Leaving Val Thorens, the road descends through broad, open high-altitude terrain past Les Menuires and Saint-Martin-de-Belleville in the Belleville Valley towards Moûtiers. After joining the N90, the transfer heads west through Albertville before the A43 motorway continues towards Lyon.

Saturday departures from the Belleville Valley can bring heavy outbound traffic on the road down to Moûtiers. The motorway sections between Chambéry and Lyon can also slow during peak winter weekends.

Your driver meets you at your accommodation — hotel entrance or chalet door. Just confirm the address at booking. Val Thorens sits at 2300 m — the highest ski resort in Europe and the crown of the Three Valleys. One road leads in, and through the centre it runs one-way. The resort is compact but busy: pedestrians move through the same streets as vehicles, and after a snowfall or on a Saturday changeover it takes longer than the distance suggests. Our drivers do this route throughout the season and know when to leave to stay ahead of the congestion.

We calculate your pickup time based on your flight, expected traffic, and the time of year — just share your flight number at booking and we'll handle the rest. In peak ski season, the route from the mountains to Lyon can be significantly slower than the map suggests. We often recommend departing earlier than feels necessary — you may spend extra time at the airport, but that's preferable to a stressful race to check-in. You can set your own preferred departure time, but we'll always flag if we think it carries a risk. Your driver drops you off at the Lyon Airport Departures level — standard drop-off for all flights from LYS.