 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi,
can anyone suggest a high altitude resort in Austria that are easy to get to by train from either Munich or Zurich? I`ve always wanted to go to St. Anton, but i`ve read reviews of it not being a beginners skiers resort. I read a good review about Obergurgl, we are a young family so we would like some good nightlife too, nothing too crazy though because our 9yr daughter will be with us, just some fun pubs with music or karaoke or live bands (sorry if i keep repeting this in all the posts). We also like the villages to look traditional with nice chalets not big concrete buildings. To give you a better idea i`ll list the resorts we have been to that we liked and didn`t like!
1. Seefeld in tirol, we went there onour very first ski holiday, we liked the skiing and scenery, and there was plenty of snow but nightlife was dead , (not sure if this is because we went in january)
2. Livigno, we went 2 years ago but didn`t ski, but we really liked the resort and nighlife, it was perfect with our child
3. Ortisei, went there last winter and we hated it!!! The town and scenery were beautiful, but we found it very boring, again we didn`t ski, but there was no snow at all and it was january, we had to pay for ski bus and found it all very expensive, and mostly italian tourists which are not a lot of fun. So this year i want to be careful i don`t repeat the same mistake again!
Thank you!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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briciolina29, Why do you want a high altitude resort. Last season was fairly awful for snow in many resort both high and low. Austria fared better than most.
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Thanks Tom W, i`ll check those out too. Hi Frosty the Snowman, yeah last year was terrible, i really hope this year will be better, i thought that high altitude resorts might have a better chance of snow, we are not mad into skiing, we only really skied once, will definately try it again because we enjoyed it, but the main reason we go on ski holidays is because i`m obsessesd with snow and also love the mountains, i like everything about them, scenery, cosy atmosphere and lots and lots of snow!
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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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briciolina29, ever thought of going to lapland?
The 2 middle weeksin Jan are very quiet weeks... the apres bars will be good fun but not a lot of action after this on weekdays...
Sounds like you need to be 'in-resort' so maybe Obertauern or Schladming would be good for you... these are near Salzburg, you can get to them via train from munich.... goodluck!
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Thanks Flagesax for the suggestions, these sound good, i`m going to look them up straight away
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briciolina29, You seem to be flailing around here (taking your other threads into account) without any real idea what it is you are looking for. Are you looking for a full week of alpine skiing, a 'winter experience', cross country skiing?
Maybe you are overthinking the whole thing, but i think the first thing is to decide exactly what it is you want to get out of the holiday.
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briciolina29, with a 9 year old, I'd be keen to avoid the high altitude areas on the basis that kids don't cope so well with -30 degrees and gusty winds.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Yes you are right, at the moment i`m so confused!!! it`s just that i kind of had an idea of where i wanted to go (Livigno) but because there has been a few problems with the transfer i am trying to see if i can fnd something similar to it but in an other resort. So now i`m more confused then ever! The first thing i think is important for us is the snow, i`ve been unlucky the last 2 years even though it was january. In Ortisei last year was a disaster, there was no snow at all in the village or surroundings, most of the montains were brown! We were going to ski but because we are only beginners we were a bit afraid after hearing about lots of accidents on icy snow, so we thought it would be better not to chance it. I suppose the next important thing would be to be able to go out in the evenings for dinner and a few drinks, with our daughter, obviously we wouldn`t get drunk but just a few happy drinks in a pub, again last year in Ortisei was completely dead, after about 10 o`clock or earlier the village was quiet, and the only place we could go to was an expensive winebar, in which they weren`t very happy about us having a laugh. we don`t go out every single night, but like the idea of having a good choice for when we do. I think it`s very hard choosing the perfect holiday, but hopefully this year we`ll get better at skiing and the next time we will only have that to concentrate on
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briciolina29, Have a look at Kappl, down the road from Ischgl. Taken the family there the last 2 years. The apres in the village is actually very good, given the size of the place and is very family friendly. If you want the bigger apres scene, Ishcgl is 6/7 km away. Stayed here this year http://www.alpenfrieden-kappl.at/index.php?id=13&L=1 and difficult to fault the place - it really was a great find, and bang on the piste too. If you can fly to Innsbruck, it's only 1hour away. There's been plentiful snow the two times we've been there.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I think reviewing your flight destination is pretty important too...
If you can get to Salzburg then consider Zell am See village and Saalbach/Hinterglemm too...
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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briciolina29,
some things to think about and get prioritized-
- Do you want to have a ski holiday (I mean downhill skiing) or something more like a 'winter experience'.
Resort recommendations will vary a lot depending on this. Lots of great ski resorts are pretty boring for non skiers. But not all. Decide this first. I'd suggest that if you do decide to have a ski focused holiday then stick to just that, skiing.
-Secondly, when can you go? Are you restricted to school holidays, if so is it christmas/ half term or Easter. Any other time restrictions. Recommendations wil differ depending on the time of season/school holiday periods.
-How would you prefer to get there. Fly/drive/train?
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For your evening activities at least Saalbach would be great - it's lively, but in a friendly/jolly sort of way rather than rowdy, so your daughter would be no problem. Bobby's Pub has a small bowling lane and often karaoke (if you really want to go all the way to Austria then end up in a Brit bar), one of the hotels does kids magic shows (can't remember which, sorry), and Bauers is usually a laugh, and there's often a few families as well as the usual apres revellers. Also tobogganing back from the Spielberghaus.
It's a fairly pretty village, with a lovely old church and nice main street, not particularly high but is pretty snow-sure (enough that you can put that worry out your mind), and has excellent beginner slops and plenty of good ski schools. There's also a few other things to do nearby, there's an ice/go-karting centre, somewhere you can drive piste bashers (think it's quite expensive though), and a dinosoar-land thing (I think it's open in winter?) - although you may need a taxi or something to get to some of those. Salzburg is also close enough to make day trips easy.
It would be a bit of a mission to get there from Zurich, Munich wouldn't be too bad, but Salzburg would be by far the best.
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You know it makes sense.
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Thanks for all the helpful replies, i have looked at all the resorts you have suggested to me. Or budget would be of about €1300 max for 2 weeks (if possible) or 12 days. Do you think we could find something to suit our budget in one of these popular resorts in Austria? Our travel dates are for the mid term break in feb. although my daughter will miss a few more days of school. We are thinking around the 11th Feb-22/02 or 25/02 (if no accomodation for 12 days. I found a few good deals on booking.com for Alpbach, although it`s just 1000m, and not sure if it will be lively enough, but it does look beautiful! Is it usually snowsure even if its not very high? I also found another good deal for Seefeld but not sure if i actually want to go back, it was a lovely resort but i would rather try something different, it was a bit quiet in the evenings. Can i find some accomodation in Saalbach within our budget, or Hinterglemm, but waht website do i look at? Oh i forgot, we would be travelling from Munich
Thanks evreyone!
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Email the tourist offices. That is about the most expensive time to go in the whole season btw. But if you're happy to stay in a pension/bnb/guesthouse it might be doable. Assuming you mean 1300 euro per person.
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Poster: A snowHead
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briciolina29, get the train to St Anton from Zurich and then either the bus or taxi up to Lech. I agree that St anton doesn't sound ideal for you.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Do you think Lech would be better suited than St. Anton? Is it possible to find cheap accomodation? Thanks! 
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Much more apres and nighlife in St Anton, easy to get by train.
As I understand briciolina29, might not be skiing much if at all.
If yes the blue No.5 on top of the Galzig gondola might be just enough for couple of runs (up and down with gondola so no difficult runs involved), if not bus to Lech. Plenty of time for that I guess.
Nice new indoor/outdoor spa/swimming pool open to public and there might be a few more similar activities like climbing etc.
Lots of TO deals or cheaper B&B.
On the other side Lech is much nicer setting.
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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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The climbing centre in St Anton is ace. Had a great day this summer screwing about on the bouldering wall, €12 for the whole day. If you want to do a weeks skiing, it may not be the best place for you by the sounds of it. You would probably love the apres (especially the Mooserwirt), but the later night stuff might not be so sited for oyur daughter, it can get quite rowdy... Lech is renowned for being expensive btw.
I love St Anton, but I reckon Saalbach would be better for you.
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| Quote: |
Is it usually snowsure even if its not very high?
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I just want to go 
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budget would be of about €1300 max for 2 weeks (if possible) or 12 days
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briciolina29, is that each? If it's the total budget then you will struggle.
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We are thinking around the 11th Feb-22/02 or 25/02
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Week Feb 18 to Feb 25 is one of the busiest weeks of the Austrian winter season (except christmas and new year). The reason is that there are skiing holidays in Bavaria (South East Germany) with a population of 12 million and and a potential of 2.4 million skiers (=equal to a participation rate of 20 percent).
Week Feb 11 to feb 18 is better but you should know that there are skiing holidays in Western Austria so you will find thousands of local school kids on the slopes
Some suggestions for high elevation ski resorts for the week feb 11 to 18
in Tyrol:
Kuehtai (2000m to 2800)
Galtür (valley 1500 max 2300)
Königsleiten (valley 1600 max 2300)
Nauders (1500m to 2800)
obergurgl, serfaus and lech are among the most expensive ski resorts in austria.
Serfaus is my personal favourite I regularly go there with my three children.
avoid Tyrolean and salzburg ski resorts in the week feb 18 to feb 25. Ski resorts in styria or carinthia would be an option.
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briciolina29, If you're not really into the skiing, how about Borovets for the scenery and snow, if you time it right... We had 6 ft overnight a couple of years back, and it's a bit like Blackpool on Ice if you hit the karaoke bars, and plenty of atmosphere, if you don't mind Bulgarian food...
Also if you book the Learn to Ski package in Bulgaria, it'll cost you a fraction of Austria and won't matter if you don't use it everyday... plus usually there's other stuff to do, such as the Royal Winter Palace, Skiidoos, Night Skiing, Ice Skating, Ski Stunt and Fire Show...
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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one of the hotels does kids magic shows (can't remember which, sorry
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...that'll be Hotel Peter - Austria's answer to Tommy Cooper with a bit of Benny Hill thrown in. Every Friday evening and a hilarious climax to many a skiing holiday!
briciolina29,
We have accommodation available if you would like to get in touch. Also I can send you my comprehensive guide to Saalbach-Hinterglemm, covering everything you are likely to want to know if you PM me your e-mail address.
You will be lucky to find anywhere as fun-filled and lively in the evenings. The apres-ski venues are suitable for, and greatly enjoyed by children between the ages of 9 and 90. There are many non-skiing activities and the village is compact and attractive. Okay I'm no doubt biased, but clarky999, isn't!
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briciolina29, P.S. I should perhaps have also mentioned that:
1. Transfers from Salzburg can be arranged for 25 euros per person (based on 4 people)
2. The village nursery slope is normally free of charge
3. The larger nursery area is at village level and a limited 'pay as you go' pass is available, so you don't need to waste money on a full pass, or feel that you're wasting money spent on a pass when you're not skiing.
4. The resort is up to 1,000 feet higher than most, well-known surrounding resorts, such as Zell am See and Kitzbuhel, and has invested so heavily in snow-making technology that snow coverage should not be an issue in January (it wasn't last year!)
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Tatman's Tours wrote: |
| [Okay I'm no doubt biased, but clarky999, isn't! |
I was hoping you'd chip in with the hotel!
Whilst I am very slightly biased (I instruct for a few weeks each year in Saalbach) I completely agree with everything Tatman said, and as long as I can I will return to Saalbach for a few weeks each season - it's a great place, one of my favourites (and I've skied quite a lot within Austria)! It's just so incredibly friendly!
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Hi Tatman`s Tours thank you for the suggestion i will send you an email! Thanks!
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Hello evreyone, i`ve been doing a lot of research the last few days, i`ve a list of resorts i`m considering, even though some are not high altitude, but they seem to meet our other requirements such as apres ski and nightlife and some others seem to be quiet but have cheap apartments and nice village and good beginner`s skiing. I suppose we will have to find a compromise , we can`t have evreything we want!
I`m going to write the list of resorts i`m considering in a new post just not to get too confusing!
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You know it makes sense.
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briciolina29, I haven't received any e-mail - in case you haven't found the address it's ratatman@aol.com If you've been trying to ring me, I'm currently in California so unavailable for telephone contact until next week.
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