 Poster: A snowHead
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Firstly apologies if this is in the wrong forum. We are a group of around 10-12 and looking for a new destination this year. Have done Morzine, Three valleys, Nendez in the last few years but looking for some great skiing plus a bit of night life. We are looking for a 3 night break leaving on a thurs returning on a sunday either at the end of jan or early feb with no more than a 3 hour transfer. I have had a look around myself but now my eyes are hurting after failing to find any accommodation in St Anton so any other recommendations would be gratefully received. Thank you!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Try Supertravel for St Anton short breaks - very good company.
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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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Or try Mountain Sun. Google MountainSun Limited
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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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Chamonix?
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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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@Niners, welcome to Snowheads  Yes, Chamonix would be a good call, or any of the Grand Massif resorts (Samoens, Morillon, Les Carroz, Flaine) - all have great skiing and short transfers from GVA. From Innsbruck, Mountain Sun have Dolomites resorts too - short transfer, excellent skiing.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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But @Montana, Innsbruck not a great weekender airport from the Uk as I doubt direct flights. Munich maybe for Austria but then you're double the transfer time vs from Geneva to get anywhere.
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Easyjet and BA fly daily to Innsbruck from Gatwick
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From Munich airport you can reach the SkiWelt in Austria.
It is about 2:30 to Woergl, and then you can go on by train to Itter, Hopfgarten or Westendorf, or it is 2:00 to Kufstein for a shuttle bus transfer to Ellmau, Going, Scheffau or Söll.
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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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@paulh764, so they do! but timings not perfect for a long weekend IMO
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@Niners, Bear in mind that the first weekend in Feb is the start of the French vacances scolaires which will make finding non Sat-Sat accommodation significantly more difficult and expensive.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Courmayeur or La Thuile from either Geneva or Turin may help with the problem of the Vacances Scolaires.
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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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Where are you based? If you're near Heathrow, that opens up Zurich for weekend trips. I twice took the 16:00 Thursday Swiss flight last year, and flew back on the Sunday night. Zurich opens up a few more resorts.
Have a look at Flims/Laax. Great skiing and there appeared to be plenty of apres.
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Thanks for all the replies. will start looking into them tonight.
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You know it makes sense.
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From Zurich it's also possible to take the train to many resorts in CH, which is not usually the case in other countries.
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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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@under a new name, a somewhat blinkered view  It is possible in Austria (from Salzburg, Innsbruck), in Germany (from Munich, Memmingen, Friedrickshafen), France (from Lyon, Grenoble and Chambery), in Italy (Turin, Milan, Verona, Venice). And trains from Switzerland have been known to go to their neighbours too! 
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Poster: A snowHead
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To be honest, I've always done my short breaks in Switzerland because the hoteliers are more inclined to do 'non-standard' stays and many resorts have railway stations in resort with fewer changes for buses etc. Short breaks are all about more time in resort, less time getting there!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Niners,
adding to your suggestions, Engelberg is another good option (90mins from Zurich, train option). I'd try to make it Jan if you can - in my experience weekend accommodation is easier in Jan than Feb
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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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@jedster, Engelberg is my short-break resort of choice. If you fly to Zurich on a Thursday evening, there's a direct bus shuttle from the airport to resort.
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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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| Quote: |
If you fly to Zurich on a Thursday evening, there's a direct bus shuttle from the airport to resort.
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good tip - didn't know that
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Does Grenoble have an international airport?
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yes, sort of, but it's well north of the city and it takes a while to get into the station. The only time I had to work that out (when I'd taken friends to catch a flight but they were all cancelled) the only answer seemed to be be to drive them into Grenoble - we couldn't find any convenient bus, though perhaps they exist. We found a train to Geneva but it trundled along, apparently, then stopped in an obscure station. My friends couldn't understand the announcement but a friendly Frenchman told them they'd have to get out and wait for a different train which might be coming along.
Not very joined up......
Getting a swift train from the airport to the centre of a ski resort sounds great. But in most French resorts a hired car is probably a more reliable way of reaching a weekend destination (except Chamonix of course, where there are so many bus options including, now, the cheap easyJet one).
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Germany is sort of a ski country, Garmisch might be a slightly different idea for a few days. Direct train from Munich and it is a town not just a resort so you might find more accommodation options. It is not a huge ski area but not bad for a weekend.
Did Morillon last year for a short trip and +1 for Grand Massif for convenience. Very few short break accommodation options though. Go for Flaine for a bit more Apres life.
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@under a new name, You can get trains to Kitzbuhel, Zillertal, SkiWelt, and lots more. All I need now is flights from Scotland to Innsbruck and Salzburg to save the trek from Munich.
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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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@Col the Yeti, I used to fly regularly from Aberdeen - Frankfurt/Amsterdam - Innsbruck with KLM, but it would really depend on timings as to whether that works out better than just getting the train from Munich, which is pretty painless. Train from Zurich also works well for Arlberg, Montafon, etc.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Samerberg Sue, what I was really meaning, although I am sure you understood, is that typically, Swiss integrated transport is such that you can get from the airport directly to the skiing (albeit perhaps changing and maybe to a postbus).
Italy (or at least the areas I know well) either don't have trains or the services are dreadful. Aosta gets a pass on this one as it apparently used to have good services but some sort of weather took them out and it's not an overnight process replacing them.
Very few areas in France have AFAIK rail stations in the village (e.g. none of PdS, GM, EK, etc,).
I did not mean "getting close", I meant "getting to".
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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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slightly off topic but I recently booked my annual long weekend skiing with a mate. We are going by train to try something different. Schedule looks like this
Leave office at 4 on Friday
Eurostar to Paris
Good dinner in Paris 
sleeper (4 berth cabin) to St Gervais arrive 0830 Sat
taxi to Les Contamines (15mins)
Monday - dinner somewhere in St G
sleeper about 8PM
6am Paris
Eurostar to London back in the office 0930
Sounds quite civilised no? 3 full days skiing with one day of holiday - pretty good.
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@jedster, sounds OK if you are good at sleeping in trains - and at least you'll be lying down. Whereas sitting up in a train all night...... 
That sort of trip is much more feasible when you have your own place.
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You know it makes sense.
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just booked up self-organised St Anton long weekend for mid-January, Thursday - Monday. Heathrow to Zurich with Swiss (lots of flight options), train to resort. Biggest challenge was accommodation because I'm fussy about being central, especially on a long weekend. Lot's of flexibility with Austrian pensions, but you might have to consider splitting the group across different accommodation. If you want to keep 10-12 people in one place I'd suggest a french resort with lots of self catering apartments, Les Arcs, ValT, alpe d'huez spring to mind, but issues might be with minimum stay as the french tend to prefer weekend to weekend bookings.
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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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sounds OK if you are good at sleeping in trains - and at least you'll be lying down
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in my limited experience I find bunks on trains very soporific - something about the gentle rocking and low rumble knocks me out 
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Poster: A snowHead
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in my limited experience I find bunks on trains very soporific - something about the gentle rocking and low rumble knocks me out
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Agreed. Not sure about the Eurostar upright situation but the couchettes are good I think.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Niners wrote: |
| Firstly apologies if this is in the wrong forum. We are a group of around 10-12 and looking for a new destination this year. Have done Morzine, Three valleys, Nendez in the last few years but looking for some great skiing plus a bit of night life. We are looking for a 3 night break leaving on a thurs returning on a sunday either at the end of jan or early feb with no more than a 3 hour transfer. I have had a look around myself but now my eyes are hurting after failing to find any accommodation in St Anton so any other recommendations would be gratefully received. Thank you! |
Easy one if you're in or near London. Skyworks flight from London City to Bern on Friday morning - you can be in any of the Jungfrau region resorts within an hour of landing (i.e. by lunchtime). Return on Monday. Would suggest Grindelwald if you want some nightlife.
ETA - flight schedule: http://flyskywork.com/en/flight-information/flight-schedule
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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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@Dr John, saw your post about St a ton. I'm looking for similar short stay accommodation but can't find any. Can you let me know where you booked?
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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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