What's the best way of getting my bike to Alpe d'Huez?

Several airlines from around Europe will get you to resort without too heavy a hit on the old purse strings. Flying to Geneva from the UK is the easiest of all options available, check here for further airline information. Low-cost carriers such as Easyjet or Flybe regularly fly between Geneva and the UK. You then have a number of options to get from the airport to Avoriaz which are explained in the following sections.

A review of airlines terms and conditions in relation to sports equipment baggage indicates that it is highly likely that you will be subjected to a standard charge for taking your bike on board. Easyjet; bmibaby; Aer Lingus; and KLM indicated that there was an average additional charge of between £15 (€22.50) and £25 (€36) to take your mountain bike, one-way.

However, having recently travelled from the UK to Geneva with our mountain bikes on a low cost carrier we feel the need to clarify this minor detail as we ended up getting stung at check in for 'excess baggage'!! Having duly paid the £15 for bike carriage, and with our luggage weighing in at about 20kgs, we were informed that even though we'd paid to take the bike on board, the combined weight permitted for all luggage was 32kgs. Anything over and above that would be subjected to 'excess baggage' charges. Full suspension bikes although light are generally not below 12kgs so our excess baggage payment ended up costing us another £35 - if you have a full downhill rig then I hope you have a heavy wallet to match or are good at trimming your holiday equipment – leave those hairdryers at home!

Our bike was carried in its original cardboard box (the best and cheapest way) so who knows what the charges would have been had it been transported in a plastic case! It is worth noting that a judicious selection of your check-in staff, a friendly smile and bit of banter and you may be on to a winner, particularly on your return from Geneva, no excess baggage charges. I guess that's the random lottery that is excess baggage charges and check-in staff!

The more conventional airlines such as British Airways and its code share partner Swiss airlines permit free transport of bikes providing they fit within the free baggage allowance, and are packed in a hard shelled container.