Where to go

A snowHead

Hi.

Myself and wife are planning to go away with another couple skiing and are looking for information of when and where to go.

All of us are basic to intermediate skiers and our budget is very limited.

The months that we have free is either January or February and would like there to be snow.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks.

A snowHead

deuce, If your budget is very limited and you can fly from one of the mainstream package airports the best way of guaranteeing good snow is to pick a low season week say 2nd week of January and waiting.
Around the first week of January you can see where the snow has fallen and there are always inspite of what the tour operators would have you believe a lot of last minute deals at greatly discounted prices.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

deuce, welcome to snowHead

I'm sure you will get a lot of advice - do you have any thoughts on preferred countries, whether you are looking for catered or self-catered, nightlife or quiet etc will help narrow down the options.

February is half-term across most of Europe so prices will be higher and resorts will be busier

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Thanks Guy's for the advice.

We initially thought of Andorra. I was told it is pretty cheap and had enough slopes for us.

A half board hotel would probably be the best and we're only thinking of going for 5 days.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

deuce, transfer to Andorra is about 3 days (well, 4 hours, but feels like 3 days). If it's just the 5 days I'd suggest you looking at resorts close to Geneva, La Clusaz is close, compact and inexpensive enough, and there will be others along shortly to suggest other places.

You'll need to Register first of course.

Deuce.You should have a look at Schladming.Great skiing,good early snow record and great prices and just over an hour from Salzburg.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Another option is to book a flight now to Geneva and closer to the time when you can be a bit sure about the snow levels put a request on chaletsdirect.com for B&B accom or a small apartment or even a catered chalet in one of the resorts around PDS - Morzine etc.

After all it is free

I have been doing some speculative searches for anything this season as I am on a budget also. I have found a package that gives you a week in Pas de la Casa in Andorra for £200. This includes self catering appartment, flights and transfers. It leaves at the end of Feb and I found it on Igluski. The same website also had 4 days B&B in Soll in the Skiwelt (loads of intermediate skiing) for £200 with flights and transfers. The transfer to Soll is only around 90 minutes from Salzburg.

With budget in mind I have been discounting anything in France purely based on the prices in resort, however, this is only based on 1 trip to ADH where 8 Euros for a beer began to hurt a bit.

I hope you find something that suits.

deuce The best way to get a good price is to do as T Bar suggests and book a late deal with a TO. These tend to be for a week. There are companies (some on this forum) that allow you to book flexible times but you tend not to get discounted or cheap rates on these. Trying to split weeks (Thurs - Mon) is always difficult so if you are going to book Geneva flights as rayscoops suggests then be aware that your accommodation options might be limited if you are travelling over a split week.

If you really can't do a full week with a TO then you could book a return flight from Geneva for Thursday and travel with the TO on Saturday, returning on the Geneva flight. The TO won't like it but you are the customer. Just make sure you tell them you are leaving (when you leave, not before) otherwise you'll delay the return transfer coach as they scour the resort for you Laughing

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

deuce, Why not try Austrian Adventure Holidays (http://www.austrian-adventures.com/)

It's run by a snowHead and his wife (Flangesax) and gives you access to loads of intermediate skiing. The location is only 70kms from Salzburg airport and centrally placed for one of the biggest inter-linked snow sure ski areas in Austria. The transfer can be made easily by train/car or bus!

Really good value for the money and good apres entertainment in either Ben's Bar or locally in the town.

Sue wink

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

deuce, late deals with TOs are normally best in January. Be wary though of where the accomodation is. Often the cheap deals are because of where the hotel is placed and you might want to avoid a bus every morning. I am going out for 4 days in January and put a message on the chalets direct website and go lots of options, so if you can only go for 5 days get the flight to GVA booked and put the message on the board. I got about 14 responses if I remember, and then you can check them out. I put a message on snowheads before i booked to ask if the people we were booking with were known, so it gives you some peace of mind as well.

snow reports

chrisb, Chaletsdirect is great for getting 3 or 4 days when th TOs are only selling weeks. I have never failed to get reasonable accommodation when posting a request there, but flexibility is the key ! For me the first priority is a local airport departure which tends to kill off many TO deals, so my next option is simply booking a cheap flight and dealing with chalet/hotel owners direct.

deuce, Also here on snowHeads Paul & Nina Dally in Morzine offer a good and reasonably priced B&B (and can arrange transfers/pass/ski hire etc) and even have a two bed apartment within the B&B, so you may want to check out the 'chalets' section here !

Have a look at Hotel du Bourg in Valmorel. It is bed and breakfast but is on the main street and so you can easily eat out in the evenings. It is usually listed with the larger tour ops such as Crystal. It is a good resort for early intermediates (seem to remember several blue runs)

Someone suggested La Clusaz above - we have also been there and booked Hotel Alpen Roc directly (which worked out cheaper than through TO). You can get cheap train tickets to Annecy through Eurostar and there is a regular local bus from Annecy to La Clusaz.

I would suggest going in the last half of Jan. Hopefully by then the snow will have built up and it will be before the prices start rising in Feb.

You know it makes sense.

deuce, welcome to snowHeads. There is an operator advertising on here for a week in Folgarida for £590, half board, flights, transfers, ski pass and equipment hire in January. There are also some lesson deals, IIRC. Not a bad resort to learn in with some nice slopes to progress to.

Taking into account the ski pass cost and normal cost of hiring equipment for your level and that would work out at something like £390 or so for the accommodation, half board, flights and transfers. How does that work with the budget you have in mind?

Flights to Verona and less than a 90 minute transfer.

That is for a week though, obviously.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Saalbach. Loads of terrain that would be great for you to explore, plus Austrian apres and easy transfers from Salzburg.

A snowHead

What is your budget, how low is it? Where do you come from?

January should suit you, cheap and non sat-sat-holidays should be available.

Help!!

Where to go

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