A guide to a cheap skiing holiday :)

kazza23

Been skiing in Andorra for the last few years now. This year we were all on a really tight budget for the holiday. I'm fortunate as my uncle has a place out there so I get free accommodation. However, this year, we really out did ourselves on the cheapness front!

Booked cheap flights to Barcelona which came in at 110 euro return.
Hired a car for 4 people on www.holidayautos.co.uk (which was basically an agent for europcar). Car (alpha romeo 159) for the week was stg£140 (€40 each) between the 4 of us. Used about 3/4 of a tank of diesel in total for the week which came to about €40 (€10 each).

If you're going to be skiing in Pal, Arinsal or Arcalis go to www.vallnord.com and sign up for their 10% discount card - works on ski hire, lift passes, lessons, cafe's and restaurants on the slopes and they'll post it to you in Ireland, or alternatively sign up when you arrive.

Lift pass for 5 days worked out at €126, Ski & Boot Hire for 5 days was €65.
3 of us that went were on red slopes so got a private lesson for 2 hours each day which cost €28 each per day - €140 for the week but money definitely well spent - really improved with the lessons and got to do loads of off piste stuff.

If you don't need lessons you're talking 350 quid plus accommodation - you can't argue with that now can you?

RATM

If you want real cheap then Slovakia is where it is at, namely Jasna. Paul at www.propagandasnowboards.com has been offering cheapies for a few years now and has built up quite a rep for his deals

I went there last year and paid €300 for a weeks accomodation in a house far bigger then anything you'd get in the Alps, lift pass & transfers included.

private one on one lessons could be had for €9 an hour, two total beginners with us were flying by the end of the week as they had their own personal tutor for the first three days. Board and boot hire was very reasonable too.

Pints there are around the 80c mark, cans in the offie are even cheaper. Top notch food never costs more than €6 for a mains, less if you want.

edmund_f

3 weeks till our end of season Jasna trip - great place

Diceicle

RATM wrote: »

If you want real cheap then Slovakia is where it is at, namely Jasna. Paul at www.propagandasnowboards.com has been offering cheapies for a few years now and has built up quite a rep for his deals

I went there last year and paid €300 for a weeks accomodation in a house far bigger then anything you'd get in the Alps, lift pass & transfers included.

private one on one lessons could be had for €9 an hour, two total beginners with us were flying by the end of the week as they had their own personal tutor for the first three days. Board and boot hire was very reasonable too.

Pints there are around the 80c mark, cans in the offie are even cheaper. Top notch food never costs more than €6 for a mains, less if you want.

Could you give me a rough idea of what price flights to Slovakia (poprad?) would be this time of year?

Snickers Man

Well this year is probably as good a year as any if you're looking for cheap last minute deals because the operators are almost paying you to go with them!

We've just come back (family of four) from a week in Pamporovo in Bulgaria where we had a great time. All in price for return travel from Dublin airport, hotel with breakfast and evening meal thrown in (drinks extra) ski and boot hire, six-day lift pass and a great instructor was 2,400 euro. That's six hundred euro a head.

It was a first time skiing trip for all bar one of us so we were very much beginners, staying mainly on the green slopes before gradually venturing onto a few short blues and deciding to leave the reds and blacks until we get a bit more experience.

We lucked out with the conditions. All the slopes were covered in snow that felt like cotton wool and the reps said they have never seen it better. It was snowing lightly on our first day there and there were several overnight falls during the week too.

Weather forecast for the next few weeks is a lot hotter so much of it is expected to melt. Might have missed the boat for this season if you haven't gone yet.

Hectic apres ski activities are not a priority at my advanced stage because after a day's ski-ing, or falling down to be truthful, I'm fit for my bed by nine o clock but there did seem to be a good few bars and clubs around, even though it's a small resort. I don't think I'd like to be there if there was NO skiing during the day though.

Similarly, as a beginner, I can't comment on how exciting the more demanding runs are compared to the Alpine resorts but for our level it was perfect.

Hotel was modern, clean and comfortable. Food wasn't great but it wasn't bad either. Let's just say that for the price it "met expectations." Could heartily recommend Pamporovo for a family of beginners.

Mmmm_Lemony

How much for a pint snickers man?

Mmmm_Lemony

Diceicle wrote: »

Could you give me a rough idea of what price flights to Slovakia (poprad?) would be this time of year?

Ryanair don't fly direct to poprad, either do aerlingus... But you can fly to krakow and there is a bus service to Slovakia from there. I'm going tomorrow, flying into krakow then crossing the border from zakipane but we are getting a lift from a mate.

From what I hear jasna is the place to go for slovaks and pols alike. Forecast was looking grim but will be snowing for next few days so can't wait!!!

Snickers Man

Mmmm_Lemony wrote: »

How much for a pint snickers man?

Varied. Anything from 4 to 6 leva. ie from 2.20 to 3.20 yo yos.

That's for a half litre.

loobylou

My family holiday this year, two adults, three teenagers in Montafon valley in Austria,
Flights, Ryanair to Friedrichshafen, €290
Transfer by train €150
Appartment (3 bedroomed) €585
Lift pass 7 days €618
Ski hire, 5 skis,3 boots €421

Total cost €2064 or just over €400 per head. Choice of 4 resorts, over 200km pistes, pint (well half litre) beer €3.

Mmmm_Lemony

Last time I went skiing in slovakia (strebske Pleso) I was paying 70c for a half litre, hope inflation hasn't driven it up too much

Rev. Kitchen

kazza23 wrote: »

Been skiing in Andorra for the last few years now. This year we were all on a really tight budget for the holiday. I'm fortunate as my uncle has a place out there so I get free accommodation. However, this year, we really out did ourselves on the cheapness front!

Booked cheap flights to Barcelona which came in at 110 euro return.
Hired a car for 4 people on www.holidayautos.co.uk (which was basically an agent for europcar). Car (alpha romeo 159) for the week was stg£140 (€40 each) between the 4 of us. Used about 3/4 of a tank of diesel in total for the week which came to about €40 (€10 each).

If you're going to be skiing in Pal, Arinsal or Arcalis go to www.vallnord.com and sign up for their 10% discount card - works on ski hire, lift passes, lessons, cafe's and restaurants on the slopes and they'll post it to you in Ireland, or alternatively sign up when you arrive.

Lift pass for 5 days worked out at €126, Ski & Boot Hire for 5 days was €65.
3 of us that went were on red slopes so got a private lesson for 2 hours each day which cost €28 each per day - €140 for the week but money definitely well spent - really improved with the lessons and got to do loads of off piste stuff.

If you don't need lessons you're talking 350 quid plus accommodation - you can't argue with that now can you?

How was the driving up to Andorra, i was lookign at thsi option but was a bit nervous of driving on snow/ice on windy roads i dont know so i went with a private transfer that cost us 250. that is the most expensive part of the trip. I would have waited for the bus but it didnt leave untill 6 30 and out flight lands at 10:05 !! and since we only have mon to thursday i needed to get as much in on the monday as i could.

RATM

Diceicle wrote: »

Could you give me a rough idea of what price flights to Slovakia (poprad?) would be this time of year?

As another poster said, no flights to Poprad from Dublin. I came in the Krakow way ( there is a bus that leaves the main station on Saturday mornings at about 6am, takes approx 3 hours over the border and to Liptovsky Mikulas, which is right where Jasna is ).

Alternatively get a Ryanair cheapie to Bratislava and get the train to Liptovsky. Takes 3 hours and costs €11 one way. Train is probably a better way to do it as they are the really cool old train carrages with 6 seats in every cabin and theres also a full bar that sells €1.50 pints that you can sit in and watch the scenery go by...

skibum

RATM wrote: »

Alternatively get a Ryanair cheapie to Bratislava and get the train to Liptovsky. Takes 3 hours and costs €11 one way. Train is probably a better way to do it as they are the really cool old train carrages with 6 seats in every cabin and theres also a full bar that sells €1.50 pints that you can sit in and watch the scenery go by...

Sounds good, looking for some where different for the next trip!

AMIIAM

Why go to Slovakia? Sallygap is in pristine condition for skiers at present time.

Mmmm_Lemony

Just back from Jasna, and its a great little spot! We flew into krakow and drove across the border.

Even if the conditions are poor (lots of rain the entire time we were there), you only have to go up about 300 metres for the conditions to change completely. If you manage to get to the top, there is some crazy scenery going on...

Night life was terrible, but some of the off-piste stuff available is very easily accessible and alot of fun!!! Really deep snow at the top and if your really lucky there might be some powder fall overnight...Also the snow park is good craic too...

Plus its about 85/90c a pint... if theres a big group of you, you can make your own nightlife! We stayed in one of the chalets owned by the Ski Hotel in Zahradky, and the chair lift was literally outside the window!!! 17 euro a night...

edmund_f

Lemony,

Just wondering, we are heading over there next week, how long was the drive (time wise) from Krakow to Jasna?

Mmmm_Lemony

According to google its 2.5 hrs but it took us about 3 and a bit, I would strongly advise bringing a GPS if you have one or at the very least a really good map... Can be fairly confusing...

edmund_f

will be a bit of an adventure at least there is a convoy of three cars at the moment...