Meribel — Planning your trip

Meribel is easily accessible thanks to an increase in routes from airlines, and you can now be at the resort within an hour and 15 minutes of touching down on the tarmac if flying in to Chambery. Be warned that Meribel can get extremely busy, especially during peak holidays, so it is best to book ahead where possible. Geneva is 130km from Courchevel and has the most transport links to transfer you to the resort. The next biggest airport is Lyon St Exupery which has public buses to the ski stations. If you use a bus transfer, try to book your tickets well in advance - the buses can get very busy.
 
Unfortunately there are only a couple of trains a week - normally Fridays and Saturdays. Eurostar runs a direct train from London that stops in Moutiers for Meribel. The Snowtrain, run by Rail Europe, means a change in Paris but you can party all night in their legendary ‘disco carriage'! Having a car in resort gives a lot of flexibility to visit other resorts but bear in mind that you will have to pay to park in resort (around €70 for seven days). Driving to Meribel will take you about 12 hours from Calais. The motorways are the quickest route but will cost €50-60 in toll charges each way. If you are driving down on a Saturday, beware that the road after Albertville becomes a bottleneck for all traffic heading to the ski resorts in this part of the Alps.