rental income less important than access to fun skiing and biking....
If I suggest somewhere and you really like it, do I get to come and stay for free?
Bourg would be the answer for me. Much better in summer than the other resorts, trains straight in and shorter transfers, easier access to go ride other places (tignes, val, la thuile etc) and you'll get a lot more for your money.
I dream of buying and living in Bourg.
@pinetree, fo sure!
also considering peisey, seez, landry, st foy...
by no means loaded but looking at ways to make it happen as my kids would love it as much as i would!
I looked into this not long ago and was pleasantly surprised at the price of a 1 or 2 bedroom apartment in Bourg. I'm certainly not loaded but now seriously considering it. The advantage of a station in the middle of town is a huge attraction to me.
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Les Carroz is very nice. Off there tomorrow for ski AND mtb.
La Rosiere
Nice Village.
Good singletrack trails (both made and natural) down from there into Bourg to access the funicular and other more downhill resorts.
You can ride up and over into Italy La Thuile for excellent singletrack.
Les carroz was the best place to ride dh in the alps for me (after about 40 resorts), only for a couple of days and less so last year after a clamp down on the off piste awesomeness.
Bourg en Bresse?
BSM is relatively cheap and convenient but it's not a particularly nice town.
Sorry, I'm confused. Which 'Bourg' are we talking about here? (it's a pretty common part of a town name in France)
You'll save money by being down in the valley in BSM but that's not really the Alpine dream is it ?
I have holidayed with White Room in Ste Foy Station which is a peach of a small town and ski area, White Room run their summer biking from La Rossiere FYI. Peisey I like too having stayed at the Club Med there (and AFAIK Trail Addiciton's chalets are there and not in Les Arcs as such) easy access to local skiing plus Les Arcs and La Plagne.
So if your budget will stretch I would start with Peisey / Peisey-Vallandry. Stevo from White Room hangs out on here and could offer some good advice on the area I am sure.
Sorry, I'm confused. Which 'Bourg' are we talking about here? (it's a pretty common part of a town name in France)
Quite, what with it literally meaning "town" 🙂
I presumed the OP was talking about BSM though.
Assume BSM. Les Granges? @ about 1300mtrs its part way up the hill to Les Arcs. Its on the funicular line and has a stop. Its got nursery slopes for winter. It used to have a lovely little bar run from inside someones house! Not sure if thats still there though. Very quiet and has lovely views of the valley, Mount Blanc, La Rosiere etc.
What websites are good for looking for property in BSM, whenever I look I can only find ski apartments in resorts but I would rather stay in a town and not a resort
@stevie - click this link 8) Happy hunting
[url= http://lmgtfy.com/?q=immoblier+boug+st+maurice ]let me google that for you[/url]
Wouldnt advise buying. Ties you to one location. Theres great skiing and MTB around the world. Why would you stay in one place? You can easy ski a place out even on a couple of week holiday. Convert cost of buying and furnishing etc into zillions of holidays around the world.
There is a world of difference between finding websites offering property in an area and finding a GOOD website selling property in a specific place. Smart arse! Google will invariably throw up the massive search engine type places listing the same 20 hard-to-shift properties, while hidden somewhere on page 49 you might be lucky and find the small one man estate agent in the very town you want to go to selling a few choice properties of the type you want. Assuming they even have a web presence.
Brides les bains, in the valley with a cable car up to Meribel
Blimey @welsh are you having a bad bay ! Yes of course its best to get a recommendation for a good agent or two but starting with the websites of ones in the town isn't a bad first step. I'll ask the Mrs if there is a French version of Zoopla / Rightmove
I cant say they some where like Bourg, or any of the big valley towns would be pleasent.
Have you considered Samoens?
Like has been said above, if you are not doing it for rental, eventually you will get bored and want to go different places.
That has happened to people I know who have bought in the Alps.
Moutiers - beautiful town. 😉
Orpi is probably the biggest chain of estate agents in France.
@ jambalaya
Yes I am having a bad day 🙂
Been up all night with the lambing. Right in the thick of it at the moment and struggling to keep on top. I had just spent half an hour wrestling around inside a ewe when I read your helpful post at coffee.
thanks all, yes bourg st maurice!
Nice hospital and staff.
I spent a night there last week and they relieved me of €1100 for it.
Did you not have an EHIC?
Hope you're ok and your holiday wasn't ruined!
Got EHIC which covers 80% of the cost and the rest can be claimed on holiday insurance.
Had a big bang to the head which caused a small bleed to the brain.
It had to miss out on the last day of snowboarding, bit gutted but happy to be in good shape other than a small headache.
Could have been a whole lot worse if I didn't have my helmet on.
Not allowed to ride my bike for another week or so though.
Shit a brick!
@welsh, no offence taken just to be clear. My wife's family are in real estate in France and she would agree the best way is to visits the agents and register as its more word of mouth there and not everything goes on the Internet. it is a place to start though. Good luck with the lambing, I always love going out at this time of year to see them, nearly 40 years since I helped out though as a teenager 😳
@flatfish get well soon and please remember your helmet. I have first hand experience of BSM hospital after busting my knee. Joked with the doctor that the consulting rooms where called a "box" said I wasn't ready for one just yet and it was only a knee not terminal 🙂