 Poster: A snowHead
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I have to sort a January trip out and have been looking in France and Austria - someone mentioned Anndora today - is there an obvious place to go ? - we are only going for 3 nights its an office outing so nightlife is important but a good range of skiing is needed too for a mixed ability group - I have heard also that transfers can be an issue, are they?
Many thanks in advance for your contributions.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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ScottDougall, I've been to Pas de la Casa a couple of times - this was 98/99 - I will let other people comment on what it's like more recently.
The main concern I would have would be the availability of somewhere to stay for a 3 night trip. The place seemed geared up for 1/2 week stays via tour ops.
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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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| ScottDougall wrote: |
I have to sort a January trip out and have been looking in France and Austria - someone mentioned Anndora today - is there an obvious place to go ? - we are only going for 3 nights its an office outing so nightlife is important but a good range of skiing is needed too for a mixed ability group - I have heard also that transfers can be an issue, are they?
Many thanks in advance for your contributions. |
stephen bleakley is right the place is set up for week rather than 2 -3 days
Pas is a good bet, we've been to Soldue a couple of times and enjoyed it but it doesn't have the same level of night life
have you thought about a snow train option?
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I haven't been to Andorra but I understand that the transfer is quite long, and you might not want to spend hours on a coach for a 2 day/3 night trip ? Just a thought ...
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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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| Hannah wrote: |
| I haven't been to Andorra but I understand that the transfer is quite long, and you might not want to spend hours on a coach for a 2 day/3 night trip ? Just a thought ... |
transfer to Soldue is about 4 hours from France, slightly less to Pas 
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ScottDougall, With the others here, we're taking a group to Soldeu this year but it would be too far to consider for just a few days. You need to look at places close to the airports to minimise transfer times.
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Andorra's ok. Pas village is tacky, Soldeu is pretty(er) and has a good network - I'd recommed Soldeu over anywhere else in Andorra. There are other resorts in the principality but nothing better, and probably too small for your bunch.
Yep, transfers from Toulouse and most other French and Spanish airports are astonishingly longer than they should be (lucky to be less than 3hrs). But if you flew into somewhere close, then obviously it would reduce travel time. Not many flights tho to "somewhere close" airports (don't think any TOs use them). Also in recent year(s) the roads feeding Andorran resorts remained impassable in parts due to beaurocratic arguments between Andorran/French/Spanish over who's responsible for clearing them. Cue massive transport hell on transfer day.
Personally I'd suggest somewhere close to Geneva would be a better option as for one it opens up a wider range of flights and a number of resorts within a 1hr drive would be suitable for your multi-ability group. Say, the Portes du Soleil. Or Megeve.
Chambery airport is very close to the 3V/Paradiski/Espace Killy areas, but suffers from congestion problems which frequently double the actual transfer time.
If you were prepared to look outside France/Andorra, there's suitable resorts in Switzerland that would have you on the snow in around 1hr from the airport.
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Hannah, I'm with you, the Andorra transfer is far too long for a weekend trip.
Another vote for Geneva as airport of choice in the cheap category heading to Flaine.
A more expensive option we've used many times is Flims, flying to Zurich.
I'd regards 2 hours as the maximum transfer time for a weekend but its dependant on flight availability, the longer the transfer the later the flight required - I don't like giving up slope time.
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Agree with the others here, Soldeu is the resort to go to, but no way for a short trip / weekend. I would add though that if you're going DIY then the transfer would be much shorter. On a normal day meaning when the roads are fine the transfer really should never be more than 3 1/2 hours .... that however is in a slow bus which also makes a pointlessly long stop. If you were in a hired minibus or 2 you could do it in 2 1/2 hours easily.
I still would go for other places - obviously flying through Geneva has a lot to offer. But there are also plenty of Austrian resorts reachable in around the hour mark from the airport and the nightlife there for a few days would be better craic I'd say.
So - Austria gets my vote.
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| Adam Holt wrote: |
Agree with the others here, Soldeu is the resort to go to, but no way for a short trip / weekend. I would add though that if you're going DIY then the transfer would be much shorter. On a normal day meaning when the roads are fine the transfer really should never be more than 3 1/2 hours .... that however is in a slow bus which also makes a pointlessly long stop. If you were in a hired minibus or 2 you could do it in 2 1/2 hours easily.
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be vareful with DIY transfers
Since Andorra is a tax haven the customs can be a little bit of a pain.
we have been lucky and not had problems, but one of sharon's work colleagues did a DIY trip and got stopped for 2 hours due to customs hold up on the boarder back to France.
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