 Poster: A snowHead
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Thinking a booking a cheeky 4 night (3 full days skiing) second week of March. Not going to book anything just yet and will wait and see how the conditions play out but would like to get an idea of how feasible (as in “cheap”) we can do this.
So far Andorra is looking good price wise, but I know they’re struggling for snow this year, and even though there’s been some snow this weekend, the outlook is going back to warm.
Another option is cheap flights to Geneva, but again, the resorts with easy transfers aren’t looking amazing for snow at the moment. Some insight here would be great, as the only places I’ve looked at is the likes of Chamonix, Morzine etc.
When I say cheap, probably all in flights, accommodation and transfers for around £500ish.
We don’t want to hire a car, but if push came to shove??!
The other option is Austria and go to a resort where there’s an easy train transfer, but my knowledge of this is quite limited. I know there’s St Anton but it’s looking too expensive. I’m guessing there are others…
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Quote: |
probably all in flights, accommodation and transfers for around £500ish
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Is that for one person, for four nights? A bit optimistic, I'd say!
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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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We can do it for that sort of money for Andorra. But just looking at other options. If flights are around £100 then cheap Airbnb, shared transfers/public transport it can be doable. Just!
However, if it’s slightly over that’s okay too, and we’re not including ski pass, food in that budget!
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And we can do that with Crystal/inghams etc on that budget, but they’re all for 7 days.
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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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@surferrosa, if that's for two of you it's more manageable as accommodation costs likely the same for 1 person as 2. Flights with anything more than a tiny bag likely to be nearer £150 than £100 though. Watch the location of cheap AirBnB. French holidays end 9 March, accommodation will be cheaper after that but there's often a bit of a premium for long weekends.
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@surferrosa, from Innsbruck you have so many options available by public transport, plus loads of resorts locally to the airport that you can get a ski in on the day you arrive depending on flight times etc.
For train you could look at St Anton as you say, or the Zillertal is also easily accesible via train.
Would you consider a hire car? That would make a trip even easier and also facilitate skiing on the day you fly in and out of Innsbruck depending on your flight times.
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@Origen, yes, sorry should have made it clear, we’re travelling as a couple.
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@swskier, thanks, will look into Zillertal.
Any other ideas for Austria? I’ve not skied there in years and previously only travelled there on a package whereas my more recent trips to France, Switzerland and Italy have been DIY trips. Austria just baffles me on this front! 
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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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Also from Munich or Salzburg airports??
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| surferrosa wrote: |
@swskier, thanks, will look into Zillertal.
Any other ideas for Austria? I’ve not skied there in years and previously only travelled there on a package whereas my more recent trips to France, Switzerland and Italy have been DIY trips. Austria just baffles me on this front! |
Yes plenty of other options from Innsbruck by train/ bus but not sure conditions are great there either. Best to check on the Snow conditions threads but more decent resorts accessible from train/ bus within 90 minutes of Innsbruck are:
Hopfgarten, Kirchberg, Kitzbuhel, St Johann (change at Worgl); Seefeld, Garmisch (direct trains, lovely towns but less wide ranging skiing options); Oetz, Solden, Obergurgl (bus link from Oetzbahnhof).
Plenty more options from Salzburg (Saalbach, Zell am See, Maria Alm, Ski Amade resorts), if flights work.
Good luck
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I've been pricing up a similar trip for a bit later in march and circa £500 is very doable imo. Montgenevre is looking like a good candidate. Air bnb £250-300, 3 days ski pass £125, flight to Turin/Milan less than £100 with luggage, and car hire is peanuts.
Compromises are hiring a car if that's not your preference, and not loads of snow at the moment (still seems fine though). If you want better snow you'll have to go higher, in altitude and budget!
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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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Cheap flights to Geneva, train to Le Chable, youth hostel (or the cheap hotel in the lift station) in Le Chable, ski Verbier.
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Im going to St Anton first week of March for 5 nights, flights to Zurich, accommodation in Nasserien area and return train is coming in about £560
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You know it makes sense.
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Last year I did a pretty cheap to La Thuile with my wife in March based on flying to Milan and renting a car. Italian car hire is pretty cheap. Lots of other driveable possibilities such as other resorts in the Aosta valley , going up to Bormio etc. Denfinella did a trip report on several central Italian resorts he went to last year.
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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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My son and I did Monterosa in Jan (but anywhere Aosta valley would work) from Milan for £510 per head, 4 days (couple of hours skiing day 1) 3 nights B&B. That was for Flights, car-hire, B&B, ski hire, ski passes. Turin would give access to Via Lattea too, which is a shorter drive.
Extra were coffee/ lunch on mountain and dinner / beers.
Transfers can be expensive for just 2 of you, but car hire out of Milan (or Turin) added to BA flight was peanuts - I did it as BA holiday which threw in a full luggage allowance, although we only used the cabin bag bit.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@surferrosa, Use BA website to put together a deal for flights and car hire. 24/03 to 29/03 flights from LHR to LIN including car hire works out at £180pp for two, decent flight times as well. Play around with the departure and return dates on the flights page to find the best prices for your preferred dates as returning a day later or earlier can seriously lower the prices. For those dates end of march there's loads of decent accommodation at very tempting prices, and you can reduce costs even more by going down the mountain for the last night after the final days skiing. I'm looking at 4 nights in resort (Courmayeur, Champoluc, or Valtournenche) and one night en-route to Milan Linate. Prices for flights, car, hotel are looking about £360 per person, 4 days lift pass at 206 Euros to cover one day in other Aosta resort. Food is on top of these costs and can be kept really low by eating at Bar Roma! 
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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 above, the Aosta Valley is easy by train/bus from Turin or Milan. If the snow is good then staying in Aosta to ski Pila is particularly simple and good value.
We've done the SkiWelt and Garmisch on short trips (5 days) in March for around the 500 per person mark (possibly not including lift passes...), both flying to Munich and getting the train; in both places we found cheap pension/bnb style accommodation which was nice enough and fed us good breakfasts (stayed in Westendorf for the SkiWelt). We got lucky with excellent snow conditions both times and it snowed while we were there. If you can hold out until last minute Austria is a great shout - St Johan im Pongau for Alpendorf or Altenmarkt for Flachau also both easy train rides from Salzburg and great skiing (the snow in Alpendorf right now is surprisingly good, the Austrians do look after their pistes!) and probably relatively quiet for accommodation mid March.
Possibly your destination might depend on where you can get the cheapest flights to!
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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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@surferrosa,
4 nights, 3 days skiing doesn't seem like the best use of your time...
We've done lots of 1 night (Saturday) Alps trips over the years and always managed 1.5 days skiing.
I would be looking for friendly flight times to maximise skiing and planning to ski more than 3 days on a 5 day trip.
Good luck with your trip! 
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For a short trip Munich is not ideal if you want to use the train as the amount of faff involved takes up skiing time. Hire car is pretty easy though adds to costs. St Anton is very unlikely to work with your budget (same for Ischgl). The Zillertal might work especially if you have a car and stay in a slightly out of the way spot. Innsbruck has limited flights and also has a reputation for weather delays / cancelation but if it works is the easiest spot as many places within easy reach (including the Dolomites which might work well). Salzburg again has a bunch of places within easy reach (no need for a car), Saalbach Hinterglemm, Ski Amade, Bad Gastein, Schladming all come to mind
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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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| Quote: |
| I would be looking for friendly flight times to maximise skiing |
Indeed. Get an early outbound flight and a late return one and you can ski the afternoon of arrival day and most of the day on departure day 
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I would not really count on being able to ski on the first day.
Say you leave at 7:30 to Innsbruck. You land 2hrs later plus it is an hour more over there (yeah the flight may be just 1.5hr but you still have to taxi and all that).
So it is now 10:30. It will take you at least 2hrs to get anywhere near and you still have to get the gear, etc. We are talking starting at 1pm in the best of cases with pistes closing at 4pm!
It is not worth it.
However, on the way back you can maximise the day skiing until 3pm, pack your stuff and leave and be at the airport late for a 8-9pm flight. The time difference now plays to your advantage as you arrive to the UK “early”.
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| Yona wrote: |
I would not really count on being able to ski on the first day.
Say you leave at 7:30 to Innsbruck. You land 2hrs later plus it is an hour more over there (yeah the flight may be just 1.5hr but you still have to taxi and all that).
So it is now 10:30. It will take you at least 2hrs to get anywhere near and you still have to get the gear, etc. We are talking starting at 1pm in the best of cases with pistes closing at 4pm!
It is not worth it.
However, on the way back you can maximise the day skiing until 3pm, pack your stuff and leave and be at the airport late for a 8-9pm flight. The time difference now plays to your advantage as you arrive to the UK “early”. |
Axamer Lizum, 45 minutes from the airport.
Kaltenbach currently showing as 1hr, but that's with traffic, you can take 10/15 mins off that.
Plenty of skiing in much less than 2hrs from Innsbruck airport, and I've not even included the ski areas that area nearer to the airport.
If you're on a short break you need to maximise skiing, that means skiing an afternoon if that's what's available. Also pistes don't close at 4, last lift down from Mayrhofen is 5pm, and in Kaltenbach you can ski right down to the valley which means you could take the highest lift up at around 4/4.30 and then ski right down to the valley, which would probably take a good 30mins in itself.
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Indeed, I've been on the snow at 12 noon local time on the arrival day of long weekend ski break.
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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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I've just come back from a 3 day 4 night trip. I went to argentiere in France with the ucpa.
I flew in on the evening flight to Geneva then got a "mountain transfer" to argentiere. (I was on my own but if together car hire would've been better). I had a good night's sleep and got my skis and boots. Then I got up Friday, had breakfast, then walked to the lift. I skid all day Friday, sat and ski'd down to argentiere at 4pm on Sunday, ready for my transfer home. I then got the last flight home from Geneva. So three days skiing for 1 and a half days leave.
If you don't hire a car you'll be restricted to where you can get an easy transfer. From Geneva this means chamonix or morzine/avoriaz really. Not sure about Turin etc cos I got flights from Geneva.
Lots of airbnb options around Les houchez (although I was surprised by the lack of snow) and in Les gets. Both of these allow transfers and have buses to higher resorts.
Do book some cancellable a accommodation on air BnB or booking.com now and a hire car or you want one. (Easycar seemed good to me!).
Book your flights first! You didn't say which airport you are coming from.
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I've just come back from a 3 day 4 night trip. I went to argentiere in France with the ucpa.
I flew in on the evening flight to Geneva then got a "mountain transfer" to argentiere. (I was on my own but if together car hire would've been better). I had a good night's sleep and got my skis and boots. Then I got up Friday, had breakfast, then walked to the lift. I skid all day Friday, sat and ski'd down to argentiere at 4pm on Sunday, ready for my transfer home. I then got the last flight home from Geneva. So three days skiing for 1 and a half days leave.
If you don't hire a car you'll be restricted to where you can get an easy transfer. From Geneva this means chamonix or morzine/avoriaz really. Not sure about Turin etc cos I got flights from Geneva.
Lots of airbnb options around Les houchez (although I was surprised by the lack of snow) and in Les gets. Both of these allow transfers and have buses to higher resorts.
Do book some cancellable a accommodation on air BnB or booking.com now and a hire car or you want one. (Easycar seemed good to me!).
Book your flights first! You didn't say which airport you are coming from.
Ive been thinking about it for years...i really enjoyed it.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@surferrosa, cn't be bothered reading rest of thread but there's more than enough snow above 2,000 m, so e.g. Chamonix or Avoriaz plenty fine, 4 nights means 4 ski days to me, Geneva almost certainly best for flights, good transfer infrastructure although late evenings trickier...
What's not to like?
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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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Thanks all for your helpful replies, certainly food for thought. However, we've managed to pull a few more days annual leave and going book a normal 7 day trip now! Hoping there are some good deals available at the end of the month for w/c 9th March and might have a better idea where the conditions are good. Set my heart on Saalbach so hoping the snow gods deliver!
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@surferrosa, some great deals with Crystal ski that week if you're not too fussy about accommodation standard...
Courmayeur
3.5* self catered flights from Mancheter £480pp
2.5* B&B flights from Mancheter £496pp
3* HB flights from Mancheter £521pp
If you fancy something totally different (depending on snow conditions/forecast)
Jahorina in Bosnia & Herzegovina
3.5* self catered flights from Gatwick £538pp and BOGOF lift passes
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FAQ
