Three Valleys or Austria....

A snowHead

Hi All,

I am after some advice for a short 4 day trip in mid-March (12th - 16th). As a group of 4 young lads, we are after a budget conscious trip which we will book independently. Usually, the apres and nightlife is at the top of our list but this year we want our trip to focus on some good skiing - a couple of lively bars with a bit of live music of course would not go amiss but they are not essential.

We have narrowed it down to 3 options at present:-

MAYRHOFEN - fly to Munich and 2-3 hour transfer. The resort looks lively, with many food and drink options. However, we are concerned that the skiing is a little disconnected and it can be quite hard work getting up the gondola. Is this the case?

VAL THORENS - fly to Geneva and 3-4 hour transfer. Obviously quieter than Mayrhofen, but still with a reasonable amount of bars and apres options. This is our preferred choice I think, as we are in agreement that the skiing will be top notch in the 3V and there seems to be a decent amount of ski in & out options for a reasonable price.

LA TANIA - as above although I believe the resort is really quiet. However, I have heard from family and friends that this really is a top place to stay if you want to focus on the skiing with many chalets on the slopes coming into the village providing great ski in/ski out accommodation. Relatives recommended Chalet Telemark(?) but it doesn't appear to be open any longer.

I suppose what I am asking is if does anyone have any further info on any of the above resorts and their suitability for a group of 4 lads (all aged 23) over a weekend in mid-March. I looked into Brides-les-Bains which offers some cheaper accomodation, but as with our trip to Chamonix a couple of years back, it looks like it may include a lot of travelling on resort buses and gondolas to get on to the slopes etc.

As well as this, I would greatly appreciate if anyone has any recommendations on accommodation to suit our budget - it does not have to be anywhere fancy, just clean and ideally with good piste access. Our budget is as follows:-

Flights to Geneva/Munich.....£440 (£110pp)
Car Hire.............................£200 (£50pp)
Petrol.................................£120 (£30pp)
Ski Hire..............................£200 (£50pp) - a couple only require skis.
Lift Pass...........................c.£600 (£150pp for 3 day pass)
Accommodation...................£800 (£50pppn)

With La Tania in particular, a lot of the accommodation seems to be for a weeks stay only and quite inflexible over a 4 night stay.

Thanks for your help in advance,

Ross

A snowHead

@Robbo25, welcome to snowheads

While those are all great resorts, for a 3 or 4 day trip in mid march, I wouldn't recommend any of them as you'll lose a LOT of ski time in the transfer. Look for places much closer to the airport - for GVA try the Grand Massif, Chamonix or the Portes Du Soleil (all around a 90 mi transfer). Maybe look at flights to Salzburg and ski Saalbach Hinterglemm (90 min transfer)? Or fly to Turin and head up to Courmayeur (90 min transfer) for great skiing (incl chance to ski the Vallée Blanche into Chamonix) and and good nightlife in the town. 3 or 4 hours vs 90 mins is a big difference, with an early outbound flight you can be on the slopes by midday (or even do a full day at work then fly out later if that's an option)

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You said you have done Chamonix, so leaving that one out. We are going to Solden next week for Weds - Sunday short trip. Flights to Insbruck and then around 75mins transfer. Our accommodation is much more expensive but is half board. Plenty of skiing for a few days and decent amount of apres action. Our average age is around double yours though!

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I agree with @nbt, for a short trip you should be looking at 1. an early morning flight out 2. a short transfer, and 3. a late evening flight back to maximise skiing time. Potentially you can get 3.5 days skiing out of a 4 day trip.

Be aware that the Geneva Motor Show clashes with your arrival date, which may (?) make traffic getting out of Geneva busier than usual.

Your budget looks relatively generous so you should have no problem getting something somewhere for that amount.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@Robbo25, welcome to the asylum snowHead

Some good choices there, VT is a permanent fixture on SH bases and there's a wealth of info in here.
Personally I'd put up with anything up to a 2:30 hr transfer assuming taking an afternoon of work to get to wherever and grab a few drinks and some shut eye and returning post 6pm. For 4 days that's very doable.

Other options to add to your shortlist given your priorities would be Ischgl, St Anton (if you can find something in budget), Kitzbuhel, and Saalbach as mentioned above.
I really wanted to throw in some Swiss options in there as well...Verbier (especially if you liked the skiing in Chamonix) and Davos...but cost could be an issue in CH.

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Hi NBT, thanks for your thoughts. I see where you are coming from but the plan was to fly early on the Thursday and arrive in resort for mid-afternoon. The return flights are also departing late afternoon from both Geneva and Munich.

In our mind, this gives us time to sort our ski hire and have a wander round the resort on Thursday afternoon without too much of a rush, have 3 full days of skiing on the Friday, Saturday & Sunday and gives us the opportunity to have a bit of a later night and a few extra beers on the Sunday without having to get up too early!

We went to Chamonix a couple of years back, and whilst the transfers were short we found that we actually spent quite a lot of time on the bus, and queuing for the gondola up to Brevent. With that in mind, we agreed we weren't too fussed about the longer transfer if the skiing was less hassle etc. Bit contradictory picking Mayrhofen as one of our options then really, but it did just stick out as being a decent cheap option especially with cheaper flights to Munich.

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

You can't fly to Innsbruck? After years of going mainly to France we finally tried Austria and went to Mayrhofen for a lads trip. Minds blown. There's plenty right there and the trip to the Glacier was a great day out. It doesn't feel disjointed like Chamonix does and the buses are better.

After all it is free

@Robbo25, what's the driver for it being a weekender? The only good reason IMO is limited days holiday from work. And if that is the case why waste two days travelling?

But maybe there are other reasons...?

I regularly do Mayrhofen for a 4 night trip. 7am flight to Munich on a Thursday or Friday morning. In resort by 1:30-2:30. Straight up the mountain and ski for a few hours. Then 3 full days skiing between Mayrhofen, Kaltenback and Zillertal Arena and finish with a morning in Mayrhofen. So two half days and three full days. Accommodation will be hard to find at £50pppn. We pay €100pppn in the Harakiri Lifestyle.
You may have to pay for parking in the resort so factor that in also.

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Flights to Innsbruck are a fair bit more expensive - easily £100 more than to Geneva/Munich. Not sure, but think the issues with FlyBe may have pushed flight prices up over the past week or so.

Main driver for a short trip is that it will be the 3rd trip of the season for a couple of our party so a mixture of keeping costs down and also work holidays.

Personally, I could manage a week and noticed that Crystal offer some decent last minute deals though we are a bit sceptical to leave it so late. Does anyone have any experience of booking a late deal with Crystal or any other operator. What kind of package price could we expect for a week mid-march if we left it until the week before? This would definitely mean a week long trip though as Crystal don't offer 4 nights from Manchester - us northerners never get looked after! wink

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Mayrhofen. Getting up is very quick -there is a gondola about every 5 seconds.You could have a half day in Ahorn going up in the largest cable car in Austria. Penken /Horberg/Rastkogel/Eggalm fairly easy to get around once you have orientated yourself -helps if visibility is good . As others have said Innsbruck is less hassle though more flights to Munich. Good luck whatever you decide.

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Fly to Innsbruck and go to Mayrhofen

You know it makes sense.

How about Zurich - train to St. Anton - bus to Pettneu?

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

I can't offer a particular opinion but who told you VT is quieter than Mayrhofen? VT is renowned for being boozy as hell!

A snowHead

Chamonix.

A snowHead

@Robbo25, as you are 4 young lads, this is what I'd suggest:

8-9pm Wed 11th March: you all drive out in a car, via channel tunnel to arrive at a ski resort around 8am.
9am Thurs 12th: First day's skiing (driver will not ski very well).
5pm: Check in to accommodation.
Fri 13th-Sun 15th: 2nd, 3rd, & 4th days' skiing
Mon 16th: Check out of accom. at 8am
9am: 5th day's skiing.
5pm: Find car and change into travel clothes.
8pm: Driver drops off 3 friends at Grenoble/Chambery/Lyon/Geneva to get late flights home to UK (1hr time diff).
9pm: Driver checks-in to cheap Premiere Classe motel.
9am Tues 17th: Driver drives back to UK, arriving late evening.

I suggest a ski in/out resort is selected in order to minimise low-quality time, e.g. Avoriaz. However, your choice is likely to be limited by the non-standard period, i.e. Thurs for 4 nights. So you need a stay-flexible resort such as Chamonix, but then you've already been there, and it isn't ski in/out. Maybe there's an on-piste chalet/hotel in a resort somewhere that is flexible?

[EDIT] It seems Résidence les Ruches is available from Maeva.fr for short stays, i.e. around 400€ for those 4 nights:

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

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+1 for Mayrhofen, it's superb for a lads trip. Eating out, drinking etc all affordable and the skiing is also great with Tux 20 mins up the road on a free bus just in case the snow is suffering

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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+1, for Mayrhofen of your 3 options, there at the moment. Upload at Penken is easy/quick and Kaltenbach 20 mins away on train is fantastic. If you are on budget and want to party do not go to France! Saalbach is brilliant but you will be lucky to get a cheap deal.

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

Also Mayrhofen is way cheaper than Val Thorens for food and drink.

After all it is free

Mayrhofen everyday. find out when the snow bombing musical festival is on. Mad party town street of full of drinkers. You will love. The skiing is just bigger enough for 4 days. They have Europe steepest slope and some great topless dancing piste side bars. Got to be seen to be believed

When I first read your post I was going to suggest La Tania based on your criteria and then saw it was shortlisted.
Its a great base from which to explore the 3 valleys and some of the runs back to resort are among of the best in the courchevel area and perhaps even the 3v(imho). There are only a couple of bars but because of that, they are the centre for a good night and you wont go wrong. Ski Lodge is a staple and from what i remember, La Taiga used to have a lively gig on sunday nights, but that's worth checking.
There's also a free bus which will take you to bars in Le Praz and courchevel 1650 (Bubble and Funky Fox). Best thing to do when you arrive is speak to bar staff in the seasonaire bars to find out which places have gigs/DJS on each night.
From my experience, Saturdays are generally v quiet due to it being a changeover day but that can be the tame one.
Let us know what you decide and how it works out!

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If you fancy the 3V and can push the boat out a tad, check out the ski in/out Courcheneige hotel in Courchevel. A Mezzanine room (4 single beds) works out at around £140 pppn, but includes dinner & breakfast.

There are many other, no doubt cheaper, on-piste ski in/out hotels, but this is the only one I remember off-hand. Perhaps others will know of those that are closer to £50pppn?

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Let's see what Crystal could come up with for ski in/out (if you were flying from London rather than Manchester):

Les Crozats apt in Avoriaz for 4 nights from 12th March @ £729 inc. flights & transfer.

That's a 6:35am Thurs flight out, and a 7:20pm Mon flight home. So, you might just get 3.5 days skiing out of that, but with a very early start on Thursday.

So £729pp for a self-catering package.

If you have to get up at 3am for a 6:35am flight, with little likelihood of a good night's sleep, you might as well drive down.

Working out the costs, if you adopted my suggested self-drive/fly combo above, even accommodation at the Courcheneige rate is competitive with this Crystal package.

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@crosbie, it's way too early to look for deals for that date. A week to 10 days before is when you would want to start looking.

@Layne, seems very risky to me given it's a short break ski in/out package being sought, rather than a standard 7 nighter.

You know it makes sense.

@Robbo25, I should note that my suggestion of self-drive was on the assumption of a London/SE departure, i.e. within 2 hours of the channel tunnel. A Manchester departure pretty much entails a stopover in a northern France motel, perhaps as far as Reims if you set off early. But then this no longer gets you early on the piste.

Plan B, which is close to your original idea:

Hire skis in the UK (easier to buy ex-rental skis from eBay).
Wed 11th: Evening flight to Geneva.
Pick up hire car (big enough for your skis).
Drive to Chamonix hotel (with late reception), e.g. Hotel Croix Blanche Chamonix.
Thurs 12th: 1st day skiing in Brevent/Flegeres.
4-5pm: drive to resort 2, e.g. Avoriaz or Courchevel.
Fri 13th-Sun 15th: 2nd, 3rd, & 4th days' skiing.
Mon 16th: Check out of accom. at 8am (load car).
9am: 5th day's skiing.
5pm: Find car and change into travel clothes.
7-8pm: Cheap Monday flight home via Grenoble/Chambery/Lyon/Geneva.
Hire car should support 'different drop-off'.

The benefit of a first night in Chamonix is that you know it and it's a short transfer right when you need it.

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

@crosbie, Manchester departure would often need a south of Uk stopover, - journey on the continent is simple by comparison!

A snowHead

We always get early out late back flights to maximise the slope time to away time ratio. Often we'll check out a smaller local area on the first and last days. Schlick 2000 was great for this last year, Stubai might be a better option this year if the weather is good.

How about this? Early flight to Munich, hire car and dive to one of the Innsbruck areas. On to Mayrhofen when the lifts close?

We stayed in Gasthof Zillertal which was great value. Fair walk or bus to the lifts but wasn't a problem for me. One night we thought town was a bit quiet only to get back and find a huge beer pong tournament happening in the bar.

A snowHead

With a hire car the transfer to VT drops to 2-2.5 hours, so much more palatable. And an abundance of parking. VT has a great apres scene, whether it's on mountain in places like la folie douce/360 from about 3pm. Then in the evening there's loads of bars and clubs that will be packed until the 3-4am if you really want to stay out that long.

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

Thanks for the all the suggestions. I personally would prefer Mayrhofen, though I think I may be outvoted in favour of VT.

I have recently lost my driving licenses due to medical reasons so I think any suggestion of a 13 hour car journey without contributing to the driving would be laughed at!!

Interesting thoughts on Val Thorens - I was under the impression it was a relatively quiet resort. What could we expect to pay for a large beer in resort? Similar to Chamonix @ €8-10?

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Where were you going in Chamonix to pay 8-10 euro a pint?! Yo can half that (if not more) at happy hour and 7 euro max the rest of the time IMO.

I work for a TO based in France and VT is known as the place where livers go to die... Folie Douce is rubbish but go to the Frog, Summit, Saloon area for apres and play rimmer Smile

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@Robbo25, Consider Kitzbuhel. That's what I am doing this year as there appears to be a fair bit of option on accommodation for the unusual length of stay.

I do concur with the above views of travel during the evenings to not impact on ski time. Fly out one night, ski solidly fro x amount of days. Fly back after skiing on final day. Plenty of time for late nights and late mornings as well if you can arrange your flights better.

Flights into Geneva or Munich help as there is a great selection due to large number of flights.

Val Thorens is great fun for non ski related activities (skiing is obviously great as well).

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Also, if you do go to VT and evening drinking is important then try to base yourself in the right side of town. The bottom of town is very quiet and all the bars and clubs are on the same street at the top of town (the right side of the resort map essentially).

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Fly to Basel and drive or transfer (1hr 30mins) to Jungfrau. Have a day in Grindelwald, a day in Wengen and a day in murren. Beautiful place great pistes and off piste easy to get about. Food bit pricey in town but on the hill same as most places. Decent bars and restaurants around whole area.

After all it is free

Thanks Handy Turnip, that's useful to know. It's looking like it's definitely going to be Val Thorens, so i'll get started on the accommodation search.

If anyone has any suggestions it'd be much appreciated!

Try a flight to Salzburg and a return shuttle bus to the Ski Amade area for €50. Stay at Flangesax's place (Austrian Adventures) in Radstadt and get the free ski bus, you then have 3 resorts on your doorstep and a few more via longer bus trips. Plus a beer will be between €4 to €4.90 and you can get a selection of basic meals on the mountain for under a fiver Toofy Grin

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I've been to Courchevel more times than I can remember and the Apres is really non-existent, even more so down in the cheap seats around La Tania. 1650 has a few bars but it is nothing like St Anton for example.

However, Courchevel has the best lift's and slopes of all the places I have been - I've been to St Anton once, Courchevel 10 + even with the 20 euro beers!!

What about Slovakia? Jasna is cheap and is a good night out.

Help!!

Three Valleys or Austria....

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