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Where would you live in EU for great skiing?

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
@Tom_Ski,
Bourg St Maurice, Innsbruck, Morzine and Chamonix would be a good shortlist I think.

Bourg favourite if extensive range of skiing within easy driving distance is priority. The others may have more all year round appeal.

Nothing against Verbier, but would living costs be significantly higher, if that’s important to you?
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skimastaaah wrote:
The Montafon.





Done! Toofy Grin


For a year..? Hell NO! Great skiing, but I was bloody happy to move back to IBK after a year and a half there.

Edit: other than Feldkirch, as mentioned
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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?
North east Italy might be good. Reliable early season skiing in the Dolomites cheaper accommodation and better weather than Austria or France. Bit further to drive if not skiing in the Dolomites although it may be possible to use the train ?
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Geneva or Zurich …. obviously
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Bodeswell wrote:
@BobinCH, I agree with the sentiment but keep in mind his wife is a non-skier. Verbier might be a bit much for a season if you don’t ski.


Maybe if she’s really a city person but personally I would much rather be waking up in the mountains than in the valley. The lake - Geneva, Lausanne, Vevey/Montreux is often shrouded in cloud during the winter while it is bluebird up high. They are wet and muddy, while Verbier is glistening in snow. The views are great when it’s clear but not a patch on the stunning vistas up high. And the Summers are definitely more fun and active up in the mountains. My family moves up there as soon as the kids are on holiday. And with a car or using the train system it’s easy enough to get to Martigny, Sion, Montreux, Lausanne, Geneva etc or over to Chamonix in France or the Aosta valley in Italy.

Re Nix comment, I’ve heard people rave about Zurich (I don’t know it well) but I rarely hear good things about Geneva. My (albeit skiing) mates who work and live there have apartments in Verbier or similar for their weekends.
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thoughts on Luzern? I spent one night there last month, and it seemed great, but it was a beautiful spring day. How's skiing access from there?
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Innsbruck
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After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
@mr. mike, we are just up the road in Kanton Zurich. It’s beautiful and easy train ride to Engelberg for example and a whole load of other places like Stoos Within about 30mins drive as well as the big boys like Wengen, Andermatt etc
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[quote="Riccardo"]
Mother hucker wrote:


Plus, the Austrian Alps are genuinely gorgeous once the snow has gone, something which can't be said for any French resort I've passed through.


On the contrary, the French Alps are stunning in summer. It's a bit daft to write off the mountain range of an entire country based on "passing through" a few resorts. In most places you could be hiking or biking, and have the mountains to yourself, without any signs of habitation or skilifts. wink
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Austria, always Austria.

Great infrastructure and great conditions. Good for families too.
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Somewhere near Aime in the La Plagne/Arcs valley on road to BSM.

I like the skiing around there, been briefly in summer and liked area,

This is based on absolute no research and if I ever had the money to actually do this I would look around a bit more Laughing
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
I'd have to go Austria. Somewhere around Innsbruck.

So much access to different areas in Austria but also into the Dolomites as well. All within a few short minutes to 2-3 hours away.
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Schladming
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You know it makes sense.
Interestingly I replied to this post mid April and said Innsbruck or Dornbirn, I'd now revise my comment and say Pettneu am Arlberg, small enough to be quiet and out of the way for summer, yet close enough to enjoy the best that winter and summer brings (Skiing/ mountain-biking/ hiking), also south facing village. Well placed for train trips to IBK, ZRH and driving into Bavaria, Italy etc. That was actually my loose retirement goal for a few years time but that's pretty unlikely now because of B****t, but the one thing that the pandemic has demonstrated for me is that remote is best, imv anyway. We live remote in UK, with access to cities if we need them (rarely use them outside work) and it works great, i'd be looking for a similar set-up in the Alps (or more likely NW Scotland now).
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Those of you with British passports have left it a little late...
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
@queenie pretty please, Work gets in the way......looking at the positive though, not being old enough to retire for a few years yet is no bad thing, love my work and what it brings, just a shame that we live in UK!
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@Markymark29, I thought that too, but the simple answer was to find work here instead.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
So many choices, so little time. And this COVID thing has put a damper on our plans to hit Europe this winter. So now our plan is to spend the month of January here in the US in South Lake Tahoe, which is the base for Heavenly, and not far from Kirkwood and Sierra At Tahoe. Then we’re heading to Utah for a couple weeks at Park City.

From there we’ll turn our attention to getting back to the UK for some family time, and also with some luck the ability to travel to Europe without quarantining for two weeks. If that’s an option by then I’d like to head to Bavaria or Austria for a little look around, and depending on timing and ski conditions, check out at least a couple of the places you guys have mentioned. Innsbruck, Garmisch, maybe der Schweitz Smile.
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I’d live in Grenoble, so many choices from there!
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Innsbruck or perhaps Wörgl (its a sort of crossroads with easy access to Munich and Venice by road or rail)
But the more I think about it ...
It has to be Innsbruck.
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Tom_Ski wrote:
So many choices, so little time. And this COVID thing has put a damper on our plans to hit Europe this winter. So now our plan is to spend the month of January here in the US in South Lake Tahoe, which is the base for Heavenly, and not far from Kirkwood and Sierra At Tahoe. Then we’re heading to Utah for a couple weeks at Park City.

From there we’ll turn our attention to getting back to the UK for some family time, and also with some luck the ability to travel to Europe without quarantining for two weeks. If that’s an option by then I’d like to head to Bavaria or Austria for a little look around, and depending on timing and ski conditions, check out at least a couple of the places you guys have mentioned. Innsbruck, Garmisch, maybe der Schweitz Smile.


Are resorts opening in the states? I thought the situation over there was even worse than Europe?
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Quote:

Are resorts opening in the states? I thought the situation over there was even worse than Europe?

Yes. I have the Vail Epic Pass, and they have all sorts of new procedures this season, but they’re going to open their resorts. Info here: https://www.epicpass.com/info/winter-experience.aspx
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After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
@queenie pretty please, why? People from outside the EU can still move there. Will be more complicated but nothing to say we can’t do it.

Moving there for work is possibly easier if you have the language skills and no children in school. Again not impossible but harder.
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If it's about living there, not just a ski trip, Italy would always be my top choice - great people, you will easily make friends, great food, lots to do. Trento is a beautiful town within a short reach of all the mountains, yet it would still have some "city life" so the days you are not in the mountains would be quite nice as well. You have Venice, Bergamo, Lake Como and some other amazing places all about 1-1.5 hours drive from you and you can also easily go skiing on the Austrian glaciers out of season if you like. Also, life in Italy would be considerable cheaper than Switzerland, France and even Austria.
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My wife and I moved to a small town called 'Seis' or 'Siusi' for all of January and February in 2020 (the names are all confusing because everywhere has a German name and an Italian name) which is on the furthest extreme of the Dolomiti Superski network.

I have to say this was largely against the advice of the majority on here, thanks to the non-central location.

However; we had an incredible time, and if you're even halfway competent you can ski from the Seiser Alm, do the Sella Ronda both ways and be back in time for tea.

The major benefit for us was the 35min drive to Lidl in Bolzano for €3 bottles of decent Italian Red - we fed ourselves (including wine) for about €40ea pw.

A couple of times during our stay I drove across to the far side of the map, skied at Falcade, spent a whole day at Cortina (although you can ski there and back in a day if you want - and get the traditional horse lift back!) and went to a few spots where an English accent was totally unheard of (bliss!) like Alpe Lusia for the proper trad Italian experience.

I don't mind driving to get to lifts in a morning, but the local lift was served by a free bus up from town anyway. The lack of apres in Seis itself was a fair compromise to pay for the low cost of the whole endeavour; the amount of skiing you can do on a dolomitisuperski season pass is insane value.

Anyway - if you're interested, I'm happy to offer some more specific advice if you want to drop me a PM.
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boyanr wrote:
If it's about living there, not just a ski trip, Italy would always be my top choice - great people, you will easily make friends, great food, lots to do. Trento is a beautiful town within a short reach of all the mountains, yet it would still have some "city life" so the days you are not in the mountains would be quite nice as well. You have Venice, Bergamo, Lake Como and some other amazing places all about 1-1.5 hours drive from you and you can also easily go skiing on the Austrian glaciers out of season if you like. Also, life in Italy would be considerable cheaper than Switzerland, France and even Austria.
Trento is a good call. In particular, there's an Urban Rail service that links the town directly to Marilleva which is on the lift system that serves Madonna di Campiglio.
Another good, decent sized Italian mountain town is Bolzano. I spent a couple of unscheduled days there when I got locked out of the BU5 4 DUB and it was a very pleasant place to be.
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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.
@Boris, you mean before 31st December 2020. So two months and one week. That's what I meant by leaving it a little late.

After that you are in the murky territory of immigration regulations and work or study permits. For example me, living and working in Austria. But if I had waited until 2021 to do this, I would have received a big fat no.
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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
@queenie pretty please, yes but is still going to be possible after that. Not as easy as when we were in EU, and I wish we were, but it will still be possible. We'll just have to apply as 3rd country
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Bolzano, Innsbruck, Briançon, Annecy, Sion or Aosta.

Of those, if I had the chance, I would have gone for either Innsbruck or Sion.

Innsbruck is a really nice city in a spectacular setting. You have so many great alternatives within an hour of traveling in addition to quite fast travel to the Dolomites. As a bonus, you can walk to the Nordkette funicular from the city center and have some great turns above the city in steep terrain. The summer brings endless opportunities for great cycling.

Sion is a cozy place surrounded perhaps by the best mountains in Europe. Fast access to Zermatt, Saas Fee, Val d’annivers, Crans Montana and four valleys (Verbier). In addition, the trips to Chamonix or the huge Portes du Soleil are not very long and the same goes for Andermatt if going east.
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Before Brexit we could have lived in these places (except Switzerland)if we had wanted to. Now it will be much more difficult. With COVID we carnt even visit them Sad
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Fewer options directly on your doorstep but well-connected to all sorts of ski destinations- another Swiss base could be Lugano. It's a wonderful town, with the added bonus of being able to do your shopping on the cheap just over the border.
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@Boris, it will only be possible for people who fulfil immigration criteria. So it would not be possible for me if I didn't already live here.
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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?
Although we have a place in Austria, my destination of choice for a year with a modest budget would probably be Trento. It’s got everything in both winter and summer. Bolzano is also lovely, but is not ideally located if you want to ski frequently.

If money was not object, then perhaps the Geneva, Zurich, Innsbruck or Annecy areas.
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@Austrian Seagull, how is Trento more 'ideally located if you want to ski frequently' than Bolzano?

For each, the nearest smallish ski area is about 25mins away.
When it comes to more 'significant' skiing, U can access the Sela Ronda at Ortisei, about 40-45mins from Bolzano while Marilleva is an hour,15 from Trento. OK, there's the convenience of the Urbano rail service from Trento but it's not any quicker.

I'm not arguing that Trento isn't a good spot, just trying to understand why you think it so much better than Bolzano?
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Gosh, what a wonderful question.
I think I'd go for the Spanish side of the Pyrenees. Much of the Alps are just so developed and busy.
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We were in Bolzano in 2017 as our departure point for a fantastic week of hiking “hut to hut” (not really huts - more like deluxe pensions). One of our stays was at the Las Vegas, a ski resort hotel on top of the mountain in the Dolomites. Bolzano was delightful, but it was a long trip to get to Milan, the closest place with an international airport, I think.

Hadn’t heard of Sion - great tip, @lukeribs. Thanks for the report on your experience there. We love Italy for the same reasons you and other have mentioned - wonderful, friendly people, great food, low cost of living, beautiful country.

This thread has given us so many ideas and places to consider and investigate further.

Huge thank you to everyone - you’ve been so generous in sharing your experience and perspectives. Love it!
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Tom_Ski wrote:
Bolzano was delightful, but it was a long trip to get to Milan, the closest place with an international airport, I think.

Apart from Innsbruck, Verona and Venice...

Incidentally, we looked at Bolzano and that area before deciding to move to Innsbruck (stayed in Barbiano) – nice, but we decided it was too far from the mountains to go on a whim. There are also good reasons for the large number of South Tyroleans who live north of the Italian border...
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admin wrote:
@Austrian Seagull, how is Trento more 'ideally located if you want to ski frequently' than Bolzano?

For each, the nearest smallish ski area is about 25mins away.
When it comes to more 'significant' skiing, U can access the Sela Ronda at Ortisei, about 40-45mins from Bolzano while Marilleva is an hour,15 from Trento. OK, there's the convenience of the Urbano rail service from Trento but it's not any quicker.

I'm not arguing that Trento isn't a good spot, just trying to understand why you think it so much better than Bolzano?


I don’t disagree regarding proximity to ski areas. Neither Bolzano nor Trento are ideal, and Bolzano is probably better located from that point of view. Out of the two places I’ve just an overall preference for Trento from the small number of times that I’ve visited them, partly perhaps due to its proximity to Lake Garda and Verona.
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Bolzano and Trento are just 30 min apart on a highway so access to ski is pretty much the same from both, but Trento being a bigger and more beautiful city with more "city life" to offer. Also Lago di garda is close by, a great place to hike around in summer.

Innsbruck is a nice city, but I can't live on Austrian food for more than a week Very Happy
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@Peter S, Switzerland too (before Brexit) - due to freedom of movement rules with the EU.

It will now sadly be subject to a quota, but at least it is a quota that is more generous than for all or most other 3rd countries and is about equivalent to the current average number of British migrants per year
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