 Poster: A snowHead
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Hey all,
A couple mates and I from New Zealand are wanting to plan a ski trip to Europe early next year around January for roughly 6 weeks.
We're not sure where to start as there are so many places to chose from - ideally we'd want to ski multiple locations so we can experience more of what Europe has to offer rather than just staying at one resort the entire time.
So far places like Ischgl, Zermatt and and St Anton have caught our eyes, mainly because we've heard they have great Après-ski and heaps of rideable terrain. We've also had our eyes on doing the Sella Ronda circuit as the idea of skiing from resort to resort sounds incredible.
Do you have recommendations on where to Ski/board in Europe? Or even a loose itinerary we could follow to ensure we make the most out of our trip?
Any advice or thoughts would be much appreciated! 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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As a rule of the thumb, you can't go wrong with January in Western Europe. Cheaper prices, smaller queues, winter conditions.
Regarding on piste, my views are entirely personal and others will probably share theirs rather soon, with better ideas:
The Dolomites will offer the best views IMO with huge (albeit mostly unchallenging but it's still a fun place) mileage, Austria will have the best Apres Ski (St. Anton, Ischgl, Saalbach to name the major players) and France (and Zermatt CH) will have the higher peaks with longer runs and more challenging bits.
A 6 weeks checklist should include Zermatt (one change by train from Zurich airport), St. Anton (one change by train from Zurich as well), Tignes (still from CH - train to Geneva, transfer bus to Tignes)
A flight to Venice on a weekend will allow you to take the Fodom bus to Arabba for a strategic location in Sella Ronda. If it's in the first week of February, you can all join the SH Birthday Bash
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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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you can't go wrong with January in Western Europe
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But it doesn't have 6 weeks. If you want quiet slopes and to avoid peak prices make sure you avoid the New Year week everywhere and French school holidays start 11 February. You presumably have large pots of money?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@pam w, correct (as always).
And that's exactly why I was recommending Italy for early February.
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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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| drporat wrote: |
| A 6 weeks checklist should include Zermatt (one change by train from Zurich airport), St. Anton (one change by train from Zurich as well), Tignes (still from CH - train to Geneva, transfer bus to Tignes) A flight to Venice on a weekend will allow you to take the Fodom bus to Arabba for a strategic location in Sella Ronda. If it's in the first week of February, you can all join the SH Birthday Bash |
Awesome, thanks for that. We'd love to go to Zermatt and also do the Sella Ronda so the flight to Venice might be a go!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| You presumably have large pots of money? |
Well I wouldn't say large pots haha, but we are somewhat aware of the costs and are prepared to spend the big bucks to make this trip happen - we're a group of young lads who haven't really had the opportunity to travel yet, so we are very very keen
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Still January is a cheaper month, early bookings in 3 stars hotels will be more affordable than February or last minute deals.
People here can recommend cheaper and decent places
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If I was going on holiday with my mates I'd want to rent our own place, at least part of the time, not be in a hotel. I'd want to spent my money on skiing, or on "going out", not on hotel meals. If travelling between those quite distant resorts I'd also want to share the cost of a rented car, so we could throw everything in, and see the country in between, not be having to get transfers to and from airports. Having a car would greatly increase choice of accommodation. The cost of 6 weeks car hire, shared between 3, would almost certainly be cheaper than transfers and air fares.
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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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@jake2436,
Rough itinerary - start in France, then head East to avoid the French half-term holidays.
To expand that a bit, what about flying into Geneva, tranfering to the Tarentaise (Espace Killy, Ste Foy, la Rosiere-la Thuile [Italy], Paradiski, 3 Valleys) for the weeks, transfer back to Geneva airport & take train to Zermatt (can be expensive, but can ski into Cervinia [Italy] for cheaper lunch) for a week, then look at Italy & Austria?
How would you be travelling around the Alps? What sort of accommodation would you be looking for? And roughly what budget (£ or €) per person?
Also you should be aware in your planning that most accommodation in Europe is weekend to weekend.
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And roughly what budget (£ or €) per person?
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This is the big question. The suggestions above are all fine, but it really depends on how much money you have if they are at all possible.
For young outgoing people interested in apres you can do worse than hostels, which will also save you a bit of €. Not an option everywhere though.
Car Vs public/private transport will depend a lot on where you want to go and how much you plan to move around. While it can be tempting to try and see everywhere, sometimes less is more. You can end up spending lots of time in transit and not actually seeing more than a fraction of each resort.
Even if skiing is the priority with 6 weeks I'd definitely add in a few days at some cities as it's part of the euro experience.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@jake2436,
Welcome to Snowheads!
Sounds like a great trip on the cards!
I may be stating the obvious - but hopping between different resorts (& countries) will cost you a fortune in lift passes, so you will need to budget a couple of thousand Euro for those alone...
Last edited by snowHeads are a friendly bunch. on Sun 26-03-23 19:57; edited 1 time in total
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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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And, on the same theme, there are some very good "early bird" prices for season passes - but some need to be bought very early, so good to start thinking about that now.
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| jake2436 wrote: |
| drporat wrote: |
| A 6 weeks checklist should include Zermatt (one change by train from Zurich airport), St. Anton (one change by train from Zurich as well), Tignes (still from CH - train to Geneva, transfer bus to Tignes) A flight to Venice on a weekend will allow you to take the Fodom bus to Arabba for a strategic location in Sella Ronda. If it's in the first week of February, you can all join the SH Birthday Bash |
Awesome, thanks for that. We'd love to go to Zermatt and also do the Sella Ronda so the flight to Venice might be a go! |
But don't fly into Venice without visiting the city! It's a unique (& fantastic) place.
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You know it makes sense.
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@Bergmeister, that's why my cunning plan  held the BB for the first week of February. The Saturday it ends is supposed to be the first Carnival weekend.
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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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Welcome to snowHeads 
There’s some great advice on here already.
West to East.
France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria.
Val D’Isere, Chamonix, Zermatt (or Cervinia for a cheaper back door entry to Zermatt), St Anton or Ischgl, Arabba or Selva.
Budget and preferred accommodation preferences need clarifying for advice to be more specific I think.
Also do you get any transport (train/bus) discount benefits in Europe when coming from Australasia?
Do you drive or would you want to rent a car occasionally?
Do you like or are you not bothered about seeing cultural highlights like Venice, Salzburg, Paris, etc?
There are more questions than answers early on 
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