Skiing Europe in 2011 - on the cheap - any ideas?

muirio

Hi MSErs,

Been looking into going skiing for a week in February 2011, probably 5-11th as this ties nicely with school term times and other commitments.

Looking to go to somewhere in Europe on the cheap, preferably to a fairly nice and sizeable skiing resort if possible. Good nightlife would be a bonus although I'm sure nowadays most resorts in Europe are touristy enough to accommodate this

There will be approx 6-8 of us going (all aged about 21-22); don't know if it becomes cheaper to rent a chalet (despite extensive googling I haven't found anywhere that seems to suggest so)?

We will need the works, i.e. flights (pref from South of UK/London), accom, ski pass, equipment hire and spending money for food/drinking. The majority of our group are beginners but a few are more experienced...we'll have a mixture of skiers and boarders.

When I was at Uni the ski club managed to organise a trip with everything included, coach travel to Les Arcs in France for £329 (bargain or what?!). Only thing to add was spending money.

Do any MSErs have any tips on where to look / go? Eastern Europe seems considerably cheaper than the Alps region but I don't know if you sacrifice resort quality / size as a result? Around the £350 mark before spending money would be ideal. I haven't found anything below this outside of Andorra or Bulgaria.

OR would it work out cheaper to book everything separately? We are more than prepared to take a couple of cars over to France to keep flight costs down if there is a big difference? With our own cars we can obviously hotel further away from the pistes - would this make things a lot cheaper?

Can anyone help?

Thanks in advance!

Muirio

richardw

How far are you from the channel tunnel in Kent?

poe.tuesday

as you are going in the school term there will be plenty of deals about so personally I would wait until mid jan to see what crystal, inghams etc have on offer

however, if you are wanting to get something sorted now then the cheapest option is to drive and rent a chalet - is that something you would consider?

if so, check out snowheads as they have accommodation listed

muirio

Thanks for your replies, guys. I live in Bournemouth, so channel tunnel is more than possible...as are ferries from Poole and Southampton.

So it could actually be cheaper to wait until January to book this hol? As in doing it last minute? I was always under the impression it's cheapest to book ahead, but I guess not always?!

ventureuk

Try the Sierra Nevada on the Spanish coast for a change.

Flights to Malaga/Granada are cheap, a weeks car hire (Berlingo) is £100, ski passes on the mountain are reasonably priced plus the skiing is great. Weekdays the resort is quiet, weekends it is full of locals. Ski rental is also very reasonably priced from a variety of outlets on site.

The mountain occasionally has bad weather brought on my its proximity to the warm waters of the Med but you get a refund if the resort closes for the day and get to spend your time in the winter warmth of Granada eating tapas and drinking San Miguel, wandering around the Alhambra or shopping.

This B&B in a nearby mountain village is great, about 1/2hrs drive to the resort up the scariest mountain road I have ever driven , cheap, very clean, nice heated floors and use of a kitchen to cook your own food.

http://www.arroyodelagreda.com/pages/en/index.asp

http://www.britishskicenter.co.uk/

Two of us had five days skiing, return flights, accomodation inc breakfast, a car, ski passes and equipment hire (for one) for about £800 in Feb 2010.

The only downside is having to sort it all out yourself.

I have skied in France, Austria and Switzerland and whilst the Sierra Nevada does not offer as much as these countries if offers excellent vfm with the option of a little winter sun on the Costa Del Sol.

poe.tuesday

I would wait and get a deal - I have had some great deals to lapland, last time we went, we got a deal for £160 each and that was flight, cabin and transfers, the ski pass was about £100 each so it is very doable, however, lapland may not be what you are looking for as it's low and not that into nightlife, but if you were to think about it then look at levi as a resort as it is the most lively

as for driving, you have to remember about the accommodation that you may want on route and factor this in - we are driving over this feb half term and as we have kids we have to break the journey up, we are also down south and about 150 miles from dover, we are staying overnight in dover then getting the tunnel on the sat morning, then driving all the way to our resort (pays de dome), have a chalet for the week and then on the return journey we are staying in calais over night and then getting the tunnel back in the morning - for 5 of us this is costing us about £1500 for everything.

however, if I could do it cheaper by getting a package I would but being tied to half term means this is not an option but as you are not tied, I would defo wait for a deal

Techno

We have driven to the Alps without a stopover - no probs but driving cost is hiked by tolls. If you can get a cheap flight you then have to consider car rental or transfers. Pierre et Vacances usually have cheap accommodation (but you often stay in a rabbit hutch). There are only 2 of us so we usually wait til last minute when chalets are very good value. Lift passes have spiralled and are well above £150 for a week in many resorts. Don't do Bulgaria - it's not very good if you can ski. What I'm probably trying to say is that ski holidays aint cheap