Poster: A snowHead
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Hi,
Thinking of a trip to val di fiemme this feb halfterm, probably staying in Predazzo.
Has anyone been and has any opinions of the resorts/ski areas along the valley ? I know that they're not particularly taxing or large, but any recommendations would be interesting.
Have 3 kids, so I'm interested in how likely the pistes are to be busy. I'm hoping that the resorts are sufficiently off the beaten track to be fairly relaxed, but it would be nice if anyone can reassure me on this.
thanks,
dt
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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pendodave, I've been to Canazei right at the top of the Val di Fassa which extends on from Val di Fiemme. It's a very scenic part of the world with the limestone spires and craggy peaks of the Dolomites.
The smaller areas in the Dolomites tend to be less busy and as you say they are pretty much off the radar for British half-termers.
New Year (Capodanno) is the peak holiday for Italians taking winter breaks, it can be a crush then.
The areas around the Sella Ronda also get busy through the middle of the season as it's firmly on the international map.
I have heard that smaller Dolomite resorts are quite popular with Eastern Europeans (Poles, Czechs, even Russians flying in on packages for the Orthodox New Year around 6th Jan) but not sure about Predazzo specifically.
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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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pendodave, Never been but that's where my daughter's school has their ski trip, at half term I believe. Too late this year as I'd already booked but she'll be bending my ear about next year.
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Thanks for these. glad to hear that it's scenic - being slightly out on a limb I was worried it might not be dolomite-y enough. As the different scenery is one of the ways I've managed to sell it to the rest of family, it'd better be good.
I'm slightly concerned about the school trip situation as we'll be going then. Tell me how wonderfully well mannered and behaved they are
I expect that they'll be up a bit earlier than us.
Looking forward to packing in a bit of cross country as well for variety. Somehow I don't think they'll be too many brit teens on the lupe....
d
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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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pendodave, I think there are only about 50 of them, it's a decent school so I wouldn't think they'll be too much trouble.
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Just thought I'd update this thread post the trip.
Went to Predazzo with 5 of us. Stayed in a lovely apartment pretty near the centre of town. Comfortable size, very clean and modern. £600 for the week (which I thought was acceptable for the half term). Got it from http://www.fiemmeappartamenti.it/ - it is one of the ones owned by Cemin. They owners were incredibly helpful throughout and it was a stress free trip for a self organised point of view.
Travelled by plane to Bologna and trained and bused from there. Very cheap flights, and italian trains/buses v. reasonably priced.
Val di Fiemme is great for family skiing if you are prepared to accept some compromises :
- staying in a village/town you pretty much always need a bus or car to the slopes
- there are a number of good sized ski areas, but no really big single one, so you need to travel about a bit for variety over the week.
- there is no particularly hard skiing and not too much easily accessible offpiste (though I'm sure with guidance it could be good)
- you might not hear too much english (but an awful lot of Polish !)
But the snow quality, scenery, reasonable food and drink prices made it a great place for the half term. Slopes/lifts were not at all busy which was great. Talked to a family who had done a trip to do the sella ronda and had returned pronto because the queues were horrible, which suggests that these dolomite valley resorts are a much better bet at this particular time.
It's easy to get to val di fassa by bus or by skiing over to Moena too. We spent a day in Falcade/passo san pellegrino which was lovely.
A number of good cross country areas dotted about and skijumps in Predazzo. Kids were very sniffy about the xc until they tried it. I can't help thinking there's a huge untapped market for xc skiing in this country, it's just as much fun as downhill imho and has many positive advantages over it - exercise, peace and quiet, different scenery etc etc
All in all, heartily recommended.
d
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pendodave, great to hear you had a good time in the Dolomites, handy to find somewhere away from large crowds at half-term.
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