As some of you may be aware, I booked this skiing trip as a challenge for it to be half the price of a Club Med ski holiday.

I found the resort on Tik Tok last April and immediately booked the hotel and flights. Around November time I started looking at transport options to get from the airport to Val Cenis and there I encountered a problem.  

The private return transfer was £800 and would take me over the budget. Google said no routes found, Rome 2 Rio did suggest a route but it was incorrect. The train route had had a landslide and no longer travelled the full distance.

After some extensive research, we decided we would take a taxi from the airport to the train station, get a  train to Saint Michel Valloire and then a bus to the ski resort.

So the departure day arrived, after an early start our plane left City Airport on time and we were on our way.  We caught up on some sleep on the plane and missed our drink and snack! 

Chambrey Airport is very small and we were out within 15 mins of landing.  There was only 1 taxi outside but as we only needed 1, we grabbed it and were at the train station by 11.45am.

With the train booked for 3pm we headed into the town for some lunch. Cafes are somewhat problematic in Chambrey, the first one, where we did manage to get a drink said food service was a bit slow and didn’t come back for our food order for 45mins, so we headed off to another, where after sitting down were told food service had stopped at 1pm! It was 1.10. Eventually we found Mike and James, a nice burger place just around the corner from the station.

Our train was already on the platform when we went down there and it looked like no one else was boarding. But it was packed on board, every seat and space taken with people and luggage. Luckily our seats were reserved. After an hours journey we arrived at Saint Michel Valloire where hundreds seemed to be getting off the train and it was a struggle to get out of the station. 

A quick walk around the corner and we found the buses. Even though I had booked for a later one, we were able to board the one there and after another hour we arrived at Val Cenis. 

After checking in at our hotel, we quickly went to the ski hire shop, grabbed our hired skis, boots and poles and took them back to the hotel to put them in the heated locker. 

As the hotel restaurant was full, the reception booked us in at La Vieille Poste where we enjoyed a knuckle of pork and a tartiflette. 

A quick walk around the town to let our dinner go down and then off to bed for an early night.