Ski Daytrip from the UK (yes, yes, I know..)

A snowHead

Due to having a baby I didn't go skiing at all (Hemel aside!) last season. We're a family of six and no other family to watch the children so either I go on my own, or we all go in the school holidays, which is what we're doing at New Year.

That's too far away! It's been long enough already, 21 months to be precise. So in the meantime I am desperate for a bit of proper skiing over 160m in length. However, there's a critical complication - I can't really be away from home for more than about 36 hours tops (reasons are mostly related to the baby and are pretty much non-negotiable) and even that is pushing it a bit.

So as a result I've been toying with the idea of doing a day trip somewhere. Obviously it's not going to be the best value for money just the day, it will be insanely stressful and I might end up with crap weather but I know all that.

Some of the things I've come up with..

* Overnight train via Paris (Eurostar, Intercity etc) to Les Arcs, ski for the day, overnight train home to get back 10am or so

* Fly from Luton to Geneva crack of dawn, Easybus transfer to Chamonix (never been), ski, Easybus back for the last flight home. Perhaps rent skis in resort to keep travel costs down.

* Overnight sleeper to Aviemore, ski Cairngorms, sleeper back again (would book this more or less last minute due to it being, well, Scotland!)

Any thoughts on the above or any other ideas? Anyone done similar? Possible complications are things like needing Left Luggage or equivalent at the resort as I hardly want to be skiing with the bag I brought my skis in etc.

As it's only for the day I'd want to be as refreshed as possible, so I'd prefer to sleep in a proper "bed", not a reclining seat so the direct Eurostar is out. I live in Hemel so easy access to Luton/Stansted/Eurostar. I can also go midweek, and have all my own gear. Obviously I'd prefer to keep costs down where possible as if money was unlimited we'd all go!

Thanks!! Very Happy

A snowHead

@sparklies, As you're down south conventional wisdom would be to use the train to Bourg-someone did it and there's a thread somewhere I recall reading. The impression I get of the train vs plane is it maximises ski time if it's not necessarily cheaper.

If you were northern based Scotland would be worth a look, but as you say it's just too unpredictable.

Good luck!

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

Quite a few threads on this around here Ray Zorro did something a couple of years ago and there was one from earlier this year. Basically it's doable but really depends on how close you are to an airport/Eurostar.

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What about flying into Innsbruck. Think Igls is around 25 mins from the airport

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Bene - Thanks! Yes, my top choice right now is the train to Bourg, changing in Paris, and the funicular up to Les Arcs. It seems to make the most sense especially as trains are presumably less likely to be heavily delayed than planes.

halfhand - I have seen a few threads when searching but it's not always an easy thing to search for on the site, plus things change year on year. I'm very close to both airport and Eurostar (can be at St Pancras in under an hour easy door to door) so I have that on my side at least.

red_dragon - That's something I'd not known about! I'll look into that, thank you!

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That's a shame, no direct flights to Innsbruck except from Gatwick - and that's a bit far from here and it's round the M25 which could have enough delays of its own! Ah well.

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@sparklies,

There are loads of resorts on the Innsbruck pass ( think it is called Olympic ).

Igls and Tulfes are on one side of a valley and on the other you have the Gotzens and the Axamer lizum and a bit further along then up a valley you have Kuhtai. up the valley between Igls and Mutters you have the Stubai glacier. ( All on the same side of Innsbruck check out the piste map ).
You also have the Seegrube from Innsbruck itself so plenty of choice.

Axamer Lizum is def ok for a days skiing and not to far in a taxi from the airport and if conditions are good you could ski right back down to Axams itself so taxi back to airport wouldf be quicker and cheaper.

After all it is free

Could you fly out one evening and back the next? That could make flying to somewhere like Munich viable.

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@sparklies,

See here:

http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?p=823002

I think if you're flying (and certainly if going there-and-back in the same day) then you should rent skis in resort and try to stick to hand luggage only - then you can maximise your time on the slopes by not having to wait for luggage to arrive (or have to go through check-in when you're coming back).

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I think you should consider Glenco.

* Early morning flight into Glasgow or Easily reached from Edinburugh to with your ski boots and what you can't wear of your ski gear as hand luggage.

* Hire car and allow 2 hours to drive to Glencoe.

* Hire skis at the mountain and you could be making turns before 11am. Plenty to keep you interested for the day and the snow has been excellent right throught the season over the past few seasons.

* leave the mountain by 5 and you'll have plenty of time to make your way back to Glasgow grab something to eat and be on a plane home a very tired but hopefully satisfied snowhead.

Chances of wind closing the lifts is concerning but if you can leave it a day or two before you go Glenco do generally make you aware if they are concerned the mountain will be closed within the next few days.

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Wow, thanks everyone! Really great advice and suggestions. Excellent point about the M25 probably being deserted that time of day, hadn't really thought of that (so used to avoiding it instinctively for any sort of time-critical things!) So Austria is somewhere to consider maybe.

I could fly out and stay overnight in a hotel, that is doable but I'm guessing it might push the price up a bit? Then again quite possibly not depending on the flight in question and getting a bargain (no hold luggage obviously).

Excellent point about two hours drive to Glencoe. And at least it would be on British roads and I wouldn't have to negotiate Geneva (that was the part that put me off hiring a car) - bad enough being lost, but worse when you accidentally end up on toll roads! Trouble is I don't think there were any stupidly early morning flights, the earliest seems to get in at 10am if I went from Luton. Although there are earlier ones from Heathrow which is not much further. I'm just a little wary of paying for it all then it's all shut, and if I leave it to the last minute to book a flight it's going to be way more expensive by the looks of things. Still, it is something to consider.

Thanks for the link to the Eurostar Lastminute.com day trip too. I'd seen a few of the one day trips before but not come across that one. It was particularly interesting as we're Eurostarring it out as a family when we go in the New Year and it was nice to read a proper review of what it was like. Out of interest I went to see if lastminute.com are still doing them.. and they are! At £115, or £179 for premier seats. That is awfully tempting at that price, it really is, even if it's not a proper bed. Hmm. And after reading that review I'm tempted by the hiring skis in resort option as well even for Eurostar. Less stress and pain for the sake of an extra few quid.

Hi

I've done a few trips to Isola 2000 in France.. Fly into Nice early in the morning, rent car or skibus up - drive about 90 min, back down in the evening, fly straight out!

Nice has the advantage of a major airport so airfares are usually cheaper then some other airports. Especially if going up in March or April, resort is pretty quiet with a lot of snow still..

good luck!

You know it makes sense.

How about fly to Geneva late evening, stay in cheap hotel right near airport (http://geneveaeroport.starshotels.com/). Early easybus to Chamonix. Ski. Easybus back, late evening flight home.

You don't miss a night's sleep (important if you are coming back to deal with a baby) and you'd have a whole day on the slopes.

Alternatively you could rent a car and drive to Flaine etc. Rent a Swiss-side car, drive out to the French border on the motorway. No need to navigate Geneva.

Definitely rent skis.

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

Try Landgraaf - it snow sure and 500m long and doable in a day.

A snowHead

A snowHead

Massive kudos though @Ray Zorro, Very Happy

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

I think Eurostar gives you quite a lot of travelling time. I guess it depends on the times you can get. An overnighter may well fit into your 36 hour time slot quite well.
If you're flying then you need somewhere that flies very early morning and very late back - to an airport very close to the mountains. How rich are you? Can you charter a plane and fly directly into Courchevel airport?

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Why not fly out of Stansted to Treviso on Friday evening. spend the night in a Travelodgy thing. Early morning car drive up to dolomites. Drive back down sat evneing for very late flight back that goes saturdya evening.
https://www.bookryanair.com/SkySales/Booking.aspx?culture=en-gb&lc=en-gb#Select

If you took the flights in the link above you could drive up to Arabba and ski with us at the Snowheads forum 11th birthday bash trip. The problem might be getting the car hire company to stay open late enough for your pick up or open early enough for you in the morning. You might even ask admin if he could ask the hotel to give you a camp bed or something in Arrabba late saturday night....

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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

After all it is free

@sparklies, I would suggest for you that Eurostar all the way to Bourg or change at Paris for the sleeper would be the best way to go and will give you the maximum amount of skiing.

Getting an early flight can mean a very early start and then coupled with a very late home time and a full day's activity in between means that you will be exhausted the following day. It would also mean two disturbed nights for Mrs sparklies which may not go down at all well!

I'd also advise that you do your homework before you go - find out about parking places, ski hire shops etc etc as you can waste valuable time otherwise.

Resorts close to big cities will be busy at weekends - which will slow everything down for you. Go midweek if can if you are flying.

I reckon the dolomites thing and meeting us for a day is well do-able, although, wherever you go, I'd go midweek if you can to avoid lift queues.

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@Ray Zorro, now isn't that strange. I assumed the sparklies was the mother of the baby and you assumed sparklies was the father! Laughing

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If you could stretch the 36hours just a tad...get the 0655 flight to Turin from Stanstead (if close enough), arrive Turin at 0955, hire car, an hour to Sauze D'oulx, with a fair wind could be in resort and skiing by midday. Ski through the afternoon, enjoy a barbaresco and a pizza, up for first lifts and ski until early lunchtime (1230 earliest), jump back in the car and back to Turin for the 1520 flight, arrive Stansted 1625.

Flights for 29th and 30th Jan (Thursday into Friday) currently £74 return (though Ryanair so add on a bit)...

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@pam w, then I would expect you to be right and me wrong. Laughing

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If it were me, I'd try to fly straight after work the day before, and rather than stay in an airport hotel, try to get out of GVA and stay in one a bit closer. Sallanches maybe or Thonon perhaps (both have Ibis - the kind of hotel that will have a 24hr reception) for Chamonix and PdS respectively.
Munich gives more options for flights, but is realistically 2 hours from any ski resort.
Innsbruck is so close to ski resorts that it's the local city bus/tram that goes there (and handily another Ibis right at the station where the airport bus and the buses to ski resorts go from), but tends to have less convenient flights and prices.
Treviso-Arabba is a 2-3 hour drive each way? Very nice location, but wouldn't be my first choice for a quick trip.

You know it makes sense.

@andy, I'd probably do the same, and hire a car. I was thinking of the airport hotel because of the very cheap and fast easybus transfer to Chamonix because the OP wants to avoid driving if possible.

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

There are, of course 6 snow resorts in England. I hear they're all great in the right conditions, particularly Raise, although there's a long trek up to the lift.

A snowHead

Wow, lots to think about!! Thank you everyone for your suggestions!

@pam w has it right - I'm the mother! Baby will be 12 months old when I was planning on going (mid March) which means she'll be big enough then for me to justify a very short time away, as I'm feeding her myself if you see what I mean! That's why it's pretty non-negotiable on the time limit.. biology. She is our last though so I'll never have this problem again Very Happy

In 2013 I took a short midweek break on my own with Ski Weekends to Les Menuires in mid January because I could do three nights away by that point as my youngest then was nearly two. So next season I'll probably do something like that again.

I'd like to avoid hiring cars if necessary, and not entirely because Geneva always looks so complicated. It's the stress of navigating on my own, working out which lanes to be in, all whilst being probably very tired and in an unfamiliar car on the wrong side of the road. And worrying about snow chains. Don't get me wrong, I'm no stranger to hiring and then driving cars in foreign countries after long flights (done it several times in the US before) but I've not then had to navigate on my own on top of all that. And I've never fitted snow chains before either! I could probably do it if my life depended on it but it is just an extra stress really.

I've often fancied Landgraaf but I think it's one of those places where I'd have to be in the general vicinity anyway for - there seems to be no directish transport (two changes after the Eurostar to Brussels) and it's a bit of a way to drive/Chunnel costs etc. But I'd definitely consider it if we were already over the channel for whatever reason, and had a car, say. One day!!

I agree that a flight out the night before and a hotel is probably a lot less stressful and would take the same amount of time as a stupidly early flight. Although as has been said, I'll be restricted to places with 24 hour check-in - still, it's definitely worth considering.

I've often been tempted by Raise and I am sure we will go there one day. In-laws live in Cumbria, albeit the wrong side (boo) but all the same, leaving the children with them for the day whilst we give it a go is a very realistic prospect, especially as we'd have a few days to choose from due to already being up there for the relatives.

I'd heard about the queues at Glencoe so yes, I'd take my own skis for that.

More and more I'm coming back to the train though.. mainly because of its simplicity. It might not give me the best night's sleep, and it may not be the quickest, but there's only one stage involved which means far fewer things to go wrong. And no driving! Also as we're doing it as a family at new year (Tignes!) it gives me a chance to scope it out so we can be better prepared. Or perhaps a summer of terror having realised what we've put ourselves in for, ha.

A snowHead

@sparklies, Hi - you sound in the exact same situation as me, and i posted this last season looking for advice. I have 3 kids under 5 and my wife doesnt have any interest in snowsports. So i have to maximise my time away in as short time as possible. What i did last year, and i just got back this weekend was your first suggestion, Night train from London to Bourg, retrun Saturday night. I used the Euro star direct services rather than changin at Paris, due to that reason, not having to change.

If its all you can get manage to get i would recomend 100%, i got about 4 hours sleep on the train out, which isnt much, but when you have young kids its amazing how your body adapts to lack of sleep, plus once that mountain air hits you, your instantly awake. Its also good because you get there with a couple of hours before the slopes open so you can get yourself sorted, chuh down some coffee and red bull, eat some breakfast and be 1st at the lifts.

I am also going again the last weekend in January, like you i am restricted to Castleford, and all though it scracthes that crave its just not enought, a full day on the slopes in Les Arcs is a nice fix.

I looked into flying and driving and all sorts, but my wifes 2 night restriction meant the train was the only reasoanble way of getting a full day on the slopes.

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Yes, that's it exactly! Only having a couple of hours sleep before skiing isn't really hugely different to how I've been functioning for the last 9 years now. I find if I've had a "reasonable" amount of sleep in the nights leading up to a crap night's sleep, I can actually function reasonably well. The problems start after day 2 or 3 of awful sleep. So I wouldn't feel that different to normal as my body has adapted to being able to deal with a shocker of a night.

My husband does like to ski and he'll almost certainly do the same as me only at another time to make it fair. I guess at least we still have the (extremely expensive!) option to go away as a family in our case too though.

I've done a "full day" at Hemel before just to see what it would be like and it was just not fun at all especially as we go so often. I love Hemel, I think it's a fabulously run place, and I'm so grateful we have it on our doorstep but it is ultimately a fridge at the end of the day. For just over double the price and a lot of travel it would be so much more amazing to go somewhere proper!

If I did book the Eurostar, due to the price and days (weekend) I'm actually quite tempted to take my 8 year old along for a bit of company. She skis as well as I do (or at least keeps up with me/leaves me behind!) thanks to so many lessons at Hemel and a previous family holiday. It would be a fun adventure for both of us and give us a bit of one on one which is very hard to come by with so many little ones around normally!

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6am scheduled Swiss flight from Heathrow to Zurich, train or car to Engelberg, full day's ski on Mount Titlis, return early evening by train or car, late flight back to Heathrow.

It can be done - I've done it. Great fun but exhausting! Very Happy

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first flight out of luton is 6.25am, just hand luggage, then pick any number of resorts around an hour away from geneva should give plenty of time to ski, then get a late flight back

After all it is free

I suppose (almost) anywhere in the Alps is doable as a day trip? You can fly out one evening to one of the big international airports which have good daily number of connections with SE: Munich, Zurich, Geneva, Nice, Milan, probably even Turin and Toulouse. Rent a car and you have a lot of options within 2hrs drive. Fly back on the last flight on the day of your skiing. It's really just a question of how much money you are willing to spend.

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Ski Daytrip from the UK (yes, yes, I know..)

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