Chambery Airport to Val Thorens is roughly 123 km and takes a little under two hours in good conditions. Chambery is the closest airport to the Tarentaise, and almost all of the height on this route is gained in the final part of the drive. Montivo runs it as a private, door-to-door transfer - one vehicle for your group only - with the price fixed per vehicle when you book.
From the lake to 2,300 metres
The airport sits beside Lac du Bourget at Viviers-du-Lac, barely above the level of the lake, while Val Thorens is at around 2,300 metres. Very little of that height comes on the motorway. The motorway takes you past Chambery, then the A43 and A430 run along the Combe de Savoie to Albertville, the N90 carries on up the Tarentaise to Moutiers, and only then does the real climbing start.
From Moutiers the road turns into the Belleville valley, through Saint-Martin-de-Belleville and past Les Menuires, and keeps rising almost to the end. The final stretch is bend after bend of steady gradient, often with snow banked along the verge, and the drivers know the road in winter. Conditions at the top can have nothing in common with the weather you left beside the lake.
Meeting you inside the terminal
Chambery is a small airport that works hardest on winter weekends, when several flights from the UK can land within a short spell of each other. Your flight is monitored, so the pick-up follows the time the aircraft actually lands rather than the timetable. The driver meets you inside the terminal and walks you to the vehicle, which helps when the arrivals area is full of ski bags and everyone is looking for their transfer at once.
Saturday in the Belleville valley
The distance is short; the traffic is what you plan around. On changeover day the N90 between Albertville and Moutiers carries the arrivals and departures of every Tarentaise resort together, and above Moutiers a single road serves Saint-Martin, Les Menuires and Val Thorens. A Saturday transfer takes longer than the figure above, and the Saturday rate reflects the extra time the vehicle and driver are committed for.
A resort that keeps cars at the edge
Much of Val Thorens is kept free of traffic, and arriving vehicles are directed towards the resort car parks rather than to every front door. Give us the name and address of your residence or hotel at booking and the driver brings you as close as the resort rules allow. It is also worth asking your accommodation in advance where arriving guests should stop, because the answer differs from one building to the next.
Transfer to Val Thorensfrom €300 per vehicle, Saturday €455
Price for your dateWhich vehicle to book
Standard takes up to eight passengers and suits most families and groups. VIP takes up to seven in a higher-specification vehicle with more room per person. A group too big for one vehicle is priced as the number of vehicles it needs, and they travel together.
Child seats and ski bags
Child seats cost nothing extra; request them at booking and give the children's ages so the right ones are fitted. Skis, snowboards and oversized bags should be declared at the same time, because they decide the size of vehicle we send. Tolls and fuel are already in the price.
Timing the descent
For the return we start from your departure time and work backwards: check-in at a small terminal that is busy on a Saturday, the motorway, the valley and the long descent from the top of the Belleville valley, which is the part weather affects most. Because nowhere in the Three Valleys is higher, expect a pick-up earlier than friends staying lower down. Booked together, the outbound and the return are priced separately, each at the rate for its own day.
Chambery or Geneva for Val Thorens?
A Geneva transfer covers the whole approach past Annecy before it even reaches Albertville; from Chambery you start close to the mouth of the valley. The saving in driving is real. The limit is the timetable, because Chambery flights are concentrated on winter weekends, so the choice usually comes down to which airport has a flight on the day you want to travel.
