2016 TDF Alps Visit

[dhungerf]

My wife and I are planning a trip to France July 16 thru the 23rd. I'm thinking about possibly watching stages 18/19 in the alps. Any advice? How far away should I find a hotel? where do you pee? you know....the basic stuff.

 

[dhungerf]

Looks like I'll be bouncing between Geneva, Charmanix & Bedoin. At any given time, I'll only be 2 to 3 hour drive from the route of the day. I hope to pick up the tour on stages 16 & 20.

 

[42x16ss]

My partner and I have already made accommodation bookings for Ventoux and the TT stage, even though it's 6 months away. If you want to stay in holiday accommodation anywhere near the biggest stages I suggest you get in early.

 

[SammyLarns]

I've followed the Tour for the past 4 years and I would suggest, if it's not too unpleasant, camping instead of going into a hotel. I should slightly temper this advice by saying I've probably watched about 30 stages and I've only stayed in a hotel twice, so I am a bit biased, but:

- The hotels will most likely be booked up now or very expensive or far away - or a combination of that
- If you do find a hotel, getting from there to the climb you want to watch the race on will take a long time with the traffic and if you mis-time it you might be blocked from going up the climb. I remember last year I watched the final three Alpine stages, on the first one I got a hotel above La Chambre with the intention of watching the stage on the Lacets Montvernier. We were going to drive along the valley floor and then up the climb to watch it near the top. Very luckily, as we were checking out of the hotel I realised that we could drive up and over the mountains via the Col de Chaussy and therefore avoid traffic. When we got there we realised that actually you couldn't drive or walk up the Lacets from the bottom so we were one of few guys watching on that climb.
- Lastly, most of the atmosphere comes from being surrounded by drunk Dutch families and their camper vans and I think you might miss that if you stay in a hotel.

Some other tips I've found in my experience are:

- Find a cafe, a friendly camper van owner or a travel tour operator who own a TV so you have something to do during the day.
- Bring plenty of water - I don't want to sound like your mum but when I first watched the Tour in 2012 I was still in uni and doing it on the cheap. Which meant that for a lot of the stages we were reliant on handed out Vittel bottles as our only source of water....it's unpleasant.
- Try and eat dinner on the mountain to avoid the traffic. I did this a few times last year, the first year I had a car, stop at a restaurant and eat something whilst your still on the mountain. When you do emerge an hour or so later you'll have no queues.

Hope that's helpful

 

[JackRabbitSlims]

As above, get your accommodation booked ASAP!

Are you taking Bikes?? Being highly mobile during the stage (even riding some of it before the riders come through) is a huge advantage.
Take a small backpack for the day loaded with food / water / wet weathers / loo paper / camera / map etc and move around to find ideal spots....being stuck in one place waiting for the race can be tiresome.

In 2008 myself and 3 friends ride 1200kms of the tour during the race....we either rode some of the stage the day before or the morning of the actual stage. This was part or a large organised trip, which obviously helped with logistics. Pick up food / water etc as you ride through small towns, use toilets at cafes or service stations....the side of the road if need be?

The Tour is huge traveling circus...there is no shortage of food / water / beer along the route.

Have a great trip

 

[ray j willings]

I used to go to the tour every year, I have not been for a couple of years. I always book in a town about a hour away from the route or closer depending on when I booked or sometimes I have stayed in a more strategic town and seen 2 or 3 stages within a few hours drive. I found no issues driving in quite close in the morning of a stage and parking up. I've been to plenty of starts and finishes and have had no more than a 10/15 min walk after parking the car
On the big mountain stages it gets more bonkers but if you get there "early early" morning you can still find somewhere to park up and then have a 30 min walk to the bottom of the climb. I stayed in Grenoble for the alp d huez stage's and managed to drive within 30mins of the alp and park up " early morning" If you riding before a stage then no issues. The big towns are better to stay in IMO . Nimes , Avignon's etc get some nice sight seeing in as well. I may try and get over this year for a stage or 2 . Give yourself plenty of time and its all good.

 

[@NL_LeMondFans]

Re:

As above, get your accommodation booked ASAP!

Are you taking Bikes?? Being highly mobile during the stage (even riding some of it before the riders come through) is a huge advantage.
Take a small backpack for the day loaded with food / water / wet weathers / loo paper / camera / map etc and move around to find ideal spots....being stuck in one place waiting for the race can be tiresome.

In 2008 myself and 3 friends ride 1200kms of the tour during the race....we either rode some of the stage the day before or the morning of the actual stage. This was part or a large organised trip, which obviously helped with logistics. Pick up food / water etc as you ride through small towns, use toilets at cafes or service stations....the side of the road if need be?

The Tour is huge traveling circus...there is no shortage of food / water / beer along the route.

Have a great trip

I agree that the best way to do it is with your bike. Especially if you climb a col a few hours before the peloton, you will have people cheering for you, it's fun.