Poster: A snowHead
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I'm thinking of arranging my own transport to St Anton in January. What's the best airport for transfers (preferably by train) to St. Anton
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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rich.ll, Zûrich
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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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Depending on your choices, Innsbruck or Zurich
Both have excellent public transport links. Also look for cheapie flights to Friedrichshafen or Memmingen. Not sure who is using those two any more. RA were at Memmingen but have pulled out this year, so maybe one of the other cheapies have been offered good rates to take it on.
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Quote: |
RA were at Memmingen but have pulled out this year
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Its good news actually, they havent pulled out, the Memmingen flight is still available through to next spring.
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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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SteveKirby, Memmingen announced here that they had pulled out, so double-check before you book.
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I found it dead easy via Zurich in February. Train service was very good and frequent. In fact we skiied on the 2nd Saturday, got a late train back to Zurich and flew back on Sunday.
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Samerberg Sue, Dont know if they had a change of heart, the flights are on the RA website, and the Memmingen airport timetable?
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rich.ll, Although I've not done the journey I believe as others have said that Zurich airport is very convenient for St Anton. Zurich has a train station right at the airport, and as regards airlines, Swiss do flights direct from Birmingham (which should be convenient for you) which include baggage and free carriage of skis.
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Thanks for the information. It looks like there're a few options (although I'm inclined to try Zurich first as I like the airport)
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How long is the transfer between Zurich and Anton?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Can't remember exactly, about 2½ hours I think.
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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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Between two and and a half and three and a half hours depending on what time you catch the train at the airport.
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Another vote for Zurich. Mind you, the flight into / out of Innsbruck can be wonderful on a clear day near a window - but there is always the risk of weather stopping flights there.
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You know it makes sense.
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rich.ll, I agree with all the above re Zurich, but dont discount Munich via Lufthansa, some very good deals about if you book early. Yes its a longer train journey but not too bad, 2 changes, 4 hours but sometimes the train timings can work better than Zurich.
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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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Is the Innbruck transfer not sub 2 hours though? Around 1.5 hours?
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Poster: A snowHead
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Innsbruck is indeed about an hour and a half. Pretty easy link with bus from airport to train.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Grizwald, yup. Flip side is that weather can stop your flight. I recall arriving 12 hours late at St A - having eventually flown to Munich, and being bussed from there. OTOH, we had excellent snow that week - and as there were blue skies when we flew out of Innsbruk, the views were almost incredible.
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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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I don't think Innsbruck is closed as often as people think. It is by far the easiest airport for most resorts in the Tirol and Vorarlberg due to the cheap and quick public transport links.
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Samerberg Sue, +1
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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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Samerberg Sue, Could be -my 12hour delay and diversion obviously affects how I think about it. I can't find any figures for hours closed to flights because of weather - which would be useful to know for airports such as Innsbruk and Sion.
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achilles, Sion stays open in almost all conditions I believe, its a military airport and the Swiss might need to scramble their hardware to protect their neutrality at a moments notice in all weathers!! Hence its kept clear. Innsbruck has a good record I believe. My only problem with Innsbruck is the lack of flights from oop north..........Jet2 used to fly in on a regular basis (if you could put up with all their add-ons) otherwise it tends to be packages TUI etc (or am I wrong?) I'd certainly use Innsbruck if more carriers went there.
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Zurich by far the best. Innsbruch will close in bad weather. They have a new train (the Jet Train) now from Zurich to St A, takes a little over 2 hours. One change only in Zurich central, book on-line at swiss rail.
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In the three Winter seasons I've worked in the Arlberg I can count on one hand the number of Innsbruck flights my guests have been on having been affected by bad weather.
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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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TUI group fly from Newcastle to Innsbruck, but it's a chartered plane so no way of getting on it as a flight only unless your on a package deal when I tried to have a look to see if I could get on the flight. M
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Innsbruck without a doubt
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Grizwald, I've flown the last 5 years with tui on flight only deal
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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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Inghams also do flight only deals on their charters.
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You know it makes sense.
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stanton, depending on the time of day, it can be a hassle getting a transfer to the railway station to/from the airport - mind you, a few years since I went there, so things could have changed. Nice little airport, though.
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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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Train times from OBB (times vary, these were the fastest ones I saw from a quick look)
Munich airport to St Anton 4h 10
Basel airport to St Anton 3h 47
Zurich airport to St Anton 2h 37
Innsbruck Hbf to St Anton 1h 04
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Poster: A snowHead
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achilles wrote: |
stanton, depending on the time of day, it can be a hassle getting a transfer to the railway station to/from the airport - mind you, a few years since I went there, so things could have changed. Nice little airport, though. |
I flew this route on a weekly basis for years.
Its no problem Bus 50 sits right outside the station & departs every 10mins . It takes precise 20 mins to the Airport or vica versa,
They have new bigger busses now so in the winter they dont have to attach the trailor on for all the skiers & borders, On average the fare to Basel from Amsterdam is Euros 100 cheaper than flying to Zurich.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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stanton, I am very surprised. We found no such bus, and instead took a privately-run mini bus that got us to the station for a reasonable fare. However return was too early for it, and we had to take a taxi from station to airport. Looks like things are now a lot better.
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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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stanton wrote: |
flights to Innsbruck get diverted frequently in winter. |
Do you have stats for this? The Statistics 2010 page on the airport website is quaint.
I thought they had ILS in place these days.
Rich.II If you haven't been to INN, it is a very scenic approach and a great start to a holiday (if clear weather). Get a window seat either side. Plus the drive out on the mountain motorway takes you level with approaching aircraft
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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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I find the best way to get to St Anton is to fly Easyjet from Luton or Manchester to Zurich. Then get the train straight to St Anton (2hrs 20 mins). The only change you make is at Zurich Hauptbahnof, which takes about 11 minutes from the Airport. I've flown into Innsbruk several times and have always suffered a delay on the return trip. The best place to stay in St Anton is somewhere between the Galzig and Nasserein lifts, around the church area. The B&Bs there are reasonable, central, and quite often pay for you to stow your skis at the lift. I can recommend some that I have stayed in e.g Haus Enzian, Maschler, Pension Inge, Maria Theresia. These are all really comfortable, I'm going back to the Enzian for the third time in Jan. I wouldn't recommend any of the houses on the Alte Albergstrasse cos on the way back it is all uphill and knackering.
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stanton wrote: |
flights to Innsbruck get diverted frequently in winter. This can be to Salzburg, Munich or even Milan. |
Not in my (reasonably extensive) experience they don't. In fact I've only once even been delayed leaving Innsbruck. Flew out of there on a tiny little plane last Wednesday, right in the middle of the heavy snowstorm. Really really weird flying through snow...
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If you can get an Austrian (or Lauda) flight to Innsbruck, they will keep flying long after the foreign airlines have wimped out.
The last but one time I flew back from there was a Crystal holiday where they used Lauda Air from Bristol. It was snowing heavily enough that the coach needed chains to get down from Neiderau to Worgl, and the motorway was all limited to 50Km/h. We got to the airport and all the UK airline flights had diverted to Verona, with passengers being bussed down there. But we left within 10 minutes of our due time.
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Innsbruck every time
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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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Regarding delays at Innsbruck, the season before last on our flight home, we sat on the tarmac waiting to take off for nearly an hour while other slightly smaller aircraft took off in what we would have considered fairly clear weather.
The pilot announced that our aircraft type needed 7 miles clear visibility and a zone 3 miles wide of clear visibility to take off in case we needed to abort the climb and return to the air port. And considering the close proximity of the mountains I wasn't going to argue!
So maybe looking for an airline that uses smaller aircraft may be something to consider if you want to use Innsbruck?
Can any aviation savvy 's enlighten us?
I've used Zurich and Munich to get to St Anton many times over the years, can't go wrong with either of them really, though the Zurich train transfer is easier, though I like Munich having worked there years ago and a lunch stop there is always welcome.
Also using your destinations home carrier is always a good idea as if there are any delays to flights the home carrier have the clot to sort things out.
Don't forget you get free ski/board carriage with Swiss and Lufthansa!
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Quote: |
So maybe looking for an airline that uses smaller aircraft may be something to consider if you want to use Innsbruck?
Can any aviation savvy 's enlighten us?
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Lufthansa, who'll probably be using Tirolean.
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