Driving to Chamonix — stops en route to the Alps

It’s 900 km from Calais to Chamonix, so it can be done in a day, but sometimes it’s good to break the journey to the Alps. You may want to just have a quick overnight stop or a more leisurely break to relax on the way…
Calais to Chamonix route on Google Maps

Miche­lin and the AA both have good route planners to help you

 

To Book or not to Book?
At busy times (Easter, Christ­mas, half term) and especially if you’re travel­ling on Friday or Satur­day, it really is a good idea to book. At other times, you can afford to be a bit more flexi­ble and stop when you feel like it. It’s not a bad idea to have the numbers of a few possi­ble hotels with you, so you can call ahead and save time.
Many places close on Sunday, and it’s best to book both room and dinner if you are travel­ling then.

The Chain Gang
There are plenty of chains along the way, and these can be handy as many of them have 24 hour check­ins. Some are entirely automated, and operated with a credit card! They range from Campanile, Novotel and Ibis which are gener­ally reliable, to the more basic (shared bathrooms) but inexpen­sive and functional Formule 1. Here’s a useful rundown of the budget chains and their features.

However, there are also many lovely individ­ual hotels which can make your driving break into an enjoy­able part of the holiday. Logis de Franceis a good place to look.
Here’s a list of places we’ve stayed in, or have had recom­mended. I’ll be adding to this as time goes on. Much credit for this list goes to the forum on Snowheads - Many thanks!

65 km past Calais: Auchy-en-Bois.

If you’ve had a long drive to get to Calais, try this very charm­ing B and B, Chez Gina

100 km past Calais: Arras.
We stopped here when we had to get a late cross­ing. It’s a nice town, and surpris­ingly lively on a Friday and Satur­day night. We stayed at the Ibis which was fine.

268 km from Calais: Reims or Rheims, pronounced “Rrance”

Reims is an obvious place to break the journey as it’s about half way, and the motor­way goes very close to the town centre. The Hotel de la Paix comes very highly recom­mended — search around for good deals here. There’s a whole bunch of hotels that open late in Reims centre, but if you are arriv­ing late or on a busy weekend, it’s proba­bly best to book in advance.
A little further on is the beauti­ful and historic Ferme du Temple hotel.

At Manoir de Maffre­court, (above) two lovely cottages, which sleep ten people between them, are perfectly geared up for ski stopovers, or could make a lovely place to extend your holiday. Lovely home-cooked dinner & break­fast are avail­able too.

300km from Calais: Epernay

 

Just outside Epernay is the Auberge Champ­enoise which I have heard recom­mended several times. Another possi­bil­ity is the Hotel la Brique­terie which is a little out of the way but looks very pretty.

400km from Calais: Troyes

Troyes is a beauti­ful town with a medieval centre of half-timbered build­ings, well worth a visit. In summer, we’ve camped on the way at this very nice campsite. We arrived late and ended up staying at the Best Western which perfectly all right and very well located. Walking around in the morning, I came across a very pretty hotel, Les Comtes de Champagne, which I think we’ll try next time.
Troyes tourist office with list of hotels

The Val Moret is at Magnant just past Troyes. Very close to the motor­way exit, and you can park outside your room, which is useful if you have a lot of gear in the car.

Dijon: 569 km from Calais
Dijon is a pleas­ant, attrac­tive and lively town for a stopover, with plenty of good hotels and restau­rants. Unfor­tu­nately I can’t remem­ber the name of the hotel where we stayed, but there seemed to be plenty of good options in the centre.
Dijon Tourist office with hotels and restau­rants
A little further on, past the A36/A39 motor­way junction is the pleas­ant looking Hotel Parcey.

584 km from Calais: Bourg-en-Bresse
In Bourg-en-Bresse is the lovely Hotel Termi­nus, near the railway station, which conceals a stunning château and grounds behind an unassum­ing façade. The nearby restau­rant Le Story comes highly recommended.

596 km from Calais: Nuits-St-Georges
Between Dijon and Beaune, at the Nuits-St-Georges exit, is the Hotel Vincent which also has a superb restau­rant, the Alembic.

Also in this area is Les Tilleuls which is run by a friendly Scottish couple.

608km from Calais: Chalon-sur-Saôné
Just 20 minutes from the motor­way at the Chalon-sur-Saôné exit, Les Batees is a wonder­ful family-run place which has delight­ful rooms and will cook you excel­lent vegetar­ian food.

Close by is Le Fayard, a very nice looking B & B that will also do dinner.

Beaune: 614 km from Calais

 

The lovely town of Beaune is in the heart of Burgundy would be another good place to stop, and perhaps make a day of it before contin­u­ing the journey. The Novotel in Beaune is a partic­u­larly good one — its family rooms which sleep five are handy for an inexpen­sive stopover.

Poligny — 645 km from Calais
The Hotel de Paris in Poligny, in the Jura, looks like a lovely stopover. Try La Sergen­terie for dinner.
For pet passport holders, the vet is at
3 Rue des Acacias 39800 Poligny
+33 (0)384 372268

Annecy — 90km from Chamonix

I’ve put Annecy here as it’s a lovely stopover if you have an extra night on the journey, even though it’s not quite on the direct route. It’s known as “the Venice of the Alps” because of the network of canals winding through the lovely old centre. A beauti­ful place for an evening.

We stayed in a small Chambres d’hotes called Les Jardins du Château (tel 0450 45 72 28, email jardinduchateau@wanadoo.fr) which was reason­ably priced, well located and very friendly and helpful. They have rooms sleep­ing 1 –4 people.

If you have recom­men­da­tions to add to this list, please comment below!