 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi
I wonder if anyone can help. I am thinking of treating the family to a skiing holiday over Xmas. There will be eight of us, and I am trying to do it on a budget. My plan was to get cheap flights to Geneva then drive to a nearby resort, no more than 2 hours away. I would like to book a log cabin, near to the ski lifts. Only 3 in our party can ski, hopefully the rest of us will learn by the end of the holiday. Can anyone suggest suitable locations/ski resorts/accomodation, as I am clueless.
Many 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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honest7, welcome to SnowHeads. Christmas can be an expensive time to go skiing, although it is usually cheaper than New Year week. How many of the family are children, and what are their ages? Do you want a catered chalet or a self-catering one? The more information you can give us the better.
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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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Hi
We are all adults, three sons and three partners plus hubby. I am stuck with taking holidays during the school holidays. I would like a self catering chalet, somewhere easy to get back to from the slopes. I have a dream of us all being huddled round a roaring log fire on a crisp cold evening. Sad I know! As I said before only 3 of us can ski, so somewhere where we could all have a go would be great.
Many thanks
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I would recommend flying into Grenoble and trying Les Deux Alpes. This resort is excellent for all abilities and only an hour and a half from Grenoble airport. There are plenty of accommodation options including le cret hotel, scuba ski to name but a few!
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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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honest7, Hi! Maybe you could try Flaine/Grand Massif area as this is only about 2 hours from Geneva but whether the snow will be great at that time is down to providence and the wind. We did Christmas 2 years ago in apts in Flaine and had great time, though Flaine is sadly not to everyone's taste with it being a bit [well a lot] concretey...Les Carroz is lower down and seems to have chalets etc etc as does Samoens which looked lovely, as does Morillon. Marcellus who posts here is a bit of a local expert, so you could try to private message him?
I am not sure what there is to do though in that area for non-skiers.
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I have a dream of us all being huddled round a roaring log fire on a crisp cold evening. Sad I know!
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It's not sad at all, but what IS sad is that you are unlikely to get a roaring fire in a budget self-catering place, You are not likely to get a log cabin, either. I could recommend you a wonderful one, which I looked at for a family Christmas - until I discovered that in Christmas week it cost 3000 euros!
In practical terms, you are most likely to find an apartment in a biggish block. For 8 of you, you either need 4 bedrooms, or 3 bedrooms and 2 people sleeping in the living area. Few apartments have 4 bedrooms, and they tend to be expensive. 2 x 2 bedroom apartments in the same building might even work out cheaper.
Christmas isn't reliable for snow so although in some years most resorts have good snow, it's best to aim for somewhere with quite high slopes available, in case you hit a poor year for snow.
Christmas in the snow is great - far better than sitting at home watching too much TV!
Be careful about your flights. Cheap flights don't really exist at Christmas, and you'll need to time your travel to fit with the accommodation you book - it's no good booking something mid-week then not being able to find accommodation.
For the beginners, especially, good quality ski lessons will be important. Plenty of advice about that, and everything else, on here.
It's a shame you're stuck with the Christmas holidays - in mid January a holiday will cost half the price and there's more likely to be good snow.
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It sounds like you want the cliche chocolate-boxy kindof thing, so the big French ski factories aren't really the place. Look into the smaller resorts in Switzerland and Austria, Hinterthal/Hochkoennig, Wagrain, the Stubai Valley area, maybe Samnaun (ski area linked to Ischgl's), Grindelwald and Adelboden. Worth looking into Kitzbuhel and Zermatt too, but they'll be harder to do on a budget.
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