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Avoiding French half term? Where to go?

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Hello!
I'm on the hunt for next years holiday. I would much rather New Year but with the bad conditions over the last few years I think we'll stick to Feb half term for now. We are in Wales so ours is from 17th Feb 18 which is the week after England. However it does clash with zones A and C in France I think. So we are wondering about venturing out of France!

Our requirements are:
Drivable (usually go to Morillon) without needing to drive over night or stop more than once in a hotel on the way.
Ski in / out
Self catered apartment (I'm not expecting anyone to find an actual apartment for us but suggestions of resorts with this kind of accommodation would be fab)
Snow!

I'm wondering about Switzerland but have never been there so know nothing. Austria seems a bit far to drive?

Thank you! Xx
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Italy.
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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?
Isn't that a bit far to drive?
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Italy.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
We've driven to Mayrhofen every year for the past 7 years and found it very manageable with 2 drivers.
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breeze11 wrote:
Isn't that a bit far to drive?

Depends which bit of Italy, through the Mont Blanc tunnel to the Aosta valley isn't further than lots of France.
Actually plenty of people find Austria a reasonable drive though I have no personal experience.
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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Quote:

Isn't that a bit far to drive?

Not really, the Aosta valley is roughly the same distance as the Tarrentaise. Even the Dolomites are within driving range.
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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:

I would much rather New Year but with the bad conditions over the last few years I think we'll stick to Feb half term for now.

The statistics for my resort, Les Arcs show that New Year is busier than the 1/2 term month. Christmas is usually quieter. Easter is a couple weeks earlier next year, April 1st. Why not look at Easter?
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Champoluc frinstance would be typically 90 minutes extra from Morillon - you need to be careful about tunnel q's though at half term....
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Ski the Net with snowHeads
We drive to Austria every year. With an overnight stop in Belgium. The distance is slightly further than the French Alps, but there are a couple of things in its favour.
No tolls (or speed limits on some Autobahns) on the Autobahns, but you do need a vignette for the Austrian motorways. So no queues at the peage.
Most (not all) Austrian resorts are in the valleys, with wide roads without much incline so once you get there there will are virtually no queues on the roads. But, for the central and eastern Austrian Alps you do have to get round Munich where you will encounter queues on the motorway.
In the main the ski areas are smaller, but it is very easy to drive to other resorts. St Johann in Tirol has about 800km of pistes accessible within 20mins drive for example.
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breeze11, if you are driving then forget ski-in-ski-out (just adds expense) and make use of the car.
Go to Nendaz. Middle of 4-valleys. Much cheaper than Verbier. Lots of excellent s/c accommodation. Easy drive from UK - similar to Tarentaise. Lovely resort.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Pila.
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
As you didn't mention price as a priority in your post I'll stick Verbier in the mix. IMHO Europe's best ski resort for advanced skiers who enjoy the finer things in life. Airbnb for apartments? I'd second the suggestion above to consider Easter rather than NY or Feb. Typically, better weather, less people and with most of the skiing above 2000m the snow is still guaranteed.

Is there anything better than a beer in the sunshine after an exhilarating days skiing in magnificent Alpine surroundings 😎

Let's hope this Easter delivers the goods!
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Outside of France I took my daughter to Zermatt, St Anton and Laax at half term. None were too busy and Laax was actually very quiet.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
I'm (obviously) going to second @Claude B's suggestion of Laax - since I live here! My in-laws drove from north Staffordshire a few weeks ago; if you stay in Calais or Lille overnight, it's a full but easy day's drive to get here and it's motorway all the way except the last 15-20 mins. Just to add to the options, we just renovated my smaller flat here in 2016 and will be letting it out next season (well, from the summer, but we haven't done the website yet!) - you can get an impression from my renovation thread last year:

http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=125595

The flat is 150m from the main base station lift, with private underground parking.

The Laax website is www.laax.com and with 70% of the area over 2000m, it's not only the largest linked area entirely within Switzerland but snow sure too.

</plug> Wink
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Isn't the big issue of driving to somewhere other than France is that you need winter tyres. Legal requirement in Germany and Austria.

Maybe not so in Switzerland but you can still be fined if your lack of winter tyres causes a problem. (Although I have friends that drive to Verbier most years at half term without winter tyres).

I say big issue, it's obviously easily solvable by buying and fitting a set of winter tyres, but then you have the faff and hassle of switching them on and off every year, plus you'll need to stump up the initial expense of GBP 400-800 to buy a set.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@Gazzza, Cost me £360 for Goodyears.
I run them year round and they last as long as summers really.
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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?
Gazzza wrote:
winter tyres, but then you have the faff and hassle of switching them on and off every year


Seriously? An hour's effort to avoid sliding off the edge of a mountain? Or a few quid to your pet garage just to change the wheels over? Just how easy do you want life??
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To spend an hours effort simply changing the wheels I'd also have to pay for a new set of wheels as well as a new set of tyres.

When I costed up winters for the car we usually drive to the alps in I recall it was around £600 give or take. New wheels on top ??? Another grand maybe ? (I'm guessing) Either way it's not just "a few quid", even if I were to just buy the tyres and pay a garage to swap the tyres.

Like I say, more faff and expense than the average person wants for a simple 1 week holiday. Maybe worth it if you drive out several times of the season, or live in a cold part of the UK that warrants running winters in winter.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Come at Easter. Roads are melting 🌞
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@breeze11, Austria is an easy drive.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Gazzza wrote:
Isn't the big issue of driving to somewhere other than France is that you need winter tyres. Legal requirement in Germany and Austria.

Maybe not so in Switzerland but you can still be fined if your lack of winter tyres causes a problem. (Although I have friends that drive to Verbier most years at half term without winter tyres).

I say big issue, it's obviously easily solvable by buying and fitting a set of winter tyres, but then you have the faff and hassle of switching them on and off every year, plus you'll need to stump up the initial expense of GBP 400-800 to buy a set.


I got a more "all round" set that still head the snowflake symbol when I needed new tyres and left them on all year. No faff, no hassle.
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