Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise is the quiet one on the road up to Tignes and Val d'Isere: a small resort above Bourg-Saint-Maurice, with its ski station at about 1,550 metres. Geneva Airport is roughly 171 km away, and the journey takes about three hours in good conditions. You travel privately, door to door, and the fare, fixed once you book, is for the vehicle rather than per seat.
Up the Tarentaise and onto the Tignes road
The first leg takes you out of Geneva and south past Annecy to Albertville, where the N90 begins its run up the Tarentaise through Moutiers and Aime to Bourg-Saint-Maurice. At Seez, just above Bourg, the transfer takes the road towards Tignes and Val d'Isere, and Sainte-Foy is along it, some way below the Lac du Chevril dam.
The ski station is not on the main road. A side road climbs from the valley to the station at Bonconseil, and that climb, together with the stretch above Bourg, is where winter conditions tell; the drivers know the road in winter.
Your arrival at Geneva
Your driver will be waiting in the terminal and will see you out to the vehicle. Flight monitoring means the pick-up is set by when you actually land. Tell us the flight number at booking; Geneva has two sides, Swiss and French, and that is how we know which one to meet you on.
Saturday above Bourg-Saint-Maurice
On changeover Saturday the N90 carries every Tarentaise resort's traffic from Albertville onwards, and above Bourg-Saint-Maurice Sainte-Foy shares its road with everything bound for Tignes and Val d'Isere. Turning off for the station takes you out of that stream, but the valley below still sets the pace, and Geneva airport itself is at its busiest on the same day. Saturday transfers take longer and are priced at the Saturday rate, in both directions.
Village, hamlets and the station
Sainte-Foy is more than its ski station. The commune takes in the village on the valley road and a scattering of old hamlets on the slopes, and chalets can be in any of them as well as up at Bonconseil. An address that just says Sainte-Foy could mean any of those places, so give the full one, with the chalet or residence name, and the driver takes you to that door.
The resort is best known for its off-piste, and it is noticeably quieter than its neighbours further up the road.
Transfer to Sainte-Foyfrom €320 per vehicle, Saturday €450
Price for your dateGeneva or Chambery?
Three hours is a fair distance, and Chambery, the airport nearest the Tarentaise, shortens it. Its flights are mostly winter weekends, many from the UK, so it suits a Saturday-to-Saturday week better than a midweek break. Montivo drives to Sainte-Foy from both airports.
Picking the vehicle
For up to eight passengers there is Standard; for up to seven, VIP, in a higher-specification vehicle with more room each. Outgrow one vehicle and the booking simply adds another.
Children, skis and big bags
Ask for child seats at booking and give the children's ages; they cost nothing. List ski and snowboard bags and any outsized luggage as well, because a vehicle that seats your group may not hold all of that.
Getting back for your flight
The return pick-up is timed backwards from your flight: the drive down from the station, the run down the Tarentaise and the road back past Annecy to Geneva, a margin for snow or Saturday traffic, and time to check in skis. Booked together with the outward trip, the return keeps its own price, which depends on whether it falls on a weekday, a Saturday or a Sunday.
