Ski-Areas > Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport
Lyon-Saint Exupéry (formerly Lyon Satolas) is a mid-sized international airport with all the services you would expect including car hire. The regional government has tried to develop the airport as a transport hub with the building of an expensive but underused high speed train (TGV) terminal in the shape of a giant concrete swan. Some have suggested a white elephant would have been more appropriate. There are connections to Paris (2-hours) and Marseilles (1h30). However the station is less useful to skiers. There are direct trains to Grenoble with onward bus connection to the local ski resorts but the trip to Moutiers for the Tarentaise and Vanoise resorts requires a number of changes of train and is a logistical nightmare.
More practical is Altibus which serves the following destinations: Aix les Bains SNCF (for Haute-Savoie resorts), Moutiers Gare Routier and SNCF, Bourg St Maurice Gare Routier and SNCF, Bourg d’Oisans Gare Routier, Chambéry Gare Routier and SNCF, La Plagne, l’alpe d’Huez, Autrans, Courchevel, Chamrousse, La Grave, la Clusaz, la Rosiere, La Tania, la Grand Bornand, Les Arcs, Le Praz, les Deux Alpes, les Menuires, Méribel-Mottaret, Sainte Foy en Tarentaise, Serre Chevalier, Tignes, Val d’Isère, Valmorel, Val Thorens, Villard de Lans. It is advisable to book. Transfers can also be arranged through the UK Tour Operators that use Lyon however due to its distance from the ski resorts they usually finish their transfers by the early afternoon.
There are speed cameras in the long road tunnel to the south of Chambéry on the autoroute (90km/h) and in the road tunnel as you leave Moutiers (80 km/h limit). There are mobile speed traps on the autoroute to the Oisans ski resorts and fixed speed cameras (90km/h) on the Grenoble ring road. There is a speed camera entering Lyon. There is a speed camera just before Geneva direction Chamonix.
There is a major commercial center at Lyon St Priest with an Auchan superstore on the south side of the autoroute and a Decathlon sports store on the north side. Most large French shops are open until 20h00 with hypermarkets generally open until 21h30.
The airport is used by charter operators and package holiday companies during the winter although with the development of Chambéry and Grenoble St Geoirs airports this traffic has dropped off somewhat. The charter terminal is a large, windy tent which is unpopular with guests.
Airport Code: LYS
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