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France or Italy £££££

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Which country will make the £ stretch further? My gut feeling, after visiting Alpes D'Huez last year is Italia? Puzzled
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Italy!
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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?
It's a no brainer.......
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RWDLYN, If you are going to otherwise similar resorts, then almost certainly Italy.

But the expensive resorts in Italy will still usually work out more expensive than the cheaper resorts in France.
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France every day.... money better spent .. the slopes in France are the best in europe ... for those that can ski !
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Libertine wrote:
France every day.... money better spent .. the slopes in France are the best in europe ... for those that can ski !


wow - really - all of them?
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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Libertine wrote:
France every day.... money better spent .. the slopes in France are the best in europe ... for those that can ski !


wow - really - all of them?
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
yeah, i'm sick of all the "ooooh i need to know the grading, It not right thatshould be a red...." basically the piste in france are better than rest of the alpes.... shall i start a new subject here Toofy Grin
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Libertine wrote:
yeah, i'm sick of all the "ooooh i need to know the grading, It not right thatshould be a red...." basically the piste in france are better than rest of the alpes.... shall i start a new subject here Toofy Grin


I remain impressed that you know all the pistes in France, and presumably a lot everywhere else. Quite amazing Toofy Grin

Anyway, who wants to ski pistes anyway?
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Quote:

Anyway, who wants to ski pistes anyway?


Laughing Laughing

Quote:

for those that can ski !


... surely pistes are irrelevant!
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gortonator, SaraJ, my point that all idiots worrying about nonsense..... obviously you are to good for this and wouldnot be inclued in the people i a talking about.... For god sake... stop being stupid aaaaand SSSSSSSSSSSSKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIiii !!! idiots
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
SaraJ, geez, you're in Zillertal. Man, those pistes are awful compared to France, y'know. Like - just awful ...

rolling eyes rolling eyes
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Having done many of the major French resorts, I'd always choose Italy or Austria now. Generally better value for money, although some Italian and Austrian resorts remain very pricey (Cortina, Lech, Ischgl for example). More hotel-based accommodation rather than shoebox apartments. Flattering pistes for the nervous bimbler and lively nightlife.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Libertine, so - seriously - what makes a good piste? length? width? consistent grade? rolling terrain? straight? bendy? quality of grooming? left alone sometimes to bump up?

For me, I love ripping a fast freshly groomed run early in the morning before the punters arrive, and carving big fast turns. The best grooming I've ever seen was at Sun Valley in Idaho, where somehow it appears the pistes are hand-manicured overnight to a perfect soft groomed surface, and you can rip a 1000m vertical of virgin corduroy on a red (equiv) run as your warm up. Before heading off-piste, or course Wink

I remember some fine pistes in the Milky Way too. And undoubtedly Italy (and Austria) offer a lot better value price wise than France.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
€€€??

Depends where you go - I don't think it's as straightforward a comparison as is being suggested.

Cost-wise, Courmayeur and Cortina for example right up there with the most expensive French mega-resorts.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Quote:

I don't think it's as straightforward a comparison as is being suggested

Agreed. It depends where your budget comes under strain and what you're after. These generalisations about entire countries ("French resorts" have tough skiing and "Austrian resorts" have nice easy flattering cruisy runs) are too broad to be helpful. Puzzled
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RWDLYN, in the Espace San Bernado ski area, shared between La Rosiere, France and La Thuile, Italy there is no significant difference in cost. I've heard comment's from some of the Italian bar and restaurant owners that they were much better off before the introduction of the Euro as there was a noticeable difference in prices then.
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under a new name wrote:
€€€??

Depends where you go - I don't think it's as straightforward a comparison as is being suggested.

Cost-wise, Courmayeur and Cortina for example right up there with the most expensive French mega-resorts.


Yes indeed costs in Courmayeur are right up there with Courchevel, we stopped there for a snack lunch in the summer swiftly moved on when a small panini was £8.00 and a coke just short of a fiver Shocked
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Champoluc in the Italian 3 Valleys is very much cheaper than the French one, and I would say more charming as well.
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depends what you are spending your €€€€€ on
none of the Alpine countries are great places if you want to drink your own weight in beer for cheap
ADH is reasonable value for skiing and mountain restaurants IMV
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Instead of the one word answer I gave earlier.

Generally you will have better value in Italy! I love Italy, I am also lucky enough to get to France a lot as I have a "cheap" place to stay in there, but I am not blinkered as some might be about the resort they have invested in! Dont be put off with @rsey people saying that you need miles of runs, or every piste to be the gradient of the "swiss wall". Enjoy the runs you like, stop when you like, lunch when you like, and let the self deluding "ski gods" to do their thing. A real skier probably would not tell you how good they are. I never heard our fellow snowHead Martin Bell telling anyone here that he knows more than any other.

Evil or Very Mad Evil or Very Mad
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Have to agree that neither country is exactly uniform in price. When I was trying to put together a cheap holiday last Easter flying into Milan I ended up going to Maurienne valley which was significanly cheaper for accommodation and lift passes than anywhere I looked at in Italy.

Definately want to try Monte Rosa area soon though, a friend who went the week after we were in Maurienne came back raving about how nice it was.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Mountain Haddock, it certainly is on both counts, but I understand the French one has a little more uplift?
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Yeah, the Italian 3vs looks massive but only for those of an off-piste persuasion.
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I've never found anywhere in Italy where prices come near to those charged in the 3vs.
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I never go anywhere in France where prices come near to those charged in the 3vs.
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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.
One solution is - if you have a budget just don't spend as much, skip the cokes & snickers at on mountain or make your own sarnies a couple of days rather than decide your destination purely on the cost perceptions of a few well informed but inherently biased interwebsters.
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
fatbob wrote:
well informed but inherently biased interwebsters.


I am biased Blush
French coffee is disgusting and is a good reason to drive a fast as you can until you get to the other side

Back on topic - of course Italy is cheaper "everyone" knows it

fatbob wrote:
One solution is - if you have a budget just don't spend as much, skip the cokes & snickers at on mountain or make your own sarnies a couple of days

It's meant to be a holiday ?
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Making my own sarnies is a holiday - stops me leaking cash at Pret or somesuch (I am such a traitor to my Northern roots, should seek out Greggs maybe) wink

I've been ripped off in Italy too for things like a simple ice cream cone in Courmayeur so don't pretend your vespa riding mummys' boys don't know how to "tourist price".


Last edited by You know it makes sense. on Fri 28-08-09 13:20; edited 1 time in total
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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fatbob wrote:
One solution is - if you have a budget just don't spend as much, skip the cokes & snickers at on mountain or make your own sarnies a couple of days rather than decide your destination purely on the cost perceptions of a few well informed but inherently biased interwebsters.


Yeah totally.

I make my own sarnies every day whilst on ski trips. £1.50 baguette in the rucksack vs. £15 plate of chips (with a 30 minute queue for the privilege). No contest.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
fatbob, I agree. My holidays are not ruined by having to make the odd sandwich and not swilling beer all day long. The most expensive drink I had ever, in the whole world, was in Venice. A long time ago - and certainly aeons before the euro was invented. The most expensive coffee I've drunk recently? A toss up between Courchevel and Fleet Services on the M3. wink
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I never buy anything in the 3Vs which is charged at silly prices. There is plenty of good value to be found if you look.
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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?
Then again we also cook our own breakfasts and dinners every day as well, because we're pikeys.
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pam w wrote:
My holidays are not ruined by having to make the odd sandwich and not swilling beer all day long.)
Gawd, mine would be. Laughing
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I found Courmayeur quite cheap last season. Lunch and drinks on the mountain was easy for €6-8 and ate out one night at a pizzeria which was €20 per head including wine. Can't grumble with that at all. Stayed in a half board hotel which for the week including flights and transfers was less than £500 (including sole use room supplement). The lift pass was pricey though.
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I have a big dog called Ulli and he wont go to France... I guess he knows all about value for money, then
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
paulio wrote:
fatbob wrote:
One solution is - if you have a budget just don't spend as much, skip the cokes & snickers at on mountain or make your own sarnies a couple of days rather than decide your destination purely on the cost perceptions of a few well informed but inherently biased interwebsters.


Yeah totally.

I make my own sarnies every day whilst on ski trips. £1.50 baguette in the rucksack vs. £15 plate of chips (with a 30 minute queue for the privilege). No contest.


Me too. And it's not just my inherent meaness.

Cost, convenience, health considerations and generally fitting the structure of my day.

Rare I don't hit the slopes packing a couple of cobs and a trail bar.

Oh yeah, Italy, and not just for cost reasons. I didn't find Courmayeur that dear either, but it was 13 years ago.

John.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
BCjohnny, Courmayeur has changed...
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Courmayeur is "only just" Italy (quazi French really if you listen to ascents of the locals) so you can't really use that as a good example of Italians costs.

Pronunciation: \kwā-zī, -sī; kwä-zē, -sē\
Function: adjective
Etymology: quasi-
Date: 1642
1 : having a major resemblance to by possession of certain attributes


Oh and to everyone who takes their own sandwiches up to the slopes each. Regardless of what you may have convinced yourself of – you “are” mean. You are a tourist and so are "meant" to get fleeced, that what you you go to France for.


Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Sat 29-08-09 8:08; edited 1 time in total
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I have just booked a place for mid March in the 3v that is 8 minutes drive from St Martin de B. It sleeps 12 but we are 8. Our cost pp is £65.
Car £75 pp and NCL-GVA flights £65 (booked). The plan is to load up in Moutiers with food and drink on the way up and eat in half the time. A new but needed option for us.
We had wanted Austria but flights from the north are tricky as we only can/want to do 5 nights. A 21.30 return means we can ski 5 days.
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