Travelling via the Grand St Bernard Pass as an option to the Mont Blanc Tunnel
Another option on how to get into the Aosta Valley through Switzerland.
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For those of us driving to the mountains from the UK into Italy, the classic and fastest route is to go to Calais. From there, you take the A26, A5, A31, A39, A40 and you cross the Mont Blanc Tunnel. This past summer the queues at the Mont Blanc Tunnel where horrendous. That is why we thought why don’t we do our travelling via the Grand St Bernard Pass as an option to the Mont Blanc Tunnel.
We’ve first tried that on our way back, as a way of a road trip. Usually, the day of the long stretch we go from Morgex (10′ down of Courmayeur, by the Mont Blanc Tunnel), to Reims. This time, the first day, was falling on the day of my eldest’s birthday, and it would not have been too much fun to be sitting in the car for hours. So we’ve decided to go to Strassbourg and then Brussels. There it was sensible to go through the Grand St Bernard, as it is pretty a straight route.
My husband was not happy thinking you have to pay the Swiss vignette. At about 40 CHF, it is nothing if you compare it to the tolls of the French Autoroutes.
Obviously, this means that there are more cars on the road. The Swiss vignette gives you access to all Swiss motorways for the calendar year.
Imagine yourself leaving your office on a Friday evening, gliding down snow covered slopes for the next two days and returning to your desk on Monday morning with a grin as wide as the mountains.
This unbeatable travel experience is none other than a weekend skiing trip, but it requires a lot of work and rushing around to make this type of a trip a huge success.
From choosing the perfect place to ski carefully and slopes that suit your style of skiing to resort owners willing to take bookings for just two nights, and that too during the peak rush days of the week,there are few ski resorts that are ready to oblige.
So here are a few resorts that not only cater to skiers who only have weekends to spare, but across a broad range of skiing tastes and abilities as well.
If Gondolas Could Talk, a Great Book as a Present for the Winter Sports Lovers
This article may contain affiliate/compensated links. For full information, please see our disclaimer here.
I have been reading the new book by John Hemming Clark titled: “If Gondolas Could Talk”. For all of us snowsports lovers, just hearing of a gondola (or cablecar- depending where you are located), always makes you smile. It brings you near your love of the mountains and the big outdoors.
This book has 101 short stories related by – mainly Brits- going skiing to the Alps, and some a bit further away in North America. It is catered towards those that go skiing/boarding once a year. This is the highlight of our lives. (Now I ski more than once, but I was there since I was 14, always waiting for our ski week as a family. Later it was me alone and anyone could tag alone, and even later now with my husband and kids!)
All mountain sports lovers always have stories to share after a ski day or a trip to the mountains. Many are because you cannot make yourself understood, or funny things happening to you while trying to come down the mountain – in one piece!
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