"Ace" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 17 Jul 2009 01:32:38 +0100, Sean
wrote:

Michael Chare wrote:

Thanks for your reply

I was thinking of going to Val Thorens in mid December, and I was trying
to compare the cost and convenience of car hire versus taking a bus.

Cost, for one person, is clearly much lower on the bus. For a one week
stay, I believe the break-even number would be around three, i.e. if
you've got three or more people a week's car hire may be cheaper per
person. But there's nowehere that you can park free of charge in VT,
so you either end up leaving the car on the road two or three km out
of town, or paying for parking, which ain't cheap (unless you're
booked at one of the expensive hotels with their own garage who don't
charge extra).

Convenience wise - well clearly if you can drive straight to your
hotel parking it makes the whole arrival/departure thing hassle-free,
but generally that won't be the case, so you're still having to jug
bags out of the car and possibly some distance to some of the chalets
and appartments, then go and park the car in one of the carparks
afterwards. And if you're going to do so it pays to book in advance at
busy times, as the closest ones often get full. Then again,
mid-December should be fine. I've never rented a car at Geneva, but am
told it's a simple hassle-free experience, compared to LHR or similar
at least.

Relatively speaking, the bus, which dumps you at the bottom of the
village, will probably involve significantly more walking with bags,
including the need to change buses in Moûtiers, only runs every hour
or two for limited times of day, but will probably be much cheaper
overall. Time-wise there's not really that much in it - if your flight
arrives at a good time for the bus you're looking at around four hours
total. Picking up the hire car, driving there and then parking will
probably take you something over three hours.

You can get an idea of last season's bus times/prices he
http://www.alpski-bus.com/pdf/aeroski-bus.pdf

Bear in mind that some of the services don't start until the week
before xmas, so plan carefully. Also consider the other option of just
arranging a private transfer, which is usually the best option if you
have several people.


Thanks for the replies. The bus is surprisingly expensive (IMHO).

--
Michael Chare