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February half term for roughly £300, possible?

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Hi

wondering if it is possible to have a full package ski holiday for about £300 per person for the February half term period? (19th-28th)

Our group aren't too bothered about accomodation (were teenage college students Laughing ) but it'd be good to stay in Austria, Mayrhofen or Kitzbuhel are the prime destinations.

Let me know what you think?

George
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Lift pass alone is 164 pounds.
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milnerhome wrote:
Hi

wondering if it is possible to have a full package ski holiday for about £300 per person for the February half term period? (19th-28th)

Our group aren't too bothered about accomodation (were teenage college students Laughing ) but it'd be good to stay in Austria, Mayrhofen or Kitzbuhel are the prime destinations.

Let me know what you think?

George


So what are you now?

Sorry couldn't help myself
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excluding lift passes, there must be something?

anderoo, Cool
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Quote:

there must be something?

even in mid-January it'd be a tall order.
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milnerhome, what about the week before Christmas? Some very cheap prices for that week, less than £200.

If you must go in Feb half term I think you might get something very last minute with one of the big TOs to one of their unpopular Austrian resorts where you have to bus to the slopes, or to one of their resorts with loads of capacity perhaps in an allocated on arrival B&B guesthouse, possibly not for £300 though I would guess more like £470 ish. But you might be lucky. Rocketski are very cheap but probably not for Feb half term as they will be quite full with school groups.

Best of luck with the bargain hunting snowHead
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self catering, a bus ride from the slopes in a satellite village, maybe yes for flight/transfer/accomodation I think. We priced up something at £250 the week of the 5th feb this year. But you'll need some luck and a lot of online hunting. However remember equipment hire (£80?) and pass (£180) do dwarf the package cost so you'll still end up spending ~£600 even if you budget carefully and don't drink Wink

DIY:
Check-out ryanairs flights to salzburg and see what you can find in ski amade?
Try geneva under cheapflights or similar and accom in gran massif?
Check out trains - you might be eligible for youth discounts and it can work out a lot cheaper as transfers shorter.
Drive? If one of you has a car it can be fun and cheap to load 4 people and all their gear up and drive - also means you can stay well out of the slopes (cheap!) and drive up in the morning. Costs = fuel, european AA, snow chains.
DIY you shouldn't but you can throw more people into an apartment if they don't mind sleeping on airbeds/sleeping bags on the floor ;

Tour Op Package - your only hope imo would be to wait and scour the late deals daily from early jan, if it's a really bad season for the ops you might find something suddenly coming up cheap.

Good luck!

aj xx
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http://www.action-outdoors.co.uk/hol_lesdeuxalpes_UCPAAutonomePlus_19-2-2011_0.aspx

Everything, £618. Full board, lift pass, equipment, guided instruction etc if you want, travel. It would be hard to beat that.
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The only way you would get close for £300 would be book a small apartment and drive but that would knock Austria out of the equation. I've done half term in Verbier and Lauterbrunnen (near Wengen) for about £350 per person but lift pass was extra, I take my own equipment.
Being students you could take your own pot noodle and beer.
Good Luck.
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Quote:

that would knock Austria out of the equation.

Puzzled Austria has apartments and roads?
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milnerhome, Just noticed the thread on the piste.."where to go on a budget". I can't do the link thingy. Anyhoo have a look, someone has suggested an organisation called Oak Hall which is offering Lauterbrunnen catered chalet and coach travel for £348 for half term with some availability. You wont get better than that and Lauterbrunnen is great, you can ski Wengen and Murren which are both fabulous resorts.

Dont hang about though, it wont last long at that price.

pam w, Good point but I've yet to meet someone who enjoyed driving to Austria and in some cases the thought of the drive back ruined their holiday. I love Austria, especially St Anton, but I would not want to recommend it as a self drive destination as I wouldn't be prepared to do it myself.
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thanks for all the advice Very Happy

The reason I'm trying to plan something in February and not other times (before xmas and easter) is because the majority of the group are busy at both those alternative times, Feb is the only time when no ones upto much.

Hire equipment isn't a issue as we all have our own gear, driving is an option except the only person who has a car which could get past dover is a terrible driver and I would rather pay large amounts of money than be drifting around some frozen alpine roads in his estate Shocked haha

I'm swaying more towards the idea of having an apartment and a different person cooking each night (not me) how much is this likely too cost in a resort like Tignes or Flaine? They wouldn't mind camping out on air beds so I'd say a 6 person apartment..
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Dorset Andy wrote:
milnerhome, Just noticed the thread on the piste.."where to go on a budget". I can't do the link thingy. Anyhoo have a look, someone has suggested an organisation called Oak Hall which is offering Lauterbrunnen catered chalet and coach travel for £348 for half term with some availability. You wont get better than that and Lauterbrunnen is great, you can ski Wengen and Murren which are both fabulous resorts.

Dont hang about though, it wont last long at that price.

pam w, Good point but I've yet to meet someone who enjoyed driving to Austria and in some cases the thought of the drive back ruined their holiday. I love Austria, especially St Anton, but I would not want to recommend it as a self drive destination as I wouldn't be prepared to do it myself.


Oak halls prices are great, not too sure about the "Christian expedition holidays" bit though, would they approve of large amounts of alcohol being consumed by teenagers in brightly coloured snow gear and fat skis?! Cool Laughing
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You know it makes sense.
milnerhome, mates of mine did a self catering chalet in Huez village last year (link to Alpe d'Huez), was a good price.
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Dorset Andy, given milnerhome's fears about his mate's driving, they won't want to drive to Austria, but plenty of people do - St Anton is not that much further from Calais than the bulk of the French resorts. milnerhome, maybe Oak Hall would persuade you to repent of your wicked way?. I don't think there is any doctrinal objection to fat skis or brightly coloured clothes but if the booze made you too grisly to be around I suppose that might be a problem. wink
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I usually find my apartments here www.holiday-rentals.co.uk, you should be able to get an idea of the cost. But for Tignes you'll probably have to be down in the valley like Les Brevieres to get the best deal. I dont know Flaine but imagine the same applies.
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Because that week is in the peak French holiday time even nasty little apartments won't be cheap. You will probably do better in Austria.
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people who've had apartments before, would you say booking it for 6 and getting 4 extra people on the floor is possible?
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milnerhome, apartment owners take a very dim view of over-occupancy. I suppose it's possible but the 4 will have to take sleeping bag etc and their own towel. Bear in mind that an apartment sleeping 6 might well be 4 people on sofa beds in the living area, or 1 sofa bed a a set of bunks. In France there might literally be no room on the floor as the apartments are often very small. I wouldn't like to be in the queue for the loo either!


Last edited by You need to Login to know who's really who. on Sun 14-11-10 15:20; edited 1 time in total
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milnerhome, you haven't seen French apartments have you? Laughing I'd say booking it for 6 and getting the 6 in is already a struggle. Maybe physically possible (though in sardine mode) in Switzerland /Austria...if the owners will let you.
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milnerhome wrote:
people who've had apartments before, would you say booking it for 6 and getting 4 extra people on the floor is possible?


Do you mean booking a 6 person apartment and actually having 10 people in it Shocked If so, you'll be a) very lucky to actually physically manage to get the original 6 in, and b) if you are caught over-occupying you will doubtless be breaking the T & C's of the property, and the owner will be within their rights to throw you out. I've never actually done so, but I'm sure sleeping in the streets of alpine resorts is pretty cold at night Very Happy
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milnerhome, I'd agree with those above that if you book a small apartment for 6 there could be very little room for any more. Some apartments of only 21 square metres are advertised for 6 - so you can do the maths. And that's leaving out the legalities. You might find that if you are obviously taking the mickey (and especially if you are noisy/drunk) the neighbours will get fed up and dob you in.

The best bet might be a dorm - there are some good ones in Chamonix - people on here know them and could advise. My niece and her BF stayed in one and lived on baguettes and soup for a week; they had a blast and said the dorm was excellent (mind you, she's a very seasoned traveller and as she's accustomed to some very rough third world places full of bed bugs, her judgement might be a bit different from some).

If you are browsing for apartments, make sure you know the square metreage - and look at diagrams of layouts. Unless you like sharing two to a 2'6" bunk it could be a squeeze.
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Dorset Andy,
Quote:

but I've yet to meet someone who enjoyed driving to Austria and in some cases the thought of the drive back ruined their holiday. I love Austria, especially St Anton, but I would not want to recommend it as a self drive destination as I wouldn't be prepared to do it myself.


I find this somewhat strange - Austria is no more difficult to drive to than the French Alps (and cheaper because less tolls), it is easier in some ways because the co-driver does not have to wake up to pay tolls. Our quickest and easiest drive to the alps ever was to St Anton last December - From Norwich (3hrs to tunnel) it was a total elapsed time of 14hrs door to door each way, and that includes the time waiting at the tunnel, and sitting on the train (and we never exceeded 150kph).
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milnerhome wrote:
people who've had apartments before, would you say booking it for 6 and getting 4 extra people on the floor is possible?


No, because the owners or their agents will not let you have that many people in the apartment. It is probably written into the booking contract that you will have to sign, and any security deposit will probably be retained if you do.
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milnerhome wrote:
people who've had apartments before, would you say booking it for 6 and getting 4 extra people on the floor is possible?

Yu want to book an apartment for 6 and put 10 students in it. Have to be truthful and say that you're probably not an apartment owner's dream guests Happy
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If you are quiet and don't irritate your neighbours, in some big chain places it's probably possible imo (I defy p&V to know how many people are in those enourmous buildings of theirs for instance) but it does mean being very very cosy (like no floor space free _at all_ at night, french apartments I generally only fill to 2/3 capacity and we still trip over each other, french architects are masters of 'efficient' space usage - we once had a bed in the kitchen) - but as others have noted, one late night party/rowdy return from the pub or stupid comment to a neighbouring flat and you might find yourselves out on your ass as it is not within the terms of the rental, and that can be expensive....1 or 2 extras might be workable, 4 really is pushing your luck. Do you trust all your friends to be sensible and keep their heads down, or are some of them likely to behave like a jackass....in any group of 10 there is likely to be at least one idiot tbh, so I wouldn't.

On the car you could get the driver to insure a couple of other folks on it that you trust more Cool especially as you have equipment to take which makes flying very expensive. That said pams link looks like your best bet by far to me £620 all in is doing very well indeed.

Also look for coach based trips, or very late deals. http://www.snowexpress.co.uk/ ?
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milnerhome, Have you noticed how all the apartment owners say it's a bad idea? Chances are unless all 10 of you go to pick up the key, they'll never even know. Seriously though, French apartments are tiny usually with some allocated bed spaces comprising a pull out sofabed. You might find one with a balcony where the other 4 could sleep standing up.
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Could you take shifts? Only ever 6 of you in the apartment at any one time Toofy Grin
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Dorset Andy, experience suggests (and no-one has done it in my apartment), that there is usually increased damage when the apartment is over-occupied, people trip over things/people in the dark etc etc, making it highly likely that someone will find you out, as with most places, there is a final inspection before 10am in order to return your damage deposit. You would need to ensure that all traces of extra guests have been removed, place is spotless and undamaged. These people are teenage students, so it is unlikely to happen.
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Probably better to book two studio apartment with bunk rooms. Studios can be found pretty cheaply even at half-term.
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Elizabeth B wrote:
Could you take shifts? Only ever 6 of you in the apartment at any one time Toofy Grin


Cox and Box comes to mind Laughing
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Surely for that you want somewhere stylish like Lech or St Moritz Toofy Grin
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milnerhome, Scotland would be an option for you - you could drive up each day from where you are.
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milnerhome wrote:
wondering if it is possible to have a full package ski holiday for about £300 per person for the February half term period? (19th-28th)

Have you though about the YHA ?
Somewhere "near" a resort with maybe a free ski bus upto resort each day.
I don't think you'll be able to do it for £300 but worth looking into
Doesn't sound much fun but you did ask

As red 27 said, Scotland may be OK. You could stay in the Glen Nevis YHA then take the bus up to Nevis Range.
There is a bus that stops near the YHA (outside the small shop near door), so take that down to the bus station and jump on the Nevis Range shuttle.
Don't know how much the lift pass is up there but the accomm could be done within your budget.
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Could you take shifts? Only ever 6 of you in the apartment at any one time Toofy Grin

I know people who've done entire seasons on that basis. Laughing

milnerhome, if you try and ram 10 in a six pax apartment you'll get rumbled and thrown out. You won't find anything else in resort in the middle of that week either.

Try these, posted on 2Alpes tourist office website:
http://commerces.les2alpes.com/www-liste_immobiliers-GTTYPE%5BGCHALE|GLOCAL%5BGLOC2A-674-HIVER-UK-2ALPES.html Notice that there are options down the left side of the page for Venosc and Mont de Lans - these will probably be cheaper because they are satellite villages and therefore less popular (both linked directly to resort by lift).

Tourist office websites for other resorts will list similar accommodation.
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thanks for the huge response Very Happy

Were swaying towards renting a big chalet out for the week, which sounds a good idea to me, still not too sure on the resort.

Scotland, about 80% of the group wouldn't like it even though I completely love it.
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milnerhome, Apartments for 10 people can be picked up for about 1800 euros in France in small villages in large ski areas like 'les sybelles'. About £160 each. Be able to drive out for £140 each.
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Scotland, about 80% of the group wouldn't like it


Why's that then? Puzzled
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Quote:

Were swaying towards renting a big chalet out for the week, which sounds a good idea to me, still not too sure on the resort.


A chalet will cost you an arm and leg (if by "chalet" you mean a self contained building). I priced several, in a very minor French ski resort, last year, at Christmas (which is cheaper than February). Most of the ones sleeping 10-12 were over 2000 euros. Some were 3000 (the nicest ones directly on piste). And that's with no food, no nothing. And cleaning costs on top. They just weren't economical - I gave up the idea. The week after New Year they were half the price.
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Try FUAJ (france hostel) or as previously suggested UCPA foir best value. FUAJ very good at Serre although a bit basic. All in prices at half term brilliant and if you drive would not be a million miles from your target as the Euro gets lower against the pound.
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