Private ski transfer from Lyon Airport (LYS) to Tignes Val Claret, Le Lac, Les Brévières & the Espace Killy.
Fixed price · Grande Motte glacier · Year-round skiing · Ski bags free.
The transfer from Lyon to Tignes covers 255 km from Lyon Airport via the A43 motorway, the Tarentaise N90, and the D902 mountain road from Bourg-Saint-Maurice, arriving at Tignes Val Claret or Le Lac in approximately 3 hours 5 minutes. Tignes is France's highest resort — Val Claret and Le Lac both sit at 2,100m, making them the highest permanently inhabited ski villages in the Alps. The Grande Motte glacier above reaches 3,456m and offers skiing from mid-October through to late June — one of the longest guaranteed ski seasons anywhere in the world.
Together with neighbouring Val d'Isère, Tignes forms the Espace Killy — 300 km of marked runs and 154 lifts on a single lift pass, named after the three-time 1968 Olympic gold medallist Jean-Claude Killy, who grew up in Val d'Isère. Tignes is widely regarded as the premier destination in France for off-piste and freeride skiing, hosting a round of the Freeride World Tour annually at the Picheru and Vallon de la Sache venues above Val Claret.
The D902 from Bourg-Saint-Maurice to Tignes climbs from 850m to 2,100m — one of the highest resort access roads in France. Our drivers cover this route weekly throughout ski season and during summer glacier sessions.
Winter tyres and snow chains fitted before December. Your departure time confirmed with live conditions the evening before.
Ski bags, snowboard bags, boot bags, and helmets at no extra charge in all vehicles. Tignes draws serious freeriders with extensive equipment — we accommodate it all.
Tell us your set count at booking and we confirm the right vehicle.
Val Claret, Le Lac, Lavachet, Tignes-les-Boisses, and Les Brévières — we serve all five at flat rates, delivering to your specific chalet or apartment door.
Les Brévières at the valley base is €290 — cheaper than the upper resort because the road is shorter.
Christmas week in Tignes fills every chalet. Our transfer price does not move with the season. The rate confirmed at booking appears on your invoice unchanged.
We track your Lyon Airport arrival before your driver leaves. Land late? He waits — 60 minutes free on every airport pickup, no questions.
The Grande Motte glacier is open from mid-October through late June. We transfer summer skiing and glacier training clients from Lyon Airport at identical prices year-round — same vehicles, same service.
All prices include ski equipment transport, winter tyres, A43 motorway tolls, and a meet & greet with a name board at Lyon Airport arrivals. No hidden charges.
| Route | Sedan (1–3 pax) | Van (up to 7) |
|---|---|---|
| Lyon Airport → Tignes Val Claret / Le Lac | €305 | €355 |
| Lyon Airport → Tignes-les-Boisses | €298 | €348 |
| Lyon Airport → Les Brévières | €290 | €340 |
| Lyon City Centre → Tignes Val Claret | €325 | €375 |
Val Claret is the highest village in Tignes and the one with the most direct access to the upper mountain terrain — the Grande Motte gondola departs from the village centre, ascending to the glacier at 3,456m. It is the natural base for expert skiers and freeriders who want to maximise time at altitude. The terrain directly above Val Claret includes some of Tignes' most demanding on-piste runs (the Sache black run is one of the most challenging in the Espace Killy) and the primary starting points for off-piste routes into the Vallon de la Sache.
Val Claret's architecture is unapologetically 1970s purpose-built — concrete apartment blocks and chalets designed for function rather than charm. The resort offers everything a ski week needs: supermarkets, ski hire, restaurants, and the equipment rental shops that serve the resort's substantial freeride and snowboard community. The après-ski scene is unpretentious and heavily focused on the mountain rather than the bar.
Le Lac is Tignes' main village — slightly larger than Val Claret, with more accommodation variety and the main concentration of restaurants, shops, and services. It sits directly on the frozen Lac du Chevril in winter, with the resort's main lift connections accessible from multiple points. The Palafour gondola from Le Lac connects quickly to the Tovière, which is the gateway to Val d'Isère in approximately 20 minutes.
Le Lac has a slightly more varied building stock than Val Claret — a mix of the same 1970s architecture with some newer chalet-style buildings that have been added in subsequent decades. It is the preferred base for those who want the full resort social experience while retaining the high-altitude snow reliability that makes Tignes one of the most consistent resorts in France for early and late season skiing.
Les Brévières is the lowest village in the Tignes system at 1,550m — a small cluster of traditional Savoyard stone buildings that survived the flooding of old Tignes in 1952. It retains a character utterly unlike the upper resort: a village church, stone-built farm buildings, and a quieter, more authentic atmosphere that attracts clients who want traditional Savoyard character without sacrificing ski access.
A gondola connects Les Brévières directly to Tignes Le Lac in approximately 20 minutes. The lower altitude means snow reliability is less consistent than the upper villages in early December and mid-March — but in prime season the connection is seamless. Accommodation here is typically 25 to 40% below Val Claret prices. We transfer from Lyon Airport to Les Brévières at €290 sedan — our lowest Tignes price point because the D902 journey is shorter.
Lavachet is an extension of Tignes Le Lac, effectively the same village — a few hundred metres east along the lake shore, with apartments and chalets connected to the main Le Lac lift network. Tignes-les-Boisses at 1,850m sits between Les Brévières and the upper resort on the D902, a cluster of apartments and chalets used primarily by groups who book through chalet tour operators. We serve both at flat rates — just give us your exact address.
| Village | Altitude | Character | Sedan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Val Claret | 2,100m | Expert / freeride | €305 |
| Le Lac | 2,100m | Main resort hub | €305 |
| Lavachet | 2,100m | Le Lac extension | €305 |
| les-Boisses | 1,850m | Mid-mountain | €298 |
| Les Brévières | 1,550m | Traditional & quiet | €290 |
The Grande Motte is one of only three glaciers in France with skiing — the others being Les Deux Alpes and La Grave. At 3,456m, it is the highest and most reliable. The funicular from Val Claret — a tunnel bored through the mountain — carries 3,200 skiers per hour to the glacier surface, where a high-speed chairlift reaches the summit plateau. The terrain here is genuinely high-alpine: wide, open, and exposed to weather that can arrive without warning. In good conditions, the views across the Tarentaise and into Italy are extraordinary.
The glacier skiing is primarily intermediate and lower expert terrain — wide, groomed runs back down to the funicular base. The advanced interest lies in the off-piste routes from the glacier summit: the descent towards Champagny-en-Vanoise (technically in the La Plagne domain) is one of the most spectacular ski-touring descents in the Tarentaise.
The glacier is open from mid-October to late June. Early autumn openings (October–November) attract national ski teams and serious amateur racers training before the season; summer closings (May–June) draw leisure skiers who want to combine a mountain experience with warmer temperatures at the resort base.
Before adding Val d'Isère's terrain, Tignes alone covers approximately 150 km of marked runs across 60 pistes — a substantial domain for any standalone resort. The runs vary enormously: the wide, cruising slopes of the Aiguille Percée sector above Le Lac suit intermediates perfectly; the steep blacks off the Col du Palet above Val Claret are some of the most demanding on-piste skiing in the Tarentaise; and the long red runs descending from the Grande Motte back to the resort base test stamina as much as technique.
Tignes' reputation among expert skiers rests primarily on its off-piste terrain. The Vallon de la Sache — a north-facing bowl above Val Claret accessed from the Col du Palet — is one of the most famous freeride venues in the Alps: a wide, sustained steep pitch that holds powder for days after a snowfall. The Picheru and Vallon de la Sache are the two venues used for the Tignes round of the Freeride World Tour.
Beyond these headline venues, the backcountry routes from Tignes are extensive: descents into the Champagny valley (emerging at Champagny-en-Vanoise), routes through the Col de la Galise into Italy, and the technical Val d'Isère backcountry accessed from the Rocher de Bellevarde. For serious off-piste skiers, Tignes offers more sustained expert terrain within a few minutes of the lifts than any other resort in France.
Tignes has been one of France's leading snowboarding destinations since the sport's emergence in the 1980s. The Snowpark at Les Brévières — one of the largest in the Alps — is maintained throughout the season with multiple lines from beginner to expert. The glacier terrain above Val Claret is wide and bowl-shaped, ideal for freeriding. The resort's freestyle scene is concentrated around the snowpark and the couloirs above Val Claret, and the community is larger and more serious than at most French resorts.
We transport snowboard equipment — bags, boards, and boot bags — free of charge, in the same way as ski equipment. For groups with multiple boards and significant equipment, the V-Class provides the space required without compromise.
The Grande Motte glacier is used by national ski teams and serious amateur racers throughout its summer season. The British Ski and Snowboard team has trained at Tignes repeatedly. The terrain is organised with slalom and giant slalom courses alongside recreational skiing, giving the summer atmosphere a more competitive and athletic character than the winter season.
We transfer summer skiing clients from Lyon Airport at identical prices year-round. Many summer visitors combine a few days of glacier skiing with warm evenings in the resort before the ski season crowds arrive. It is one of the most unusual alpine experiences available — skiing at 3,400m with t-shirt temperatures at the resort base below.
Tignes has one of the most extraordinary origin stories of any European ski resort. The original village of Tignes — a farming community of around 400 people in a narrow gorge of the Isère river — was deliberately flooded in 1952 when the Tignes Dam was completed to create the Lac du Chevril reservoir and generate hydroelectric power for the region. The villagers were forced to leave, their houses submerged, and the community relocated to a new settlement higher on the mountain.
The old village church spire occasionally emerges from the lake surface during particularly dry summers when the reservoir level drops — a ghostly reminder of the original community. This history gives Tignes a melancholy authenticity that most purpose-built Alpine stations entirely lack. The dam and reservoir visible below Les Brévières on the D902 approach road are part of this story: the same infrastructure that destroyed the village powers millions of French homes each year.
Les Brévières is the sole surviving remnant of the original valley community — the traditional stone buildings that exist today are the ones that stood above the flood line in 1952. When you stay in Les Brévières, you are in the only part of old Tignes that remained intact.
The current resort villages of Val Claret and Le Lac were built from scratch in the 1960s and 1970s specifically to provide ski access to the Grande Motte glacier. The architecture reflects this utilitarian purpose: functional apartment blocks and access roads, designed to accommodate the maximum number of beds at the highest viable altitude. The lack of pretension is, for many regular Tignes visitors, part of its appeal — this is a resort where people come to ski seriously, not to be photographed in cashmere.
The Grande Motte glacier's extended season makes Tignes unique among French resorts. The typical season runs as follows: the glacier opens in mid-October for early-season snow, often before lower-altitude pistes have enough snow cover. Winter proper runs from early December to late April. The spring skiing period (April–May) is characterised by excellent snow on the glacier, warm sunny days, and rapidly emptying resort accommodation. June marks the last weeks of glacier skiing before the summer closure.
October and early November glacier skiing attracts a specific clientele: national teams, race clubs, serious freestylers, and skiers who want to ski before the crowds arrive. Accommodation is limited and prices are often lower than mid-season. The funicular runs on reduced hours in shoulder season. If you are considering an early-season or late-season transfer from Lyon Airport, the pricing and service are identical to winter — we operate year-round.
Tignes has a more international visitor profile than most French ski resorts. British and Scandinavian skiers are particularly well-represented — drawn by the high-altitude snow reliability and the freeride reputation. The resort's English-speaking infrastructure (ski schools, equipment shops, restaurants) is well-developed. Russian, Dutch, and Belgian visitors are also regular presences. The overall atmosphere is more cosmopolitan and less French-focused than a resort like Megève or Morzine.
The Espace Killy is named after Jean-Claude Killy — the Val d'Isère native who won all three alpine events at the 1968 Grenoble Winter Olympics, a feat still unmatched. The domain combines Tignes and Val d'Isère on a single lift pass: 300 km of marked runs, 154 lifts, and terrain from the beginner-friendly slopes above Val d'Isère village to the expert couloirs of the Vallon de la Sache. It is widely considered the finest ski domain in France for expert and advanced-intermediate skiers.
The connection between the two resorts is made via the Tovière gondola from Tignes Le Lac, ascending to the ridge above Tignes at 2,690m before dropping into Val d'Isère's La Daille sector. The journey by ski takes approximately 20 minutes from Le Lac and requires an intermediate standard. Most Tignes visitors ski into Val d'Isère once or twice per week, typically staying for lunch at one of the village's famous restaurants (La Fruitière in the La Daille gondola base) before skiing back to Tignes in the afternoon.
This comparison shapes every booking for the Espace Killy. The honest assessment: Tignes is the better base for expert skiers who prioritise high-altitude terrain, off-piste skiing, and snow reliability. Val d'Isère is the better base for skiers who want a more charming village atmosphere, better dining, and a mix of challenging and intermediate terrain on a beautiful traditional alpine backdrop.
The skiing is shared. The lift pass is identical. The accommodation prices in Val d'Isère are generally 20 to 40% higher than comparable properties in Tignes. For expert skiers on a fixed budget, Tignes is the rational choice — you access identical terrain at a lower accommodation cost per night. For mixed-ability groups or those for whom the village experience matters as much as the skiing, Val d'Isère's character justifies the premium.
We transfer to Val d'Isère directly from Lyon Airport — see our Lyon to Val d'Isère transfer page for pricing. If your group splits between the two resorts, we handle multi-drop itineraries — contact us to plan.
Geneva Airport is approximately 2 hours 30 minutes from Tignes — about 35 minutes shorter than Lyon Airport (3 hours 5 minutes). For the Espace Killy corridor, Geneva is the marginally closer international airport.
However, Lyon Airport consistently offers lower flight prices from UK and Irish regional airports, typically 20 to 50% less than Geneva equivalents on peak ski weeks. For a group of 6 staying a week in Tignes, the flight price saving over Lyon can easily reach €800 to €1,500 — significantly more than the additional transfer cost. We recommend comparing both airports for your specific dates and departure point.
We transfer from both airports. Lyon to Tignes is from €305. Contact us for current Geneva to Tignes pricing if you are comparing options.
From Lyon Airport to Tignes Val Claret or Le Lac takes approximately 3 hours 5 minutes via the A43 motorway, the Tarentaise N90, and the D902 climb from Bourg-Saint-Maurice. Les Brévières is approximately 2h50. Winter conditions or Saturday traffic near Moûtiers can add 20 to 30 minutes. We monitor conditions before every departure.
Yes. All five villages are served at flat rates from Lyon Airport: Val Claret and Le Lac (€305), Lavachet (€305), Tignes-les-Boisses (€298), and Les Brévières (€290) for the sedan. We deliver to your specific chalet or apartment address — not just the village centre.
Yes. Tignes and Val d'Isère share the Espace Killy pass — 300 km of runs and 154 lifts. Val d'Isère is reachable from Le Lac in approximately 20 minutes via the Tovière gondola and the La Daille sector. We also transfer directly to Val d'Isère from Lyon Airport at €310 per sedan.
Yes. The Grande Motte glacier at 3,456m is open from mid-October to late June — one of the longest guaranteed ski seasons in the Alps. We transfer summer glacier clients from Lyon Airport year-round at identical prices to the winter service.
Yes — Tignes is widely regarded as the best resort in France for off-piste and freeride. The Vallon de la Sache, the Picheru, and the backcountry routes linking Tignes to Val d'Isère and Champagny are among the most demanding and rewarding in the Alps. Tignes hosts a round of the Freeride World Tour annually.
Yes — ski bags, snowboard bags, boot bags, and helmets travel free in all vehicles. Tell us the number of sets when booking and we confirm the correct vehicle size.
Yes. We operate 365 days a year at the same fixed price. Christmas, New Year, February half-term, and Easter all carry identical rates — no holiday surcharges.
Yes. Book both legs together and save 5%. For Saturday changeover departures, allow at least 3h30 before your flight — the Tarentaise and the D902 descent from Tignes can both be slow on Saturday mornings. We build buffer time in as standard.
