From Lyon Saint-Exupéry airport to Alpe d'Huez through Grenoble, the Oisans and the twenty-one most famous bends in cycling. A private chauffeur, a car equipped for snow and a rate fixed before you set off.
Alpe d'Huez is the closest major resort to Lyon in kilometres. From Saint-Exupéry you take the A43 and then the A48 towards Grenoble, skirt round the city, and follow the D1091 up the Romanche valley to Le Bourg-d'Oisans. Allow about two hours when everything flows.
The last stretch is famous far beyond skiing. The D211 climbs from Le Bourg-d'Oisans at 720 metres to the resort at 1,860 metres in 21 numbered hairpins made famous by the Tour de France, each carrying a plaque with the names of stage winners. In the dry the climb takes twenty to twenty-five minutes. In snow, one badly equipped car is enough to block everyone behind it.
The tricky part is not always the climb itself. Between Vizille and Le Bourg-d'Oisans the Romanche road is often single lane in each direction, and on February holiday Saturdays it fills up in the late afternoon. We build that into the departure time, going up and coming down.
A motorway, a valley, then a climb with its own legend. Your chauffeur knows the rhythm of each.
Motorway to the edge of Grenoble, then the bypass around the city. The fast part of the trip, with no border and no vignette.
Through Vizille and Séchilienne to Le Bourg-d'Oisans, a valley-floor road often single lane each way, where Saturday traffic concentrates.
Close to fourteen kilometres of hairpins from 720 to 1,860 metres, with sections around 12 percent. The backdrop of the Tour's mountain stages, and the part that calls for proper winter tyres.
Your flight or train, passengers and equipment. The car and the rate are confirmed in writing.
Your chauffeur follows the arrival in real time. A delay costs you nothing in waiting time.
A name board in arrivals at Saint-Exupéry or on the platform, with bags and skis loaded for you.
Grenoble, the Oisans, then the hairpins. Dropped at your chalet or hotel, whichever part of the resort it is in.
Alpe d'Huez is not one centre. The resort stretches across several quarters, from Les Bergers in the east to Vieil Alpe and Les Passeaux, with distances and height differences that matter when you arrive with luggage. Your chauffeur drops you at the right door, not outside the tourist office.
The resort also has its own altiport, where small planes and helicopters land. If part of your group arrives by air, we time the car's arrival to match theirs so that passengers and luggage meet at the same moment.
Isère applies the French mountain law from November to the end of March. In the listed communes a car needs four winter tyres marked 3PMSF or chains in the boot, and the fine for missing equipment is 135 euros, with possible immobilisation. Our cars are equipped for the whole season, so the question never comes up in Le Bourg-d'Oisans.
Agile on tight bends, ideal for two travellers and a few cases.
For those who want to arrive rested. The suspension makes all the difference over 21 hairpins.
Seven seats, the ski equipment and a whole family's bags, with nothing left behind in Lyon.
No meter and no snow surcharge. The written price is the price you pay.
3PMSF tyres and chains on board from November to March, as the mountain law requires.
Your arrival is tracked, and a late flight costs you nothing more.
The departure time accounts for the Romanche on a Saturday, not just the mileage.
About two hours from Lyon Saint-Exupéry airport when traffic flows, for a little over 150 kilometres. On a winter holiday Saturday, keep a margin of 45 minutes to an hour, mainly in the Romanche valley.
Grenoble-Isère airport is closer, around a hundred kilometres away, but mostly handles seasonal flights. Lyon has far more connections and a TGV station. We collect from either.
Twenty-one, on the D211 between Le Bourg-d'Oisans and the resort. They are numbered in reverse, from 21 at the bottom to 1 at the top, and each carries the names of Tour de France stage winners. The climb is close to fourteen kilometres long.
From November to March the mountain law requires 3PMSF winter tyres or chains on board in Isère. During heavy snowfall, road signs can make chains mandatory. Our cars carry both.
Yes, from Les Bergers to Vieil Alpe, including the centre and L'Éclose. Give us the exact address of your chalet or residence and your chauffeur takes care of the rest.
Yes, at the same firm rate. We set the departure around your flight and the day, with a wider margin on February Saturdays.
Send us the date, your flight or train time and the number of passengers. The rate and your chauffeur's name reach you before anything is confirmed.