How to make the most of your money in Chamonix

Winter holidays needn't be as expensive as you might think! Here's our tips to making your money go further:

Here's how it stacks up. I've shown two different ways of getting here - flying or driving - and two seperate examples:

	For 10 adults	For 5 adults and 5 children
1 week here,early April	£3258	£3258
Food & drink	£1000	£600
Lift passes	£1623	£810
Flights	£1500
Hire car 7 days x2	£ 450
OR
Ferry crossing X2		£200
Petrol and tolls from Calais x2		£500
Total	£7831	£5368
	£778.31 each	£2684 per family

Of course, everyone will spend different amounts on food and drink, but these are rough estimates based on our experience of doing one big shop at the Carrefour at the beginning, and topping up on fresh produce as it's needed. So you can get a really lovely holiday, in a beautiful chalet in one of the world's greatest ski resorts, without breaking the bank.

Here's where the money gets saved:

1. Book self-catering accomodation
Well we would say this, wouldn't we? The savings you make with self-catering accomodation are huge - you save a fortune by cooking your own food, you have a good big area for socialising in, a kitchen to make sandwiches.

2. Shop carefully
Do a big shop at Super U Passy or Carrefour at the start of your stay. Add local treats like Saucisson and honey to top up.

2. Drive to Chamonix
In a car, you would spend £100 on the crossing, 250 on petrol and 50 on tolls. It can be done in a day from most of the south of England - 8 hours from Calais, motorway almost all the way. Take a picnic and you can get five people to Chamonix for £400.

3. Take packed lunches on the mountain
Make your own sandwiches to avoid too many expensive lunch stops in the mountain restaurants. Take a thermos, water bottle and/or hip flask for drinks.