Lyon Saint-Exupery to Tignes is roughly 221 km and takes just under three hours in good conditions. It covers the whole of the Tarentaise: motorway to Albertville, the valley to Bourg-Saint-Maurice, then a climb past the Lac du Chevril dam to about 2,100 metres. Montivo runs it privately, door to door, at a price per vehicle fixed at booking.
Before you set off
The flight is monitored and the pick-up moves to the time it actually lands. Your driver waits inside the terminal and walks you to the vehicle. With nearly three hours ahead, it is worth eating at the airport, and if you would like a stop on the way, such as a supermarket for a self-catered apartment, ask when booking whether one can be added to this route.
The full length of the Tarentaise
From the airport the A43 runs east towards Chambery, the A430 takes over to Albertville, and the N90 follows the Isere up through Moutiers and Aime to Bourg-Saint-Maurice, the last town of any size in the valley. Beyond Bourg the road to Tignes and Val d'Isere climbs past Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise and Tignes les Brevieres, through tunnels and avalanche shelters, to the Lac du Chevril dam. At the dam the Tignes road leaves the Val d'Isere road and climbs to Tignes le Lac.
What can hold things up
Above Bourg-Saint-Maurice the valley narrows, and on days of heavy snow the road can be slowed or held for avalanche safety. It is the one stretch that can change a timetable on this route, and the drivers keep an eye on it just as they do on your flight.
Saturday at the top of the valley
Tignes changes over on the same day as Val d'Isere, Les Arcs and La Plagne, and all of that traffic funnels up the N90. From Lyon you reach the heavy section late in the journey, once the motorway is behind you, and the road above Bourg then carries both Tignes and Val d'Isere arrivals. Expect a longer journey and the Saturday rate, and leave a bigger margin for the flight home.
Transfer to Tignesfrom €320 per vehicle, Saturday €475
Price for your dateStandard or VIP
Standard takes up to eight passengers and VIP up to seven, with a higher specification and more space for each person. On a journey of nearly three hours that space counts. Groups too big for one vehicle are booked as two or more.
Children, skis and luggage
Child seats cost nothing extra when requested at booking with the children's ages. Declare skis, snowboards and large bags too, so the vehicle that arrives has the load space for them.
Which part of Tignes
Tignes le Lac is the centre, Le Lavachet sits just beyond it and Val Claret is at the top end of the resort; Tignes 1800 and Les Boisses lie lower, close to the dam, and Les Brevieres is down in the valley below it. The original village of Tignes was flooded when the dam was built. With the resort in so many pieces, a booking that just says Tignes is not enough: give the full address.
Going home from Tignes
We work back from your flight to set the pick-up: the descent past the dam, the valley to Albertville, the motorway and check-in with ski bags. From Val Claret or Le Lac after fresh snow, expect an early start; the road down is not one to hurry, and on a Saturday it is shared with the whole valley.
