Serfaus/Fiss

A snowHead

Would you recommend this area? Looking for something new for next year and looking at this. Would the best airport be Munich? (Coming in from Manchester ).Thanks in advance for any tips!

A snowHead

@RWDLYN, definitely recommended yes. Something for everyone in Serfaus/Fiss/Ladis. Any of Munich, Innsbruck, or Zürich are ok if hiring a car.

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

+1. Great resort especially for families. We flew into Zurich and hired a car. It was an easy drive to Serfaus. Can be done by train also to Landeck and taxi or bus to the resort.

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Cracking place. Lovely civilized atmosphere, great hotels and a brilliant ski area.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

We had a lovely day there in December this year, when there was very little snow in any of the alps and the temperatures were
high. But they managed to keep about 3/4 of their runs open and they were in decent nick, which says something for the set up.
Its other + points would be large ski area. I think around 200kms IRC and well set up for beginners and children if that is of any use to you? Can't comment on villages themselves, as we drove there for a day- which was easy BTW. I would guess, Innsbruck is the closest airport and the easiest drive.

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Highly recommended. We've been to Serfaus for the last two half terms and already booked for next year. It's a cracking ski area offering runs for all levels of skiing and offers good progression. It has a world-class ski school and children are at the heart of everything the resort offers. Our tiny 4.5 year old daughter was going down reds by the end of the week.

Tips: Get there in good time on the day before day 1 to organise ski lessons and rentals as it can be manic in the morning as it relies on two gondolas to get skiiers and learners up the mountain. If you are thinking of getting ski lockers - suggest you use the newer / cleaner facilities at the top of the silver gondola to avoid 90% of the people who use the facilities at the bottom.

Travel: Innsbruck is just over 1 hour transfer away, Munich around 3 hours (IIRC) and Zurich probably around the same. The train option mentioned above is a great journey and fine if you have time. Friedrichshafen Airport is also good if you have the connections from Manchester and around 2 hour transfer.

Hotel: We stay at Hotel Bar - great for kids, but avoid if you are only adults.

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

I've spent a week each in Serfaus and Fiss. It's a great ski area and I'd happily go back. Fiss is a more compact village and you walk to the gondolas (3 different gondolas, all stations close together at one end of the village). It's a village on the side of a hill so from some accommodation the walk can be quite steep. Seems to be the norm in Fiss that everyone leaves skis/boots in a locker near the gondolas - hotel we stayed in included this in their price. Serfaus is a slightly bigger place but the main street is pretty much flat and there's an underground train from the car-park end of the village to the uplift end. Apparently it's the smallest underground system in the world. It only takes a few minutes from one end to the other and runs very frequently so isn't an issue. We left our skis/boots at the bottom of the gondola, but plenty people were getting on the underground with their skis every morning, probably depends on where you're staying and whether or not you want to shell out a few extra euros for the locker. I certainly would - it's great to be wearing normal shoes in the après bars 5 minutes after your last run of the day.

Both villages are good but I think Serfaus is slightly better for quick access to the highest part of the ski area (Masner) and also the biggest children's area (direct access by the red gondola).

Transfers from Munich by 4-Seasons - https://www.tirol-taxi.at/ - were reasonable and it's a pleasant drive. Check out Singapore Airlines for cheap Manchester-Munich flights. It's a proper big jet and skis go free!

After all it is free

Highly recommended. We stayed in Fiss and I would propably favor that over Serfaus as it seemed less busy in the morning and is a nice looking, athmospheric village. Not crazy wild in the evenings but a couple of nice restaurants was all we were after anyway. I don't think you will find much better skiing/lifts anywhere. I hope the crowds never find it Smile

+1. I've been 4 or 5 times there for a week each time. Always stayed in Fiss, which I think tend to be cheaper than Serfaus.

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Thanks for your views!

snowHeads are a friendly bunch. · Heading there 19-26 March 2016. Will post a TR on my return.

Heading there 19-26 March 2016.

Will post a TR on my return.

snow reports

Love that area!

I prefer Fiss over Serfaus as far as villages go. Fiss is quaint and beautiful, plus quicker to the lifts as someone mentioned earlier.

Resurrecting this thread a little as I'm looking for somewhere to go next year, and after spending the last few years skiing around the big French resorts (for perfectly valid reasons, living in France at the time made it easier) would be willing to try something different this time.

Fiss/Serfaus seems to satisfy my wishes of a decent size area with plenty of reds and a few blacks, so am interested to learn more. Advice so far looks good, but quick couple of questions. Firstly, is it possible/easy to get there without driving? Only one of our group actually has a licence, and not sure she's that keen on driving. Would be flying from Scotland and Midlands, so probably to Munich (at least for the Scottish contingent, seems really difficult to get to Innsbruck in decent time, whereas direct Edinburgh-Munich). Secondly, how easy is it to get round speaking only some very rusty German? Is plenty of English (or French, come to that) spoken? I would guess so, but you never know.

Cheers

You know it makes sense.

@mad for chelsea,

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

+1 to above

My TR here

We stayed at Hotel Lasinga, Fiss.

Brilliant time for me, my partner Nerys, my brother Matt, sister-in-law Laura, and my 7 year old nephew Sam.

TR here
http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=125375

Pics here (Facebook playing up)
https://www.facebook.com/mike.richa...10154102243683624.1073741876.506688623&type=3

A snowHead

Thanks for the responses. At the moment probably looking at flying into Munich, from where it looks like a bit of a slog to get there by train and bus (quickest trains to Landeck take three and a half hours with changes, plus bus, most longer than that). Have found some reasonable taxi quotes though, about 520 return so for four people would work out quite reasonable. Might go with that, provided we can all arrive at the same airport roughly at the same time.

I'm guessing from the piste map Serfaus might be preferable as a skiing base? gives easier access to the stuff off to the left (which looks to be where most of the blacks are too). Not too fussed about accomodation, we tend to go very basic and self-catered.

A snowHead

@mad for chelsea, either Serfaus or Fiss are fine. Stayed in Ladis once and that was a bit out of the way. Serfaus has the advantage of having an underground train running the length of the village, so no cars required.

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Check out Four Seasons for good taxi transfers from Munich. - https://www.tirol-taxi.at/?gclid=CPiI27TFmc4CFciRGwodTiwC_w

I've used their shared service to Fiss and they were excellent. If anybody in your group is flying from Manchester then be sure to check Singapore's prices. Really good value when you factor in the luggage allowance.

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Just thought I'd resurrect this thread as I'm looking for somewhere to go for a family trip next Feb 2019.
This area seem to tick a lot of boxes.
Easy access by train from Zurich,
Big intermediate area,

Family mum + dad + granddaughter + uncle + granny + granddad
does anyone have any hints for accommodation and which village to go for?

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

We have been to the area for the last four half terms. We have stayed in both villages and have concluded that Fiss is better during HT as that side is quieter. Ski school is better at Serfaus (but both are gold standard) as everything is in one place while At Fiss it’s isolated meaning you have to go back to the base once kids are dropped off to head back up the mountain. It’s not a biggie. From Fiss it’s easy to access Serfaus via good skiing.

In terms of hotels we stayed at Hotel Bar in Serfaus which is part of the Kinder Hotel group and is incredibly child friendly while taking good care of adults. In Fiss we stay at ghe Schloss Hotel which is on the slopes ski in/out. Feel free to PM me of any questions.

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@DrLawn, as per comments above tis a great place. We went to Serfaus this Easter and used Sunweb which had some good value deals. We got an apartment in a hotel attached to the St Zeno hotel/resort. Serfaus is a great place but not the cheapest, Easter is fine but if you were thinking of half term it can get busy and booked up.

From a purely skiing point of view I think Serfaus gives you the best access to the best bits of the area imho though others may disagree. It would be a bit of a trek from Fiss to the Masner area. For young kids having the kids area at about 2000 metres means great snow most of the time whereas in Fiss it's a bit lower at about 1500.

I don't think you can really go wrong though I think Ladis is a bit too far out of the way to get the best out of the area.

As per @Ozboy, the ski school is excellent, our kids absolutely loved it and are demanding to go back again.

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

Agree Serfaus a great area for any standard, exhilarating fast reds, accessible off piste, easy blue runs, challenging pistes, something for everybody. Serfaus is the most convenient of the villages, bear in mind that the lift system operates from the top end of the village but there is an underground train that connects bottom of the high street with the top end with intermediate stops. Cars are not allowed in, except to unload and park at your accommodation, otherwise restricted to a car park at village entrance if your residence does not have parking. The underground starts from car park area. Variety of accommodation along and off the high street, hotels, pensions, B and Bs.
Innsbruck is the closest airport about an hour away, alternative choice would be Zurich not Munich.
As others have pointed out, the connecting villages of Fiss and Ladis are lower (not much), cheaper and less convenient on the ski network.
Apres-ski does not compare with the likes of St. Anton or Ischgl, but there are a couple of livelyish bars, though.
Serfaus is popular with the Dutch and Germans but seems to be off the radar in the U.K.

After all it is free

Thanks for the quick feedback guys.
Our target week is Sat 9th Feb 2019 .. this is the week before the UK half term Stampede.
We would access by train from Zurich to Landeck and then take a Taxi

I dont think we need Mooserwirt type Apres, just a friendly bar would do.

I'm going to send a link to this thread to my daughter to have a mulch over.

Thanks again .. "I'll be back" to quote another Austrian Smile

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For late afternoon apres-ski, Dutch run George bar on the high street is good fun, in a civilised manner that is, and there is an "umbrella" bar nearby as well. That apart, doesn't seem to be much more, Serfaus mainly attracts families and sensible adults! Didn't go out at night but should imagine that@anarski, description of nightlife is accurate.
@DrLawn, it might be an idea to check out Dutch school holiday dates to avoid, unless you really want to be overwhelmed by the enlarged family groups of the Van Der Kerkofs and their ilk!

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We are heading to serfaus early next January, it seems to tick all the boxs, with lots for everyone. Great to find this thread

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@biddpyat, who did you book through? I really like SFL and I've had three great weeks there, but it's still tricky trying to find accommodation. Might go for Christmas again this year if I can find a decent apartment or hotel.

@Valkyrie, worth having a look at Sunweb https://ski.sunweb.co.uk, I used them for our Easter trip this year and it was a sort of package in that it was accommodation with ski passes included in the price. It worked out as very good value for us. If you're a ski club member you get another 10% off (I think its 10%). Note I just had an email alert earlier this week that the place we went to has only just had the pricing added to the website so it may be that not all prices are up there yet for next season.

I assume you've already tried the accommodation search on the Serfaus website? Although Serfaus isn't on the UK tour operators radar it is a popular place so the peak dates (for Dutch and German holidays at least) do seem to get booked up pretty quickly.

You know it makes sense.

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

We didn't go through a travel agent, we booked Ryan Air to Memmingen, ( 250 euro for four of us) then booked an apartment through booking.com, 850 for the week, two bedroom free parking. We knew nothing about Serfaus but were looking up areas within a two/three hour drive from Memmingen and when we saw Serfaus we looked up the skiing there and are impressed it seems to suit all of our needs.

A snowHead

Always felt serfaus was a bit left to right.. one edge one way. One edge the other. All on one side of a mountain .. seemed like one giant traverse

A snowHead

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We had an excellent week in Serfaus fiss ladis, from Jan 5th to 12th. We had so much snow, it was excellent. Some of the routes at the top of the mountains were closed due to so much snow, and some of the blacks due to being in Avalanche paths. For the first few days we had flat light conditions and white outs at the top , due to no tree line etc you had to put all your faith in your sense of direction and just keep pointing down. There was powder at the sides of the pistes lower down where you could go off piste safely, as it was snowing all the time it was soft fluffy powder. It was great for our girls as they got to practice off piste, and even on piste with so much snow it got bumpy early in the day, and by evening the bumps were high but soft, so the full week of skiing was wonderful fun. I think it is a great resort, great lift system, lots of different areas, terrain, it would be a fantastic resort for intermediates and for children learning to ski, . I would go back.

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Serfaus/Fiss

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