Skiing in La Thuile, Italy.

MickG

Hi everyone. We have booked a weeks skiing in La Thuile, Italy for late January.
Is it best to book ski passes etc. before we go or should we wait until we get there?
Any recommendations for places to eat, ski, drink etc. would be gratefully received.
Happy New Year.
:beer:

richardw

Have a browse http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewforum.php?f=50

814man

Hi MickG. As Richardw says you will get better specific advice on snowheads, but as la Thuile is one of my favorite ski resorts let me add a few bits on here.
Our family are regular skiers and generally take one big ski holiday then try to fit in another last minute package break as well - in the last 6 years La Thuile has been that option 3 times and we've enjoyed it each time.
I'll assume you've not been before and are probably going on a package. If so I'm also guessing you are staying at the Planibel apartments. We've always found these to be great value, particularly if you get a high floor with a view of the slope. On the ground floor the complex has a range of shops from ski kit to a small supermarket as well as a take away food outlet which is actually not too bad. We've tended to cook meals ourselves getting the kids involved to cut costs but do eat out occasionally. Walking back down the hill into the village of La Thuile there are a range of restaurants but they can be overpriced in my view. My best tip then for a good value but excellent pizza is to walk up the hill from the complex and just past the main car park is a restaurant called the CopperPan. This is also used by the tour companies for their main evening meals but its also pricey, so instead of going in the front door look to the right and follow the outside steps downstairs to a great little pizzeria.
I would recommend that to simply save time and effort you book ski passes and hire etc with tour operator before going. The main ski pass office is right next to the complex as is the ski hire if you want to leave it and get them in resort. When I've done such comparisons in the past there is very rarely and price difference and I know from my daughter who worked as a ski rep for Crystal last year that they dont try to make any profit on this aspect of the holiday.
Finally I cannot stop here without mentioning what is possibly my favorite on slope cafe anywhere in the Alps. Its called OffShore, check out the piste map for it as its a bit remote but is the most random place you could ever hope to find on a ski slope. We got stuck in there during a white out one afternoon, its a bit like a cross between the cafe in Friends, a Moroccan restaurant with cushions and carpets everywhere and a 60/70's record shop with a huge collection of old vinyl records.
Hope you enjoy your holiday, I've enjoyed just posting this and having already had our ski holiday I'm just off now to check prices and speak with my good wife to see if we can fit in another visit here.
Please PM me if you'd like any further into particularly about the skiing or any other aspect of La Thuile.

Coolhandluke

You can also ski over to La Rossaire in France , so breakfast in Italy and have lunch in France , snow conditions are good .

814man

I will forever be in your debt MickG, just booked Planibel Apps in La Thuile flying from Doncaster on 14th Jan for £181 pp. Happy days.