HI guys
I wondered whether anyone had any tips for booking and organising skiing holidays?
4 of us want to go to either Austria, Franch maybe Andorra but have never booked one ourselves before.
We are going mid feb next year.
ANy tips for;
saving money
Location
resort recommendations
travel agent or not
you know, the usual....
thanks
Saving money- don't go mid February
Seriously it is half term, take a look at brochures the price nearly doubles
we have to go mid feb as my mrs is a teacher
In that case, try and book now as there are generally early bookers discounts available even for half term weeks, late booking is a no no as there will be little to no choice.
Not sure of your resort requirements but avoiding the French mega resorts will save you a few quid. If beginners go to one of the smallest resorts. Austria and Andorra will be cheaper than France. If cost is paramount you could book an apartment independent of a travel agent and self drive.
No such thing as cheap when it comes to snow.
Go for altitude.
Tough one.
Resorts - What sort of skiers are you like?
My current fave is Serre Chevalier. So much variety, not overly expensive and not full of Russian gangsters. Nice.
So, major question is - What level of skier are you?
Sounds like you may be fairly 'novice' if you're considering Andora, I'd go with that. Some good 'first timer' packages to be had, and whilst learning, and having a great time, the experience won't be clouded by scarily horrendous French eating and drinking prices.
if you're considering Andora, I'd go with that
If you like really long transfers....
Austria is generally much cheaper than France and much better for learning. We stay in Austrian small towns outside resorts and have choice of driving to quite a few different ones depending on weather. This works well for adults as you dont need to pay premium prices to stay in a particular resort. Obviously its easier if you have young kids to stay right in the centre of a resort but that costs lots more. As said above mid Feb is peak season! Ski club of Great Britain site has good resort info. Another thing is that you dont need a "world class resort" if u are a beginner. Smaller resorts are cheaper. Make sure you check ski season and resort altitude before booking. Some resorts are better than others for this. I started skiing in 1972 and still enjoy small resorts when we go to Austria. We just do different ones each day...or every other day. I love Val d'Isere in France for its enormous area and "back country skiing"but its super expensive and accomodation generally poor value...however its still my favourite skiing and we go most years.
Andora living costs have ballooned since the early 90's, lift pass costs are nearly up to the level of the Savoie resorts
given this winter I'd book the leave and wait to see where the snow is good
if it snows everywhere, go somewhere cheap
if it's shit, stay at home
Have a look at Snowheads.co.uk
it would be two competent skies and two novices.
anyone been to bulgaria?
My best mate went to Borovets and hated it. He is a good skier.
I would probably wait until last minute and book where the snow is good, this year most of Europe was pretty ropey and it's depressing to fork out £1000's for somewhere where snow is rubbish. Plus be prepared for it to be pricey if you are going mid Feb when half term is, along with France being heaving. I would try to avoid France then and go somewhere else in Europe.
Once did Livigno (italy) and booked 2 days before we went
Its tax free and thoroughly enjoyed it. Not massive resort but restaurants were cheap and people amazing (unlike some French resorts in have been to (Risoul for example))
Jake, in that case, here's my tip for Serre Che;
Stay here -
http://www.hotelpleinsud.com/
Ski lessons with these guys;
http://www.ski-school-connections.co.uk/
I really cannot recommend this lot enough! Davina and her team (Especially Petit Paul and Christian) are the best ski school I have ever come across. They manage to mix learning and fun perfectly. Oh, and Davina's dad is a great bloke too!
We booked with Neilson (hello, Caz!) and they were excellent all round, apart from Thomas Cook flights which are dire.
Short transfers, lovely place to stay, not too expensive, massive ski area and lovely people. Oh, and lunch at le Bercail....nomnomnom What's not to like?
Check out http://www.serrechevalier.org/ for an independent view of the place (Nice guys, the bloggers behind it!)
I'm heading back to Serre Che, probably in January. Lovely place.
second the snowheads site - its the skiing/snowboarding equivalent of STW but nicer 
My favourite resort is Tignes. Its got the glacier, plenty of lifts, high area so fairly snow sure, food is a bit pricey but it's big enough to get yourself bread and make picnic lunches.
Good for novices and intermediates alike. Lots to do in the evening too.
Whitefish Montana - as eurp mainly sucks 
Did Bulgaria (Borovets) 15 odd years ago and I hope it has improved since then. It was very cheap esp going out on the lash. However snow wasn't great, somebody broke their leg on the very ropey drag lifts and the ski instruction consisted of the chap skiing faster as the week went on so we had to get better to keep up!
Having been Canada, Austria, Italy and France since then I would choose Austria. Nice little villages to potter around and good for beginners. Kaprun was great with easy access to a glacier.
Book either very early or very late (shouldn't be a problem finding a late deal for 4 people)
If I had to go at half term I'd go the whole hog and go to Canada or the states. Easter is generally a better bet in Europe if it falls early. Shared catered chalets are generally good value (eating out in a ski resort is expensive) Iglu ski scape the best deals from a lot of the major companies so generally have some very good offers.
Be concious of transfer times, sketchy winter airports (Chambery) Heavy Traffic on transfer days and all the hassle that is inevitable on the way.
Try some lessons at a snowdome if you have one local to you, it's not exactlly cheap, but consider how much each day in resort is costing you - you want to get the most out of it...
Most of all have fun, and beware, it's addictive.
BTW - it's called snowboarding
BTW - it's called snowboarding
In the world of wrong, etc....
If you want cheap in Feb you'll have to think outside the box. Most of the best value places at all ends of the price range will already be booked for the UK half term week. I worked out in the Alps this last season and our company who had 20 catered chalets and a load of SC as well were 100% full that week with no last minute availability.
So my outside the box tip is don't stay in a ski resort. For instance, we worked in La Plagne and Les Arcs, both of which are easily accessible from towns at the bottom of the mountain such as Aime, Macot, Landry and even Borg St Maurice (although this is pretty much a resort with the funicular). All of these places would be an easy 20 mins drive to the ski area on ploughed roads so it would take a serious amount of constant snow fall to cause you problems - a level of which you probably wouldnt find fun to ski in for long anyway! Obviously this wasnt a problem last season.
So, go find some real maps and check out the towns in nearbye is my tip. Best to go SC in those as the restaurants etc will be more limited but again, this will save you money. You can always eat out some or all of the time. Hire a car at the airport for the week to get you around which also allows you to book sensible flights that leave from a convinient airport at a decent time.
Final tip very relevant to Feb. Try to go Sun to Sun, as already pointed out, Saturdays in Feb are a nightmare on the roads. Chambery is an easy 45-60mins from most of the French resorts most of the season. It took me nearly 4 hours on the ending Sat this last year.
Above all though do it. I love the mountains, we're actually in the process of trying to set up our own business out there so I might be posting again in a few months time with a catered option for you!
Chris
Buy a copy of the industry bible: where to ski and snowboard
Start here: http://www.wtss.co.uk
The cheapest skiing holiday I had was hitching to Chamonix and staying in a cheap hotel.
The most expensive was driving to Tignes (driving overnight, sleeping in the underground car park for a couple of hours then walking up the stairs to the pistes at first light - you gain a day's skiing and avoid the jams) and staying in a Maeva flat.
It's not so much where you go as how you do it.
I went to the Bulgarian resort of Bansko two winters ago and loved it. It's only one big mountain with mainly Blue and Red runs, although it does have some Black runs and is hosting a World Cup Super Slalom round this coming February.
The three of us that went consisted of myself, a novice Snowboarder, my mate who'd just started on Skis and another who's a very competent Snowboarder. As beginners, we loved it, our other mate though was, I think, getting a bit bored by the end of the week although she did enjoy the fact that the Black runs were almost completely deserted.
The resort itself is great. All the chairlifts are less than 10yrs old and I can only remember seeing one drag lift. Down in the town, the place is a bit shabby with loads of unfinished buildings and potholes you could drown in.
However, and here's what swayed us, and why we've booked to go again this February, the prices are awesome.
We've booked our 6 person apartment, which is a five minute walk away from the Gondola station, for a cost of 240 euros. Shared between four of us that's about £53 for 6 nights. Flights are about £170 return from Edinburgh, the two hour transfer to the resort was about 50 euros return and the 6 day lift pass 110 euros. Although I'm quoting prices in Euros, Bulgaria still has it's own currency and when we went you were getting 2 Lev to the pound. So on the slopes a beer and burger would set you back about 7 lev, down in the town it was about half that.
As long as you bear in mind that you're going on a budget holiday, and are willing to laugh at how Russian skiers are incapable of queuing for the lifts, you'll be fine. If it wasn't for budget resorts like Bansko, I simply wouldn't be able to go on a winter holiday. I'm so excited, I've already bought a new pair of ears ( replacing the Tigger ones with big floppy Dalmation ones), for my Snowboard helmet!
If you want any more info on the place, drop me a line.
Beagy
it would take a serious amount of constant snow fall to cause you problems - a level of which you probably wouldnt find fun to ski in for long anyway!
One man's meat etc. Probably the best day I ever spent skiing was in Alta where the snow was coming down so hard that 8 out 12 people decided to "have a coffee and see if stopped". It didn't, they never came out, we had the best skiing ever in visibility of about 100 yards tops. You;re going out to ski, you need snow, why would you avoid it?
Depending on your requirements it might be worth joining http://www.snowboardclub.co.uk
Costs £15 a year but you get decent discounts on holidays, lessons and equipment (buying and renting).
Good forum for advice too.
(Oh and major discounts at the snowdomes that someone mentioned above)
If you have to go in term time check the term dates around the country. A few years ago we drove to London, parked the car and flew to Austria and saved quite a bit as the London term times were out of sync with those in the Northwest.
Driving is a faff but IIRC the savings were not trivial.
I actually think Risoul in the southern French Alps is good for mixed ability groups lots of nice easily accesable off piste for the more advanced.
Personally I think Catered Chalet is the cheapest way to go unless you are on an absolute budget.
Personally I think Catered Chalet is the cheapest way to go unless you are on an absolute budget.
Shirly not! nicest yes but costs an arm and a leg!!!
Drivings an option. Did this once also to Austria. Trip out is fine but a bit of a drag on the way back with nothing to look forward to but work!!! Saved a few hundred so it was finacially OK but would definitely drive if I lived further South.
I have only been skiing once and went to La Clusaz after recommendations from people on here. We avoided the school holidays and it worked out pretty cheap. As it's not a very English place if you miss the French holidays then it might still be cheap. Flights were about 50 quid each return to Geneva, we hired a studio place for €400 for the week, transfers were pricey but it would have been do-able on public transport. Beers were 5 - 6 EUR, meals for about 12 EUR. A 6 day lift pass was £150.
Anyone skied in Norway? As I have heard you can get some cheap late deals and the slopes aren't that crowded (unlike some resorts in France)
the best late deals I saw for February this year were to Sweden.
Everytime ive been to the alps it's been full of Swedish. Says something to me...
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