 Poster: A snowHead
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This will maybe our first time with a TO for some years as I think DIY from Manchester will work out more expensive - Thomson flights were on sale in June last year, none appeared yet, think it’s a bad omen, so need to think about booking early or leaving it to the last minute.
We have been to Obertauern 3 times, but also been to Saalbach/Hinterglem twice and Zell am See twice. Hubby feels it's time to try new pastures (want to stick to Austria though) so I have narrowed the search down to Mayrhofen and Solden (not too expensive!)
Just want to know the negatives about these two places, so I can remove one from the list. We want as little walking in boots as possible, lots of blues/reds, good snow record, and we can go anytime in Jan and Feb, so quite flexible. I know Mayrhofen has lift problems (one lift up out of the town, and no run back to the village) and you have to use a ski bus for both if you are not near the lift, and I know both can be noisy, so to choose a hotel away from the centre main street, but are there any other “hates” or “snags” that you can warn me about?
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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sharon1953, Mayhofen's queueing and noise isn't as bad as some people make it out to be if you are keen skiers - make it to the lift at 0845 and there's no queue. At 0900, you'll queue for 20-30 minutes.
Coming back, either leave it as late as possible (have a gluhwein or two on the hill, and come down at 1700), or leave before 1600, or take one of the other lifts down to Finkenberg or Hippach instead and get the bus back.
Alternatively, if you're not dependent on having the facilities of Mayrhofen on your doorstep, try Finkenberg - lovely village with a great atmosphere, and without the raucous side with the exception of one bar by the lift. The lift is quick, free buses run around the village to get you there, and the runs on that side of the mountain are excellent - the only drawback is that the whole village is on a 20 degree slope, so you'll be walking uphill for some of the time.
The noise is mainly focussed around 2 or 3 bars, with the Eisbar at the lift station being the main culprit. It can be entertaining to watch - but fortunately for those who like to sleep, it closes early (8 or 9), and the serious party animals go elsewhere. The nightclub(s?) are nowhere near as loud, having plenty of space and lots of soundproofing.
The range of skiing available from Mayrhofen (don't forget the rest of the Zillertal!), its snow record, and the ease of access from Innsbruck make it worth it.
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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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ousekjarr, Thanks, I did wonder just how much of a problem the noise was -as for the bus, yes I can see from the map that there is another option up and down. We are so used to skiing almost to the door, so using buses will be a bit of shock, but if we have to, we will. We are not early skiers, like to take our time over breakfast, so perhaps we will miss the queues by leaving after 10 am.
We have to avoid drag lifts, would this exclude much?
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sharon1953, by 0930 the queues are gone, so 10am will find it deserted.
There are very few drag lifts in Mayrhofen, all of which can be avoided - they serve little-used one-way runs in most cases, though there are some areas where they are used to link two chairs over a very short distance. See http://ski3.intermaps.com/zillertal/index.asp?chn=zoom4 for details.
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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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Not skied in Solden but driven through it late one evening and it did feel a bit like Blackpool - depends whether that it your scene or not (or whether you really care about that stuff)
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Libertine, I must confess, the attraction of the Zillertal Arena nearby is tempting - just wish you could ski back tot he village. Finkenburg might just be too quiet. We don't usually go out at night (too tired) but like to wonder round shops and have a couple of drinks etc. before dinner. How good is the bus service?
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sharon1953, If your liftpass is for 4 days or longer then it will be the Zillertal Super Ski Pass, which covers the entire Zillertal valley resorts, including free travel on the ski busses and Zillertalbahn narrow gauge railway which runs from Mayrhofen down the valley to the other resorts. The summer timetable is shown here, the winter schedule has more frequent morning departures.
If you're staying in Mayrhofen then I would definitely recommend having at least one day trip to one of the the other Zillertal resorts. My top tip would be to visit Kaltenbach/Hochfugen (the two areas were linked a few years ago to form an extensive ski area,it's half an hour on the train from Mayrhofen to Kaltenbach, then about 200 metres walk to the gondola basestation).
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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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We just got word from Thomson (after many emails) that they are NOT running any flights to Salzburg from Manchester nex year for none package cutomers. So I wonder what they intend to do with any spare seats they have? We don't know about Innsbruck yet but it's looking more and more like a package holiday!
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re mayrhofen can you not fly to munich? have done the trip and its only about 2-3hrs depending on traffic. you can also get the train in to middle of town. 2xchanges and takes about 4hrs
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Quote: |
We just got word from Thomson (after many emails) that they are NOT running any flights to Salzburg from Manchester nex year for none package cutomers
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Does anyone know how people in the north are supposed to get to the Alps without travelling to Gatwick and Stansted (and without paying an arm and a leg?) (and without having to travel on a Saturday). Could be an opportunity for someone enterprising like Ryanair to start operations in the north, now that Thomson have moved out of Coventry and Manchester.
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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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mu geography of both ends is a bit hazy - would the easyJet flights from Liverpool to Innsbruck be any help?
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pam w, Getting to Mayrhofen from Innsbruck by public transport is a doddle - bus "F" every 15mins or taxi from airport to rail station, then mainline to Jenbach, change platforms for the Zillertalbahn to Mayrhofen. 
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You know it makes sense.
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Hi, I fly easyjet Liverpool to Innsbruck quite often. They offer one flight Thursday and Sunday per week during January and Febuary, then it drops to one flight only per week on a Sunday in March.
At the moment its about £120 return inc skis, but if you have to fly during the half term the price goes through the roof.
The only drawback for you may be that the return flight back to the UK is about 11.30 so you would have to be at the airport for about 09.30 ish.
If you want to return to Innsbruck the evening before your flight I can recommend the hotel www.weisseskreuz.at which is in the centre of the old town (car free), but still only a 10 euro taxi ride from the airport 
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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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Sounds as if there's an opportunity for someone to start up Salzburg flights from north of Watford for those of us who need to get to the Eastern Austrian Alps. Ryanair comes in for a lot of stick, but, as long as you live near enough to Stansted, there's no arguing with three flights a day, almost any day of the week, and for as low as £1 per flight with no taxes and charges (special offer a couple of weeks ago). Easyjet have to compete from Gatwick, but it sounds as if they've got a monopoly in the north.
I know Jet2.com and Flybe offer Salzburg flights, but they seem to be expensive and also limited to weekend flights. Aer Lingus and Easyjet to Munich is another option - but Munich is obviously not as convenient (nice train journey though). If anyone knows of any other budget operators from the north, I'd be very interested.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Tatman's Tours wrote: |
| Quote: |
We just got word from Thomson (after many emails) that they are NOT running any flights to Salzburg from Manchester nex year for none package cutomers
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Does anyone know how people in the north are supposed to get to the Alps without travelling to Gatwick and Stansted (and without paying an arm and a leg?) (and without having to travel on a Saturday). Could be an opportunity for someone enterprising like Ryanair to start operations in the north, now that Thomson have moved out of Coventry and Manchester. |
Use Easyjet.
They do flights to Innsbruck from Liverpool, to Munich from Manchester, Newcastle and Edinburgh, and to Geneva from (I think) every UK airport they operate from. They also do Milan (Malpensa) and Grenoble from Edinburgh.
And while I haven't checked all the schedules, when I have looked before, Easyet often don't do Saturday flights on many routes. I'm not sure there are any where they only do Saturdays.
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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 cannot say much about Mayrhofen since I have never skied there (was only in summer there).
Thus I will add a few points to Soelden:
Village: From my point of view one of the ugliest villages in Austria (together with Ischgl). Very obnoxious architecture and no real village core (just a main street with hotels cluttered around). Though I do understand that this is up to each preferences.
Snow: This is the huge negative point of Soelden. Yes, the mountains are really high around Soelden. But exactly that makes the Oetztal Valley one of the driest places within the whole Austrian Alps (the high mountain massifs prevent relief/orographic precipitation). This is particularly true in early and mid-winter. The valley floor can be quite bare of snow. Of course, man made snow and the glaciers guarantee skiing anyway. Just do not expect to find the quantity and quality of powder like at the Arlberg (or in other precipitation-rich places of Austria like parts of Salzburg, Styria and Upper Austria). The Ziller Valley gets usually also more precipitation though the deep valley floor is somewhat a risk (rain/snow level can be as high as 1000-1500m even in mid winter!).
Apres Ski: depends on your preferences. So I guess the apres ski in Soelden does have a very "teutonic" touch.
Landscape: As soon as you leave the village the true awesomeness of the Oetztal Alps is revealed. 3000ers everywhere etc.
Skiing: Some very long pistes with a lot of vertical and a modern and huge lift system (the cable car to the Gaislachkogel is in the stage of rebuilding this summer and will be ready next winter as far as I know). If (and that is a great if) there is good snow, off-piste is quite interesting around the Gaislachkogel.
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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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sharon1953, Lufthansa fly direct from Manchester to Munich with prices at the moment starting at £98 return to fly in January. As creedgearoid, said, train from Munich to Mayrhofen isn't complicated... Look at www.oebb.at to find trains to match flights.
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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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| Quote: |
The Ziller Valley gets usually also more precipitation though the deep valley floor is somewhat a risk (rain/snow level can be as high as 1000-1500m even in mid winter!).
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Nothing to worry about... Most of the skiing is above this height anyway.
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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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Why not fly Lufthansa from Machester to Munich, or, depending on price, to Innsbruck?
Munich to Mayrhofen can be driven in an hour and a half if you don't get bogged down in traffic.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
Could be an opportunity for someone enterprising like Ryanair to start operations in the north, now that Thomson have moved out of Coventry and Manchester.
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I read in today's paper that Ryanair is planning to start operating from Leeds Bradford - thanks Mr O-Leary!
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Doesn't seem to be going anywhere useful for skiing though from what I've seen (apart from Venice), new routes below:
Carcassonne , Malta ,
Faro , Montpellier ,
Ibiza , Murcia ,
Knock Nantes
Krakow Palma
Limoges Pisa
Malaga Venice Treviso
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Doesn't seem to be going anywhere useful for skiing though
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Let's hope that the list expands to include ski destinations - Mr O'Leary, are you listening? How about Salzburg now that Thomsonfly have apparently ceased flights to that airport, and no other budget operator north of London seems to be offering them?
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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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jet2.com - cheap, effective, and doesn't insult you at every step of the way. Flights from Leeds-Bradford to Salzburg.
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jet2.com - cheap, effective, and doesn't insult you at every step of the way. Flights from Leeds-Bradford to Salzburg.
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Yes, I've looked at their website a few times but given up trying to find any cheap flights. By way of comparison, I booked Ryanair a few weeks ago to leave on 4th March and return on 20th March, and it cost me £8 return. My sister booked with them a couple of weeks ago to leave on 9th March and return on 16th, and it cost a total of £8 return for 4 people! (i.e. £2 each). Now I know that the norm is more like £50 return per person, but I've never found anything to compare on Jet2.com. Do I need to keep looking?
(Incidentally the figures quoted above assume that you're content to carry cabin luggage only - 10kg, and that you have a Visa Electron card)
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