 Poster: A snowHead
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am toying with the idea of getting the hull rotterdam ferry at feb half term rather than the tunnel..... which resorts are driveable in one hit..... for instance chatel would seem to be a good shout going in from the north....... I dont know much about Austria driving wise as when we go there, we normally fly.... France we normally drive..... will be family of 4 two kids 8 & 11 blue and easy reds are where the kids are at......
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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Arlberg doable in day from Rotterdam, tho maybe not best given your blue/ easy red criteria! Serfaus/Fliss/Ladis ideal but a bit further. Could also consider SkiWelt area; depending on your appetite for long drives Saalbach possible but for me I’d be stopping overnight between Rotterdam and Saalbach. YMMV
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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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@ajc2260626, we do Berner Oberland (Wengen, Grindelwald, Mürren) in the day.
2 drivers 265 miles each, stick at it no problem.
We route down through Germany, the standard of the roads is fantastic.
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We use that route sometimes to the northern French Alps, it is certainly drivable in a day but you are tired at the end. But then I am not someone who enjoys driving.
I understand the more northern Austrian resorts also work well, heading straight from Holland into Germany and then on the autobahns.
There is more stress on the return drive since you need to get to the ferry terminal by 6.30-7.00. Coming from France there can be congestion around Antwerp, Brussels and Rotterdam itself (the ferry terminal is not actually in Rotterdam but close to the coast), although that might be less of a problem on a Saturday.
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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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cheers everyone, @j b, I will be getting the tunnel rather than the ferry as like you say its a bit prohibitive time wise, I think that I prefer the ideas of Northern alps, France and Switzerland etc rather than Austria, but I know the missus would like to go over Austria way....
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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The drive through France from the tunnel is certainly easier, but for us the driving to get to it makes the route less attractive. Basically you can't win.
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I so wish the Zeebrugge ferry was still running 
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@j b, looks like we are from the same part of the world, I’m in the west rhydding, where aboyts are you ?
@albob, don’t we all!
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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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@ajc2260626, East Riding, easy to get to the ferry.
And yes @albob, the Zeebrugge route had the best of both worlds.
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I think (and a quick check of mapping software generally agrees) that central Switzerland (e.g. Bernese Oberland, Engleberg) is about an hour less than northern France (e.g. Chatel, La Clusaz) or west Austria (e.g. Serfaus Fiss Ladis, SkiWelt).
We've taken the Hull to Rotterdam ferry a couple of times for west Austria (Zillertal, Kappl) and both times stopped overnight close to resort (Munich and Bludenz respectively). This was with an EV taking it fairly gently (~110 km/h, 3 x 30 minute charging / eating stops); going through Germany you could definitely sahve off a fair bit of time going faster. In both cases we arrived at the overnight stop in time for a lateish (maybe 20:30 dinner), and had a 1 to 1.5 hour drive the next day to ski.
Note that, with the ferry you go through passport control on arrival, and unloading isn't always that quick. I think one trip we left the port 30 minutes after docking, and the other time maybe an hour after docking.
We've always taken the Eurotunnel for the return trip, but that's mostly because of the timings. With the Eurotunnel we could ski till maybe 14:00 on Saturday, stop overnight in Belgium, and get home (York) Sunday afternoon. With the ferry we'd need to get the Saturday night ferry to dock Sunday morning, and this would mean no skiing on Saturday. If I were to get the ferry back, I'd leave resort the afternoon / evening the day before after skiing, and take a more leisurely drive up the next day
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@viv, you can pay an extra £15 to get priority boarding which I reckon save about an hour the Rotterdam side.....
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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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@ajc2260626, have you tried the priority thing in both directions? Any benefit arriving into Hull? (We’re considering it for December). Thanks.
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You know it makes sense.
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@viv, because disembarkation of cars is roughly in the same order as boarding, if you arrive reasonably early in Hull you have a better chance of a quick trip through passport control in Rotterdam.
Like you if there isn't a particular reason for doing the trip in one, we prefer to do it leisurely and stop off somewhere en route. The bonus of being retired! Last time down we stayed in the small town of Langres near where the routes from Rotterdam and Calais join; it was an attractive walled town built of cream coloured stone. Other times we have stayed in Dijon and Bourg-en-Bresse. (On return we visit family in Luxembourg).
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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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@Inboard, works both ways........ we only use outbound as going back we aren't that far away from hull
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Poster: A snowHead
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I didn't know about the priority boarding. However, the first trip we did we were one of the last few cars to arrive, and hence to board, and were also one of the first to disembark, as we were amongst the randomly parked last few to fit in, and they needed us out of the way to disembark all the others. That said, that time, the same side door was used for entry and exit, whereas for the other trip the side door wasn't in operation at Hull, so we all boarded via the stern
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| ajc2260626 wrote: |
| @viv, you can pay an extra £15 to get priority boarding which I reckon save about an hour the Rotterdam side..... |
Priority boarding not offered - just disembarkation
From their website
"Please note: Due to the nature of the Check-In opening times and procedures, Priority Boarding is not available on our Hull to Rotterdam route, instead we offer Priority Disembarkation on this route."
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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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Yes that’s correct, the priority is getting off, not getting on 
You get your own special parking space, well we did anyway
I guess they call it as “priority disembarkation” is nt that catchy
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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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We drive to Zell am See from Rotterdam several times a year and have done for the last 12 years both summer and winter, its easily doable in a day. Our arrival time spread over the years is 1945 - 2300, 2300 is a big outlier mainly as it was our first trip, we had a 3 month old baby with us and it was summer (summer is usually slower than winter)
We will either book priority boarding or will have the dogs with us (pets get off straight after priority). Its a very big time saving to be off early. We usually allow for 2 stops, I will drive the first 5 hrs straight through then stop for lunch around either Frankfurt or Hockenheim depending on which route we take, my wife will then drive 3 or so hours to just south of Munich where I will take over for the last few hours up to Zell in time for a pizza and a beer before bed.
I agree the return journey has potentially more time pressure, we usually leave 0430-500 is and have always arrived in plenty of time.
The big issue is the cost now, it has nearly doubled in the time we have been using it!
If you have any other questions just ask
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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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We live north north yorks and saalbach austria is our destination of choice, however we would suggest going go on the thursday night ferry as the traffic on a saturday in high season below munich is oft a log jam we then overnight an hour south of munich in one of the towns( kufstein) or just off the motorway having got there more often in time for dinner however you do need to book early off the ferry as will gain an hour but to avoid a problem we dont book the bed until en route and going well as weather etc could mean stopping earlier . This plan is fine if you can getaway on thursday not friday as the onward travel on sat morning to resort is before traffic builds and means you can if you wish be on the slope by mid morning and on return set off after skiing saturday drive till around 7-8 pm going against the traffic then again overnight before catching the sunday night ferry( if not extending our stayif work allows). Hull ferry docks about 8 means its possible to have more or less 8 full days skiing rather than 6. German autobahns are not for the faint hearted as the speed of the traffic on the fast lane is something most of us uk drivers arnt used to but an average of somewhere around 65mph plus is easily attainable on the 650 mile distance and no tolls which goes a fair way to the cost of one of the overnights . It is possible to do the route in one hit but I wouldnt without 2 drivers .
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