Getting to Méribel

Recommended Option: Fly

Flying (followed by a transfer) is the easiest and often the cheapest option. The closest destinations are Geneva, Chambery, Lyon or Grenoble.

Distances and transfer times are as follows:

• Chambery: 93km, 1h 15m
• Grenoble: 129km, 1h 23m
• Lyon: 198km, 2h 10m
• Geneva (recommended): 178km, 2h 05m

Although Chambery and Grenoble are closer and transfer times are shorter, flights into Geneva are generally cheaper and more frequent – and transfers onto Méribel are most easily organised from there.

Return Transfers from the airport: Remember to budget for transfers. Prices vary according to type of transfer (private, door to door minibus to shared scheduled coaches).

Private minibus transfers are an efficient and effective transfer method if you have 6+ people travelling together. No waiting around or multiple drop offs. Budget around £85 per head for a private, door to door transfer. We can organise this for you.

A cheaper alternative for smaller groups is a shared return transfer in air-conditioned minibus or scheduled coach service. Some options to consider are LeVanRouge, The Snowbound Shuttle or Ben’s Bus, where you can get a return transfer in a shared bus for around £85 per head

Public Transport from the airport: The public altibus runs buses from Geneva airport to Meribel – check their website for prices.

Research train options too. For instance, if you fly to Geneva it is possible to take a train from Geneva to nearby Moutiers – and then get a taxi or bus for the remaining 17km to Meribel. However, it is a lot more hassle than getting a direct transfer from the airport and you won’t save much money in the end by paying for each stage with luggage in tow. So take this option only if you need to and the times are convenient.

Car Hire is also an option with several providers present at all local airport

Links:

• Find a cheap flight like we did, using Dohop or Skyscanner
• Book a return transfer using a service like Ben’s Bus (google ‘transfer from Geneva to Meribel’ to get a load of other services too)
• Altibus runs a public bus from Geneva to Meribel
• Merinet has lots of information on shared transfers, as well as buses and trains. You can also contact us and we’ll help organise your transfer for you.

Coach

Coach? Yes, you can take the coach direct from London Victoria to Méribel. Leaving London on the Friday evening, you will arrive in Méribel the following afternoon.

Typical times and costs: The journey takes about 18 hours so make sure you bring a travel cushion. On the plus side, it is one of the cheaper ways to get there as return journeys start from £75 per person and there’s no need to arrange separate transfers or pay extra for skis and luggage. You’ll also travel overnight so won’t notice a lot of the journey, if you sleep.  You can book a coach to Meribel using Snow Express.

Car

As long as you don’t live too far north or west and you don’t have fidgety children then driving oneself to Méribel is a very good option. Yes, you have to pay tolls to use the roads but the roads in France are very good – and generally very empty meaning you can apply the accelerator with only a precautionary 100 EUR note and a box of Gitanes to see off any pesky Gendarmes!

Typical times and costs: Journey times from Calais should be between eight and nine hours and we estimate the cost per person to be £175 based on four sharing a car and including the cost of Eurotunnel, petrol and tolls. But given the cost of flights we question why you would go through all this instead of just flying in.

Links: You’ll need to get on the Eurotunnel.

Eurostar

High-speed train is a spectacular way to get to the Alps. And Eurostar trains will run directly from St Pancras International and Ashford International to the French Alps – Bourg St Maurice, Aime La Plagne and Moutiers (17km from Meribel) only – from around the middle of December until early April 2019. The closest station is Moutiers, which is 17km from Meribel and only a short taxi, public bus ride away or we can arrange a private transfer.

From St Pancras International and Ashford International, direct trains to the French Alps leave on Friday evenings (arriving Saturday morning) and Saturday mornings (arriving Saturday evening).

Going back, trains from the French Alps, running direct to St Pancras International and Ashford International, leave on Saturday mornings (arriving Saturday evening) and Saturday evenings (arriving Sunday morning).

Typical times and costs: The journey is around 9 hours to Moutiers and from there you can get the public Altibus into Meribel (or a taxi/transfer).

Links:

You can book at Eurostar

Altibus runs public buses from Moutiers station.

Walk

179 h (596.8 mi) via Dieppe, FR – Newhaven, UK