Ski trip to Isola 2000 March/April 2009

Ski Trip Monday 30th March - Thursday 2nd April 2009


We have only ever done day trips to Isola 2000 from Nice but the snow has been so good this year we wanted more skiing after our Feb trip to Meribel so we decided to stay in Isola 2000 for 3 nights and take advantage of the great conditions

Sunday 29th March 2009

Left Liverpool in the afternoon swapping blue skies and sunshine for heavy rain and grey skies in Nice. Sunday night, pouring with rain, we stayed in our studio and packed for Isola 2000. Quickly transpires that just as much needs to be packed for 3 days skiing as a week in Méribel, fewer thermals perhaps plus we travel wearing our ski gear which took away some of the bulky packing. I refuse to go without my Nespresso coffee machine.

Monday 30th March 2009

The rain continued overnight easing off a bit in the morning and the next day we trudged to the Gare Routière in misty drizzle. Very depressing. Went to counter to buy the tickets I reserved on Friday. The assistant took no notice and merely sold us a couple of tickets for one euro each, booking in advance carried no truck with her although to be fair, it was a Monday morning, during the French school term and near the end of the season, maybe seat reservations more urgent at other times.

The 750 arrived at 9:10 and left on time at 9:15. There were only three of us on board. A few more boarded at the train station plus a few more at the airport but it was mostly empty. The luggage loading is self service – heave your bags, skis etc into the hold at the side of the bus before boarding.

It takes at least half an hour to leave Nice and head north for the mountains. Miraculously, blue bits appear amongst the grey clouds and as the bus climbs, sunshine appears. We arrive ahead of schedule in Isola 2000 at about 11:45 am.

I booked the Hotel Druos as it was the cheapest option out of the three ski-in ski-out hotels in the main complex of Isola 2000. I booked by phoning the hotel directly and the assistant spoke great English. We were quoted about 230 euros for three nights, north-side, room only. To have breakfast was 8,50 euros each, not worth it - you can buy a croissant for 60 cents one minute away.

Hotel Druos is right at the far end of the complex though and it took 5 minutes trudging slightly uphill along the road once we got off the bus. Very friendly reception, totally in French, we were given our room straight away – on the second floor at the back, north view not over the slopes but again, cheaper than the pretty side. There’s no lift here and to be honest, it’s fairly basic and a bit scruffy and old with gloomy lighting etc but the room was a reasonable size, there was a bath and a third fold-against-the wall bed/sofa – handy if we bring our daughter who is skiing in Austria with the school this week. The ski lockers are just outside at the front of the hotel – it is genuinely ski-in, ski-out and there is access through the complex of shops, restaurants, apartments, ESF, ski pass kiosk etc at the side of the hotel without going outside, there is a code to open this door.


View from our room:

Ouside the Druos Hotel, I'm the one on the right. This was taken on our second day - hardly a sign of blue sky today although the sun made a valiant effort and it was bright in spite of the snowy conditions:

We usually use ski 2000 when we come for the day but it turned out, it was a different shop, but only around the corner, not far from the ski pass kiosks. I had booked 3 days, Tues, Weds, Thursday but we paid for this afternoon too. We needed a 3 day ski pass for forfait plus an afternoon pass for today. The half day passes are good from 12:30 pm. This was no problem but when I tried to buy a 3 day pass, we needed photos, something I never considered nor remember reading about. There was a photo booth but we decided that we would buy a one-day pass (no photo required for the one-day passes) each day over the three days – we might have the chance to test out the ski pass machine if the queues are too long in the morning.

No queues skiing or anyone on the slopes this afternoon, it was a dream, completely sunny, empty, no queues and beautiful snow although quite soft and slow – we are used to the harder icier stuff but this was perfect. I had booked an hours’ private lesson for the 2 of us for Tuesday morning so we collected the pass for this today. I booked the lesson about 3 weeks ago via fax – the French love faxes. For lunch, a Panini and salad at a snack bar - La Guerite outside the ESF. It’s so cheap here compared to Méribel – 2 euros for chips – they were 8,50 in Méribel.

The skiing was strange- we were wanting to build on our improvement at Meribel in Feb but we felt like complete beginners again, all jelly legs for the first few runs. The runs are not particularly challenging near the centre using the Pevalos bubble car but we are hoping to expand our runs and 'go over the other side' tomorrow - on day trips we have never dared go too far away from the main centre in case we got stuck and missed the bus home. I decided to try and different run and took George down a red unbashed piste which was soft and mogul-y. I got down with a few half tumbles, I won't call it falling down as my bum never touched the snow but I was on all fours a few times as were a few other intrepid soul testing out their prowess on powder. I got down and turned to see where George was - no sign so after a few minutes I moved across the slopes to see him standing about two thirds up the slope. After a few minutes I decided he had hurt himself so I abandoned my skis and started to climb up to him. At the point I had nearly reached him, he suddenly put his skis on and shot by me to the bottom having found his nerve. Leaving me to clamber down. After a couple of gentle runs to soothe our nerves, we went back to the hotel to dump our skis and go to the supermarket. We need to remember to pack a corkscrew next time - none of the wines are screw tops except the nasty stuff in plastic bottles.

Disappointingly, the WiFi promised freely throughout the Isola 2000 complex does not quite reach the Druos Hotel so we found a bar restaurant, the Buissoniere and got on the internet here for the price of a coffee and a beer - not very cheap here, next time I think we'll do what we've seen others do - sit around in the corridors of the complex, laptop on knee.

Tuesday 31st March 2009

Woke to fairly glum conditions - snowing gently but the light was bright so we were optimistic. By the time we had bought day passes, it was nearly time for our lesson at 10am. Our guide was Cyril - he was brilliant - spoke good English, gave us some good pointers for our skiing and told us the best routes to take to get around the mountains. Best of all, he was patience itself when I fell off a Poma lift in the worst possible place, nowhere near a run and on a very steep part. George carried on to the top to wait and Cyril leapt off the Poma and guided (dragged) me through a bloody wood in deep soft snow for about 15 minutes before we reached a piste. He was so sweet about it. We had to broach the dreaded Poma again but hung on just about this time. We only had an hour with him so after he cleared off, we played about in this new-to-us section of the resort - the Saveur valley. There are a couple of blues and a red here, all linked with a couple of chair lifts. Back to our usual cafe for lunch - La Guerite. After lunch, we re-did a few runs but although the sun broke through a few times, by 2:30pm, it was snowing a little harder and no sun anywhere. We called it a day and went back to the hotel.

We set off with our laptops again in search of a network - the best signal is inside the Tourist Office which is closed at lunch and closes by 6pm in the afternoon. They have provided a small area with seating and tables plus electric sockets - we squeezed in amongst the French yoof and settled down for a few minutes.

To return to Nice on the 750 bus, you have to buy your ticket in advance from a small Santa Azur kiosk at the end of the ski pass kiosks. We bought ours today for Tursday travel in case we forgot tomorrow. the office is only open between 12:30 and 4:30 pm. You have to be ready to catch the 16:30 bus by 16:15 hours waiting by the roundabout on the left side where you were dropped off.

Wednesday 1st April 2009

Today looked quite hopeful this morning. The snow had stopped falling and the sun was starting to break through the light cloud cover. The skiing was fantastic, we had most of the slopes to ourselves. There were a few chair lifts not working so we were a bit limited in our range and although my ambition was to make it to the view of the sea, this involved the horrible tow bar lift I fell off on Monday and George hates pomma lifts anyway so we kept putting it off and waiting for clear blue sky and sun or there wouldn't have been much of a view anyway. We still hadn't braved it it by lunchtime after which the weather took a turn for the worse, starting to snow and the clouds descended so it was completely a white out. It's not so pleasant skiing under these conditions. We persevered until about 2:30pm then gave up. You couldn't see the piste and it made me feel a bit sea sick not knowing if I was going up or down.

Nice to Isola 2000 ski trip, day return by bus 750

Also visit my ski pages on allaboutNice.com

New for 2009: A few changes this year...the fare is now just 1 euro but your bus place must be booked in advance, the day before you travel, telephone 0805 402 606, the code for France is 00 33 and usually miss off the first 0 of the number. If you intend to return the same day, buy your return ticket from the machine in Isola 2000 before 1pm; to return the following day, buy before 16:30 hours. More information (in French) here.


Friday 21st December 2007

The three of us at the top of the Pelevos ski lift, Isola 2000 December 2007

According to the website, Isola 2000 opens today. The forecast is sunny and there is plenty of snow so we decided to take the 750 coach from Nice Gare Routière for a repeat trip we made in April, see here for details. This time with our daughter who was not looking forward to the long coach ride.

It IS a long trip for just 4 hours skiing but the conditions were perfect, plenty of sun and snow and almost completely empty. The schools in Nice break up today so from tomorrow, the resort would start to fill for Christmas. We took papers, books, PSP, iPods etc for the journey but quite honestly, the only part that dragged was getting out of Nice crawling via the train station and airport. After the airport, the journey speeds up and there is plenty to see out of the window. On the approach to Isola 2000, we saw eagles.

On the way back, it's dark but most people nod off after all the exercise. A few people get on at the airport, I expect they park for the day, then drive hone afterwards, it's quite handy this way and it cuts the dreary part of the journey.

I put all the details how to ski in Isola 2000 from Nice as a day trip using the 750 TAM coach on the April post: http://allaboutnice.blogspot.com/2007/04/afternoon-on-slopes.html but we found a couple of easier options this time. When the coach stops, there is a building in front of you with a choice of two roads, one each side of the building.



Head off this side when you get off the coach - it takes you to the main entrance of the complex accessed directly from the road.



Take the higher road on the left as you face it and this takes you a short walk to the main entrance into the complex on the right hand side. Last time, we took the lower road and went indoors and had to schlep our way along gloomy passageways and up lots of steps. Going outside is much quicker. The main entrance has a car park and big sculpture outside. It takes you straight to the ski pass office, Ski 2000 ski hire, ESF and tourist office plus loos and café. We had to wait until 12:20 hours to buy the afternoon ski passes. They are tricky to attach neatly and they are so sticky, you only get one go so make sure you get it right, here's the sequence:





















If you arrive too early to ski immediately, it's an opportunity to get the ski hire sorted and have a pre-lunch snack. There's a small kiosk just outside, opposite the Ski Pass office to buy a coffee and a bun:

a pre-ski hot chocolate and muffin



Just an espresso for me while I work out the route










We hired skis and poles plus boots for the daughter from Ski 2000 again and they were kind enough to let us stash our bags for the afternoon. I remembered to bring a small rucksack for skiing this time.

We covered a bit more ground this time as my daughter is a good skier and keeps us all going. She also had a day's practice with my husband at our new ski dome in Manchester - the Chill Factor. It's all good practise for our weeks skiing in Feb in Méribel where she will be training for her gold star. We went up the Pelevos lift mostly and then tried a ski chair on the opposite side - the 'Combe Grosse' ski chair. The slopes here are very easy blues but had turned to ice in the bright sunshine, so you go rather fast as turning is difficult. We tried the red Sapins run, this was fine. the slopes on the Pelevos side were in shade but the snow was good for skiing. The runs are very short compared to Méribel and less difficult I think but the rush and buzz of skiing in the sunshine is unbeatable.


It's difficult to work out the best time to stop, we packed up at about 3:45pm which gave us enough time to offload the equipment and have a snack before getting the coach home.

We still managed to fit in lunch at a mountain side restaurant - the Schuss at the top of Pelevos. I don't expect we covered too many ski miles. A hard core skier could cover far more than us but we were there to enjoy the snow and sunshine as well as ski, a bit.


Serious skiers who don't want to hire a car and drive themselves to Isola 2000 would probably prefer the Ski-Bus which gives you closer to seven hours on the slopes. The Ski-Bus wasn't an option for us as the French school holidays hadn't started and it wasn't the weekend. Plus the 750 bus gives you a lie-in, leaving Nice at 9:15am. The cost is still 8 euros each way.


The Ski-Bus is 30 euros return (2007/08 prices) leaving Nice at 07:30 hours and returning at 17:00 hours and includes the price of the ski pass. When you arrive and exchange the ticket for a ski pass you will be asked if you want insurance, it's only a couple of euros extra and is essential.


The one and only time we used the Ski-Bus in Jan 2003, it dropped us off at the lower Car Park which is not really suitable for complete beginners as the ESF Ski School is on the main level so you would need to get straight on to several drag lifts to reach the ski school. I wrote a review in tripadvisor.com













Places must be reserved on the Ski-Bus. Call in or telephone the Gare Routière (Bus Station) in Nice on 04 93 85 92 60 or call in the Santa Azur Offices at 11 Ave Jean Médecin or telephone 04 97 03 60 00. International dialling code for France is 00 33.




The 750 leaves promptly at 4:30pm and it's important to tell the driver on arrival that you will be returning the same day. From the view in the bubble lift it looked as if the bus stays on site all day - it's probably possible to leave bags on the coach if you ask.


We returned home to the UK on Staurday for Christmas. We will be collecting all the ski gear in Feb when we return for our Méribel ski trip.


Isola 2000 is part of the Parc National du Mercantour and more information can be found at www.stationsdumercantour.com or directly at http://www.isola2000.com/fr/index.aspx

Ski from Nice for the afternoon

Wednesday 5th April 2007


Day return by Bus from Nice to Isola 2000

Also visit my ski pages on allaboutNice.com

New for 2009: A few changes this year...the fare is now just 1 euro but your bus place must be booked in advance, the day before you travel, telephone 0805 402 606, the code for France is 00 33 and usually miss off the first 0 of the number. If you intend to return the same day, buy your return ticket from the machine in Isola 2000 before 1pm; to return the following day, buy before 16:30 hours. More information (in French) here.

Wednesday 5th April 2007

According to their website, the snow conditions are perfect in Isola 2000 and as we still hadn't packed away our ski stuff from our week in Meribel, we decided to take a day off decorating the studio and try Isola 2000 again. The ski season closes 22nd April 2007.

Isola 2000 is one of several small ski resorts close to Nice. It's an unbelieveable 5 years since our last trip using the skibus. More information here No ski bus this week; it only operates weekends and during the French school holidays so we had to take the TAM 750 which has a summer and a winter schedule. It costs 8 euros, one way to Isola 2000, so a day return was 16 euros each.

We tried to buy the bus tickets the day before but were told, no, buy them on the day of travel. This was worrying given our experience of ticket queues in France, would we have to allow an extra 2 hours in the morning. The 750 coach leaves the Gare Routiere (Bus Station) at 9:15 so we took a chance with the tickets, had a lie-in and left our studio at 8:45. No queue thank goodness and we had plenty of time, enough for DH to nip across to the Presse shop for a selection of papers.

The 750 for Isola 2000 leaves from quai 7 but you have to keep an eye out, the ticket lady said it could be quai 6 or 7, in fact, it turned out to be quai 9.

Several buses leave about 9:00, some bound for different ski resorts like Auron. We felt a bit daft wearing our ski stuff but Nice in April is cold that time in the morning so at least we were warm. We have backbacks that hold our ski boots (ready to swap for our ski shoes which we wore to travel) These bags and any other stuff, snowboards, skis etc can be put in the hold at the side of the bus, the driver helps you.

The 750 left promptly at 9:15 and stopped in Nice at the train station and the airport before heading north. Isola Village is part of the lignedazur network and it would cost only 1,30 euros to get here. The next 30 minutes of the journey up the mountain to the ski resort of Isola 2000 is an extra 6, 70 euros ie a single ticket to Isola 200 is 8 euros.

Our time of arrival in Isola 200 is 11:50 but the driver made good time and were there by 11:30. On the way up the steep hairpin bends we passed a man jogging uphill, he must have been in his 70s, mind you he wasn't going fast.

In Isola 2000 and unlike the skibus which deposits you in the lower carpark, the 750 takes you almost up to the large indoor complex of shops, restaurants, tourist information centre, ski hire, ski school esf etc. Please click for a plan of Isola 2000.

When you get off the bus, it's not immediately clear which way to go but we guessed correctly and took the lower road and walked into the complex through automatic doors at an entrance called 'La Lombarde'. It's a bit strange, not obvious this is where you get in, but don't worry. You're in the right place if you see the Hotel Chastillon on the far right of the entrance. Once in this bleak place you have to wander along some grim blocks of corridors with the occasional shop en route. Keeping heading on and up stairs as you go...

Eventually, just up the stairs by the loos there is an open area with everything you need, the skipass kiosks (forfaits) a 'Sport 2000' ski hire rental shop and a cheap cafe and snack bar just outside. A further set of steps just past the the Sport 2000 shop and ski pass kiosks leads up to the ESF ski school and the Tourist Information centre.

Additional note December 2007: a second trip to Isola 2000 in December 2007 confirmed the quickest and easiest way - take the upper road which leads you to the main entrance right by the skipass offices etc. See the later post for more details.

Right next door to the cafe is the entrance to the 'Pelevos' gondola bubble lift or telecabine. To get here from the bus stop, it's only a few minutes walk. For the return journey, catch the bus in the same place back on the road by the roundabout.

An afternoon ski pass for an adult is 19,50 euros and there are reductions for children, students and seniors. The afternoon passes are valid from 12:30 and are only sold after 12:20. The timing of the bus means that there is just enough time to hire skis from Sport 2000 just opposite the ski pass kiosks, nip to the loo and have a coffee and a bun on the terrace outside before you are able to buy your pass.

When we ski in Meribel we have used Sport 2000, they are good. The Sport 2000 chap noticed we had snowshoes to carry and kindly offered to stash our bootbags and shoes for the afternoon. This was most helpful and next time I shall bring a small rucksack or bumbag to carry my camera and suncream etc. I forget to check if there were lockers available for this sort of thing.

After you have bought your pass, you have to attach it. After the cutting edge electronic re-chargeable over the Internet passes from Meribel, the passes for Isola are quaint but tricky. You have one chance to get it right. First you feed a thin copper wire through your jacket zip, then you peel off the paper pass from its backing and bend it in half around the metal edges of the wire so that it sticks back on itself. It is extremely sticky and will not come off if you mess it up so concentrate. Off you go to ski.

The Pelevos bubble just outside on your right before the snack bar, takes you up to a couple of easy blues to warm you up, the one on the left is the easiest. After the three valleys and Meribel, it's all abit small and short but the snow was great and it was blissfully empty . The sun tried to shine but lost to a persistent but gentle snow fall most of the day. The odd time the sun broke through, it was glorious. Isola 2000 is not the prettiest of resorts, the 1960s buildings are very bleak but a covering of fresh snow perks it up a bit.

We had a great afternoon and a good ski, nothing too ambitious and even had a leisurely lunch at La Marmotte restaurant just the other side of the Pelevos gondola - great Salade Niçoise there. Allow enough time to return the skis and change back into snow shoes and retrace your steps back to the bus stop. the bus left promptly at 16:30. The papers we bought in the morning were still stashed in our place so that was a bonus.

My Dear Husband was asleep by the first bend. It was a great day out and DH reckoned the cost was about 45 euros each for the bus, ski hire and ski pass. It's a long journey on the coach but the scenery is lovely, I felt it was worth the effort and will definitely come back. Die-hard ski bunnies could get a concentrated 3.5 hours skiing which would pretty much cover most of Isola 2000.

Next time, because you can buy your bus ticket on the same day of travel, we will wait for a sunny day - the piste map pinpoints where you can get a view of the sea, I would like to see this. This was our second trip to Isola 200, our first trip to Isola 2000 was on the skibus rather than the 750 standard coach. The skibus offers better value, it is 30 euros for the pass and return trip, you still need to hire skis. It leaves earlier in the morning, 7:15 and the ski pass is valid as soon as you arrive so you get almost a full days skiing. The skibus also departs later, about 17:00. The main disadvantage is the fact that tickets must be bought in advance and seats reserved on the skibus, so ideally you need to be in Nice to do this before the day you intend to ski. Also, buses are cancelled if not enough people reserve places. It's also very crowded, particularly at weekends. It only runs at weekends and French school holidays so the slopes themselves are busier too. You don't get any lie-in.

I found the 750 bus a very acceptable and civilised alternative to the skibus and the later start suited us. The limited skiing time was fine, there are no queues at the lifts and the short runs means there's no panic about getting back in time. I would quite like to stay overnight. There is an option on the 750 coach to by a return ticket, returning within 48 hours it is a bit more expensive but this way, you would get a full day and a half skiing plus one night in a hotel. Within the main complex there are four hotels ranging from 2*-4*. There are plenty of other hotels and apartments surrounding the complex but it would probably be more efficient time wise to stay in a ski-in, ski-out hotel for such a limited stay. Of course it would be easy to rent a car (it would take about 1.5 hours to drive from Nice but it was rather nice to be chauffeured by bus and to have a glass or two of wine at lunchtime.