The best way to access the French Alps on your ski trip each winter is always a bit of a conundrum.
Geneva is famous not only for its over-crowded terminals on change-over Saturdays but also for long trafc jams as you try to get from there to the slopes and back to the airport itself. On the other hand some smaller airports that don’t have the traffic problems have limited flights serving them and they too tend to get swamped on Saturdays.
Step forward Lyon airport
Or Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport to give it its full name – the third largest airport in France and ideally located as the natural gateway to the French Alps.
Every year, more than 300,000 skiers choose Lyon because of the flights it offers but equally important, its quick and easy access to the ski resorts, and its convenience. In fact, in two out of three cases, it is quicker to get to ski resorts in the northern French Alps via Lyon-Saint Exupéry than from any other large international airport, the airport claims.
Flying In
Regular scheduled services to Lyon are particularly advantageous to British skiers with Flybe flying in from Birmingham and easyJet from Manchester and Bristol. There are also numerous flights from London, with British Airways and easyJet flying 41 return trips per week. This winter, alongside these flights, winter sports charter flights also arrive in Lyon every Saturday from London and Dublin. With all is advantages, it’s no surprise that the number of flight options in to Lyon has almost tripled compared with the 2012-2013 season.
Quickly In, Quickly Out, Quickly On The Slopes
Lyon-Saint Exupéry has all the advantages of a large airport combined with a human-scale infrastructure that is popular with passengers. Conveniently, this means that no sooner have you landed at Lyon-Saint Exupéry than you can be on your way to the ski resorts in the Alps. Regular transport links allow access to the Alps in around 90 minutes, without having to pass through urban areas.
The ALTIBUS and Faure Vercors companies run ski shuttle services to almost 40 resorts, including the new service to Maurienne. Transfer on request is also available to 30 more resorts.
Lyon is also on the improved TGV network with a direct return service to the Alps and Saint Jean de Maurienne every day, and services to northern Italy too. If you rent a car or take a taxi or private transfer service there’s fast access using the A42-A43 motorway network
Where to Ski?
Already partners with the association of leading French ski resorts France Montagnes and the new phenomena in après-ski on-mountain partying La Folie Douce, around 20 of the leading resorts in France list Lyon as their closest major international airport Many more, though perhaps slightly closer as the crow flies to other airports, can in fact be reached more quickly from Lyon due to the better connections.
Among these are most of the best known ski areas in the Alps – the 3 Valleys (Courchevel, Meribel, Les Menuires and Val Thorens) and the Portes du Soleil (Avoriaz, Morzine, Les Gets and more) as well as the Grand Massif (Flaine, Samoens, Les Carroz and others).
The Chamonix Valley, Espece Killy (Tignes and Val d’Isere) and the resorts around Megeve are among those listing Lyon as one of their top two closest major airports.
Among the resorts for which Lyon is closer than any other major airport are Alpe d’Huez, one of the world’s top resorts, which offers one of the greatest unbroken verticals in the world. Built above the original village of Huez, the resort has expanded in all directions over the years. There is a huge beginners area directly above the resort and those going on to the top of the lifts will be able to see a fifth of France, on a clear day, from the top station.
Nearby Les 2 Alpes (les2alpes.com), is another world class resort with one of the largest ski areas, summer ski areas and maximum vertical drops to be found anywhere. Add to the massive choice of slopes for all standards and the huge range of apres-ski options and the lift-linked descent to La Grave – a legend which attracts all advanced skiers, although a local guide is essential for these unmarked trails. It is easy to reach the main slopes from most points in the resort.
In The Airport
Although you may not want to wait around on your way to your ski holiday, en route back you may be more keen to make it last a little longer! There are new shops on offer in the airport’s Shopping and Services Centre, which opened just last year, as well as five AELIA Duty Free multistores in the departure lounges in the airport’s three terminals, as well as an AELIA Fashion and Beauty shop in the public concourse. Last December saw the arrival of a FNAC store selling high-tech products in the Terminal 2 departure lounge.
Prepared for the Snow
While British airports famously give-up-the-ghost with minimal snow cover, Aéroports de Lyon have an excellent reputation for operating whenever it’s possible to do so, in all weather conditions, excepting the very extreme. December onwards, a Snow action plan can mobilise more than 120 people in record time and 2.9 million Euros have been invested by the airport in additional snow clearance equipment since 2010.
