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Swiss resort advice for beg -> int level

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Hi,

need some advice as to where to go in Switerland. A group of 6 of us who learnt to ski in Borovets - Bulgaria, last year and caught the ski bug.

Borovets was fun but recognise we're not getting the full experience and the resort was a bit limited though I would recommend it to any beginners not sure if they fancy skiing!

We're looking for somewhere with lots of blue and red runs and somewhere with half decent ski-apres (all under 30) though the latter should not be at the expense of the skiing. Somewhere with a few decent pubs n clubs should we fancy it. Theres no way it'll be party all week but a couple of nights would be fun!

Looked at Villars but not sure if that ticks the apres-ski box??

There is a budget involved here and we're probably looking at cost including everything around the £550 mark top end.

The closer to Geneva the better.

Thanks in advance,

Pike
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Pike, are you looking for chalet or hotel accomodation, Swiss hotels are not cheap. By the way welcome to snowHeads
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
D G Orf wrote:
Pike, are you looking for chalet or hotel accomodation, Swiss hotels are not cheap. By the way welcome to snowHeads


Sorry, Chalet for sure and thanks for the welcome. Very Happy
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D G Orf, a post on Switzerland without mentioning Wengen???

Whatever next? Laughing
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Oh well, I suppose I should have said Wengen, should be possible to do it for £550 including flights, transfers accomodation and lift pass but you would still need spending money on top of that
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PIKE, you should have a look at www.interhome.co.uk They do everything seperately and the chalets are really cheap, it's only an hour/hour and 1/2 drive from geneva and the apres ski is fantastic, although a little pricey. Have been twice to Verbier and am off again in January. Happy hunting! Very Happy
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Thanks for the advice folks.

The budget of 550 is to get there. Spending money not included in that. Very Happy

I thought the apres-ski in Wengen was supposed to be limited? Verbier not really a beginner level resort?

Forget about budget for a minute (i'll try and work around that), what resort would best meet our needs within 3 hours of Geneva?

I guess we could do France if that would better suit our needs. Madeye-Smiley

Thanks again folks.

Wings, that interhome site looks a good one. Cheers.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Pike, France is a good option - I think I would try the Grand Massif as the main resort of Flaine is easily within 3 hours of Geneva. Personal choice would be to stay in one of the connected resorts of Les Carroz or Samoens.

Other options in the area that have good mileage are the Portes du Soleil, Chatel is a good spot to stay in.

La Clusaz, Les Contamines, Megeve would also suit your criteria quite nicely. Don't discount Chamonix as it is not all roughty tuffty skiing there and it is a fantastic place with great scenery.

Don't do Verbier, it will not suit your stated level of skiing IMHO.
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Pike, there's several bars plus hotel bars all of which tend to be open till arround midnight plus a couple of nightclub type locations open till between 2 and 3 am in Wengen. Popular bars include Chillis, Sinas and if you are a smoker the Tanne Bar (often gets very smoky). You did say you only wanted a few bars wink Nightclubs include the Kegelbahn (because it used to be a bowling alley) under the cinema (most films with English as the spoken language) and Tiffany's under the hotel Silberhorn, there's also a small place under the Chillis bar.

Wengen's about 3.5 hours from Geneva airport however if you can get one of the cheap flights to Bern airport with 6 of you you could get a taxi to Lauterbrunnen station for 260CHF each way which is only about £20 each or £40 return not bad for a 1 hour journey, plus you also get a taxi included from Wengen Station to wherever your staying in Wengen, that's using Jungfrau Taxi
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Ski the Net with snowHeads
Pike, for Switzerland accessible from Geneva, Crans-Montana is one place you could look at. It's got quite a big open ski area with plenty of vertical and long runs on sunny slopes, with a small glacier on top, and is a reasonably lively place. It's quite easy to connect to from Geneva. You catch a train around the lake to Sierre/Sion, and there's a transfer bus or funicular railway up from there.

Here's a piste map.
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I'd second the Flaine recommendation - especially as on a budget there is a lot of self catering there? Still not made it there myself but others from my group have and have said good things - nice intermediate area.

Chatel seemed mainly hotels which might be a problem? But it's lively enough for the odd night out and very 'villag-y'. IMO it's good for near beginners or confident intermediates but not for anyone in between - as the linking runs out of the chatel area are bit much for anyone lacking in confidence. If you are up to getting there the swiss side of the PdS has some lovely, quiet, well groomed runs too. Possibly you could consider a base on the swiss side? Champery more lively, but low. Les Crosets v. quiet but more convienient for the skiing. Avoriaz is a PdS self catering choice, convieniently located for the best intermediate terrain, and not as awful to look at as people make out - very convienient as you can ski everywhere, but no idea about nightlife - only skied through!

Only other one I can think of (but haven't tried) is La Rosiere/La Thuile - through the Mt Blanc tunnel they might be reachable fairly quickly?

aj xx
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
D G Orf took you all of 8 minutes to post up a reply about Wengen! Slowing down? wink snowHead

Pike Grindelwald over the hill from Wengen had more than enough apres ski, both slope side as the lifts closed, and in resort. And as Wengen's supposed to be bigger (and some would say better wink ) then there's going to be enough to amuse you. In fact there was more, and liviler, apres going on in the short Easter weekend when I was there, than in many of the huge French resorts I've spent a whole week in.

Having said that, at your stage of skiing there's little to chose from between France and Switzerland - both have pistes that would do well. It's the resort itself that may throw it - French resorts are generally (but not necessarily) cheaper and slope-side, and Switzerland is generally (but not necessarily) prettier. But those are massive generalisations.

BTW, within 3hrs from Geneva puts you in touch with most of the French Alps, down to Espace Killy, Paradiski, and Trois Vallees networks. Incidentally why Geneva? Are you buying your own flights? The other thing to think about is flights to e.g. Lyons or Chambery - would put you well within 3 hrs to much of the French Alps too.
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Manda, I was busy Embarassed
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
I think that Saas Fee could be good for your purposes.

It's a very high resort with a glacier. There are loads of easy runs up on the glacier itself, and it's cool to come back home and tell all your mates that you were skiing on a glacier Smile Especially if there are some that went to Bulgaria but didn't book up for this year.

As I can remember, it's about something about 3.5 - 4.5 hours from Geneva airport. Nice views on the drive though.

It's not known for it's apres, but there is a good club there called popcorn which is pretty famous world-wide. There are plenty of nice wee bars there also.

If you fancy going for a mad one, Zermatt is only about 12kms away.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Manda wrote:
French resorts are generally (but not necessarily) cheaper and slope-side, and Switzerland is generally (but not necessarily) prettier. But those are massive generalisations.


Strangely enough, I've usually found France to be more expensive Shocked
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
and certainly not as prettier than switzerland Laughing
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I like Crans-Montana piste map,very different to others around
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Thanks for all the advice folks. I'll have a look at all the resorts mentioned and see what I can come up with.

I'll let you all know what we decide on.
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Quote:

If you fancy going for a mad one, Zermatt is only about 12kms away

smolo
we've got a cheapo last minute deal to saas fee but am a bit worried that it seems quite small - you say that zermatt is close by - do you know if there is any public transport from saas fee to zermatt? (sorry to slightly hijack this thread....)
The tour operator has also said it's a 2.45hr transfer from geneva to saas fee
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
k, you need to go from Saas Fee to Stalden-Saas by bus then you can pick up a train to Zermatt it's roughly (depends on where in Saas Fee you catch the bus) a 1hr 45min journey, it's a regular service once every hour
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Cheers DG Orf - will give it a go
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Quote:

do you know if there is any public transport from saas fee to zermatt?

I've skied in Zermatt while based in Saas Fee, but only for a one day outing during a week's trip. It's too far to do it on a regular basis - just do it the once for the experience. And Saas Fee doesn't really meet your criteria of wanting loads of blues and reds. It's one of the most spectacular locations because of the dominance of the glaciers, but the skiing is a bit limited.

As far as Apres Ski is concerned, go to Switzerland with the expectation that most of their good citizens seem to like to go to bed at around 9.00pm (at least, that's my experience of Zurich, Geneva and a number of the smaller ski resorts, although clearly there are exceptions in the biggest resorts such as Verbier). France is generally not a whole lot better, because evening socialising tends to be based on chalets. Austria is the place to go to for the best combination of great skiing and great nightlife. I've been to Ischgl several times, and think it's hard to beat. It doesn't make sense to fly to Geneva for Ischgl, but it's within 3 hours of both Zurich & Munich, and only just over an hour from Innsbruck
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Quote:

go to Switzerland with the expectation that most of their good citizens seem to like to go to bed at around 9.00pm


If that really were the case my wallet and my liver would be in a much healthier stateJulian T.
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