 Poster: A snowHead
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Hello Snowheads
I am beginning to plan for ski trip in mid January.Been thinking about going to Kronplatz for a few years and would appreciate any inside information,ie, where's best location to stay ,which villages have best access to slopes and which have best bars and restaurants .
Cheers
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Are you likely to stay in Kronplatz for all your skiing, or are you going to want day trips to the main Sella Ronda area (via bus to Pedraces), as that might affect your location unless you have your own vehicle.
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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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Probably will not venture far. My wife likes blues and some reds and a comfy hotel with a spa.I get the odd afternoon to myself as well.Last child will be off to uni by then as well.
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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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Well that means you don't have to stay in San Martino then (where I have stayed), which has absolutely nothing going on, except for the connecting bus!
San Vigilio seemed a bit bigger (there's someone on here who goes every year if you do a search), and then Brunico is a proper town. One of the villages has a train that connects to the cable car, but I can't remember which it is (Olang?) so that gives you more options as it also connects to at least one other ski area (Alta Pusteria I think) as well as between some of the villages.
There are lots of fancy spa hotels in the area, have a look on some of the more upmarket sites. Plenty of reds and blues in this area. Kronplatz is basically a dome with a couple of spurs, so on the main hill even the blacks are fairly tame. Piculin is pretty steep though, and best done first thing in the morning before it becomes a slush induced accident magnet.
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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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What are your main priorities?
We have stayed in Olang/Valdaora some years ago but now prefer Sankt Vigilio. Not much by way of nightlife. Several hotels that look "good quality" but we tend to prefer self catering as we find eating out not too expensive and like to sample local food in several different eateries. I like Fana Ladina in the (Sankt Vigilio) town centre for a more expensive but different meal.
Hotel La Bronta is on the Kronplatz side of town and right at the bottom of the Miara piste (blue run back into town) but across a very minor road so you do have to take skis off to walk 10 paces. I'm pretty sure they don't have a spa though.
There are some very nice looking hotels on the other side of the village and in the centre and some of those certainly have spas.
Crossing the village is easy as there is a gondola (until about 5.00pm) across town.
Reischach/Riscone is at the bottom of two blacks (I like them) and as with most sides of Kronplatz you can download by gondola so level of skiing ability isn't crucial. I mention Reischach because there is a lively-ish bar at the foot of the piste - the K1 Bar. Also the Kron4 leisure centre is close by with pools sauna etc. We have never stayed at Reischach but can see that it would suit many people. It's on the wrong side of the mountain for gentle pistes but as I say you can download in the gondola, has a lively bar and Kron4 is close.
Bruneck/Brunico is near Reischach but a short drive or bus away. Handy for Kron4. A much bigger town. Wouldn't be my first choice.
Perca/Percha is another village we haven't stayed in. It has a railway station with access to the pistes. It's at the bottom of a long piste ?Reid? which again is served by a gondola so you can download if you wish. I think this piste (?Reid?) is a red but really it's 99% blue.
The reasons we like Sankt Vigilio are:
Attractive village
Easy access to easy pistes
Still easy enough to get up and down the main Kronplatz mountain
Good value eating out and good food
Pistes on both sides of the village
Friendly (but the villages are all friendly)
Choice of places for a beer at the end of the day (La Bronta as you come down, there's a wine bar down some stairs near ?La Stoa? Which is small but ok, several others also ok)
Good selection of places for good value evening meal
Plenty of eateries on the mountain (but most of these are accessible from all the villages) especially Schnapskurve / Chi Vai / and a couple I can't remember the names of for the moment)
Night skiing on a very short piste
Any questions?
What is less good?
The transfer from Munich always seems to take forever - we have started using Verona.
The whole area is limited in size. It is nice to have a day out in the main Dolomite area and do the Sella Ronda or Hidden Valley or Marmolada but although you can do this by free bus, if you miss the last bus then it's an expensive taxi ride. We find a hire car makes the whole thing better.
If you have specific questions then please ask. I'm not the "resident expert" by any means but have been there maybe 15 times in the last 10 years or so
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@JohnHSmith, Innsbruck is only 1.5 hrs if you can get a flight.
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Innsbruck is good but flights from airports accessible from Cumbria are not common and we never seem to find any cheap ones.
We did manage to fly Manchester - Bolzano one year using Austria Airways but have never managed that since.
We tend to favour Munich as Lufthansa has been good with ski carriage (although the pricing structure seemed to change last year) and I like Munich as a place.
We have tended to fly out on a Saturday morning early from Manchester. Drive to Munich on the following Saturday but have a day in Munich and a meal at the Hofbraukeller (not the same place as the Hofbrauhaus) before flying home to Manchester on the Sunday - and it all makes for a relaxing end to the trip.
But "Stau" is a German word we have become very familiar with and so last season we flew Manchester to Verona.
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Thanks for all the help.
We live 25 mins from terminal 5 so can get flights to Innsbruck or Verona.Often go to linate as its always available on Avios.Not many flights in and out of first two on a daily basis.We mostly go b& b as this gives best opportunity to go out and eat at night.
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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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We stayed in San Vigilio last January. @JohnHSmith posted some excellent advice which should come up in a search.
We're going again in March, Bristol to Innsbruck through Inghams. The village is set up for tourists and we'd like to have tried the restaurants but the hotel food was so good we had no need to. It's small enough, friendly and everyone spoke good English despite relatively few British tourists using the resort. The locals use Italian or German (Austrian?) or their own Ladin language. You're never quite sure which way to say Hello!
We did ski school (very good instruction) and hired everything - roughly 1100 per person. Our hotel (Teresa) had a spa.
I thought the slopes were quite busy at the end of January but not too bad. Carnevale (fasching) is at the end of February so we're waiting until March this time.
We hired lockers at the Miara depot. The walk up was only 5 minutes or so but too far to comfortably lug the gear. Everthing seemed to be well maintained and modern.
Overall it's a slightly upmarket place without throngs of British skiers and a very comfortable place to stay.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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