 Poster: A snowHead
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
WesTaylor, Shopping wise, Bourg St Maurice is your friend, as are the buses to get there (and, of course, the funiculaire from 1600...). Also has the benefit of the train station.....
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
WesTaylor, welcome to snowHeads.
There's a couple of mini supermarkets in Arc 1800. They are a little bit more expensive than down the hill in Bourg St Maurice, and have a much smaller range of food but stock all the basics. There is a Lidl in Bourg St Maurice, but not in Les Arcs.
I'm not sure if there is an early booking discount for season passes - send a Private Message to bertie bassett who spent a season in Peisey last year and might be able to help on that, as well as general living costs.
If having a car isn't going to completely blow your budget I'd say it is worthwhile. It will give you the opportunity to try some of the other nearby resorts (Tignes, Val d'Isere, La Rosiere, La Thuile and the Trois Vallees, all of which are easy to get to for a day's skiing) as well as making it easy to get down to BSM for shopping, entertainment, etc. Be aware, though, that last season Arc 1800 introduced car parking charges for everyone in the resort unless your accommodation comes with it's own, free, parking. No idea what the charge would be for season-long parking.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
WesTaylor,
Welcome to 
As Rob@Rar says there's a lidl in BSM, also a SuperU and a Intermarche which are both like Tesco's really. You could get to all of them without a car by taking the bus to 1600 and the funicular down to Bourg (included on the lift pass) and then about a 5-10 minute walk from the funicular base - so take a good rucksack if this is your plan. I guess you've seen my summary thread here then http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=46330&start=253 where I discussed taking a car, to me it was very useful but probably only 10% of seasonnaires had one. Remember to factor in the costs of the tolls down/up which is about 70 euro's each way (possibly a little more now). Ferry Prices were around £28-40 one way based on one person/car and picking the cheapest rather than the 'most popular ones' - make sure you pre-book though as if you just buy a ticket at dover you get stung for around 85 quid - ouch! As Rob has said the car-parking in 1800 is chargeable but last season in Peisey-Vallandry it wasn't - so provided the same applies, then once the lifts are open you could drive the car down and up the other valley (about 40-45 minutes one way) and park up somewhere near the bottom of the grizzly lift, grab your skis and one lift/one run you're back in 1800 - reverse when you need to pick the car up (but don't tell everyone!) Other options would be to leave the car a road or two away from the funicular bottom station - as the car park there is now chargeable too.
As to lift passes - I wasn't aware of a discount for early purchase, althought I didn't ask that hard. I believe the only discounts are for the workers and the property owners, but I stand to be corrected. I would imagine however that as the summer season is in full flow at the moment then try giving the tourist office in Les Arcs a call or email and see what they say. I doubt however if they've even decided on the prices for 2010, so unlikely to have early buyers discounts.
Wes - I also did more of 'resort review' and some of the information in that may be of interest - http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=53223
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
Our budget isn't large by any means for two people we'll be lucky if we have £2000 between the 2 of us to live on is this going to be enough of am i way under? Of course the car wacks this considerably as to insure my car for 5 months doesn't bode well with any insurer i can find (damn being 19).
As for parking YAY the apartment i'm renting includes free parking phew so the car will most likely only be used to pick freinds up from the airport and to do the shopping in bourg, on the majority of days it'll be sat in the snow 
My main concern with the car is insurance. Churchill will only insure it abroad for 90 days which is a little shy of a season and i'm thinking that a car abroad without insurance is a big no no as its a brand new car.
By the sound of it bertie it sounds like a bit of a mission to get to and from bourg without a car *sigh* I guess i can see the car is worth the extra cost. perhaps i should sell a kidney to fund this trip.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
I would suspect that it is quicker to get to BSM via the funiculaire than it is to drive
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| WesTaylor wrote: |
| Our budget isn't large by any means for two people we'll be lucky if we have £2000 between the 2 of us to live on is this going to be enough of am i way under? Of course the car wacks this considerably as to insure my car for 5 months doesn't bode well with any insurer i can find (damn being 19). |
What does that 2K cover - is it just living / travelling costs for the season? If so then i think it's a little on the low side as you'd be looking at just over £7 per person per day as a budget. So you need to be thinking always about not 'having lunch' or perhaps skiing home for the left-overs of the brekkie baguette, plus not drinking out but drinking in the apartment and other ways of saving money. You don't want to be 'too skint to eat' as then you wont have the energy to make the most of the mountain.
Remember that the journey down is likely to cost around £200 alone - say £40 for ferry, £60 for tolls and a couple of tanks of fuel.
| WesTaylor wrote: |
My main concern with the car is insurance. Churchill will only insure it abroad for 90 days which is a little shy of a season and i'm thinking that a car abroad without insurance is a big no no as its a brand new car. |
You will have 3rd party insurance automatically in france just on your standard uk policy, but it's not much use if you trash your own new car. OTOH LV insurance do a '6 months abroad' and I had to switch from Direct Line to LV for that reason.
| WesTaylor wrote: |
By the sound of it bertie it sounds like a bit of a mission to get to and from bourg without a car *sigh* I guess i can see the car is worth the extra cost. perhaps i should sell a kidney to fund this trip. |
Not a mahoosive mission but it'll probably take a good couple of hours to do the weekly shop. If your total budget is constrained, then I'm surprised you are going for the 'luxury' approach of renting you're own apartment up the hill and driving. Cheap flights, trains and local buses or lift share through something like natives would be the cheaper way of getting there, without the hassle of looking after a car in resort. Cheaper accommodation options would include places like the freeride chalet in pesiey - which charged £2,500 for the season 1/2 board so you didn't have much food costs. So all you need to find on top is (a) car money (b) lift pass (c) insurance and (d) fun tokens incl beer. The Freeride rep definitely seemed to have quite a good crew of people and around a similar sort of age to yourself. Chaletarc in Nancroix is even cheaper, but then you need to sort out your own food.
Still it's your season and you'll have a great time however you end up out there - good luck!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Guvnor wrote: |
| I would suspect that it is quicker to get to BSM via the funiculaire than it is to drive |
too bloody true  A half decent rucksack (or better two) will take care of a week's shopping + Lidl is just an easy 10 min walk from the bottom of the funicular.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
