How to Drive to Morzine

You can fly, take the train or drive to France for your Morzine bike holiday. Every summer vacation needs to be exactly that, a break. So what is the easiest and most cost efficient way to get yourself and your team to Morzine for a mountain bike holiday?

When driving to Morzine, you have the freedom to bring as much equipment as you can fit in. You also allow yourself the freedom to move around the area in your own car should wish to. By the time you’ve split the costs it can work out cheaper than a flight to Geneva.

What is the best and most efficient crossing? How do you get from Calais to Morzine and what rules are in place post Brexit? Let us break it down for you.

The mountains are waiting for you!

The centre of morzine is only 9 hours drive from Calais

THE CROSSING

CHANNEL TUNNEL

Journey time - 1 hour

The crossing itself takes 45 minutes, however the real speed in the tunnel crossing is in the check in. Your car registration is noted electronically on arrival, and you will usually be offered an earlier train if it’s available. They like move the cars through the terminal quickly, get them onto and off of the trains efficiently. There are several platforms meaning you do not need to wait for inbound rain to empty, before embarking the outbound. Folkestone is likely to save you half an hour from the trip on the English side, as it is further inland from Dover.

COSTS - £150 return (standard car with bikes on the roof)

A return trip on the tunnel can cost considerably more depending on the time of day you travel. The terms and conditions do stipulate that the same day return loop hole, where a ticket will be considerably cheaper, can carry a penalty should the return trip not be taken.

FERRY

Journey time – at least 3 hours

The journey time for the ferry is approximately 1 hour 45 minutes. It does however take much longer to load, as you have to wait for the inbound ferry to fully disembark. The wait at the terminal in both your car and on the boat will usually be up to an hour. The timings are less flexible so you will most likely be on the ferry you have booked. They can also run into timing difficulties due to rough seas.

COSTS - £100 return (Source dfds.co.uk)

The ferry is a cheaper alternative to the tunnel, and you have the benefit of a break from the car. How much you spend on coffee and questionable fish and chips on board is up to you!

It's a long drive to Morzine and a mission to pack but the views are epic at the end!

TRAVEL ADVICE / BREXIT

Without being negative nellies, we've been hosting MTB holidays in Morzine for a while now, and trust us we've seen it all. Here are a couple of big advice tips you would do well to follow.

DRIVING THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT

Sounds appealing, leave Friday evening, get in Saturday morning, build the bikes, go shred! Every time clients do it they arrive shattered unless they stop off. Not so bad if you have nothing to do, but if you plan on riding some of the most demanding terrain in the world after afew hours sleep you are asking for a crash. We've seen many a broken bone on day one from this very mistake.

Getting a hotel en route is cheap and so much easier on the body.

If you do get in early on your day of arrival, we'll have a garage available to you to build your bikes and we will always prioritise cleaning so you can check in ASAP. It is nice to sit back for the afternoon with your bike built up and get some good rest before your first day.

GET YOUR VEHICLE LOOKED AT BEFORE TRAVEL

Your transit or Mondeo sees you right around the UK, but trust us, the absolute last place you want to be is stranded on the side of the Autoroute on your way to Morzine. You'll be safe and your car will get sorted, but the time and logistics of getting you to Morzine are just not worth the hassle. If you have doubts, don't risk bringing the banger.

RENT A BUS!

We have had several groups in the past rent a minibus to travel to Morzine. It's a good shout, you can legally drive up to a 16 seat minibus (as long as you aren't getting paid to do it) on your standard UK license. This does slow going on the Auto route but it's very cost effective.

GET A TOLL BEEPER

Costs bugger all and means you flash straight through the fast lanes at the tolls. It's cheap and they'll post one to you in the UK.

BREXIT

A new one for us, but this is what you have to consider;

No meats or dairy can come in
You may get stopped and asked what you are carrying and where you are going
Passports must be up to date, with over 6 months left on them and under 10 years old
Your passport will get stamped
You do not need a visa if travelling for under 90 days
Your travel will count toward your 90 days in any 180 in the EU
You must have a green card from your vehicle insurance provider
Your UK license will be recognised on the continent, as long as you are resident in the EU.

CALAIS TO MORZINE

The actual moving time at the national motorway speed limit of 130 km/h is approximately 8 ½ hours, however it will always take more time than this, due to breaks for food, toilet and fuel, so budget 10 hours.

It is 550 miles to Morzine from Calais. There is only 1 route worth considering, which is to use the excellent French motorways. These are very well maintained, unless the French are striking again, traffic free.

You first aim for the A26/E17 and the city of Saint Quentin/Reims. You will soon encounter you first toll. You should head to the booth that says ‘ticket’, with a barrier. The lane with no barrier is for motorists with a toll beeper.

You take an automatically, or button activated ticket and are charged at the next booth. Once on the motorway, you will be charged, there are no ways off without paying, though you only pay for what you have driven.

The first toll is 19€ – 21€, the second, and longest leg of the journey is either side of 50€, the final, on the last stretch before Morzine, is 2.20€. The total costs are 70€-73€.

Once you have passed St Quentin/Reims, you will pass signs for Paris for several hundred kilometers. You head now for Troyes/Dijon/Lyon, in that order. Past Troyes you are heading for the A39. You begin your gradual South East turn on the motorway after Dijon, and before Lyon, heading toward Geneva. You will soon see the mountains rising.

After passing extremely close to the Swiss border and the outskirts of Geneva, you begin your rise to Morzine at the ‘Vallee Verte’ turn off.

Once you have passed the final toll, you have a series of critical turns to make, which can be tricky without a Sat Nav or Google Maps. First is the motorway turnoff, right, 2 kilometers from the toll booth. The second is a 90 degree left at the roundabout you soon encounter. After this, a kilometer on your right is the turn for Samoens/Les Gets/ Morzine and the Vallee Verte.

Once you have made these turns, though the road is not straight by any means, it is a relatively simple drive, that is well sign posted to Morzine. At the toll booth, you are 1 hour away from the centre of town.

AA motoring estimate the trip to Morzine from Calais in car wear and tear (i.e. in terms of insurance, servicing, repairs, tyre wear) is £60 - 6p per mile (based upon a diesel car under £15,000 in value). Include this in your calculations or not.

DRIVING COSTS - £230 estimate

FUEL would be approximately £110 return. Based on a diesel car, at 50mpg and a fuel price of £1.12p /Litre
TOLLS £64.70 / €72.40 at the current exchange rate of £1 – 1.12 (1st Jan 2021)

So your base costs on driving to Morzine approximate £330/£350 per vehicle, return.

Are there charging points in France for my electric vehicle? Yes, each fuel stop will have one, many are Tesla super chargers also. In Morzine they can be found at 462 Route de l'Accueil, 178–608B Route du Palais des Sports and at Carrefour St Jean D'Aulps, 4679 Route des Grandes Alpes, aswell as options at many hotels and residences around Morzine. Check the full list here.

AVOIDING THE TOLLS

We wouldn't bother. Unless you want to make it into a road trip. Here's why.

Option 1, using the tolls takes you from Morzine to Calais at the quickest possible route, taking 8.5 - 10 hours on average, including stopping for fuel, snacks and a leg stretch, costing €72.40 in tolls.

Option 2, avoiding the tolls takes you through Belgium adding around 3 hours to the trip, budget 12 hours moving time and another 2 hours of stopping, snack breaks and fuel.

OPTION 1 W/TOLLS vs OPTION 2 NO TOLLS

Driving Calais to Morzine avoiding toll roads - MTB Beds

Driving Calais to Morzine by toll roads - MTB Beds

Making the drive around 14/15 hours at best, from Calais, that almost guarantees a stop over somewhere, you've also just given up the easy part of the trip, just driving along the motorway, cruising. Taking the road less travelled to Morzine involves extra border crossings, villages, towns, roundabouts, cross roads, single carriageways and to be honest you can do without the hassle.

IF, you decided you wanted to make a road trip out of it that makes sense, leave afew days early and you could hit up some pretty cool bike parks on the way to Morzine....

ROAD TRIP?

FOOD STOPS

Word of advice, French motorway stops are HORRIFIC. Expensive fridgey sandwiches, microwaved pasta, little choice and automatic coffee machines. If you want to be fed well pull into a town near the motorway such as Tinqueux near Reims or Dijon. The motorway stops are serviceable if all you need is something quick, average and bland.

French motorway stops are, to be frank, expensive and of the food on offer isn’t brilliant. You may find a microwave burger exciting, but many wouldn’t. The coffee is, however, cheap and useful on a long drive.

Due to Brexit, you won't be able to bring your Mums ham sandwiches with you, they will be confiscated at the border.

See the list of restrictions here.

HOTELS EN ROUTE

Should you wish to stop overnight before making your way to Morzine, two good hotel stops, just off the motorway can be found just outside Reims Tinqueux, See here and Dijon, See here.

Both of these options allow you to leave late before your day of arrival, check into a 24 hour hotel for rest before the 5 hour (Reims) and 3 hour (Dijon) drive onto Morzine.

POSTIVIES | NEGATIVES

Positives of driving to Morzine

Cheap when 2 or more of you travel
Can bring your spares
Potential for a road trip visiting other bike parks
You can use your vehicle when in Morzine

Negatives of driving to Morzine

It takes ages
You need a solid vehicle
You usually arrive knackered if you don't take a rest stop

See more information on FLYING and taking the TRAIN.

We'll be there, ready to welcome you with a cold beer in hand however you choose to travel, our team can't wait to introduce you or welcome you back you to Morzine.