 Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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simonx, Chamonix.
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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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If you live in Kent there are loads within easy reach, but for Chamonix all but the last few miles are on motorway (and the last few miles are still fast and easy) and there are no steep hairpin roads to get up.
Flaine/Grand Massif also very easy. Verbier easy too. And loads of others.
However, you need to think carefully about timing at half term, if you go to any of the French resorts on a Saturday - need to think of arriving either before 10 in the morning or not until after 6/7pm at night. And when you leave, if it's a Saturday, spending the day on the slopes then leaving around 5 pm and getting a few hours north before stopping for the night is a good way to do it. You usually need to get out of your accommodation around 10 am - needs a bit of forward planning but Saturdays are usually quieter (change over day).
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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If you want to go to Italy Courmayeur is not far beyound Chamonix, though the Tunnel is expensive.
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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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Serre Che is a relatively easy drive, and has brilliant sking.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Worth doing your homework on parking in various resorts. Some charge £50-£100 per week for a parking space, and ban people from parking in the street.
We found Morzine to be car friendly and easy enough to get to.
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simonx, Half term I'll be driving to the Zillertal. It's about 700 miles from Calais which would be around 130 more miles than going to, say, Chamonix. So, at (toll-free  ) autobahn speeds we're maybe looking at 90-120 mins more all things being equal. Selva is 740 going via Germany, Austria, Brenner Pass so, again, not really that much further and if it's somewhere you fancy going then why not? You live in Kent so just imagine yourself driving from further north. Thing is, half of London and half of Paris is heading for the French Alps that saturday and virtually none going down through Germany to Austria or beyond. When you get there there's a big difference in population density - I'm not saying you will get huge queues in France but you are opening yourself up to the possibility. I did Chamonix once at half term and never ever again.
By the way... bit of a ski from Zermatt to Courchevel!
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simonx, ...rhone valley is good - motorways all the way to besancon, then a quick jump over the jura and then more motorway from lausanne to martigny - then good skiing in verbier, val d'anniviers (grimentz, st luc and freeride are in zinal, or in crans montana on the other side of the valley, or a bit further along and up to saas fee or zermat. Simples. And none of the deadly traffic jams which you get going to the three valleys or tignes etc.
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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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Can i second zillertal, its cheap to get to, no mountain roads, and once you're there and have a car 5 different, large ski resorts are all easily accessible on the same lift pass..
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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simonx, I do Austria a lot and there always seems to be veggie options on the menu. Times have certainly changed since I was offered a chicken sandwich as the veggie option. Think if I was vegetarian anywhere in the alps I'd self cater.
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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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simonx, worth checking resort prices before you go. The CHF/£ exchange rate is making Swiss lift passes, equipment hire and eating out eye-wateringly expensive at the moment.
We have a veggie in the family and her ability to find something on the menu that she can eat typically dictates where we go if we are eating out. I've not noticed any real difference between France/Austria/Switz for veggie catering, none are particularly veggie friendly though you can usually find spaghetti neopolitan or marguerita pizza on any menu across the alps. The best holiday for our veggie (foodwise) was an Austrian hotel - by a considerable margin.
Another travel option for you might be to fly to an airport a little less obvious and car-hire. Depending on how far you are willing to drive, flight prices can still be reasonable even for that period.
eg you can get reasonably timed flights to Barcelona with EJ from LGW at half term for £120 each. Car hire (say £300) or transfer bus (about €50 return)and then 2.5 hour drive to the Andorran resorts.
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Hi,
The Tarentaise is within easy reach if you're driving - Val D'Isere, Tignes, La Rosiere, Les Arcs, La Plagne, Meribel, Courcheval, Val Thorens.
The drive down is an easy one, and although the last hour or so is not on motorway, it is relatively fast. There are windy roads up the mountain to all of the above for the last half hour.
Traffic makes a massive difference to any of these journeys though and I would firmly second Pam who said "you need to think carefully about timing at half term". If you can leave on Friday and drive through the night that is a good option, as is finding a Sunday changeover proprty. If you are planning on staying somewhere en-route you need to book this, and the ferry/train well in advance.
You might already have come across this but there's a website called Veggiesnow who recommend where's got veggie option on menus etc.
Have a great holiday!
Heather
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You know it makes sense.
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| Quote: |
Think if I was vegetarian anywhere in the alps I'd self cater.
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so would I. That doesn't mean slaving over a hot stove all day - but maybe renting a nice apartment somewhere with a wide choice of restaurants and good shops and traiteurs. My ex-veggie (now recovering) daughter had a hard time in spain, where she was asked whether ham would be OK "if we cut it up very small".
Alternatively, many catered chalets will do a good job for vegetarians, especially if you warn them in advance and, if possible, have a chat to the chef about the sort of thing you like.
However, it's half term - you can't afford to wait too long to book up something nice, or you might be left with rather little choice.
If you can follow Heather's advice, above, I wouldn't worry about the traffic too much, but the slopes, as well as the roads, will be pretty crowded in French resorts too, as it's peak French holiday time. I am a francophile with an apartment in France, but I think I'd look for an alternative for half term. Not Switzerland, though, unless money was no object.
Oh - and I wouldn't call the last hour to Tignes or Val Thorens "relatively fast"..... though some mad drivers do seem to think it ought to be. 
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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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Engelberg is very driveable - no further from Calais than the Flaine / Chamonix area. It gets busy at half term, but not as busy as the big French resorts
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Poster: A snowHead
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unless catered chaltet we do self -cater but still have lunch on the slopes and eat out in the evening 3 or 4 times and hope not to survive on apfelstrudel
Okay so Switzerland too expensive, and big French resorts too busy - so maybe looking at Austria after all .... never been don't know anything about the resorts other than some names - Mayrhofen, Ischgl, Galtur , Obergurgl ?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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simonx, well if you are thinking of Austria I can recommend the ski amade area, includes schladming, flachau, zauchansee to name a few. I've driven down this way a few times via germany. The roads are very accessible with autobahn most the way and a few miles on easy going A roads. The only problem area can be around munich. About 12hours from Calais. UK Half term around here is not stupid busy. You could check out flights to Salzburg or Munich and car hire. Veggies can survive in austria, have friends here who eat out lots and are veggies. Ski Amada with a car means you can very easily drive to a different resort everyday if you like, all on same pass. Lots of very good and extensive piste skiing and wonderful tree skiing when there's powder. Lots for non-skiers as well.
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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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thanks Waynos - just did a quick flight check - all over a grand for 4 unfortunately 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I'd second the Tarantaise, have driven to both Val D'Isere and Meribel and both were very easy to drive.
This season we are off to Alpe D'Huez and will throw in a couple of days in Les Deux Alpes and a day in Serre Chevalier - all very feasible by road and having the car gives you a huge amount of variety to choose from.
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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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| papasmurf wrote: |
| Serre Che is a relatively easy drive, and has brilliant sking. |
I'd agree.....but not at Half Term, although I guess timing is really the issue. From experience, took me 18 hours from Calais to SC once. Last 80kms took over 6 hours due to the HT traffic  Both Lyon and Grenoble were also dire.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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We done mayrhofen last half term. There was no traffic on the drive ( though I chose my arrival and departure times at the resort to give me 8 days skiing). There where no real lift queues except the main lift down from mayrhofen in the evening and that was a nightmare. We avoided this by driving to the other lifts(5 mins) and got straight on and off with no queue. We also drove to the other resorts inluded on the pass. It was a great holiday and I enjoyed it much more than the previous holiday to la plagne.
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| Quote: |
We avoided this by driving to the other lifts(5 mins) and got straight on and off with no queue. We also drove to the other resorts inluded on the pass.
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This underlines how useful it can be, sometimes, to have a car when it's busy.
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Definitely have to suggest CHAMONIX for ease of access and amount of slopes.
Suggest driving from calais, south east to Luxembourg, then down through france, germany and switzerland, finally dropping straight over the swiss/french border into Chamonix.
Might not seem like an obvious route, but does save MASSIVE amount of money, avoiding french toll charges and stupid fuel prices.
Filling up in Luxembourg is the cheapest place in Western Europe, followed by Switzerland. A direct journey down is 550miles on motorways, with about £100 toll charges. The slightly diverted (much more scenic) route is 650miles. If travelling through switzerland remember their vignette, (motorway tax) payable once a year and is about £40.
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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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I'd look at self-catering in Val D'Anniviers, which I don't think would be overrun at half-term. Even with the nasty Swiss Franc it could be cheaper than some of the well known French spots as it isn't one of the biggies like Verbier and Zermatt and has mostly modest accommodation.
The valley is very pretty, feels wild (in the nature-unspoilt way rather than at night) and is also known for great off-piste. There are three ski areas, at Zinal (top of valley), Grimentz and St Luc (a short drive away on very windy roads). Zuba Ski (www.zubaski.com) is one UK operator that has masses of self-catering chalets available in this valley and booking with them is meant to cost the same as if you booked it yourself. Don't know if they can do a deal for lift passes or ski hire. The drive would take about 10 hours from Calais by the 'traditional' French route, though when going in this direction I normally turn off at a village called Langres and go via Gray, Besancon and Pontarlier to get to Vallorbe, rather than continuing all the way to Switz by motorway as some people do - both to vary the roads and to save on tolls.
In Austria, if you're keen to be at high altitude but don't want to be where there are masses of tour ops, try Soelden (up to at least 3,000; village at 1,300ish). Downside is it has a road running through the middle but there's plenty of self-catering and B&B accomm off to the side and the slopes are brilliant and extensive. There are two glaciers that are sometimes open, especially if snow low down isn't good. Quite lively in the evening but the main draw for me was the skiing. You can build a day trip to nearby Obergurgl into the ski pass I think. A longer and far less pleasant drive (12 hours at least when I last did it 10 years ago) but probably marginally cheaper than Val D'A when you get there.
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Les Gets in France is a good choice. It's quick to get to (under 8 hours drive time from Calais without speeding) and it gives you access to the massive Portes du Soleil ski region. We stayed in the Hotel Stella Galaxy which had a decent outdoor car park with no height restrictions (in case you have a roof box). Hope that helps.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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but Les Gets (which is indeed very easy to drive to) is likely to be very busy at half term.
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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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We drove last year, and really enjoyed having a car with us. The fact that we got 8 days of skiing rather than 6 was a real bonus, so if you can time it well and have someone to share the driving with, you can get up on the slopes on saturday which is the best day to ski by far. You can also do a days skiing on the saturday before you leave. Most people are stuck on transfer buses at this time, so the slopes are pretty empty and no queues anywhere, except to get out of the resort (lol!) We were in Meribel, which was fairly easy to drive to, and we stopped for a few good meals at brilliant french service stations on the way. We didn't take our own car but decided to take the tunnel and then to rent a luxury 4x4 car in France, which worked out well for us. The car was great, so the journey was pretty comfortable. Luckily we aren't far away from Ashford, so it made sense to take the train and pick up the car on the other side. The great thing about having 8 days to ski was that we treated ourselves to a day off in the middle, and were able to travel a bit around the area, which we wouldn't have done with the car.
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If you are going at half term, then definitely try and get to the resort early on the sat and leave late on the following sat, as these really will be the best days for skiing.
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You know it makes sense.
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Dont rule out Austria because you are a vegetarian. I lived there for 3 years as a veggie and although it was rescricted I managed to eat well both on and off the mountain. I went back last year and this year as a vegan and even managed to eat out so you will have no bother.
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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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daveqpr,
How long was the drive to the area; quite like the look of the area & curious to see it.
Thanks in advance
Mitch
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Poster: A snowHead
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Mitchell, probably not much longer than your last jaunt to Austria!
If you time it right as well (avoiding the Munich Salzburg A8 section as well as the Rosenheim/Kufstein A93 on a Saturday), then you can be there in about 8 to 10 hours driving from the Channel. The trek up from the A12 Inntal autobahn in Austria can also be a wee bit slow at times as well as it is ordinary road with few safe overtaking opportunities. 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Samerberg Sue,
Dam, was hoping it may be quicker
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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.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Mitchell wrote: |
daveqpr,
How long was the drive to the area; quite like the look of the area & curious to see it.
Thanks in advance
Mitch |
We got the euro tunnel at about midnight on the thursday night, we drove for a long time and stopped for an hour or so just past Luxembourg, as we wanted to beat the morning rush hour traffic there. We the carried on and arrived at the resort at about 1 pm just in time for lunch at the bottom of the slopes in reith Im alpachtel. we then went to our b&b for a few hours kip to refresh ourselves as we then hit the slopes for night skiing.
A short drive the next morning to mayrhofen then up the slopes again for the next 8 days.
Driving back the next Saturday straight off the slopes we stopped just past fussen for the night. We got back to the eurotunnel at about 3 pm on the Sunday where our only queue of the trip greeted us. About 1 1/2 hours to check in!
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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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Are you travelling half term because you have children or you are teachers? If you can face the overnight coach - we have done it probably about 15 times even driving from Scotland first - you can get 8 days skiing very cheaply. Try Snowcoach to St Gervais (large area links with Megeve, very French) or Skiweekends to Meribel, but the Three Valleys will be quite busy at half term. Both companies have self catering as well as hotels.
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FAQ
I ended up in the bar at the base station hugging the fire and gallons of hot chocolate (with rum added at times). The best laid plans ......, etc 