For any families or dog owners considering a road trip through France
Firstly, I don’t know whether you’ve ever tried to return a hire car to Geneva airport but it can be an absolute nightmare.
Darius (our video guy) and I learned this the hard way on our last shoot.
God forbid you hire from the French side of the airport and amongst the complicated spaghetti airport lanes (which Sat Nav doesn’t seem to understand), manage to accidentally return the car to the Swiss side of the airport (which is extremely easy to do as it’s the same hire companies) this will turn what was a fantastic family holiday into a terrible one within 15 minutes.
Best case scenario it’s a €200 fine. Worst case you’re already running late and you miss your flight home. Add a stressed family and tired kids on top and it could end up in divorce.
So, on my latest trip over the Easter break, instead of flying and renting a car, I decided to drive all the way from the UK to the Alps with my wife Martha, our 5 month old baby Rex & our 2 year old pet Labrador Bonnie.
We planned a route that included vineyards, lakes and mountains and it was absolutely incredible.
If anyone else plans on doing the same then I hope this blog post can act as a mini guide to the ultimate family road trip.
Set Off: London to Calais 2h45 (200km)
London to the French Alps is about a 12 hour drive if you were to do it in one go. It’s 650 miles or 1050km so unless you’re in a big hurry (in which case you should probably fly) it’s best to make a few stops on the way.
We mapped out our route and decided that we would make stops in Reims (champagne region) and Lake Annecy before arriving in Morzine.
The two main bits of admin before setting off were preparing the correct documents/vaccinations to take the dog and then booking the Eurotunnel to get across the English Channel (the other option is Ferry).
Once all that was sorted we hit the road.
Taking dogs to France
Here’s what you need to take your dog on an Alpine road trip:
- a microchip
- a valid rabies vaccination
- an animal health certificate (completed within 10 days of travel)
Your local vet can help sort all those things.
Annoyingly, 1-5 days before travelling home you will also need to book an appointment with a local vet for tapeworming treatment (cost us about €50) which is a UK requirement to let the pet back into the country.
We were in Morzine and there were local Vet options in Montriond, Taninges (where we went) and Thonon on returning home.
The Eurotunnel
This was super easy. You literally just drive onto a train and the crossing takes 35 minutes. It departs from Folkstone and arrives in Calais and you arrive an hour before departure, following signs for the Pet Reception to check in.
If they can fit you on an earlier shuttle when you arrive then they will.
Like flights, the cost will depend on the time of year but in April it cost us £171 outbound and £120 return plus £22 each way for a pet so £335 total.
I had the impression that Calais was quite industrial and bleak but it’s actually really nice. We made a pit stop to walk Bonnie before the drive which would be a good idea for any toddlers too as it’s a huge, amazing sandy beach.
I’ve since seen an article saying Calais has been reinvented as a ‘Californian Beach Resort’, complete with a huge skatepark and beach gym.
Then we got on the motorway and entered our first destination into Google Maps: Chateau de Sacy, Reims.
This place is insane. A boutique French Chateau in the charming Champagne village of Sacy and to make it even better we got upgraded because it was quiet.
It has beautiful rooms, amazing food, a wellness area, outdoor nordic hot tubs and it’s very dog friendly with lots of pristine walking routes through the vineyards. We were only there for one night but this was the dream stopover. We couldn’t recommend it any higher.
Second Leg: Reims to Lake Annecy 6h (578km)
This was the longer leg. The nice thing about France is that they seem to have campsites and good picnic stops all the way down the motorway. There always seems to be park benches and green space at every petrol / service stations so we picked one of those for a mini break about half way down.
If a 6 hour drive is too much for one day and you wanted to break it up with another stopover then Dijon is in the middle and meant to be lovely.
We cruised on and arrived at our next stop: Palace de Menthon, Annecy.
Le Palace de Menthon
This hotel is straight out of a film set. Worthy of James Bond or a Wes Anderson movie, it sits on the lake in Menthon Saint-Bernard, about 15 minutes from Annecy town. It’s old school splendour with a spa, landscaped gardens and a private pontoon.
It’s absolutely stunning. Lake Annecy itself is said to be “the cleanest lake in Europe” and that’s no exaggeration. The water is crystal clear.
We wandered slowly around the shore, sat in the sun, went for a swim (6 degrees!), ate pastries from the local boulangerie and drank coffee in the local cafes for 4 days straight. It was paradise.
Bonnie will dream of that lake for the rest of her life.
This has become a home from home for me as it’s where we always come for our winter photography and video shoots (like this one).
Morzine is brilliant all year round with hiking, biking, paragliding and water sports in summer while also being part of the Portes de Soleil ski area in winter, with tonnes of slopes linking 12 alpine resorts between France and Switzerland.
Chalet Roarsome is a traditional alpine chalet with a huge open-plan living area, log burner, newly renovated terrace and outdoor hot tub overlooking a forest of pine trees.
2 minutes to the nearest lift (Nyon) or 5 minutes into Morzine town centre it’s the ideal family chalet.
Our favourite walk with the dog was a lap around Lake Montriond (10 minute drive from the chalet) and our good friend Oliver Godbold (Roarsome & Red Bull photographer) took us on a hike a little higher to show Bonnie the snow.
Rex even experienced his first Apres at Folie Douce!
Fourth Leg: Morzine to Mutigny 6h30 (585km)
It was our longest stint on the way back but it didn’t feel too bad.
We made another Champagne stop near Reims but this time we stayed at Loisium Hotel & Spa in Mutigny.
The local town and vineyards weren’t as charming as Sacy but the hotel was lovely again.
The hotel design, rooms, service and food were all top class and we would highly recommend a visit.
The trip is possible to do in an electric car or hybrid as there’s plenty of charging stations along the way but it would take a little more planning and I haven’t yet made the move to electric.
I topped up my tank six times in a Range Rover Evoque, driving from South West London. This worked out at approx £390 in petrol for the whole trip but I got home with half a tank to spare.
Cost of petrol UK: £1.47 per litre
Cost of petrol France: €2 per litre!
(Top Ups: £80, €60, €50, €80, €80, €80)
Tolls
You get charged at tolls for driving on the motorway in France. You can’t avoid them and you pay for each leg driven. In total I spent around £150 on tolls and this was how the charges were broken up:
€25
REIMS
€55
€8.50
ANNECY
€5
MORZINE
€5
€50
€20
CALAIS
(I might have missed a couple which were less than €5)
Car vs Plane: CO2
Driving (2223km total): 700kg CO2
There was 3 passengers so 233kg per passenger
Flying (London to Geneva Return): 228kg CO2 per passenger This doesn’t include a hire car or transfers.
Full flight x177 passengers = 40,356kg CO2
40356 / 700 = 57.6
So although the per passenger output is almost exactly the same (with 3 people in the car), one car
