 Poster: A snowHead
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My Husband turns 30 next November and I am planning to take him skiing for his birthday, probably in early December. I live in Edinburgh and would prefer to fly from here so was thinking of either Geneva then skiing at Zermatt or Munich now that Easyjet have started a route to their then skiing at Hintertux. I would prefer somewhere with a glacier incase the snow isn't that good.
I want to start planning everything as early as possible to get as good a deal as possible on flights accommodation etc. I am used to organising our ski trips independantly and will do the same for this one. I don't really want to wait and get a last minute deal as I have been looking around just now for going this December and there doesn't seem to be anything that great value from Scotland, we laso prefer chalets to hotels.
I have looked at various websites and have an idea of suitable accomodation and how much lift passes cost but am just looking for some advice on the ease of transfer to the resorts mentioned and any other thoughts, suggestions etc. anyone may have.
Thanks 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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zoe29, welcome to snowHeads
Transfer from Geneva to Zermatt is fairly straightforward - the Swiss do their trains well!! You will have to change though, and it takes a couple of hours (rules out transfers from flights that land at 11pm!!).
I haven't done Hintertux, but I did Zell am See (glacier at Kaprun) from Munich, and again it was fairly straightforward by train. That took around 3 hrs and involved a couple of changes.
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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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Zermatt is an easy transfer from Geneva (alleged - we are doing it in February but have had good avice from  's) . Take the train direct from the airport and arrive in Zermatt refreshed. See www.sbb.ch/en for timetables, typically they run every hour and take 3 hrs 45 with one change. Good luck.
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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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zoe29,
I'd still book last minute not so much for price as snow conditions. If the snow is poor the chalet will be deader than a doornail. If it is windy and cold a glacier can be pretty unpleasant in December. Apart from the flights you won't save much money booking early. Why not book the flight early and the resort late?
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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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zoe29, to get to Hintertux, you would need to get a train to Mayrhofen and then bus or taxi. It would be a two hour drive alternatively.
A good place to stay would be the Hotel Rinderhof, right at the base of the gondoler. (oops, just re-read to see that you prefer chalets). I can't picture and chalets in Hintertux, you may have to stay further afield and bus (or drive) in each day...
Welcome to snowHeads btw
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Thanks for the replies.
Had thought about booking flights early and booking accomodation later on, what other resorts could I go to from these airports?
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zoe29, to be honest, you can access almost any from those two. How long are you going for - if it is a weekend, you would need shorter transfers than if it was a week.
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Going for a week and don't mind a longer transfer as long as its easy to arrange ie. trains or minibus and doesn't cost £100 each!
I don't plan on booking any of it anytime soon, i just like being really, really organised 
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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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zoe29, with the Swiss railways you can buy a Swiss Transfer Ticket for £56 for which you'll get return travel from the airport to any Swiss resort (or something like £80 for 1st class). If there's just the 2 of you and you're going for a week then this would be the cheapest option by far.
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zoe29, Although we are going from Zurich (which is a little further) yes, go for the Swiss Railway Transfer ticket. You can only buy them in this country though. Don't wait until you get there. We bought ours off the web.
The journey from Zurich to Zermatt is about 4.5 hours and from Geneva slightly less. Plus, Swiss trains are a joy to travel on and run like clockwork so are hassle free as they make sure all your connections work.
Zermatt has skiing now (if you look at the webcams) because it is a glacier. We are going 27th Dec but I am quite sure by early Dec quite a lot of runs will be open.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I have now changed my plans and want to go away over new year next year. Still with the same airports where would people recommend as a good resort over new year. I prefer slightly quieter resorts where there aren't too many other tourists and which have a lot of local atmosphere. I am still keen on Zermatt as it looks really "special" but as I don't have unlimited funds I would hate to go and find you had to be really careful with the pennies. I would probably prefer to go somewhere with less of an initial wow factor but where we could enjoy ourselfs eating out more. I prefer self catering apartments to a hotel or catered chalet as well.
Skiing wise anything goes. I should be ok on pretty much anything by then and my husband loves a challenge on piste and is looking to start venturing more off piste. Somewhere with a park would be a bonus but not a necessity.
I've never been to anywhere in the alps and there are so many resorts to choose from that any advice would be gratefully recieved
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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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Zermatt is not cheap, and by New Year there should (fingers x) be snow most places. I think you just opened up most of the Alps as a possibilty. Which country and what style of skiing do you fancy?
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I'm quite drawn to Austrai, but not sure why
Just looking for suggestions really as a starting point then will go away and google for the final decision
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You know it makes sense.
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From above it looks like Munich is an option flightwise, this thread might give you a few ideas.
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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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zoe29,
New year is one of the busiest weeks in the alps and is worth booking a long time in advance for many places as some get completely booked out.
Couple of places I have been to in Austria with success at this time are Lech which gets very heavily booked at New Year but has a lovely varied ski area and a pretty good early season snow record.
Galtur which is a fairly quiet resort with a pleasant little ski area of its own and a very much larger one just down the road at Ischgl for which you can get a shared lift pass and free ( I think) ski busses to.
If you are thinking of France Samoens is an attractive traditional resort close to Geneva it feeds into the Flaine/Grand massif area which has a good reputation for snow though I would imagine being close to Geneva it could get pretty crowded over the holiday period.
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