 Poster: A snowHead
|
|
eng_ch, But you live in Switzerland and your earnings are in Swiss Francs so you've benefitted from the swing in exchange rates. Don't get me wrong I'm a fan of Swizerland and skied there in 2008/9 in Zermatt and 2010 in Laax. I did find though that costs were rising considerably and visits to Geneva and Zurich since have done nothing to persuade me otherwise. I wouldn't argue that you can spend just as much or more in France though.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
eng_ch, I think you'll find, if you read my post more carefully before getting fed up, that you are comparing apples and pears.
And I did not suggest that France is cheap - lift passes are expensive everywhere. My point - a relevant one to someone planning their first holiday - was that the "headline package price" was just one part of the price of a ski holiday. For anyone used to beach-style packages, the "extras" for a ski holiday can come as a bit of a shock. £1000 would be an optimistic budget for 10 days in France, too, in a major resort.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
Claude B, oh that would the -35% benefit I'm getting on the 80% of my work charged in Euros then?! I would love to be on a Swiss banking salary, but sadly I'm not and would venture to suggest I have more everyday exposure to exchange rate issues than most UK residents. And I'm not comparing prices from living here, I'm comparing € to CHF ie holiday prices. I was also shocked by the prices in the UK last week. And you're right to point out the exchange rate as the issue - prices here are actually tending to go down not up, but the exchange rates wipe that out.
pam w, obviously there are extras, but they pertain wherever you ski, not just in CH. The OP has specified money is comparatively no object anyway (or they'd be looking at Andorra or Bulgaria) - but they deserve to know what the actual costs are, not some figure plucked out of the air. That's what DG Orf and I have tried to do. Those of us who live here or spend a lot of time here are likely, I'm sure you'll agree, to have a better handle on what the price levels are than people who haven't been here for a few years.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
A quick check for 2 bed apartments in Wengen gives prices for a week of between £550 to £750 apartments are generally rented by the week, so if we took the top price of £750 stuck on a 6 day ski pass at £210 each and say £200 each for Snowboard and boot hire for 6 days That comes to £785 each, if the ladies have their own boards its just £585 each take a cheaper apartment and you can bring it down to Under £500 each leaving £500 for transport out there insurance and spending cash
Of course small self catering apartments often have only a double bed, it might be easier for the ladies to get a bigger group together and rent a larger apartment, generally the further from the centre and the older the building the cheaper the rental, in the middle of the village in a modern high tech apartment with Internet etc you are looking at about £400 pp per week, further out in an old building (one with character) and no Internet etc you might manage to find something less than £200 pp per week
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
|
Claude B, a few years ago and about 2.1 to the pound
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
eng_ch, I accept entirely that it's exchange rate swings that are the cause. If the Swiss Bank hadn't intervened it would have been even worse, it got near to parity with the Euro at one time didn't it. I've just looked and the apartment I paid £440 for in Zermatt at half term in 2009 is £826 next year, there's no way I could pay that for 2. The one I had in Laax in 2010 hasn't gone up quite as much but still a 60%+ increase. Both based on like for like prices in Sterling through Interhome who I booked them through. The one is Laax is actually still quite reasonable (it's near to yours) and I'd still consider it at that price.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Quote: |
Those of us who live here or spend a lot of time here are likely, I'm sure you'll agree, to have a better handle on what the price levels are than people who haven't been here for a few years.
|
you've missed my point about apples and pears and apparently not bothered to re-read my post, before going off on one. Remarkably easy to find lift pass prices on the interweb these days, whether you live there or not. I looked at Wengen prices, as it had been suggested as a destination and said that a 10 day pass would cost the best part of £300. Which it would. As it would in many big resorts in many countries. And I have already said that £1000 would a tight budget for a 10 day ski holiday in France, too. Finally, I never suggested the extras were only in France. No scaremongering involved. Chill.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Try checking out this place :-
http://lenzerheide.com/en/winter
probably struggle to find a TO who goes there so may be a DIY trip, still a lovely place - set around a lake
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
eng_ch,
| Quote: |
It's France I find expensive
|
You're not going to clear up misconceptions about Switzerland by making generalisations like that!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Personally I find everywhere expensive right now but that's because I can't afford a holiday  However I think both France and Switzerland are more expensive than elsewhere, the Swiss mainly because of their exchange rate, the French seems more out of the desire to fleece the tourists, Prices in Switzerland stay remarkably stable year on year, I'd say that for example bread in the small Wengen Supermarket has not quite doubled in price in 35 years, the local fizzy drinks have gone up by about 50% in that time and food in restaurants has gone up something between those two, unfortunately in that same period the exchange rate has gon from over 5 CHf to the Pound down to a little over 1 Chf to the pound though it's now closer to 1.5 which means for UK visitors the prices have gone up 6 fold whilst in the UK our prices have probably gone up by a factor of 3 or 4 in the same time which means that Switzerland seems to be significantly more expensive.
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
eng_ch,
| Quote: |
I'm just fed up with reading all this scaremongering about how expensive Switzerland is from people who mostly ski in France
|
+ 1
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
Swissie, On the money, Chamonicx, Verbier,Coourcheval, Zermatt are all almost CHF- EUR Identical and in some cases more expensive for various things.
Switzerland can be as expensive or as cheap as you want it to be.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fattes13, I think the point that some have made about the exchange rate £:CHF is a valid one. The respect in which Switzerland can be unavoidably expensive for a British skier is illustrated by Claude B in this example:
| Quote: |
the apartment I paid £440 for in Zermatt at half term in 2009 is £826 next year
|
Obviously, however, there are plenty of Swiss resorts other than Zermatt and perhaps that's the point you're underlining.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
| Quote: |
Switzerland can be as expensive or as cheap as you want it to be.
|
As can the other Alpine countries, of course.
One unpleasant aspect of skiing in France is that people don't pick up after their dogs. I imagine that the Swiss and Austrians are more fastidious.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
|
pam w, Oh yes, Wengen for instance has lots of special doggy bins complete with little plastic disposable bags for picking up the offending substance as well as special doggy toilet areas, wo betide you if you leave your dog mess behind, but the Swiss generally I've found to be very ordered so it is rare to see litter anywhere save for the lines of used butts that show up beneath the chair lifts in the spring
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
|
D G Orf, my son spent a new year's eve in Zurich and was amused to find that although the Swiss left many empty champagne bottles round the streets, they did leave them in neat piles.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
|
|
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?
|
pam w, and that's the difference, by putting the rubbish in a neat pile it makes it easier for the road cleaners to pick up the waste, makes it less likely that it will be spread around or (in the case of bottles) cause damage or injury to others.
Most Swiss do this sort of thing without really consciously thinking about it it's just how they have been brought up, shame we don't do so in the UK
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
eng_ch, but a bit cold if you need to go for a toilet break after a heavy snowfall 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
|
D G Orf, yes, the litter in the UK is really shameful sometimes. I've been very impressed with the lack of litter in the French Alps, generally, especially in summer when some paths are quite busy and people have lots of picnics. But they do have a bit of a blind spot about dog poo.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
Paris has become one big dog lavatory, now that the little motorised waste carts are no longer trundled around. The last time I was there on a hot summer's day, the entire city stank. Just awful, in such a beautiful place. Litter in London is horrible too, but it doesn't seem so bad on the dog poo front.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
