stocked upleave the supermarket and onto the small round about take the 1st exit up the road ,up the valley after a short drive you will come to another round about at the entrance to the village of Seez,go straight over this round about and through Seez ,at the other end of Seez the road forks,take the right hand fork and follow this (this road then goes to Ste-Foy,Val and Tignes.
On this road you will go through the little villages of Viclaire and Petite Vilcaire,and after a long straight bit of road you start to climb up the valley,you will eventually come to the village of Ste-Foy-en-Tarentaise, drive through the village (there is a Post Office ,War memorial and the Hotel La Monal on the left hand side,so you know you are on the right road) , exit Ste-Foy and carry on up the road to the next village of La Thuile (not to be mistaken for the village of the same name linked with La Rosiere), on the left you will see a turning with a huge poster,take this road and follow it up to the apartments and accommadation,bar and restaurants at the Sainte-Foy ski resort....phew!.
The other main tip i can give is, once you%26#39;re holiday is over and you have done all this in reverse, to get back into geneva without using the 3 mile nit of Swiss motorway ( crafty these Swiss,they don%26#39;t sign post this bvery well and you end up with a 30 euro charge if you%26#39;re not carefull) once you are near Geneva on the A41 and then the A40 you will see a sign for a cablecar %26quot;Telpherique du saleve%26quot; that spans the motorway linking Geneva up with the top of the mountain overlooking the motorway and Geneva, you will need to start looking for a sign marked for the A411, this exit is located off to the right near an industrial estate just after a flyover, and goes off to the right, once you have seen the Telepherique signs and the A411 and taken this exit this will bring you out onto the A411 back into geneva you originally came out of Geneva on,and avoids the 3 mile section of Swiss motorway and the 30 euro Vignette.
I hope this info is easy to follow and i haven%26#39;t waffled.
If you have a look on Google earth with the road markings tab swithed on it might make things a little clearer with what i have put.
All the best and have an enjoyable and safe trip,
jon.
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Jon,
Thank you so much for that most detailed account. That is really helpfull. Cant thank you enough! Definately worth a pint if you are ever this way!!
Cheers, Steve
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Hi,
No problem only too glad to help if i can in some small way,in fact i will be doing the same trip myself at the end of the month as i am going skiing for the last week of the season (Les arcs 20th - 25th April last skiable week) to stay at my apartment.
I hope you have a fantastic time in Sainte-Foy, the ski area may be small by comparison to others but is world class, and the views both up and down the valley are spectacular (especially from the top lift).
On the Ste-Foy slopes at the mid station on the left is an excellent restaurant called %26quot;Chez Leon%26quot; Unless the name has been changed since my last visit, a booking is usually needed for lunch but is worth going to for authentic local cuisine, great for a pit stop while skiing.
Another excellent restaurant is Le Ferme in Le Pre just above Villaroger on the otherside of the valley,to get there you turn right at the bottom of the road you come down from Sainte-Foys ski area on , just as you enter Sainte-Foy-en-Tarentaise the road will bend to the left and then to the right( if you go round this bend you will arrive at the Hotel La Monal), at the left bend there is a sign post for Villaroger on the left handside, take this turn (via a tennis court and the local cemetary) and foolow the road to the village square of Villaroger, carry on and exit the square and the road forks left up the hill, and right down the hill....take the left fork,at the next bend you will see another road leading off the bend take this and you will come out into a large carpark.
from the carpark there is a small lane in the far left cornerwalk down here about 20 yards and you will see some steps , these lead up to the balcony of the restaurant, or you can take the wooden door on the left a bit further along.....you can also access the Les Arcs ski area from here as there is lift around the corner to gain access into the Le Pre/Villaroger side of the Paradiski area (in fact if there is snow to the bottom, which there should be this is where the end of the Aiguille Rouge Black/red/blue run ends up...which is 7km long and drops over 2000m in altitude).
Other good reasonably price places to eat are Ski Roc and the Hostellerie du Petite Saint Bernard both located near the train station in BsM ,as is the excellent La Refuge ,Tarteflette and Savoyarde which are located in BsM alsoand are to be found up the road opposite the station (Tarteflette) and up the pedestrian street which runs from he Hotel du Ville to the church in BsM, apart from Ski Roc the others should be booked in advance.
In Sainte-Foy the Hotel La Monal serves good food if a little pricey, there is also an excellent restaurant next door, and in Sainte-Foy ski station you will get a warm welcome at Chez Alison%26#39;s.
If you decide to visit the other resorts in the area if you present you%26#39;re full Sainte-Foy ski pass you will get discounts on the relevent cost of a day pass in La Rosiere (the Le Riondet restaurant on the slope down into La Thuile on the Italian side serves great pasta dishes etc) ,Val D%26#39;isere %26amp; Tignes ( the best place to access the Tignes sector is to drive to Tignes-Le Brevieres below the dam and go from there, saves a bit of driving), also if you are feeling even more adventurous you can visit the Trois Valee%26#39;s area of Meribel ,Courcheval and Val Thorens (but this makes a very long day) to drive from Sainte-Foy to the afformention resorts La Rosiere, Les Arcs (from Le Pre) Val %26amp; Tignes will take between 15 minutes and 45 minutes or there abouts if weather and traffic are clear, although avoid doing this at peak times on Saturdays as this is transfer day and cues from Val %26amp; Tigne all the way down the valley passed BsM are not uncommon at peak holiday times.
Have a great trip and a safe journey.
jon.
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