Transport
By car: There is a famous road with 21 serpentines all the way up to Alpe d´Huez which is easy to drive. Just make sure you bring snow chains with you as they are mandatory even if you most certainly won´t need them.
There are covered and open parking lots in Alpe d´Huez. Some lodgings also have their own parking. However, if you arrive for the main festival days only (4 day package/4 day Festival Pass/Day Pass) be prepared that many parkings might be full. The biggest parking lots are located in the Bergers area of the town.
You can find more info about covered parkings here. The price for 7 days is 94 Euro.
Many of the outside parkings are free. Please check directly on-site at the respective parking lot if you need to pay for a ticket at a machine close by.
By train: The nearest train station is Grenoble (with TGV trains from Paris) from where there are buses operated by a company called Transaltitude. It´s highly recommended to pre-book these buses in advance as you won´t be allowed to get on without a reservation if the bus is fully booked. The travel time is roughly 90 minutes and there are several stops in Alpe d´Huez so you don´t need to carry your luggage too far. It doesn´t actually matter which stop you select when booking. You can still tell it to the driver when you board the bus. Chances are that if you´ve booked a package with an apartment you will need to check in at the Tomorrowland Desk at palais des sports (check your booking confirmation/voucher for details). For this you will need the stop in Bergers. The stop right in front of the palais des sports won´t be served by the buses during the festival. The stop in Eclose is closes as well during the festival week.
Prices for the bus (per person when booked online, prices on board and at the ticket offices are more expensive and only available if there are still seats left):
- Single: 23,50 Euro
- Return: 42 Euro
- Single under age 26 or over age 70: 20 Euro
- Return under age 26 or over age 70: 36 Euro
- Single 5 people (travelling together): 75 Euro
- Return 5 people (travelling together): 143 Euro
- Additional luggage: 50 Euro p. piece (Yes, that´s correct, so better travel light.)
The bus tickets include 1 suitcase (h+d+w max. 150 cm, max. 20 kg), 1 small bag, 1 pair of ski or snowboard boots, 1 pair of skis or 1 snowboard.
Links:
By plane: There are airports in Lyon and Grenoble. Both have direct shuttles to Alpe d´Huez operated by Ben´s Bus. The shuttles from/to Lyon only run on Saturdays, the ones from/to Grenoble daily except on Wednesday. The shuttles need to be pre-booked and will wait a couple of minutes in case your flight is delayed. The travel time is about 2,5 hours from Lyon and about 2 hours from Grenoble. There is also a shuttle from Geneva Airport (about 4 hours) operated by Altibus. Check the websites of both companies for departure times.
Shuttle prices (per person):
- Ben´s Bus single from/to Lyon: 48 Euro
- Ben´s Bus return from Lyon: 87 Euro
- Ben´s Bus single from/to Grenoble: 39,50 Euro
- Ben´s Bus return from Grenoble: 69 Euro
- Altibus single from/to Geneva: 65 Euro
- Altibus return from Geneva: 75 Euro
Alternatively, if you´re flying to Lyon, you can also take a train to Grenoble and then the bus of Transaltitude. There is a train station right at the airport which has direct TGV trains to Grenoble. You can also take the tram called Rhônexpress to Lyon Part Dieu Station and a local train to Grenoble from there. The tram leaves every 15 minutes and the local train at least once an hour. This little detour takes more time but can be a bit less expensive than the direct trains. Tickets can be bought online or at the ticket machines at the stations. You have to buy separate tickets for both though.
Between Lyon Airport and Grenoble train station there are also direct buses operated by BlaBla Bus. There´s a derpature about once per hour, exact times and prices vary. Please check their website for details and to book tickets.
If you´re flying in to Paris consider taking a train from the airport to Grenoble and then the public bus of Transaltitude[https://www.transaltitude.fr/en].
Taxi:
Taxis are expensive but can be a comfortable alternative if you are traveling with a small group.
Prices:
- Lyon Airport: ~350 Euro
- Grenoble Airport: ~250 Euro
- Grenoble Train Station: ~200 Euro
We recommend to book with one of the local companies since they know the area very well and are used to winter conditions:
Travel Packages: Tomorrowland offers 7 and 4 day packages including buses or flights and all necessary transfers. Bus packages are available from several cities in the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and France whereas flight packages are only available from Brussels, Amsterdam and Barcelona. The departure times are subject to minor changes.
There is also the Discover Paris Package, which includes a 3-day-adventure in the French capital before heading to the alps. More info can be found here.
Luggage: Flight and Bus Packages include one suitcase (max. 20 kg), a small bag (cabin luggage) and skiing gear. For Flight Packages the latter needs to be indicated in your Tomorrowland Account closer to the departure date.
Please check the details for luggage allowance here:
Tickets for shuttles, also the ones of TML, and the public buses of Transaltitude include luggage as well. You are also allowed to take luggage on trains. You can find the luggage allowance for TGV and Eurostar trains here. Make sure there is a name tag on it as this is mandatory in France. However, using local trains during the morning and evening rush hour with a lot of luggage will probably have you confronted with some frenchmen swearing at you. And the French are pretty good at swearing things and words you would never understand.
NOTE: There will be traffic jams on the way back after the festival week unless you leave very early in the morning. Make sure you add enough extra time if you have to catch a flight or train. There is only one road down the valley which has to handle the traffic of two huge skiing resorts (Alpe d´Huez with its surrounding towns and Les Deux Alpes). You can easily lose and hour or two or more stuck in traffic. The timetables of the shuttles and the public buses already take this into account but it´s still a good idea to add a little extra just in case.