 Poster: A snowHead
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So it might be possible to ship my kids to dotting grandparents for the half term week which means that me and my husband might get a chance of a kidsfree ski trip.. this would have to be a 3 or 4 nights rather then full week due to work commitments and etc... so is it a realistic option or a mad idea? We will we be able to find any accommodation during half term for a few nights only ( e.g. Thu to Sun ) and ideally somewhere within easy reach from some airport and not too crazily busy? Any advice welcome
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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It is very do-able if you compromise somewhere. You will need to pick a resort that is not high on the mainstream radar for the UK. Resorts popular with other nationalities can be just as good. Try a DIY trip and choose a resort from the current SnowHeads thread about unknown resorts. It may be smaller but maybe that’s enough for a shorter break.
You don’t say what sort of standard you are looking for, but......
What about Serfaus / Fiss / Ladis (I mention these in the knowledge that I have never yet visited personally and it may be that they are too popular with other nationalities and so may still be full up at UK half term)
How about Nassfeld (not a long drive from Lubljana) or Kranjska Gora or Krvavec in Slovenia, or Jasna in Slovakia or Kopaonik in Serbia.
Go and have an adventure and have a great time.
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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?
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@JohnHSmith, thank you.. we are intermediate skiers, happy on most pistes. Will get on researching... have not heard much of any of the resorts you mentioned. Thank you for the ideas
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My own favourite is Kronplatz. I didn’t mention it because although it isn’t tremendously popular with the Brits, it isn’t a short drive from the airport unless you fly to Innsbruck. And flights to Innsbruck at half term week are unlikely to be cheap. If you can get a cheap-ish flight midweek, or if you are prepared to drive 3 hours from Munich then add Kronplatz to your list. It’s a good area for 4 days intermediate piste skiing. Contact the Tourist Office at Olang/Valdaora or at Sankt Vigilio/San Vigil and they will send you a list of accommodation with vacancies for the dates you want. For preference try Sankt Vigilio and check on the map the Tourist Office will provide that the accommodation is in the town rather than in the next village (or be prepared to drive). Self catering accommodation in Sankt Vigilio is generally good quality and eating out is easy
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Check some of the discounters for ideas. Sunweb has quite a few short breaks for those dates. Try to fly to the more business orientated airports like Geneva or Munich and hire a car. This would give you the best choice and prices, especially as you are not following the Saturday-Saturday norm. There are quite a few deals going to Zell, albeit a little way out of the centre. Zell is likely to be busy that week but Saalbach copes with the volume well and Hochkonig and pass thurn are close by, quiet and also on the Superski pass.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Klamm Franzer wrote: |
| Check some of the discounters for ideas. Sunweb has quite a few short breaks for those dates. Try to fly to the more business orientated airports like Geneva or Munich and hire a car. This would give you the best choice and prices, especially as you are not following the Saturday-Saturday norm. There are quite a few deals going to Zell, albeit a little way out of the centre. Zell is likely to be busy that week but Saalbach copes with the volume well and Hochkonig and pass thurn are close by, quiet and also on the Superski pass. |
+1 for Hochkönig and Maria Alm
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A couple of years ago I did a Thursday - Tuesday holiday during the English half-term. We flew to Munich, hired a car and an easy 3-hour drive got us to Nauders. I'd booked a hotel there via Booking.com and the ski area was busy at the weekend and quiet the rest of the time. Really nice variety of skiing, good mountain restaurants and very well groomed pistes.
Nauders is much smaller than nearby Serfaus/Fiss/Ladis but fine for a few days. I suppose there are hundreds of resorts that would work for you, the trick is to avoid anywhere used by large UK tour operators.
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@Bella2015, almost certainly doable. The main things to bear in mind:
- I’d generally start elsewhere than France as historically hotels are very reluctant to do anything other than Sat-Sat during the French school holidays. This may be softening, but still...
- business airports good advice, where you fly from? Add Milan(s), Turin, Venice to the search.
- to a large extent where you can fly cheaply and at reasonable times from your exit airport will dictate where you can think of going
- “reasonable times” - there is little point going Thursday-Sunday if you can only arrive in hotel at 01:00 on Friday morning and your Sunday flight is at 06:00 ... 4 days travel for less than 2 days skiing? That would be dumb.
- given the time of the season, you may need to compromise on ski convenience, i.e. look at hotels that aren’t actually in the resort. But almost certainly hire a car and that’s then totally fine.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Thank you for responses... my husband does not love the idea of to driving / bus to ski each day, so need to stay with walking distance to the lifts. So this may narrow the options
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| Bella2015 wrote: |
| Thank you for responses... my husband does not love the idea of to driving / bus to ski each day, so need to stay with walking distance to the lifts. So this may narrow the options |
Might be worth having a look at Flims Laax from Zurich.
My own rather limited experience is that Switzerland or Italy are your best options for short breaks in fairly high season and looking at hotels is your best option.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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A useful tool are the map searches for hotels on various sites. Tripadvisor, Booking.com and Google all have good ones. Plug in your dates, your filters and any destination and keep zooming out to see your options around the alps.
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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.
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From experience I would suggest that you fly/arrive on the Tuesday during half-term, almost certainly that is Shrove Tuesday (seems to be every year for me anyway) and the Andorran (Spanish/French) resorts are crowded that weekend up to Tuesday afternoon as the Mon-Tue is holiday then everyone goes home/back to work Wed onwards. Fly out on the Sat when the locals come in for the weekend again. 3 solid and quiet days skiing.
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| Orange200 wrote: |
| From experience I would suggest that you fly/arrive on the Tuesday during half-term, almost certainly that is Shrove Tuesday (seems to be every year for me anyway) and the Andorran (Spanish/French) resorts are crowded that weekend up to Tuesday afternoon as the Mon-Tue is holiday then everyone goes home/back to work Wed onwards. Fly out on the Sat when the locals come in for the weekend again. 3 solid and quiet days skiing. |
Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras/Fasching/Carnevale is a moveable feast and falls on 25th Feb 2020, so the week after UK half term, so the busy period will likely start on Sat 22nd through to the 25th. Avoid those dates if that is an issue where you're going.
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You know it makes sense.
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+1 for going midweek for quiet slopes!
If you don't fancy driving in general, how about fly to Munich, go to garmisch? Train down there, then train to the lifts and round to a couple of other little areas in Austria as well (as far as I can see!). Loads of hotels.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@Bella2015, definitely doable, I've done 4-5 nights at half-term, plenty of cheap flights into Venice or Milan, pick up a car and drive 2 hrs to a resort. The Italian side had a lot of early snow, so a good base there.
Other airports have shorter transfers to good resorts, like Turin, Innsbruck, Salzburg, but the flights tend to be pricier. Though for shorter breaks you may have to pay for this extra convenience as you don't have time to waste.
Avoid France at half-term as the resorts are super-busy with French kids, as well as Brits. Look for lesser-known places in Italy or Austria to avoid crowds.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Bella2015 wrote: |
| Thank you for responses... my husband does not love the idea of to driving / bus to ski each day, so need to stay with walking distance to the lifts. So this may narrow the options |
You will be paying more for that kind of convenience. That accommodation is usually less available as will already be booked up or reluctant to do anything other than a Sat-Sat duration.
Good luck with the search! Try booking.com for hotels or maybe Airbnb for apartments, though on Airbnb, don't assume they'll let you book a short duration even if available, message owner first.
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