In winter the Tinée valley is the only way in
This is the fact that shapes everything else. The resort publishes the state of its two high passes, and the dates are precise to the minute: the Col de la Lombarde, road RM 97, reopened in both directions on Saturday 23 May 2026 at 17:25; the Col de la Bonette, road RM2205, has been open day and night since Tuesday 26 May 2026 at 14:00.
In other words, through the whole ski season neither exists. The climb up the Tinée valley is the only access, in both directions, and that applies to the Sunday run back to the airport in February as much as to the arrival.
Ninety-five kilometres, one hundred minutes: that is not a motorway figure. It is a valley figure, with slow sections and a final climb. A pick-up is therefore timed against the check-in deadline, not against an average speed.
What the prefectoral order requires, and what it omits
The Alpes-Maritimes prefecture sets a winter period beginning on 1 November and ending on 31 March of the following year. The equipment covered is snow chains, equivalent removable anti-skid devices and winter tyres. The communes concerned are listed, and Isola, Saint-Étienne-de-Tinée and Valdeblore are among them.
What the prefectoral page does not contain is a penalty. The fine amount that circulates on tyre retailers’ sites is not there, so we do not publish it as a prefectoral figure. The useful fact is elsewhere: a vehicle going up unequipped is not merely in breach, it is stationary at the first icy bend.
We equip the vehicle for the season and plan a roof box when skis travel. Both are settled at booking, with the number of pairs.
One hundred minutes, and the number you call first
The resort publishes a road status line, 08 05 05 06 06, and points to Inforoute 06, the departmental reference for real-time traffic conditions. Those are the two sources checked before departure, not a search engine.
The appeal of this run is real and lies elsewhere: it is the one place in the department where you can ski in the morning and be on the coast in the afternoon. One hundred minutes separate the resort from Terminal 2. The fare of €250 in a saloon and €290 in a van is fixed when you book, tolls included, and it does not change because it snowed.