My low carbon trip to Zermatt
I’ve often travelled by train to ski resorts, but my favourite low-carbon ski holiday was when I drove to the French and Swiss Alps in my electric car last year. I was full of range-anxiety before I left the UK, but the Tesla supercharger network is so good across Europe it was never an issue. Chamonix has plenty of EV chargers and I parked and charged at Täsch, to visit car-free Zermatt, catching the 10-minute shuttle train there.
Iain Martin
We took the ferry to the French Pyrenees
Trying to navigate a love for skiing, a no-fly criteria and a family of five, with all three children of primary age, makes for a hefty logistical and financial challenge. Early this year I felt I cracked it. Brittany Ferries’ new liquefied natural gas-powered ship from Portsmouth to Santander or Bilbao makes for the most relaxing of travel options. The Flocon Vert or Green Snowflake-certified resort of La Pierre Saint Martin is then a glorious four-hour car journey away across the French border. Compact but with a good variety of runs, beautiful views, great value and delightful nearby Pyrenean villages to stay in, the location proved a wonderful alternative to the Alps.
David Williams
Profile
Readers’ tips: send a tip for a chance to win a £200 voucher for a Coolstays break
Show
Guardian Travel readers’ tips
Every week we ask our readers for recommendations from their travels. A selection of tips will be featured online and may appear in print. To enter the latest competition visit the readers’ tips homepage
–
Sleep then ski, Alpes-Maritimes
We went skiing in south-east France after catching the Eurostar from London to Paris then the sleeper train from London to Nice, taking less than nine hours. A bus then took us 60 miles inland to Isola 2000 (the highest ski resort in the Alpes-Maritimes within reach of the Riviera). The skiing was great and I particularly enjoyed the “cocoon of wellbeing” yurt in the town square with yoga, stretching, muscle-strengthening or dance classes in the evening.
Elizabeth
Flocon Vert status, Les Arcs
We love going to Arc 2000 in the French Alps. It is easy to reach by public transport, with direct trains running from Paris to Bourg-St-Maurice (9.5 hours from London) during the ski season. Your train ticket also entitles you to a free transfer up the mountain via funicular and shuttle bus. In December 2020, Les Arcs became the first resort in Savoie to be awarded Flocon Vert status for its eco-credentials, including a commitment to become carbon neutral by 2030, placing solar panels on ski lifts and aiming towards zero plastic by installing new water fountains (which are labelled on the piste map).
Lucy Rawcliffe
Perfect package, La Plagne
We took the Eurostar Snow train (16 December-4 February) from St Pancras International all the way to Bourg-St-Maurice. This saved us a great deal of money and gave us an extra day of skiing. We caught a bus up to La Plagne 1800 where we could walk to our self-catering chalet hotel. The package cost £800pp including lift passes and ski hire.
Phil Shotton
Winning tip: to the Tirol by train
I travelled to the Austrian Tirol region via train, using the website snowcarbon.co.uk to plan and book it. I took the Eurostar from London to Brussels, changed on to a connecting high speed train called the Intercity-Express (ICE) into Germany and then finally on to a connecting service to the ski resort. The Kitzbühel resort where I stayed has a network of electric buses and, if you are skiing, travel on the Streifzug train connecting to other resorts such as St Johann is free of charge.
Joseph Britton
