Not booked your half-term ski holiday yet? Maybe this is the year to take the train.
Easyjet still have plenty of flights for half-term week out of Gatwick. The only catch is that they are VERY expensive.
You can save around £100 by choosing to leave the UK very early or very late. You could also knock off £150 if you can get to Geneva for a return flight at 07:00 (that’s a 4am start, even from Chamonix!).
So, not even picking the most expensive times to travel, and adding in a hold bag (unless you want to wear those ski boots on the flight), you’re looking at over £1000 per person.
That’s just for the flight. No transfers. No accommodation.
Why would you go through dealing with airports at half-term, when you could enjoy travelling by train instead?
An alternative to being stuck in an airport, paying over the odds for a flight that contributes ten times as many emissions as travelling by train is to consider a rail-option with a company like Peak Retreats.
For about £300 more, you’ll get not just a nicer, lower-carbon journey, but a 7-night stay in 4-star accommodation, including transfers to and from the station.
Their price of £1359 is based on five sharing at l’Orée des Cimes, Peisey-Vallandry and includes return travel from London to Bourg St Maurice via Paris (Eurostar to Paris, then TGV from Paris to Bourg St Maurice), return transfer from Bourg St Maurice to Peisey-Vallandry and 7 nights self-catered accommodation in a two-bedroom apartment.
So, if you haven’t booked your half term ski trip yet, maybe this is the year to start travelling by train…
