Ideas for ski weekend in late January

Sandwell

I'm looking for suggestions for a good destination for a long weekend towards the end of January. We're a group of 4-6 intermediates and the main priorities are value for money, good skiing and short transfer times. We're not fussy about accommodation. I've had a look at flights and Bergamo is very cheap. Munich and Geneva would be options too. It would be great to get some suggestions of easily accessible resorts from those locations and particularly those that have cheap accommodation options.

cormee

I'd suggest Zell am See which as a nice option for intermediates, it's also very close to Kaprun, so you could get some glacier skiing in, can't remember the transfer time, tbh, but it's fun and reasonably priced and the lifts are close to the town. Also, look at Les 2 Aples if you are interested in improving, or pushing yourself harder, transfer time is OK, and while it's probably a little more expensive than ZaS, the apres-ski, if that's a concern, is fairly vibrant. The lifts are also in the town.

olaola

This is really handy - you can choose the airport and see what resorts are nearby: http://www.skiclub.co.uk/skiclub/skiresorts/default.aspx#.V_4x2rWbvJB

I'd say the best bet would be get an airport with the best/cheapest flights and work from there. I was just reading about some nice spots (small, but good for short weekends) in the Pyrenees. Cauterets sounds nice! http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/ski/articles/skiing-in-the-french-pyrenees--where-quality-beats-quantity-/

Fattes

Garmisch is an hour south of Munich might tick the boxes, the best value resorts near Bergamo have hefty transfers, but if you are willing to strech the budget, Maddona Del Campignio would be worth a look

Sandwell

Fattes wrote: »

Garmisch is an hour south of Munich might tick the boxes, the best value resorts near Bergamo have hefty transfers, but if you are willing to strech the budget, Maddona Del Campignio would be worth a look

Garmisch could be just the job. I like the idea of an hour's transfer.

Fattes

Sandwell wrote: »

Garmisch could be just the job. I like the idea of an hour's transfer.

Rent a car in Munich and you will be there in 65 minutes give or take with traffic! Its a pretty uniqe resort Osterfelderkopf has the most skiing above the Kreuzecbhan gondola and then you have the Zugspite are also. Hotels tend to be good value, no idea about the lift pass as I have never paid for one there!

Some good decent places to eat in the town too

a148pro

Have done a few trips out of the Milan airports. Flights are very cheap but as Fattes says transfers are longer, maybe 2hrs 30. Cervinia, Pila, Madesimo. Pila and Madesimo had very cheap accomodation but are both quite small. I like skiing in Italy though. Can't wait to get to Courmayeur and Madonna.

Geneva has some very short transfers, La Clusaz and Chamonix within about an hour, 90 mins. La Clusaz prob quite cheap, Chamonix not so.

I've done Zillertal valley out of Munich too, maybe two hours, cheap also.

I book last minute when the snow is good but otherwise I build the trip around the flights that work best, my recollection from last year was the Milan flights generally departed in the early evening and flew back at night, meaning you don't have to take a day off work on way out and can get almost a full day in on your return. From recollection Munich was similar but Geneva times varied and often didn't work like that (although they had a red eye flight that you could get a half days skiing in on way out, think I went to La Clusaz on the way to 3vs).

Timmaay

If there are 5 of yas, renting a car should work work out good value, while being much faster than transfers (obviously once you's have a competent driver, and have the route well planned etc). Find out where is suitable to park it on the far end, and if it's parked outside be prepared to dig the car outa snow if needs be.

cormee

Timmaay wrote: »

If there are 5 of yas, renting a car should work work out good value, while being much faster than transfers (obviously once you's have a competent driver, and have the route well planned etc). Find out where is suitable to park it on the far end, and if it's parked outside be prepared to dig the car outa snow if needs be.

Download your Google Map of the area for offline use too

maddness

If you want value your best bet is Italy or Austria really and forget about short transfers. Geneva somewhere like Morzine is only an hour but it's not cheap.
Milan Malpensa with Aerlingus are usually very good value flights but you then have about two hours transfer to many resorts like Sauze or La Thuile.
Geneva is an option for Italy, Courmayer is just over an hour and Pila or La Thuile are 90 mins.

Not as savy with Austria but this link might help.

https://www.j2ski.com/ski_resorts/Airports/Munich.html

Fattes

maddness wrote: »

If you want value your best bet is Italy or Austria really and forget about short transfers. Geneva somewhere like Morzine is only an hour but it's not cheap.
Milan Malpensa with Aerlingus are usually very good value flights but you then have about two hours transfer to many resorts like Sauze or La Thuile.
Geneva is an option for Italy, Courmayer is just over an hour and Pila or La Thuile are 90 mins.

Not as savy with Austria but this link might help.

https://www.j2ski.com/ski_resorts/Airports/Munich.html

4 nights in Champery for 2 people 280 euro! Plenty of cheap options in Swiss and France if you avoid the mega resorts!

maddness

Fattes wrote: »

4 nights in Champery for 2 people 280 euro! Plenty of cheap options in Swiss and France if you avoid the mega resorts!

True but lift pass, beer and food are probably going to be more expensive.

Sandwell

Cheers everyone. There are some great ideas in this thread. We went and booked flights to Munich in the end. Got them for €150 Thu-Sun which isn't too bad and the flight back is late enough that we should get a half day's skiing on the Sunday too. The Italian flights are certainly cheaper but the transfers and also lack of local knowledge put me off. I've skied in Austria a few times and found it excellent value for money. We're going to leave off booking accommodation for a while. It's the last weekend in January so shouldn't be too busy I'd imagine. I'm leaning towards somewhere we can access by train as I've been reading that the roads back to Munich on Sunday evenings can be a disaster. Garmisch is definitely somewhere I'll keep an eye on as well as the Skiwelt area in Austria. It seems that there are regular trains between Munich and Kufstein that leave you a short taxi ride from Soll etc.

Fattes

maddness wrote: »

True but lift pass, beer and food are probably going to be more expensive.

€8 for a pizza, in the village, reasonable rates for beer, and one of the cheapest lift pass per KM of piste in the alps!

maddness

Fattes wrote: »

€8 for a pizza, in the village, reasonable rates for beer, and one of the cheapest lift pass per KM of piste in the alps!

Sounds very tempting!

Fattes

maddness wrote: »

Sounds very tempting!

Lift pass is 220 euro but it is part of the Les Portes du Soleil with 650KM of piste!

maddness

Fattes wrote: »

Lift pass is 220 euro but it is part of the Les Portes du Soleil with 650KM of piste!

I've skied the PdS a few times, great place.
I always get the impression that Switzerland is just so expensive compared to elsewhere, €8.50 for a coffee in Zermatt was an eye opener.

Fattes

maddness wrote: »

I've skied the PdS a few times, great place.
I always get the impression that Switzerland is just so expensive compared to elsewhere, €8.50 for a coffee in Zermatt was an eye opener.

Zermatt, Verbier, St Moritz, Wengen and now Saas Fee, are a bubble, resorts designed and marketed to super wealthy individuals as a luxury product. I get paid in Swiss Francs and live in Swiss land and I find them expensive!

Beer in my resort is anywhere from 3-6 francs, in a supermarket 1.50 for a 500ml craft beer.

smaller resorts always tend to offer better value than the mega high end ones be it France, Austria or Switzerland. Big diffrence in the price of a beer between say Saalbach or St Anton

iroced

Fattes wrote: »

Lift pass is 220 euro but it is part of the Les Portes du Soleil with 650KM of piste!

Yeah that's the thing now with all these wide inter-connected skiing areas. Find the smaller places to save from accomodation and local prices and just accept to pay the price for the ski pass.

In my experience it's usually one or the other
locations to fly to with short transfers and better chance of good snow = expensive
locations to fly to with longer transfers and less chance of good snow = cheap

I would personally chance leaving it until near the time and see what the snow conditions are. even with 5 people you should be ok with accommodation, especially if you don't have to be all staying the same hotel. or if 5 ring the hotel directly and strike a deal.
you've lots of options in Austria from Munich by car.

saalbach hinterglemm mentioned - good resort imo. not super cheap (not that far behind st.anton) but good ski areas.

another way to save money if you're actually going for skiing and not the piss is to stay on the outskirts or in an adjoining town on the ski bus route (usually included in your pass) - you're only talking 10 mins on the bus and it will drop you right by the lift where you'd have to walk for 5 to 10 mins anyway if staying in the town. you can still do the apres ski easily. just maybe not going on the lash really late.

Fattes

glasso wrote: »

In my experience it's usually one or the other
locations to fly to with short transfers and better chance of good snow = expensive
locations to fly to with longer transfers and less chance of good snow = cheap

Not really, Plenty of good value areas,with short transfers, and good snow, for example, stay in Les Houches instead of Agentierre or Chamonix!