 Poster: A snowHead
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I am seriously considering it due to the current quotes I am getting for the easter break.
I still have to do my sums but quotes for SC apartments with Eurotunnel crossings are very competive cf the package deals.
Trouble is it will be a 2000 mile round trip for one weeks skiing!!
Perhaps a two week stay would justify it. Seriously though it seems a bit daunting with wife and two young kids in two, but most of the decent package deals fly from Gatwick anyway which means a 24hr trip to get there with the hassle of flights and transfers.
Anyone done it and survived??
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I know a family that did it last year. They have a 10 year old and a two year old. Think they had an 8 day stay in Austria. They left Central Scotland and got the ferry from Rosyth to wherever in Europe and then drove to Austria. They felt it was well worth doing and not traumatic at all. It worked out so well that they are doing it again this Easter!
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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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scotabroad, Scotland to the Alps is more like a 2,500 mile round trip.  I drive from Luton and cost wise it's about £450 - Tunnel, Tolls & Fuel for a Diesel Espace, so to that add the cost of fuel for a round trip to Luton
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Not for a ski trip, but we drove to Landeck in the Tyrol region of Austria for a weeks kayaking trip a couple of years back. As long as you've got folk sharing the driving and a good map reader or sat nav it's fine. As long as you (and the other driver(s)) like driving.
Don't tell the cops, but on the way back, we made it from Garmisch to Scotland in 17 hours including the chunnel!! If you can plan it to include night-time driving, the roads are much quieter.
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
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You can (or could) get ScotRail Sleeper and Eurostar combined tickets from ScotRail, don't know what's available or what prize but just another idea to through in. Certainly the Rosyth ferry would save a ton of driving.
You never know, late March has often been the best conditions in Scotland looking over the last few years. Nothing worse than heading to the Alps for a mud and slush feast and coming back to know it's been a week of powder back home - been there done that!
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it might be marginally cheaper driving thru eng. with a family but roysth is how I do it - saves a heap of driving & fuel.
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Priced up the ferry, a great idea and cuts out a lot of driving but at 828 GBP its not in the budget I'm afraid.
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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 have driven and survived but it was not an enjoyable experience. The driving out and the holiday were fine, the driving back and the following week weren't. The drive back through England on the second day is the killer IMHO. Rosyth is as you say not particularly cheap and now with sailings only every second day is not convenient either. Sailing from Newcastle is a bit cheaper and they sail every day but there is an extra drive down to Newcastle and on the other side.
Have you priced flights and car hire? I can usually do a trip DIY during school holiday time considerably cheaper than a package. If you check out scheduled flights and look at a lot of different airlines not just the budget ones you can usually find something reasonably priced.
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T Bar, I agree, the drive back, or at least the uk leg is the worst.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I suspect DIY is the way to go - plenty of accommodation available at Easter. cheaper than Erna Low, too.
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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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| Helen Beaumont wrote: |
| T Bar, I agree, the drive back, or at least the uk leg is the worst. |
I'm in W Yorkshire and because of the last drive from Dover I won't do Dover any more. I'm doing Hull to Rotterdam or Zeebruger from now.
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funny you should say this..... in fact yes we will be in March. Attending a wedding at Edinburgh castle then driving to France next day via Le Tunnel sous la manche. Adds a bit to the normal drive but hey ho....
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You know it makes sense.
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Erna Low are doing a 3 bedroomed apt in France for under 400 quid inc channel crossing which is a real clincher, if I can get there cheap enough?? I also need to accomodate a mate from London on the trip who will share costs. What ferry operates from Newcastle, I am in Dumfries so Newcastle is easier to get to than Rosyth. Dover is about 400 miles so overnight driving wouldn't be bad, but I hear what is being said about the drive back.
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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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scotabroad, that certainly seems extremely cheap if it's really 3 bedrooms as opposed to a sofa, a cupboard and shelf. Where is it? There will be plenty of accommodation in most resorts in France at Easter.
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Poster: A snowHead
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scotabroad, Assuming that you are quite close to the M74/M6 then I would think that 8hrs will see you to folkestone and naother 8hrs once in Calais will see you in resort. An overnight stop near the coast will be called for. This will add a couple of days extra to the holiday but probably worth it. Try taking the train or even flying from Newcastle/Glasgow/Blackpool?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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we do paris area most years from perth and it'sd quite a trek. I have family in Leeds sowe usually break up our stay there. We have considered it but the extra travel time will mean we will have to do less than a week in order to get back for school. luckliy though fuel isn't an issue for us as hubby gets personal fuel with his company car. I think we are goiong to leave it until the week before and if we can't get a package then we might consider driving down
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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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The ferry between Newcastle and Amsterdam set off at about 16:00 and a 650miles radius can get one to the fringes of French, Swiss, Italian and Austrian Alps via the fast route of the toll-free Germany after an overnight sleep on the ferry.
Going back normally takes two days because the ferry also leaves Amsterdam at about 16:00. On top of this would be the journey back to Scotland.
I find the Newcastle/Amsterdam service to be ideally suited for Austrian and Swiss resorts. As a couple we never had to pay more than GBP400 inclusive of prebooked meals. Winter time on a ferry is low season.
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kiwi1, using the overnight ferries means I have to take an extra day off work though, as they depart before I finish work for the day. We've only had one bad return journey, and that was in August on a Friday afternoon.
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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scotabroad, ... have you checked out DIY flights rather than packages? A friend of mine came out a while ago Edinburgh to Chambery at very reasonable cost and if you look at Lyon or Grenoble (Glasgow) on non-transfer days flights are very reasonable. Coupled with car hire, it might give you options.
I drive out at the start of the season - Northern Ireland, Dublin-Holyhead, Dover-Calais, La Plagne, this year in one hit. It's a LONG drive.
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My family drove from North Ayrshire to the Val D area in '06 for a week. Ferry-ed it from Newcastle to Amsterdam then drove all the next day. Sleeping on the ferry, it took 2 days travelling but was still worth it with 4/5 proper days skiing.
Couldn't say how tiring it would be, my dad was driving.
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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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Did it lots of times years ago with Interhome. Could get an apartment and ferry crossing for less than half a package holiday. Usually left noon on Friday from Glasgow, stopped other side of the channel overnight, and could be in the supermarket in Moutiers by 6.00pm. 500 miles in UK, approx 650miles from Calais to 3 Valleys, Val etc.
Now cheap flights and the internet are here its not worth it. Even KLM type flights to Geneva and car hire will work out as cheap as driving, if you can get really cheap Ryanair etc, quids in!
So saying I drove in '06. I had forgotten how loooong the return trip seemed compared to the outward one and I probably won't do it again.
The big advantage with the car is the amount of gear you can take and you can also take advantage of the sales if you go at Easter, as I did.
I've gone via Newcastle and wouldn't do it again. Distance on the other side is nearly 750miles, it takes forever to get through Holland and Belgum and their motorways are rubbish.
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I seem to be able to find a dirt cheap flight out there for 20 quid, but returnflights are proving a problem. Getting quotes around the 800 quid mark for a family of four return to Geneva, and that is without car hire, or transfers. So fly/ drive wil be close to 1000 pounds..
Agree with prices above re ferry costs, doing some homework it is about 400 quid to holland from Newcastle, but there is the drive to Newcstle, then the drive from holland??
Interestingly even with all the cost of driving it is working out significantly cheaper than a package holiday, and that is building in some contingency.
Ah jist dinnae ken  . It's definitely a feasible option if a last minute deal does not turn up, I think that is how we will play it. Thanks for all the advice, there seems to be a fairly polarised view of folks that just wouldn't want to do it, and folks who don't mind the hours??
Cheers
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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We are heading to Wengen (Switzerland) from Glasgow by train, if you book up ealry enough you can get a good deal, generally children under 6 travel free for the whole journey. We need to do it over two days as just can't get the connections to work, PAris in one day and Wengen the next using all these new High Speed Trains, the longest leg (time) is Glashow to London. We are a family of four.
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