FRANCE TRAVEL WITHOUT A CAR TO LA CLUSAZ. If you are wondering how to travel within France without a car, this blog is for you. In this blog post, you will learn that France travel is possible even if you don’t have a car or don’t know how to drive. You will also learn how to get from Paris to La Clusaz, a small skiing resort located in the French Alps of France.
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France Travel Without a Car To La Clusaz
France travel without a car to La Clusaz. One of the things that I love about living in France is that you can still move around from one side to the country to the next even if you do not have a car or do not know how to drive. Yes I am taking to you future France travelers that want to discover France without having the hassle of renting and driving a car or hiring a driver to take you places.
How To Travel Without a Car To La Clusaz?
France is fortunate to have a railroad system that makes it possible for travelers and locals to travel within the country at peace. With such a great railroad system, I am able to travel to even the low/high altitude ski resorts in the country including La Clusaz.
Why Some People Want To Travel within France Without a Car?
The reason is simple:
- You do not have a driver’s license
- You do not want to drive while traveling abroad
- Dealing with some type of physical limitations
- Cannot afford to rent a car
- You just want to chill and leave the hassle of driving to someone else
Where To Go in France Without a Car in the Winter time?
You can go pretty much anywhere including as I mentionned above the French Alps and its beatiful ski resorts. Do you know that France has some nice skiing destinations for small or big budget. One of such destinations is called La Clusaz.
It is a medium size ski resort located in the French Alps that attracts many Parisians like myself in search of new adventure and some much needed break from the city life. For the sake of this post and to keep things simple, I chose to focus on travel from Paris.
While you are in Paris here’s a few posts that you mind find helpful:
- First time traveler’s guide to Paris: Top things to do
- What to do in Paris at night
- 10 things to do in Paris under 10 euros
Tell me More About La Clusaz Ski Resort
La Clusaz as mentionned above is a ski resort located in the French Alps in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region and situated int the Haute Savoie department. It is a montaneaous village where you can enjoy some winter activities such as skiing, snowboarding, snowmobile, trekking, sleding and so forth… I is not as crouwded as the other bigger ski resorts and that is why I personnaly love it. In addition, the area is really beautiful especially when covered with snow.
How to Get To La Clusaz?
You can get there by booking your train fare on:
These are the two companies that I use to book my train travels and I highly recommend them. On any of these websites, you can book your trip from Paris to La Clusaz. Trains leave from the Gare de Lyon train station located in the 12th arrondissement. Furthermore, kindly note that La Clusaz does not have a train station. The train will take you as far as the nearest city to it and from there, you will have to continue your trip by bus.
The nearest city to La Clusaz is Annecy. From Paris it will take you about 3h 30 min with the TGV ( high speed train), followed by a bus ride that will take you another 1h. The bus company where you can book your bus ride is called Altibus. A round trip ticket will cost you 16 euros. You can also buy your bus ticket at the Annecy train station but keep in mind that if the bus is sold out on the day/time of your arrival, you might have to wait for the next available date and time to leave.
Where to Stay In La Clusaz?
La Clusaz has lots of hotels and apartments that you can choose from. We stayed in a 2 * hotel called Hôtel La Montagne. We chose to book our hotel on Booking.com. We selected that hotel due to its close proximity to the La Clusaz gare routière ( bus station). On a side note, there is a free navette (shuttle) that leaves from the bus station that can get you closer to your hotel. We did not use it because we did not mind walking in such a beautiful wintery scenary.
What To Do In La Clusaz?
It is a medium ski resort so don’t expect much. Nonetheless, you can:
- Ski
- Snowboard
- Play bowling
- Go ice skating
- Go on a carriege ride
- Go to the movie theater
- Go on a trek
You can get all the information regarding these activities by contacting the Tourism Office of La Clusaz here.
What You Should Know About La Clusaz
- Like many French cities and villages, around noon time, businesses are closed.
- Most restaurants also closed after 2pm so if you want to eat, make sure you get there for lunch time or you will have to wait until 7 pm for when most restaurants reopen for business.
- A few offer a continuing service so please keep that in mind if you arrive pas lunch hours
- La Clusaz is in the region of Cheese and meat so that is what you will mostly find on the menu
- if you are vegan, I would highly recommend you to book an appartment or hotel with a small kitchenette
- The specialties in the area are the fondue, raclette and tartiflette. They are dishes comprise of moslty cheese.
Is La Clusaz Expensive?
La Clusaz is budget friendly. Our budget was limited so we kept things simple. Instead of doing every activities available there, I would advise you to save money to pick the cheapest ones or stick to only one thing to do.
How Long Shoud I Stay In La Clusaz?
It all depends of your needs but honestly, I think that one night is enough.
Conclusion
France travel without a car is possible without the hassle of havingto drive. Fortunately, with a great railway system, travelers can travel easily to ski resorts such as La Clusaz easilty.
I hope that you would enjoy this post and hopefuly go discover this lovely village that I am such a fan of. Let’s chat could you see yourself going there in the winter for some wintery fun? Let me know your thoughts down below.
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