 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi everyone,
I'm looking to take 12 weeks off next winter (18/01/2025-12/04/25) as I'm a bit fed up of work. It'd be me, my wife (she'll work remotely from the apartment as she's an Irish national), my friend and our dog.
Mainly I'd be looking for anywhere with a good snow record, with a good amount of skiing and preferably staying in a valley town with direct lifts or bus to the slopes. I'd be taking a standard board and as well as a splitboard so am happy to earn my turns.
So far we've been considering Morzine, Chamonix (been here the last 3 years but nervous how it'd be without a guide) and Serre Chevalier.
Any thoughts on these resorts for January to April? Should we reconsider dates? When/where would you start looking for an apartment? Any other tips?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Mikeb171, finding accommodation might be your trickiest factor here.
Are you specifically only looking at France for a reason?
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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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Assuming you have visas/EU passports and are not limited by the 90 day limit?
I would say that for longer trips canada has worked out much cheaper for me than EU. Flights are more expensive, but cheaper everything else (particularly lift passes) more than balance it out. More snow and everything in bounds is avy controlled so you don't need to worry about guides. Also some great touring options. Not sure how easy it is to take a dog though.
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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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@Mikeb171,
How are travelling to/from the Alps?
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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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| boarder2020 wrote: |
Assuming you have visas/EU passports and are not limited by the 90 day limit?
I would say that for longer trips canada has worked out much cheaper for me than EU. Flights are more expensive, but cheaper everything else (particularly lift passes) more than balance it out. More snow and everything in bounds is avy controlled so you don't need to worry about guides. Also some great touring options. Not sure how easy it is to take a dog though. |
He said his wife has an Irish passport, so as long as they’re travelling together they’re both exempt from 90/180.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@swskier I've only suggested places in France as that's where I've been before. I'm not opposed to other places in Europe but we don't want the difficulty of flying with the dog.
@Kenzie We're planning on driving out as we have winter tyres and then we have more options when we're there.
@Dav We're only planning on being away for 12 weeks so just less than the 90 days allowance anyway
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Serre Chavalier, much more fun than Chamonix if you are not an Alpinist. Better snow record than Morzine, quiter than either and may away day other resorts and touring options.
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Serre Che is a good choice.
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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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| boarder2020 wrote: |
Assuming you have visas/EU passports and are not limited by the 90 day limit?
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12 weeks = 84 days
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Dolomites 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Mikeb171, finding good accomodation now will be tricky i'd imagine. France typically have smaller apartments, so you might want to look at Italy or Austria.
Austria has a number of passes that cover a whole host of resorts, Tirol Snowcard as an example. The dolomites as Gored mentions is also great.
You'll find you get more for your money in either of those places vs going to France.
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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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@Mikeb171,
Valley town? Bourg St Maurice.
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--
Last edited by 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  on Fri 13-10-23 14:24; edited 3 times in total
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You know it makes sense.
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If I were doing that, I'd want to be near the skiing, so I could pop out just for an hour or two if I had other things to do (like work) or if the weather was not great. There are plenty of reasonable sized apartments in France - it's a hoary myth that they are all "rabbit hutches". Not many "valley towns" have quick direct access to the slopes and some are cold, dark and polluted in winter.
You will, of course, have to pay high season prices through the French 4 week winter holidays. Could you go out earlier in January, and perhaps finish earlier than 12 April, to get more "cheap wintry weeks"
I would have thought Serre Chevalier would be a good destination.
Depending on where you decide to go there might be big $$$ advantages in buying season passes early - some places offer discounts before the end of October.
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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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As per several posts above, getting appropriate accommodation will be a major consideration. The main issue is that a 12 week stay will fall between holiday accommodation (typically rented out for stays of 1 week up to 4 or 6 weeks) and seasonal accommodation (the whole season). It'll be very difficult to find holiday accommodation that is still available for a contiguous 12 weeks covering peak demand in February. Some seasonable accommodation will probably still be available, but would be priced assuming use for the whole season. Also, for seasonable accommodation you may need to sort out services (i.e. broadband) yourself, which may be an issue if your wife expects to able to start remote work immediately.
AirBnB might give you a good option between holiday and seasonable accommodation. My (very limited experience) of AirBnB is negative; I found that anywhere in a ski resort offering long stays (beyond a month) in winter had forgetting to reset their settings, and actually only offered long stays in summer. However, other posters here have had more joy with AirBnB.
Of resorts in the alps, Chamonix and Briancon are probably your best bet for finding accommodation in one place for 3 months, as they are towns as well as resorts.
Or, you could stay in more than one place. One option (which we've done the last 2 seasons) is to have 2 trips of between 3 and 6 weeks (up to 6 weeks from the start of January, till before it gets busy in February), then from mid March till the snow starts to run out. This means you're outside of peak season, so accommodation is cheaper, there are more options, and slopes are quieter. However, those timings may not work for you.
Another option, for a contiguous 12 weeks in the alps, would be to spend 4 to 6 weeks in Jan to early Feb in resort (as per previous para), then maybe spend the 4 high season weeks staying down valley in a town like Innsbruck, Bourg St Maurice, Sion or Aosta where you'll find it easier and cheaper to get accommodation for 4 weeks, then maybe back to resort for a few more weeks when it has quietened down.
For options where you change accommodation, you'd want a lift pass than covers many resorts. The passes I know of are Snow Card Tirol or SuperSkiCard (both Austria), the Aosta Valley pass (Italy), or Magic Pass (South-West Switzerland)
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Poster: A snowHead
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Somewhere else I saw a discussion on staying in Oulx - which then gives close access to Sauze D'Oulx and Via Lattea.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Thanks for everyone's advice. I think we have decided on Serre Chevalier.
Does anyone know of the best places to find an apartment? We'd be looking for a 2 or 3 bed apartment that allows pets, has Wi-Fi and preferably a washing machine. I've tried Airbnb but no one seems interested
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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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Try chaletsdirect solutions room. I’ve found a couple of season places by posting on there.
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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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| Mikeb171 wrote: |
Thanks for everyone's advice. I think we have decided on Serre Chevalier.
Does anyone know of the best places to find an apartment? We'd be looking for a 2 or 3 bed apartment that allows pets, has Wi-Fi and preferably a washing machine. I've tried Airbnb but no one seems interested |
Have you tried the Immobilier hey are often good for longer term rentals.
Not tried these but worth looking.
https://www.seloger.com/immobilier/tout/immo-briancon-05/
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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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I think a problem with local Immo places is that a standard rental contract in France is 12 months. Worth asking though
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Years ago when I did a season in Briancon I'm pretty sure I got my apartment through an Immo. But it was over 20 years ago and things may have changed.
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@T Bar, certainly some in Chamonix do seasonal lets.
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| Mikeb171 wrote: |
Thanks for everyone's advice. I think we have decided on Serre Chevalier.
Does anyone know of the best places to find an apartment? |
Read up on squatting in France, takes years to get anyone out if you do it right. Pitch up in resort, find an empty apartment or hourse and bob's your uncle. Helps to have some dirty looking urchins in tow.
I'm tempted to do it myself as I don't think the ski resort angle has been exploited by squatters who prefer the big cities.
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