Staying Around Verbier

A snowHead

Hello all, hope you're having a great ski season. I've been looking at Verbier for next January. I've seen some affordable rentals in Thyon and to a lesser extent Nendaz. What are these places like to stay at, regarding access to the rest of the 4 Vallees (ski buses and traversing piste), restaurant/ supermarket prices and any other practical stuff I've undoubtedly overlooked?

Quick secondary question- is Alpybus a good way of getting to the resort from Geneva?

Thanks snowHead

A snowHead

Have you looked at La Tzoumaz? This has a fast télécabine to Savoleyres but admittedly an old and slower gondola back from Verbier. Plus a 10Kms sledge run and an Audi Funpark. There's also a medium sized swimming pool in the télécabine building. Rentals here are usually cheaper than Verbier. For typical prices take a look at someone like Carron (http://www.carron-immobilier.ch/en/) and bear in mind the 'rooms' includes the lounge in CH, so 3 rooms = 2 bedrooms. In CH you usually get living space at the expense of bedrooms, compared to France (just a generalisation) and in most cases, an apartment will come with an underground parking space. La Tzoumaz is not a Party Hound place - it's more families and privately-owned apartments. There are bars and restaurants etc. but it's no Verbier and not as big as Nendaz.

The Webcam gives you a good overall impression of this satellite of Verbier (http://www.latzoumaz.ch/en/webcams/webcam-la-tzoumaz/webcam-la-tzoumaz.htm) and there's also the usual tourist office webpages http://www.latzoumaz.ch/en/index.htm

To give an idea, a 64m², 2-bedroom apartment with an underground parking place and central hot water and heating, boot room, sauna in the basement within walking distance of the télécabine and shops ranges from CHF 980 to 1450 a week (£755-£1,115). This would sleep 4 comfortably, six less so (using the living area sofabed).

I have to admit a bias as we have an apartment here. We generally either hire a car at GVA or go by public transport, which takes about 2½-3½ hours door to door on a Saturday. See the Swiss Rail timetable for integrated train, bus and télépherique schedules (https://www.sbb.ch/en). The train runs from right inside GVA. Personally, I'd go via train/bus/gondola rather than transfer taxi. If you're in a group with people arriving at different times from different airports then I think this gives the edge to public transport. It's annoying when everyone is waiting at GVA for the last person in the group to arrive on their delayed 'plane: by train, you can just arrive and get the next train out.

Switzerland has a reputation for being pricey but I think that if you hire an apartment then this keeps the costs down. Supermarket prices are on a par with a UK city. On-piste is reasonable as long as you keep to the more mass-market cafés and restaurants.

Nendaz has its merits but its main drawback is that to ski over to Siviez (gateway to Verbier) you have to use the old draglift and small télécabine up to Plan du Feu, with can be congested. Going back, you either télécabine down or take the challenging Itinerary run down to the black. But if it isn't school holidays, then this isn't too bad.

The 4 Valleys is a large area but most visitors don't ski it all. For example, when we stay in La Tzoumaz we ski over to Verbier and Bruson, and about as far as Plan du Feu and Conbatzeline (above Siviez). We don't bother to go over to Nendaz (because of the link) or Veysonnaz (because of the time it takes to get back). Similarly, friends have stayed in Les Collons and happily skied Verbier but not gone as far as La Tzoumaz. I wouldn't disagree that Verbier is the ideal base, but accommodation can be a lot more expensive.

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

We have a chalet in Haute Nendaz. The lift infrastructure has been improved considerably in the last few years and the improvement in snow cannons has meant that the link to Verbier, and the other valleys is open all season. It takes 40 minutes to an hour to ski to Siviez where is is simple to get to Verbier. Alternatively there is a complementary bus ski bus that runs every 20 - 30 minutes to Siviez. Nendaz is a working village open all year round. It has some lovely bars and restaurants which are considerably cheaper than in Verbier.
The easiest way from Geneva - if you are not driving, is to catch a train to Sion. They depart from Geneva Airport every 30 minutes direct to Sion. At Sion there is a bus which meets most trains and takes you directly to Haute Nendaz.
Well worth considering.

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@faithsdaddy, Veysonnaz is great in January, post the New Year rush. Some nice chalets and apartments to suit all requirements. +1 for train to Sion.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@Swissie, is there a ski bus to get from Veysonnaz to Verbier (and other resorts)? Does it have a reasonable range of supermarkets and other shops?

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@faithsdaddy, There is no bus to Verbier, you have to ski over which depending on ability is a great day out, to drive there you you are going down the mountain, motorway to Martigny and then back up to Verbier. From Veysonnaz you can ski Thyon, Les Collons and Nendaz....masses of skiing. There is a supermarket in the 'station' area of the village and another in the old village, together with a butcher and baker. Its not a big flashy resort but some nice bars and great restaurants mountainside and in the village. Go to www.veysonnaz.ch Accommodation wise it ranges from basic apartments to some very lovely upmarket chalets.

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

- Not that I'm aware of.

The geography of the 4 Valleys (Veysonnaz-Les Collons, Nendaz, Verbier-Bruson & La Tzoumaz-Savoleyres) is such that each 'spoke' of the Verbier hub is very time-consuming to travel between by road. Basically, you have to drive down into the valley, along the Rhône Valley floor and then back up the mountain again. Staying in one spoke and getting stuck in another is not something you want to do, hence my comment that if you were staying in Veysonnaz, you'd ski Verbier, but probably not venture as far as Savoleyres (la Tzoumaz) and vice-versa. Staying in Nendaz, you'd ski Verbier and Veysonnaz but probably not bother with Savoleyres or Bruson. And so on.

All this is very dependent on weather conditions - obviously you can range further if the weather is calm and sunny compared to snowing/windy. I've never been stranded skiing the 4 Valleys but I'm very conservative about range: I've dropped out of a group to return home - the others didn't make it back in time and had to hire a taxi in Verbier. Think £200+

I think if you're going outside of the school holidays, then really, any of the Verbier Satellites (Veysonnaz-Les Collons, Nendaz and La Tzoumaz) will probably meet expectations and as everyone has said, be a lot cheaper (or more space for the same money).

They're all accessible by public transport but depending on numbers, car/van hire can be cheaper or similar cost to rail. What I like about bus/télépherique/train is that once you're on the train out of Martigny/Sion, the end point is the GVA station. But I'd admit that if you're carrying skibags and bootbags, the car will mean less lugging-about. I'd recommend you take a look at the GVA web pages for car hire which land you on the '.ch' pages of the main hire companies (http://www.gva.ch/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-72/) as these sometimes have offers and rates that aren't shown via the generic .com page.

An alternative is to base yourself in the valley and drive each day to your resort. There's a nice thermal spa resort between Martigny and Sion called the Bains de Saillon (www.bainsdesaillon.ch/en/) but although this is a more 'ordinary' type of spa, it may still be a bit pricey for you. The Martigny-Saillon-Sion part of the valley has a lot of great ski resorts within reasonable driving distance and usually there are area ski passes on offer like the Valais Skicard www.valais.ch/en/information/landingpage/valais-skicard. This approach isn't everyone's cup of tea but can appeal to a mixed group where some people would prefer to do the spa 'wellness' thing or explore some local attractions if the weather is bad.

Valais ski areas include the 4 Vallées, Crans-Montana, Ovronnaz (which is also a spa), and a bit further Chambéry as gateway to the Portes du Soleil, Aigle-Les Diablerets-Glacier3000, and even Chamonix (stretching it a bit but feasible in good conditions). Plus a variety of lesser-known but charming places like St.Luc and Zinal.

After all it is free

Thyon is great for people of all abilities and very easy to access other parts of the 4 Vallees - but way less crowded. Can easily ski over to Verbier within an hour and yet you also have a wide variety of piste/off-piste in the area. Accommodation is much less expensive (www.chaletmaridadi.com). And as LaForet says - loads of other things to do from dog sledding, thermal baths, paragliding.....Go check it out.

@faithsdaddy, Don't forget Le Chable, in Verbier in 8 minutes, skiing in 16. Plenty of accommodations options and a lively scene, direct train links from GVA, one change in Martigny.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

@faithsdaddy, what is your skiing ability and preferred type of skiing? Assuming after NY week Verbier is not crowded in January so don’t worry about that. February would be a different matter. Thyon is far from the best Verbier skiing by long drag lifts and lots of (dull) traversing in both directions. If you are good skiers Nendaz is better but the access is still painful. Le Chable better still and probably cheaper - and easy access to the best tree skiing in Bruson!

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Staying Around Verbier

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