 Poster: A snowHead
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Hello all,
Myself and a group of friends have worked our way down a short list for a weeks skiing next year and although non of us have been Ischgl seems to be the consensus. Group is late 30s and the majority intermediates so concentrated on resorts offering varied and extensive pistes and nightlife.
We're not particularly set on any dates yet, other than avoiding UK school holidays and any local holidays such as Fasching week(s). Easter Sunday lands on 9th April next year It's a case of going 'some time' before or after that for a late season trip. My own preference is possibly late season as I enjoy the sunny weather and extra day light hours however from memory I think direct flights from the UK start to dry up to Innsbruck so it may be a case of using Zurich or Munich and having a longer transfer (Newcastle is our closet airport but then Glasgow and Manchester are a similar distance). It doesn't look like flights for next year beyond Feb have been released yet.
Starting to look at accommodation. Don't want to faff about with buses etc so location most important.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Cheers
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Been a couple of times late March and mostly great weather and skiing
Runs back to village and to Swiss side could be very soft pm
I liked the skiing not fussed about the town
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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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@Grizwald, Austrian resorts are little affected by UK school holidays, Austrian, Bavarian / southern German, Dutch and (in recent times possibly not in the future) Russian holidays more relevant. New Year is probably the busiest time (Russian New Year too in Ischgl). Ischgl is less likely to be busy at Fasching than places which attract more locals such as those in the Salzburgerland. Whilst Innsbruck is the best airport for Ischgl, Zürich works well too (get the train to Landeck, then a transfer), Munich is a bit of a trek.
Pre covid it was difficult to find accommodation in Ischgl outside of Saturday to Saturday, not sure how true that is now.
No traffic therefore no buses can mean a surprising amount of walking around the village, there are lockers by the main lift stations, though the pistes on the Silvrettabahn side dont end at the lift station
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Mid to late March should be fine as Ischgl is high and has extensive snow making. In terms of airports Innsbruck is much the nearest but has less flight availability than Zurich or Munich. We fly to Munich and take the train but have flown into Zurich and Salzburg before and the train travel time is similar for all three. As @munich_irish, has said Ischgl isn't really affected by school holidays. Its not really a family resort and you see very few youngsters around whatever the week. As for busing around there is no need providing you stay within the confines of the village. Its fairly compact and you have the choice of three gondolas to get you up the mountain so pretty much all village accommodation is within a reasonably short distance of a lift. Go, enjoy it, its a great place.
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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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Ischgl's about the least family resort I've been to so I wouldn't worry to much about school holidays, UK or otherwise.
You can get odd 'dead' weeks where you don't seem to get that critical mass of people/beer/schnapps for the apres party (which will hopefully be back next year) to really kick off. The last week in March seem to be one of these but hopefully that's just the gap between the 'too late for main season' people and the 'the seasons almost over!' ones. That of course was with just 3 of us, if you have a bigger group you'll be able to kick it off yourselves.
Check out the Hotel Val Sinestra - used it a number of times on packages and while it's basic and a bit dated it's cheap (for Ischgl), the rooms are nice and big and it's a really good location, a short walk from the action but far-enough away that you can sleep with the windos open and not be kep awake by it.
Or last time we stayed in a snall self catered apartment in Apart Albert, smaller (but not French small) but again quite cheap (for Ischgl) and well positioned.
Of course the standard question applies for Austria, how good friends are your friends - as you'll generally be looking at either double beds of Austrian twins... This has never been an issue for with friends (well excepting a certain Scotsman who believes it's OK to sleep naked while sharing an Austria twin with a friend...) but some people are odd about it.
For location I'd personally aim to be north/east of town so in easy reach of the Fimbabahn. It's the smallest and oldest of the 3 gondolas out of town so everyone flocks to the newer ones as they are bigger and faster init? Always fun to see the queues for the Silvrettabahn or Pardatschgratbahn while you walk up to and almost straight one to the Fimba - though queues likely to be less of an issue when you're looking to go.
Another airport option to look at is Friedrichshafen. Not sure what it's like to taxi transfers but we've done it with a hire car and it's about the same distance from Ischgl as Innsbruck, just in the other direction and is a really great airport to fly to on one of it's handful of Saturday scheduled flight (but a nightmare to be diverted to from Innsbruck, along with every other Innsbruck flight when it gets overwhelmed).
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Memmingen airport is used by Ryanair, and are about two hours away from Ischgl… just booked tickets for 16 euro from Denmark for a return ticket.
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Don't know about Ischgl not being affected by Fasching, we went quite a lot in Feb school holidays and it was always significantly busier when it coincided with Fasching
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Have skied weeks at Ischgl in late March and April, and snow has always been good. Runs to town end of day are fun, if you take care to avoid the Dutch and Russian muppets whose (lack of) skiing prowess makes the average Brit look good 
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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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Thanks for all the replies. Waiting for flights to become available.
Anyone have any idea when the flights normally dry up to Innsbruck? Geneva should be OK year round so not a big issue.
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@Grizwald, Innsbruck charter flights would finish around end of March (the lower Austrian resorts pretty much pack up then). Geneva is a long way away. If not Innsbruck then Zürich, Munich and Salzburg are effectively a similar distance
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| munich_irish wrote: |
@Grizwald, Austrian resorts are little affected by UK school holidays, Austrian, Bavarian / southern German, Dutch and (in recent times possibly not in the future) Russian holidays more relevant. New Year is probably the busiest time (Russian New Year too in Ischgl). Ischgl is less likely to be busy at Fasching than places which attract more locals such as those in the Salzburgerland. Whilst Innsbruck is the best airport for Ischgl, Zürich works well too (get the train to Landeck, then a transfer), Munich is a bit of a trek.
Pre covid it was difficult to find accommodation in Ischgl outside of Saturday to Saturday, not sure how true that is now.
No traffic therefore no buses can mean a surprising amount of walking around the village, there are lockers by the main lift stations, though the pistes on the Silvrettabahn side dont end at the lift station |
Couldn't get over howe many Irish were in Zell am See last week. Instructor said it was also a week of a Dutch invasion.
There are quite a large number of hotels in Ischgl that are very close to being ski-in-able as one of the home runs - the easy one - splits 4 ways at the bottom.
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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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| Grizwald wrote: |
Thanks for all the replies. Waiting for flights to become available.
Anyone have any idea when the flights normally dry up to Innsbruck? Geneva should be OK year round so not a big issue. |
I am flying BA to Innsbruck 2nd to 10th of April (for Obergurgl). BA cancelled original flights way back in January but still a couple a day each way at the weekend only. May get quite booked up though - hotel owner in Zell last week said she was very busy now with last minute bookings. Ischgl, Obergurgl etc - resorts with long seasons - quite likely, IMO, to be pretty full March/April
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