 Poster: A snowHead
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Despite having just come back from a fantastic week in the Alps, I am itching to go again before the season ends.
Unfortunately given the current fiscal conditions in the M535man household, with no sign of quantative easing, and a summer holiday still to pay for, the budget sadly does not exist. I have yet to check down the back of the sofa, or underneath the drivers seat in my car, so there may be a few sheckels unaccounted for that the leader of the opposition doesn't know about! I suggested we try and swap the summer holiday for another winter one, but the reply included the words decree nisi, which I didn't understand but it sounded bad! 
Myself and my son (7) would love to get to the mountains again before the season is out - if you were trying to organise a ski trip for next to no money, where would you go, where would you stay, how long would you go for and how would you get there?
I've only really skied in France before, but am open to anywhere really. My son is in school and we wouldn't want him to miss any school (well maybe an afternoon would be ok) We normally drive, but would bus, train, fly or whatever if it helps keep the price down.
I have thought about possibly a weekend in Scotland, at Glencoe or the Nevis range, and as my parents still live in Argyll we wouldn't have to shell out for accommodation - my only concern is that the skiing might be rubbish/non-existent and its a heck of a long way to go for no skiing. I'd guess two tanks of diesel would do it? Can you absolutely rely on Scottish skiing to be a) open and b) good? (PS I myself am Scottish, and in no way having a pop at the old country!)
We can find some cheap accommodation in the alps, but whichever way I look at it I cant get the travel costs to much less than £350 for two of us, then with accommodation, food, lift passes, ski hire etc I guess we'd be looking at £600 for a weekend - which I personally think is not unreasonable, but sadly unjustifiable at the moment.
Our first ever trip to the Alps was to a catered chalet/hotel type place in Morzine and included the price of the coach from Maidstone services - do those sort of trips still operate- I haven't seen one advertised for ages.
Anyone got any thoughts, or should I just start keeping an eye of the glencoe webcam and keep the car packed and ready to go!
thanks for any advice! 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@M535man, I'd look for an ultra last minute Tour Operator trip for Easter, being super-flexible about where you go and ready to take a few risks!
A week's skiing is far better value than a weekend.
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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?
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@M535man, if your username refers to the car that you drive, couldn't you downsize the car a bit to release some funds?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@M535man, cheapest way to ski in Europe?
1. Have a friend who will put you up, so no accommodation costs.
2. Live in London and ski in Tarentaise: Eurostar then SNCF probably cheapest way to travel.
3. Win Lift pass as a prize on competition at SCGB, Ski Show, Daily Mail ski mag, or whatever
4. Take sandwiches out on the slopes and only drink water.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Buy cheap flights now for whenever you want to go (probably to Munich or Geneva, though at times you can find flights to Innsbruck for £60 return), get a train to a valley town near a ski resort (Innsbruck, Landeck, Prutz, Maishofen, Saalfelden, etc) where you'll be able to find a cheapo BnB happy to take you for a weekend, get the bus up to resort each day.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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We've just come back from 1 week in the Maurienne which cost us a smidge under £400 each, all in. Self-drive, self-cater etc.
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@M535man,
- Last minute weekend in Scotland if the weather and snow are looking good. Stay in a Youth Hostel or cheap B&B?
- Perhaps look at the halfboard+lift pass+ski hire packages offered by some of the Youth Hostels in the Alps? They are really good value and usually flexible on arrival/departure dates too, so you can get cheaper flights, and go for less than a week if you want (though the longer you stay, usually the cheaper per ski day it is). They don't seem to charge inflated prices for the Easter Hols either.
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Cheap flight to Ljubljana..... Krvavec ski resort only 5mins from the airport.... Can see it while in the air. Cheap quality accommodation is easy to arrange .....many with shuttles to the resort.
I priced up a trip with my daughter at the end of January, £300 all in.
Obviously if you were to hire a car you could go to other resorts. I've been to loads in Slovenia, and they are all very accessible. In my opinion the ideal weekend destination.
Krvavec is a really nice resort, but close to the capital. Kobla and vogel are not too far and in the most beautiful surroundings. Hope this helps.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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The cheapest way to the Alps has to be either coach or train, I've used the overnight coach once, no sleep but you do get there saturday morning. Google ski coach to see the options. I suppose selling the 5 series to buy a motorhome is out of the question?
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@M535man, Sell the M535 and go skiing
Scotland for a couple of days is great.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Sell the M535
consider living somewhere in Alps or near Alps (yes i know, immigration is a big decision but worth it)
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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.
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@CathS, can you take children as young as 7 to the youth hostels? Last time I looked at UPCA you couldn't.
@M535man, try a ski area that offers a free lift pass for children when an adult pass is bought. Quite a few do this at Easter. Possibly some of the areas that coach travel TOs go to.
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| Quote: |
The cheapest way to the Alps has to be either coach or train
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coach yes, train no. Flying can often be cheaper than the train. But yes, if you have a fancy car, get rid of it. There are more important things in life. Like skiing. 
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You know it makes sense.
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Wow, thanks for the replies, some great ideas I hadn't considered 
alas, the M535i was sold years ago to pay for a honeymoon if I recall, so that ship has sailed 
I will definitely look for some last minute deals on the travel agents, obviously I am aware of Cristal ski, and have gone with snowtrex before, are there any other TO's I should be looking at.
@hammerite could you name any of the resorts that offer free lift passes?
@gixxerniknik I thought the coach would be extremely cheap too, but when I looked last night briefly the dates I had in mind were £160 return per person, the same as the Eurostar ski train.
@greggy500, thanks will look into that, what's the skiing like over there?
@clarky, I like the sound of skiing in Austria / Germany, have always loved Germany as a holiday destination, but must admit my eyes are always drawn to France because in my head 'it much closer', however a quick look at google maps shows Salzburg is not much further than some Northern French alp resorts.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| pam w wrote: |
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The cheapest way to the Alps has to be either coach or train
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coach yes, train no. Flying can often be cheaper than the train. But yes, if you have a fancy car, get rid of it. There are more important things in life. Like skiing. |
I quite like the idea of the train, do you have to change in Paris if you take the ski train.
I drive a Mercedes e-class estate, which I chose last year to facilitate easier family skiing trips I could sell it, but Mercedes Benz will still selfishly expect me to pay them every month for the next 3 years, the gits
Talking of economising, last year I noticed that my monthly sky TV bill was £63, so I cancelled it and used the freesat that's built in to my telly and got a £6/month subscription to Now TV. I was expecting a huge outcry from the family, but it's been great, we now watch less rubbish on Telly and save £50/month for fun stuff the guy in the cancellations department couldn't quite get his head around the fact that I actually wanted to cancel the whole thing, and wasn't just looking for a discount
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Poster: A snowHead
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I drive a Mercedes e-class estate
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I drive a Vauxhall Zafira, can seat 7,cost less than £12K new, with a year's tax and a spare wheel, leaves lots of money for ski trips....
Wait till the very last minute. 24 hours before departure. Sure to be some good deals.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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?
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@M535man, Could you bring along a couple of friends? that way you could drive, the adults chip in for petrol and with a reduced petrol price, should hopefully cost around £80-90 pp for the adults (ie £90 for you and your son to travel?) to get to the northern French alps?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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To save money- in kind of order of desperation
Hitchhike? I did this from Risoul to Cuneo Alps Airport in Italy once and had one of the most memorable days of my life under Azure skies in the stunning southern French Alps
The cheapest way to get to the Alps is coach or four or more in car - if you can get a stupid Ryanair deal then do it but you then need to get to resort.
Ski hire is cheaper in the uk if you are taking a car
Pool into a group to get lift pass discounts
buy food and beer in the hypermarches in the valley rather than high altitude prices
by bulk drinks in cardboard type boxes (easier to carry when skiing and less painful to land on when falling over.
get a cheap apartment online - some resorts do accommodation and lift passes to give savings
Go out of peak time - March is perfect for skiing
Advertise on here for ski buddies to share accommodation/ transport down (4 is cheaper than 2)
Don't use the toll roads on the way down or travel at night when they're cheaper
Drive at 60, not 80 - saves about 30% on fuel bill
slipstream behind a lorry all the way if driving
fill a minibus with 14 mates and drive down. (I did this once to La Plagne - cost us £60 each for transport but took 19 hours)
Get a ferry deal that comes up now and again in the tabloids
Don't ski all day and go for the 4 hours a day cheaper lift passes
bring back loads of cheap booze/cigarettes and sell them illegally
bring back illegal immigrants in the boot and charge them
Go to Scotland
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Fuel isn't such a big deal at the moment. I went from my apartment to the Porta Nuova station in Turin and back yesterday for €30 of diesel. 436 km according to google maps.
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Don't use the toll roads on the way down or travel at night when they're cheaper
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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The toll rates often vary and are more expensive at peak times
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Have you considered Slovakia? Flights for under 50 return, half board from15 to 25euro in Lomnica and airport is around 1h from the resorts.
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| Quote: |
The toll rates often vary and are more expensive at peak times
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Really? Where? Not in France AFAIK.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Slovakia does sound very attractive.
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| gixxerniknik wrote: |
| The cheapest way to the Alps has to be either coach or train, I've used the overnight coach once, no sleep but you do get there saturday morning. Google ski coach to see the options. I suppose selling the 5 series to buy a motorhome is out of the question? |
Really? Not convinced, even if I booked now for the last week in March I'm still looking at £80 return just to get to London.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Just checked the flights for beginning of March to Slovakia (28th feb till 6th march) and they're 37 pounds 
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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.
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@CathS, can you take children as young as 7 to the youth hostels? Last time I looked at UPCA you couldn't.
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You can in Hostelling International hostels. I think you have to be booked in a family room though (much like Youth Hostels in the UK). When I stayed at the Hostel in La Clusaz there were a couple of ladies with really small kids (under 5).
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UCPA places aren't Youth Hostels in the YHA sense.
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You know it makes sense.
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@tudorica, does that include baggage, ski carriage etc? Good price.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@rogg, That's just the price for the ticket and cabin luggage. We don't have skis so we'll be hiring once there.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@M535man, Cheap flight to Marseille (Easyjet or Ryanair, or combination of the two) for first week of Easter holiday, cheap bus transfer with Navettes Blanches, cheap apartment and lift passes with Sunweb, to somewhere like Super Devoluy, Vars, Risoul etc might do the job.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Quote: |
The toll rates often vary and are more expensive at peak times
Really? Where? Not in France AFAIK.
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Barrier opened for me after one coin once. And I'd intended posting a handful of change.
But the quoted price that flashed up was the fixed, full, expected price. Italy doesn't vary. Austria special roads are fixed prices. Everywhere else is a vignette, except Slovenia that can't make up its mind (intstall toll booths, then issue vignettes and leave 1 booth open for cars, but trucks etc. still have to use booth - this may have changed).
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Slovakia does sound very attractive
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That's on my to do list, and also my suggestion for cheap skiing. Liptovsky Mikulas (+/- some funny letters), very cheap 1st class train ride from Bratislava afaik. Or transfer from Poprad or whatever the airport is in Poland. everyone I know that has gone there once has gone back every year since.
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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?
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@M535man, free easter passes for children (in the past need to check for 2015)... ski Amadé, Skiwelt (saw this last week advertised on a gondola window), Serre Chevalier, Les Arcs... There are probably quite a few more.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Not sure if Ryanair still do Cuneo Alpes but it used to be the only airport near the slops where the price didn't rocket at peak times.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I like this thread. I think we should have a challenge to see who can post the cheapest combination of Transfers this end, flight / train / car, transfer other end, accom and ski pass. Winner gets a scotch egg (35p smart price one in the spirit of things ) 
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Yes, I like it- we'll need some kind of benchmark, shall we say travelling from the south east of England to a European resort, for one week for two people.
The method of travel, accommodation, lift passes, etc. will be where the savings can be found!
Who can find the cheapest??
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Sunweb....... Going Sunday 10.....Gatwick flights.......staying in L2A......lift pass included.....£169......thanks for my scotch egg.
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Tescos club card points paid for my Eurotunnel ticket
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FAQ
wow, that's a cheap flight!
