Tour specific travel advice to cut carbon emissions – for your tour starting in Les Contamines
The Eagles now has a target to emit net zero carbon from its activities within two full seasons, by cutting emissions by swapping from air to train, for example; and by offsetting. At the moment, net emissions from club tours (after offsetting) are about 280 tonnes/year. (To keep global temperature rise below 2 degrees by 2100, each person should emit on average no more than 1.5 tonnes per year.) If you would like to help reach the club’s target, there are two main things you can do:
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Offset your travel (by whatever mode) by buying from the Club’s emissions offset scheme at a cost of around £3.50 for an average return flight within Europe and less for other modes.
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Choose lower emission mode(s) of transport for all or part of your trip. (Taking a direct flight from say Edinburgh to Munich then continuing to Innsbruck by train, instead of taking connecting flights, will still cut emissions. Or travel by train in one direction and plane the other.)
Per passenger, the rough CO2 emissions for a return from London to Geneva are as follows
Direct flight, Economy Class 400kg
Large car, 4 passengers 160kg
Small car, 4 passengers 80kg
Coach 50kg
Train (e.g. Eurostar ) 25kg
(Source of data: here)
This document gives a few tips on booking lower carbon travel to the start point of your tour, Les Contamines, from London.
Train. The nearest station is Saint Gervais les Bain, which is around 9-11 hours by train from London St Pancras, with changes in Paris (from Gare du Nord to Gare du Lyon, using one fast metro line; tickets are sold at the Eurostar buffet car) and Geneva. You may also find viable times via Lille and Lyon Part-Dieu. Alternatively, travel to Geneva Airport by train in 7 to 8 hours from London changing only in Paris and Geneva, and then get a bus shuttle towards Chamonix. For train times see www.bahn.co.uk – just enter London or your local GB station and your final destination, pretty much anywhere in Europe. Local buses from Saint Gervais or Sallanches up to Les Contamines can be found at this link.
Eurostar does not offer through London-Saint Gervais tickets. The closest you can get with a through ticket is Lyon Part Dieu. Alternatively you can buy a ticket to Paris on www.eurostar.com, and another onwards from Paris to Saint Gervais or Geneva at www.oui.sncf.com. To be on the safe side allow 60 minutes in Paris. Booked well ahead Eurostar charge around £60 for a single from London to Paris; SNCF charge about the same for a single from Paris to Saint Gervais; or a through ticket from London to Lyon is about £100, and then £40 for a buy-on-the-day ticket to Saint Gervais.
Eurostar and German Rail (DB) tickets go on sale 6 months in advance and SNCF 4 months. More info at https://www.eagleskiclub.org.uk/plan-your-trip/low-carbon-travel/train-travel-tips-and-hints – including the latest about axes on Eurostar.
Bus. You can travel overnight from London to Paris and then onwards to Saint Gervais in a total of about 20 hours and for around £50, booking ahead at www.flixbus.co.uk
Car. The Michelin route planner www.viamichelin.com suggests a drive time from London to Saint Gervais of 11 hours, a distance of 1000 km/625 miles and tolls of €65 one way. It also calculates fuel costs for your car, though not Euroshuttle. It may makes sense to get a motorway payment tag at www.bipandgo.com – although normally the price is the same as paying in cash or by card.
Carshare. Carsharing is available through Blablacar, the carsharing app. You pay for a lift – www.blablacar.com. If driving, register to offer lifts and make money - €70 Lyon-Calais, for example. Search lifts as a passenger - good value, but often posted only a few days before the trip.
Travelling from outside London? Apologies if this info all seems a bit London-centric but pretty much all rail and bus travel from the UK to the continent is via London, though when driving, the Amsterdam-Newcastle or Hull-Zeebrugge ferry may be alternatives to Euroshuttle (although ferries emit much carbon per km). By train, it is possible to return as far north as Edinburgh in one day from the western Alps (Geneva or Zurich, for example), though more difficult on the outward due to the time difference.