Tell us where to go...please

A snowHead

Guys
We are family of four - 50, 48,14 and 11. Kids are home schooled so we can go anytime. they have done a little skiiing but not much. Parents like intermediate runs blues etc, but easy skiing

Hoping to do the whole thing for £2,000 or less if poss. We live near luton airport.

Was thinking of les deux alps, getting a package and leaving on 4 jane for a week as this seems the cheapest week.

Second option is to get flights to Zurich on easyjet, train to Swiss youth hostel in grindelwald . They have some great deals on at the mo.

We are happy to stay in hostels or to self cater. Don't need nightlife.lots of quiet slopes with easy runs. Five days skiiing probably enough.

We will need to hire skis etc. nice food and a hot tub would be nice

Looking at the web there's almost too much choice. Where would you go and when?

Please help as I don't know what I'm doing

Thanks to anyone's who posts, and have a good season, wherever you go

A snowHead

Lebrignall, welcome to Snowheads.

That's quite a tight budget. You can probably forget "nice food and a hut tub" if that means having somebody else cook it. wink

Ski passes, equipment hire and lessons for the kids will probably cost a minimum of £750, even in a small resort offering a "family pass" for two adults and two under 18s. Could be more - and most of the "family pack" passes are sold on a 6 day basis.

The cheapest way would probably be to drive yourselves and rent an apartment. You could probably do that within your budget, take some well thought out supplies and do a last minute shop in a supermarket in the valley (probably ending up with all the passengers with bags on their laps).

You could also wait and book a package at the very last minute - might pick up some much cheaper packages that way but would need to be flexible about destination and other arrangements.

There are a lot of resorts which would be fine for your trip - I wouldn't worry too much about which resort at this point, perhaps try to price up a few holidays of different kinds, to get the ball rolling.

Sticking to a tight budget is easier if you have an apartment where you can get back for lunch, buy a pizza and bag of salad in a supermarket, or have some soup, baguette and cheese. Buying even a basic snack and drink out on the mountain for a family with hungry boys is expensive.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Look at a self catering apartment in Austria, there are some very near to the slopes.

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Lebrignall, Google: Val Cenis (there are several towns nearby).
It's a medium-sized French resort with an inexpensive ski pass.
Book a self-catering 1 bed apartment and drive down. You should do it for £2k.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Saas Fee. No question. Check out their offers on their official website!

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Thanks a lot. The budget could be increased I guess.

Anyone done the Swiss youth hostel grindelwald thing! or got a view on it? The hostel does five days details below with the ski pass thrown in

Getting there on the train looks quite fun too

Thanks again

Highlights

Enjoy 2 days’ skiing fun at the foot of the Eiger North Wall and get 14% discount on the room price.

Special offer:

3 nights in a 4-bed room incl. half board and a 2-day ski pass. The offer is also available for 5 and 6 nights.

Prices:

Adults CHF 280.00
Young people aged 16-19 CHF 257.00
Young people aged 12-15 CHF 223.00
Children aged 6-11 CHF 213.40
Children aged 2-5 CHF 77.70
Valid:

05 Jan - 30 Jan 2014 / 2 March - 30 March 2014, from Sunday to Thursday in each case

Contact:
Grindelwald Youth Hostel
Geissstutzstrasse 12
3818 Grindelwald (BE)
Phone: +41 33 853 10 09
Fax: +41 33 853 50 29
grindelwald@youthhostel.ch
youthhostel.ch/grindelwald

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

For that week there are usually lots of late deals, try Alpine Answers etc. You'll probably be able to get chalet accomodation, food, flights and transfers for around 2K.

After all it is free · Last edited by After all it is free on Mon 9-12-13 7:52; edited 1 time in total

Hi,

We have a friend who, on economy grounds, swears by Chamrousse, in France, for family ski trips.

If I remember correctly, kids' lift passes are free with the purchase of 2 adult passes.

I can't remember how much he said the trip costs but I can remember being very (pleasantly) surprised by the overall cost.

We've been there and it's a very good ski area.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Lebrignall, I've stayed in Swiss youth hostels in the dim and distant past - I'm sure that Grindelwald deal would be v pleasant but it's hardly cheap. For that sort of price (I've made a rough extrapolation from the prices you quote, which are for two days skiing) to which you'd have to add flights, transfers, equipment hire and lessons you could probably pick up a last minute deal including flights from a UK airport.

Otherwise, a DIY trip to one of the French resorts suggested above (and there are others, too, which would fit the bill) will be cheapest. If you go onto google.fr and enter "ski tout compris" you will find loads of websites to browse - the big ones like Pierre et Vacances will have an English option to look at. There's one run by Carrefour, the supermarket. Lots of offers including passes and apartments, including basic, small, apartments and large luxurious ones too. The P & V site has a last minute section but that's not relevant at this point.

Those sites will enable you quickly to find an "all in" price to compare - in both obscure and well known resorts.

I don't know whether there is any similar facility to find a range of options quickly in Austria - no doubt somebody will be along to suggest something. I've seen references to hotels that do good deals with ski passes etc - though hotels are probably outside your budget.

If driving is not an option for you we can all think again!

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

If you're looking to fly, I'd suggest having a look at flying from Gatwick, as that's where most of the package holidays go from and hence where the cheap
deals tend to be.

SM.

snow reports

Some chalet owners will be very keen to fill one of their quiet weeks so I would ask around on chaletsdirect.com in the Solutions Room area. You could then decide whether to drive or fly.
As suggested above you can also wait for last minute offers and get a package deal with flights, transfers, food etc included. You can get pretty good discounts for ski hire as well online.

Lebrignall, Luton - Salzburg with easyjet opens up the whole of Salzburgerland in Austria (30+ resorts). Apartments or B&B (Pensions) should be fairly easy to find at reasonable prices.

You know it makes sense.

quinton, but a B & B is not too good an option for a family on a budget - all drinks and meals after breakfast having to be bought separately. I would never have contemplated it when doing family holidays with kids, especially hungry lads.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

Another vote for family friendly Val Cenis- just done a quick search on Crystal site and got a self catering deal In Les Valmont de Val Cenis for 2 adults and 2 children, apartments with a pool and ski in, ski out, ski hire and lift passes for £1423 from Stansted, jan 4th.
I've been to this resort twice and are back this Easter snowHead

A snowHead

Lebrignall, we have availability in our apartment in Serre Chevalier for January, Check via the signature at the bottom of my post, and drop me a PM if you are interested or need any information.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Thanks for all the replies. very helpful and interesting. Val Cenis deal looks like the thing, and saves the hassle of driving. Do you have snow tyres or chains - I drove to German ski resort (Willingen) two years ago and we were sliding around all over the place, and rather dangerous and stressful

Le Corbier looks good too and we speak French so no problems there. Did you email to get the price you quote - I couldn't seem to get the site to quote a price?

Thanks again for all the info. Booking ski trips is something of a dark art it seems to me, and I really appreciate the time taken to offer advice. Flights to Grenoble seem cheap on Ryanair at the mo
Lebrignall

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Lebrignall, at the very least you need snow chains if you are driving in the mountains in winter.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Hi,

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Lebrignall, if you speak French you should do very well on a "ski tout compris" search on google.fr

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Le Corbier looks great but reports suggest it is really rather ugly - all concrete - but that's the price you pay I guess, as it is very cheap.

Valloire has been suggested as another good option. Any views?

And what about FINLAND? Flights and accom for £800 and cheap ski pass. Looks like it would be quite fun too, great other stuff to do. Very cold though and not much daylight in Jan

There's just just too much choice

LeB

After all it is free

http://www.snowtrex.co.uk/

Try some of their bargains, very often including ski passes and at implausibly cheap rates. (Never tried them.)

You're right - very good deals - implausibly so.... it looks like some of the french sites with the front translated into English.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Lebrignall if you are looking for value for money ski holiday( in Austria,) a friend of mine runs Letzski. He reckons you would get change from £2000 for 2 adults/2 children with his company. They charge the same price throughout the season inc xmas new year and school holiday weeks. Might be worth a look. I reckon Austria more fun and welcoming than France any day of the week.
http://www.letzski.com/120852928 Happy skiing wherever you go. Very Happy

Hopefully he will be on this forum soon.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Lebrignall, Valloire would be fine. Very French (which, believe it or not Invictus, doesn't mean it's not welcoming).

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