 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi, please can anyone give me advice, i am looking for a skiing holiday for a family of four, boys age 11 and 14 for february half term 2009.
I have no idea where to go, somewhere reasonably cheap with slopes for beginners and intermediate, we want hotel or apartment close to the slopes, don't want to have to get a bus or anything.
Any london or south west airport.
We'll need boot and ski hire.
Any help appreciated. 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Welcome to Snowheads, JC1977. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but there is little or no prospect of anything but very expensive holidays for February half term. Holidays, and flights, are being booked up very quickly and prices are already extremely high.
Are you looking for a package holiday, or to book flights, transfers and accommodation separately on a DIY basis.
Is this your first ski holiday?
There are a number of other threads on this same subject and the consensus of opinion is that it is going to be much more practical, if you have to stick to school holidays, to go skiing at Easter 2009, which will be quieter and a lot cheaper.
A moderate sort of holiday in Feb half term will probably cost well over £1000 a head, could be quite a lot more.
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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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I had a feeling it would very expensive, don't mind either package or booking diy aslong as the transfers are quite easy to arrange from airport to resort.
i think i'll look into easter aswell, where is good to go at that time of year for the snow etc? Or how about going the 3rd Jan for a week, would only have to take the kids out of school a few days then?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Or how about going the 3rd Jan for a week, would only have to take the kids out of school a few days then?
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Great idea. World's your oyster, then! With a family of four, if you are relaxed about where to go, you could afford to wait and go for some last minute bargains. As for Easter, to be sure of good skiing it would be best to book a resort with high altitude skiing (for example Val Thorens, Les Deux Alpes) but for the last few years conditions have been good in mid April. In much of the French Alps snow was better in mid April this year than it had been in mid February, even at moderate altitudes.
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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 probably have to lower your expectations of being in an apartment right on the slope - a 5 minute walk twice a day shouldn't be considered a deal-breaker when you're fighting for a holiday on the busiest week. Don't worry overly about there not being 'beginner and intermediate' slopes - the number of resorts that are genuinely experts-only is very small indeed.
If you haven't already sorted your flights, you'll struggle to get them cheaply now unless you do something pretty 'creative' - probably involving a long transfer...
How about.... (this is a bit off the top of my head), go to one of the West Italian resorts like Sauze d'Oulx - which isn't a pricey resort from my recollection of holidaying there - flying to Genoa with BA. It's probably a 2.5ish hour transfer by road (hire a car and do it yourself), but the flights (from a very quick check) are still around £150 - whereas an Easyjet or Ryanair flight to somewhere more 'normal' like Geneva or Turin will be double that, or more.
If you self-cater you'll probably be able to come in at a pretty sensible price.
But if you have the flexibility of going during a different week - do that!
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andorra is cheap and cheerful and most of the hotels in soldeau are within 2mins walk from the gondola and night life is great. i stayed at the sport hotel which is 4* and it cost around £550 for the week might have gone up a bit now as it was a few yrs back.i found the ski school really good and a lot of the instructors are from britain so there is no language barrier. the terrain is quite expansive and for a first skiing trip it was a great introduction as i didnt have to pay the earth to see if i liked it or not. downside is it does get busy and the snow isnt so reliable and the ski classes are huge so you dont get a lot of 1-1 tuition. there are more pretty resorts and resorts with much better snow but it all depends on whats most important for you, if its the price then andorra or bulgaria would be your cheapest.
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JC1977,
If you drive you could keep the costs down ( for the 1/2 term week).
Mitch
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If you drive you could keep the costs down ( for the 1/2 term week).
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but with a risk of spending many an hour in a traffic jam, especially if you hit bad weather. Much better take the kids out of school for a few days and go early january
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How about Eastern Europe - Bulgaria? I've never been but I understand its pretty cheap.
Agree with sabraham, about Andorra.
Was in Sauze in 2006 and thought prices were not much cheaper than other resorts. Quite a nice town though and tons of skiing. Beginners will need to chair lift up and down from the town centre each day though.
My first ski trip was to Alpe D'Huez. The apartments Horizon d'Huez were ski in/out. Its high so would be pretty snow sure I think.
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