 Poster: A snowHead
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I've been lurking on this site asking various questions to steer myself away from Banff for the end of Feb/early March next year. To be clear I love Banff, Lake Louise is fab, however taking a reality check the cheapest I can find a holiday there is £750 and I'll be flying from Manchester so add another £50 to cover fuel from Glasgow. I really need to get something a little cheaper this year as I've found adding a child to the family can be rather expensive!!
I'm looking for something roughly similar to Lake Louise but in Europe, in other words, nice varied terrain, tree lined runs, bowls etc. I'm not overly keen on the big uneventful motorways often found especially in France so I need a little help selecting an alternative destination. Selva looks to be spot on but there do not appear to be any flights from Glasgow or Edinburgh and the TO package prices are not really much cheaper than going to Canada.
So where else should I be looking? We are not too bothered about crazy nightlife (god, I'm getting old by saying that) but nice restaurants and some shops to wander would be nice (the latter for the mrs).
Thanks in advance for the help.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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ac505, A number of places in Austria would suit your requirements.
Schladming is one possibility. The Ski Welt is another (Soll, Ellmau, Scheffau, Westendorf).
Some Austrian resorts don't have much below the tree line, but those do (and many others also).
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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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thanks Alex. Forgot to say we are probably looking for somewhere that has a good mix of blues and reds. I board mainly so ideally would be looking for some nice off piste however I'm going to have a go at skiing this year, I'm currently okay on blues, but reds, I'm not too sure about yet. My wife likes the long cruisy blues where she can focus on improving technique.
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ac505, If you phone Crystal/First Choice they will give you a price for flights from Edinburgh to Innsbruck - which should get you to Selva (I think) - only saying that as I use that flight every year when going to the Arlberg and fellow passngers have mentioned that they're off to Selva etc. Flight will set you back around £250 each. Alternatively Ryanair now doing Memmingem from Edinburgh (good for western Austria, eg Montafon valley, Arlberg, and Ischgl) or easyJet to Munich (Kitzbuhel and Mayrhofen good options from there)
If you have a decent budget then some resorts in the Arlberg could tick some boxes - mainly Lech and St Anton but Stuben is well worth a shout if you're into off piste. Nothing really in Stuben though other than hotels/restaurants/bars and one of the best snow records in the Alps. Took wife and 3 kids earlier this year as I could not afford to go to Oberlech again. Lech is full of cruisy blues but some decent off piste.
Think Saalbach and Kitzbuhel would tick your tree lined run box. Saalbach much easier from Salzburg though.
If you want TO package you might need to check the Inghams and First Choice site for the Edinburgh to Innsbruck flight.
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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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Thanks boabski. A quick look at Lech and it would appear that it would be cheaper to go to Canada! It does look nice though. I'll check out Saalbach and Kitzbuhel as you suggested.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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ac505, Kitzbuhel is good value for money and the ski area is great for intermediates. It's a large and lively town and makes sense to choose accommodation near to the Hahnenkamm bubble lift as the buses across town aren't that frequent. However, you can store your gear in rentable lockers at the lift station and take a leisurely stroll back across town taking in the après on the way.
The only real downside is the resort is low and there is frequently little or no snow at resort level (there wasn't any when I was there). There is plenty of skiing further up, but the tree-lined runs you seek are likely to be a bit hit and miss. Only one was open when I was there and the artificial snow was heavy and porridgey.
You can fly to either Innsbruck or Salzburg for Kitz.
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| ac505 wrote: |
| thanks Alex. Forgot to say we are probably looking for somewhere that has a good mix of blues and reds. I board mainly so ideally would be looking for some nice off piste however I'm going to have a go at skiing this year, I'm currently okay on blues, but reds, I'm not too sure about yet. My wife likes the long cruisy blues where she can focus on improving technique. |
In that case, I would say the Ski Welt is pretty well ideal for you, provided the snow cover is decent. There will almost certainly be plenty up top, but most of those runs are relatively short. The long cruisy runs are more often the resort runs, so you need snow low down too for those.
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Fwiw I'd steer clear of schladming with those requirements, I love it and went every year for 3 years in a row, but imo it is very much motorway land? Some slightly challenging motorways admittedly, and delightfully clear of crowds but motorways nevertheless? Especially if you like blues you are going to find it steep in places too. aj xx
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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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ac505, Serre Chevalier, France. It's very highly regarded by boarders. Plenty of bowls and natural half pipes. Tree-lined skiing, runs to resort, varied terrain, loas of blues, reds and black. There are some good restaurants and one or two livelier places should you want them.
The off-piste is excellent. Look up Serre Chevalier in the search function - snowangel is a local who boards - some of her photos will give you an idea about the place. The region is made up of 4-5 main towns providing access to about 240kms of pistes. The snow record is pretty good, it rarely gets overly crowded like some resorts.
Briancon is an old fortified town with plenty of shops on either side of the main pedestrianised street. It's a charming place with one or two really excellent restaurants. The other main towns all have a reasonsable range of shops and eating establishments.
I'm sure there are TOs who operate to the area from your neck of the woods.
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