Loads of holiday time, not much money.

A snowHead

As the title suggests, I have lots of holiday time left to use, but not much money with which to pay for holidays to go on. The holiday needs to be used before Christmas, ideally, although I can carry some over.

Our office closes down over Christmas, and I already have a week booked off just before Christmas,

It occurs to me that if I bunch the remaining leave around the christmas break, I could be off work for well over a month (probably the first week in Dec to first week Jan) . Ideally I'd love to go to a resort for a month, but that's not going to be cheap as the month off would cover Christmas and new year. Unless you cunning snowheads can suggest anything - anyone got any bright ideas?

PS there'd be Mrs NBT and me so I can't kip in a car or anything, it would have to be of a reasonable standard!

A snowHead

nbt, well, for a start, you can get a season pass for the price of about 2 normal weeks in some places - so that's a good start. But you might need to do that before the end of November (or some other deadline). You might need to dodge around a bit (ie not spend the entire time in one apartment, or even one resort).

Any chance of renting a winterised campervan? No idea how that would compare in cost.

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nbt, Maybe look at staying somewhere just outside a resort taking your car and driving in each day. Then you won't be paying resort prices.

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nbt, look on a TO website for a studio apartment. Even for Xmas and New Year you should be able to find one at a reasonable rate. Rent it for the extra weeks, and you may be able to wangle a good deal out of them. Perhaps Bourg St Maurice, Bourg d'Oisans or Briancon?

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

nbt, this is a good challenge. Are you able to share your budget? then we can all put our heads together.

One thing to do is identify what you would spend during that time at home, and will be saving - petrol, housekeeping, electricity and gas for a start. It's an expensive month at home, too.

And what happens about Christmas? can you do a "no presents" deal with your family?

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Check out Ownersdirect.co.uk or holidaylettings.co.uk to see if you could get a longer term let. You may get a discount if you rent 4 weeks or more.

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

Lift passes for a month won't be cheap. Take prices and deals into account when deciding where to go.

After all it is free

Ive arranged three long term rentals via snowheads so hopefully someone here can help, I'd suggest a monthly rental wanted thread in the chalets and apartments section and would also post something similar on www.chaletsdirect.com

nbt, A tent in Loch Morlich campsite.

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nbt, how basic are you prepared to go? My cheapest accommodation was a chalet on a camp-site in Venosc (Les Deux Alpes). It was basic, but was clean, warm and had enough (just) hot water for showers.

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Evasion Mont Blanc pass is 467 euros for the season if ordered before mid November. There are a number of small places where accommodation might be quite reasonable, and with a car you'd have access to a huge range of skiing. If that's too much, the season Espace Diamant pass is 367 euros bought in advance. those are big savings. Travel costs no more for a month than it does for a week (less, if you're not in such a tearing hurry). Food need cost little more than at home. Month deals on accommodation could well be very good. Most people are short of time but the cost per ski day for a month's holiday can be hugely less. there's just no reason not to do it.

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T Bar, I think that's the way Ito save money too, on the hill accommodation is very expensive, what about basing yourselves around In the Thonon/Evian area then you could buy a PDS season pass that you could maybe use later in the season when you stay in one of the resorts included in the pass. Envy

1. Rent out your UK house for a month.

2. Divert the cash to a crib in a ski resort.

You know it makes sense.

It's very difficult to rent out a house for a month in the UK. One winter we were fortunate that an acquaintance whose house was being rendered uninhabitable for several months by repairs to subsidence needed to find somewhere local to live - paid for by insurance company. We were away much of the time, and co-habited without problem for the four weeks we were home mid-season. She was a single woman, only needed a 2 bed apartment, so her insurance company was happy to pay £750 a month, the going rate for a two bed apartment round our way.

That was a fantastic stroke of luck, and best of all was that our lodger (self contained studio downstairs) was otherwise going to look after the cat, who would have been a bit lonely, but the renter absolutely adored cats and so the cat had a ball, spoilt to death.

Last winter our daughter and son in law were living in the house, having sold a flat in Brighton and prior to buying one locally. They could afford only a more modest rent, as they were saving, but their £400 a month paid for the council tax and the gas and electricity they were using. This coming winter, so far, the main part of the house is going to be empty - but we will be keeping our ears to the ground in case there is a way of making a bit of extra income from it. we're far from precious about our house; it pays for our apartment.

But to rent commercially for a month, in the normal course of events, is easier said than done.

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

thank for the feedback and idea folks. It was a "throwaway" idea that came to me as I looked at my "remaining leave" page on the intranet today, but the more I thought the more it looked appealing

pam w, no specific budget other than "as cheap as possible". I'd normally budget about £1500 for the two of us to go away for a week with a TO, in an ideal world we'd do that twice in a season but the world is sadly not ideal at the moment! Mont blanc pass is obvious but where's the espace diamant? France is good for me as I speak fluent french (or did 20 years ago - it'll come back, I'm sure! ) Smile

Colin B, good point on the lift pass, the other point I'd need to keep in mind is the opening dates - Espace Killy will be open from first week in Dec but how many other resorts will be open?

Ray Zorro, I'd be happy enough with that as long as we could keep it warm and be cosy, whether Mrs NBT would be pleased is another matter Laughing

Roger C, thanks for that, I'd be reluctant to post up a "wanted" ad at the moment as it's more of a "would really like to have but suspect it won't happen", it's all a case of balancing budgets and desires - wouldn't want to mess the chalet owners around with my idle daydreams and have them turn down firm bookings on the hopes of me renting for a month!

Even if it doesn't work out for us, as pam w says it's a good exercise and may help someone else. Keep the thoughts coming!

A snowHead

nbt, We're not open til mid December so wouldn't be appropriate for you, but pam w,'s suggestion is a good one... The Mont Blanc Evasion pass gives you free days elsewhere and the ski areas in the region are very close together - our village is part of the Evasion Mont Blanc, but is also 10-15m drive from the nearest lifts both in The Espace Diamant and in La Clusaz.

The Portes du Mont Blanc pass (which is the bit of the Evasion Mont Blanc that includes the Jaillet side of Megeve/Combloux/La Giettaz/Cordon) is 240 Euros for the season if bought before November 15th, and that either gives free or very cheap days in the remainder of the Evasion Mont Blanc, The Espace Diamant and La Clusaz etc... I can't remember.

Also not appropriate for your dates, but worth mentioning that the Evasion Mont Blanc season pass is 416 Euros when bought after the 5th January.

Definitely an area worth investigating (though not sure how much would be open during the first week of December), so hope your idle daydreams turn into reality. snowHead

A snowHead

nbt, another option for you could be Austria and/or Germany. There are several regional season passes which cover a number of resorts and glaciers, they represent fantastic value and with the included access to glaciers, you have assured snow from the autumn months. If you make other trips out during the Winter or Spring then they become even better value Cool

In the past we have done something similar, but instead of holidaying we have been training. Budget and decent snow conditions were important to us. We have spent November and December based in Pitztal (Austria) in a good value apartment and then moved to another apartment in Oberstdorf (Germany) for a few weeks in January. Outside of the Xmas and NY week I think we were paying 36 Euros a night for decent apartments. Rate went up to 45 Euros per night over the high season period. If booked directly with owners, most are up for discounting the daily rate if you are staying a bit stay longer.

For the trip above we bought the Allgäu Gletscher Card which is valid at 50 ski resorts in Germany and Austria plus the Pitztal and Kaunertal glaciers. Pass costs 452,50 Euros for adults and is valid for 8 months!

http://www.superschnee.com/index.shtml?allgaeugletschercard

Alternatively, if you don't want the pass to cover the Austrian glaciers then you can get another version (the Superschneepass Allgäu-Tirol-Kleinwalsertal) for 369 Euros if you buy it before 5 Dec http://www.superschnee.com/index.shtml?ats_saisonpass

There is also a Tirol Snowcard which covers 81 ski areas but is more expensive than the above. There are other cost effective lift passes if you are interested in skiing the Bregenzerwald and Vorarlberg areas of Austria and you will also find good value accommodation along with snow sure resorts. It might be worth having a look at the Dolomiti Superski pass too as they offer a number discounts/rates for longer than average stays?

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wasn't there somewhere in the Haute Maurienne doing an uber-cheap season pass? wish i could remember the thread

i am sure you could pick up an appartment somewhere in the valley for cheap. places like bourg d'oisans are pretty dead all the way through winter. or if you can wait and see you the winter starts out, the southern french alps might be interesting. if you based yourself in Embrun/Guillestre/Briancon you have access to bigger places like Serre Che and Montgenevre plus any number of funky little resorts with cheap passes

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why not find someone who will let you stay in return for doing some work for them, wasn't there a thread about some such deal .......

TAXI!!!!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

TRouble with Southern Alps is that the resort won't be open until mid-December. You really need somewhere with an accesible glacier near by?

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nbt, the Espace Diamant abuts Megeve and Les Contamines. http://www.espacediamant.com/fr/index.aspx

Neither Evasion Mont Blanc nor the Espace Diament are suitable from early December though - in fact there is very little open then outside the big glacier areas. other resorts might open a bit at weekends if the snow is good, but that's really not what you're after. Les Contamines is one of the best places for early snow in the EVM area, but that doesn't open (like most other places) till 17 December. There might be great snow, but there's just not the demand.

You could get cheap accommodation in Tignes before Christmas, but the problem there will be the Christmas/New Year period and the need for a far more expensive lift pass. I don't think they do any very attractive deals on season passes.

Chamonix, I suppose - you can presumably ski the Grand Montets pretty early? But that's a different and more expensive lift pass - ie not Evasion Mont Blanc.

Juliad's suggestion looks well worth a look - even if you couldn't brush up your French at the same time. wink

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

Drive out and take a self-catering appartment. If you stay outside the big resorts, (either driving in or staying at small resorts not much used by Brits, accommodation will be cheaper. In the latter case the lifts will also be cheaper. For example in the Maurienne area, if you have transport, you can ski any of the resorts for 5 days for €85 - see http://www.maurienne-tourisme.com/forfait-ski-maurienne-sans-frontieres_uk.asp (Arno - not a season pass but was it that one?)

After all it is free

Arno,

T Bar, yes, usually weekends only. Not unknown for Monetier to open early too, but that's an exception .

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nbt, One area that 'is supposed' to get early snow but is often overlooked is the Alpes Maritime resort area. I'm not sure when Isola opens but they always claim 'early December'. Apart from being a cheap resort to stay in there is always the possibility of renting a 'Summer' holiday home on the Cote d'Azur and driving up daily although Isola itself, Auron and Valberg will have loads of cheap apartments up until New Year week.

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pam w, I confess that I always stay in resort if intending more than a 1-day stay, but we do do day trips quite frequently.

Depends which one .. some are easy access( Valberg, Greolieres, L'Audibergue ) but not as snow-sure ... others, notably on weekends, can be horrendous...... but we are talking early season so not 'as bad'.

As an update, we had a chat tonight over our meal and decided that 3 weeks starting on Dec18th is more than sufficient, which opens up an awful lot more resorts that don't open til Dec 18th

You know it makes sense.

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

nbt, that sounds much more do-able. You should be able to do a decent deal for an apartment for those dates. I'll ask around and see if any of the people I know here might be interested. The French owners will all have rented their places for New Year, if not using them themselves, but I think some of the Brits who don't usually rent their places might be coming out after the crowds have gone.

A snowHead

nbt, but you could probably ski the previous week for very little extra. Season pass, cheaper accommodation............

A snowHead

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Help!!

Loads of holiday time, not much money.

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