Tips for organising Bourg D'Oisans trip

FrankGrimes

I'm organising a trip for about 8 mates (though a couple will likely drop out) to Bourg D'Oisans for early September. Some of us will go for a week and do the Marmotte route and other cols in the area, a couple may only come for a couple of days to do just Alpe D'Huez (not a seasoned bunch of cyclists so that is a big goal).

I've done the Marmotte route before so know the area and have a good idea on what to do for most things, but would appreciate any tips on a couple of aspects of organising the trip.

I stayed in a B&B last time but reckon renting a chalet/gite is the way to go for a group so I've found some options on http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/ (saw it on a previous thread on here) and they would do but price was around €800 for an 8-sleeper so I'm shopping around and have already found a couple of possibilities a good bit cheaper. If anyone has rented a chalet/gite in Bourg that they'd recommend, I'd appreciate details as by contacting the owner directly we could negotiate on price.

Ryanair.com indicates Grenoble is unavailable, so looks like Lyon is the next best bet. Are Geneva or any others within reasonable driving distance of Bourg (say 4-5 hours)? We could look at flying to Nice or Marseille and overnighting to get Ventoux done on the way up.

We'll probably rent cars/van as it'd be messy trying to get a group onto public transport with bikes, plus I think having a support car when doing La Marmotte is a big plus (having a full set of warm clothes for descending certainly made me feel safer last time when it was so cold my Garmin instantly froze on the top of the Galibier). I've seen it mentioned on here about renting a van but amn't sure if this means an actual van or effectively a station wagon (which is what came on Expedia when I did a quick search for Van rentals). I can't see a space wagon getting more than one or two bike boxes into it, so this is the bit I'm most unsure of - I wonder if renting a minibus would be an option (both in terms of availability and licence requirements) - has anyone here done that before? Thanks.

Diarmuid

Try this for accom.

lalorm

Hi
Lyon airport is 2 hours from bourg d'oisans. If you haven't been there in September before, the place is dead. I mean really Dead. We went the first year for the beginning of Sept and everything was closed. 1 bike shop was open but all the others were closed. Alpe d'Huez was almost deserted. Only place open was a small cafe as you enter the village. No bike shops open for mountain bikes and all the cable cars were stopped. Going out in the evening was hard since not much choice that time of year. If you are planning on renting bikes, you may not be able since the bike shops close after the end of the summer seasion (Aug). That said if you are bringing your own bikes, then that's not an issue.
Cheers
Mike

redmenace1

:DHi - I stayed right at the bottom of L'Alpe a few times at this place. Its good as campsites go, they have chalets.

http://www.premiumwanadoo.com/lacascadesarenne/


Bets of luck

wpd

hi stayed here a few years ago
http://www.camping-piscine.com/
a bit rustic but right at foot of alpe d'huez

we flew to lyon and were told there was no reservation for hire cars even though we had all the confirmation paperwork with us so i would double check that before you go

mvt

Grenoble is by far the best option,Geneva is doable but a pain in the ass,around five hours.We stayed in a house right in the centre of Boug,you will have to contact Tiny Explosions for the details but trust me it would be perfect for youse.

mvt

Be careful with cars for so many people,the bikes always take up more room then you think.
Autocar.com is a good site.Put the UK down as your country of origin and it comes out way cheaper.

Vaaltron

FrankGrimes wrote: »

I'm organising a trip for about 8 mates (though a couple will likely drop out) to Bourg D'Oisans for early September.

Just to reiterate what one of the above posters stated.

DO NOT GO IN SEPTEMBER

Reason weather. Best time to Go early August. Snow very likely on the Galibier in September. Plus the Glandon and the Col de le Croix de fer. In early August last year there were two day's that there were snow on these Col's. There was even sleet on Alpe D'huez. That was a little unusual for the time of Year.

Bike shop opening hours:


http://www.bikes-oisans.com/cycling-oisans-162.html




You will find below all the shops specialized in bike rental (both road & MTB) and repairing.

Allemont
BLANGINO Eric
Route de La Pernière
Tél. 33 (0)4 76 79 89 63
www.lacabaneaskis.fr
Open from june to august

Alpe d’Huez
Clément Sports – Multiglisses
Avenue du Rif-Nel
Tél. 33 (0)4 76 80 64 60 / 33 (0)6 08 58 65 75
clementsport@wanadoo.fr
www.clementsport.fr.fm
Open from the 30th of june to the 2nd of september

Névada Sports
Avenue de l’Etendard
Tél. 33 (0)4 76 800 65 61
gilbert.illuminati@nerim.net
www.nevada-sport.com
Open from the 30th of june to the 2nd of september

Rocky Sports – Sport 2000
L’Eclose
Tél. 33 (0)4 76 80 63 02
www.rocky-sports.com
Open from the 30th of june to the 2nd of september

Sarenne Sports
Place du Cognet
Tél. 33 (0)4 76 80 44 76 / Fax 33 (0)4 76 80 46 11
sarennesports@aol.com
Open from the 30th of june to the 2nd of september

Bourg d’Oisans
Au Cadre rouge

20, rue Général de Gaulle
Tél / Fax : 33 (0)4 76 80 13 81
aucadrerouge@wanadoo.fr
www.aucadrerouge.fr
Open all year (7 days a week from june to september).

BleAcH

6, rue Général de Gaulle
Tél / Fax : 33 (0)6 81 21 18 09 or 33 (0)4 76 79 21 82
bleach-xtremsports@orange.fr
www.bleach-xtremsports.com
Open from 9am to 7pm - 7 days a week from june to september

Cycles et Sports

Rue Général de Gaulle
Tél. 33 (0)4 76 79 16 79 / Fax 33 (0)4 76 11 09 58
info@cyclesetsports.com
www.cyclesetsports.com
Open from april to september. From the 1st of october to the 31th of march, mail contact only.

Open all Year around: Cycles et Sports


Les 2 Alpes
2 Alpes Sport Emotion - Skinium
33, avenue de la muzelle
Tél. 33 (0)4 76 79 20 93
Fax 33 (0)4 76 79 25 14
sportemotion@wanadoo.fr
www.2alpes-sportemotion.com
Open from the 16th of june to the 1st of september

La Skirie
70 avenue de la Muzelle - Immeuble l’Eperon 1
Tél. 33(0)4 76 79 22 25 / 33(0)6 76 05 95 96
Fax 33(0)4 76 79 20 22
marielle.gamaleri@wanadoo.fr
www.skirie.sport2000.fr
Open from the 16th of june to the 1st of september

Oz en Oisans
Boît’ à Ski Sport 2000
Oz station
Tél. 33 (0)4 76 80 72 78
boitaskissport2000@hotmail.com
www.boitaskis.sport2000.fr
Open from the 30th of june to the 2nd of september

Villar d’Arène (La Grave)
Juge Sports
Villar d’Arène
Tél / fax : 04 76 79 95 04
juge-sports@tele2.fr
Ouverture : 23 juin au 2 septembre Open from the 23rd of june to the 2nd of september


As for accommodation:

http://www.bourgdoisans.com/otbo_uk/index_uk.htm


As for flights. Ryanair does fly to Grenoble-Isere Airport In August.

It ain't difficult to organise a simple trip such as this. By the way all those climbs are pretty simple.

As for public transport try out this crowd: http://www.suntransfers.com/


If Your renting use Hertz. Best option.

FrankGrimes

Thanks to all for the tips and great info - very useful stuff and much appreciated. Gotta love the 'all those climbs are pretty simple' claim - is that you Jens?

Unfortunately, 27th August is the earliest we can go so we'll have to take our chances with the weather (it was fine when I did the Marmotte route on 17th September 2009, cold but doable, but I appreciate the risk). Reckon we'll pencil in 2 nights at the end of the week for some sport agus spraoi in the bars of Lyon given how quiet Bourg is that time of year.

We'll look into the Sun Transfers tip, good be a great option for us...thanks.

Diarmuid

You'll be fine in early September. Most of the high mountain passes don't close until October. Yes, there's a higher chance of snow in September but it's still pretty low. In any case if there's snow over 2000m, there still plenty of climbing you can do below that ...