Ski Virgins looking for ski holiday in March

CarPark

Hi,
My wife and I have never been skiing before. I would like to surprise her with a skiing holiday for her birthday in March (around the middle of march).
I am conscious that it is late in the season, so i am wondering if you could recommend destinations that would still give good skiing in the middle of March.
Also, given that there are only two of us, i am wondering if there is any point in organising it ourselves, or if we should just go through a travel agent (especially as we have never been before).
If we go with a travel agent, is there anyones that are particularly good for ski, or any ones that are particularly bad.
Thanks in advance.

Fattes

Mid March is the best time to go for most ski holidays. Generally its when the snow is at its deepest in most resorts.

Resort like Zermatt and Sass fee are great for couples and eay to organise on your own fly to Geneva/Zurich, and train straight to resort.

Any where in Austria is good but would go high at that time of the year Crystal and Direct ski tend to be pretty good.

Topflight tend to be the most expensive to use

Inghams are really good to.

Printer

Hi,

Id definitely recommend Zermatt, especially for couples. Im working over here as an instructor with European Snowsport so you could even get lessons with an Irish man!! There is skiing here pretty much 365 days a year as we have a glacier at 3,800m altitude.

Its a beatiful place with amazing skiing and great food. All the locals are very friendly and you cant stop looking at the Matterhorn no matter (no pun intended) how hard you try!

Inghams, Total, Scott Dunn and many others all come here so they could organise everything. Otherwise just fly to Geneva and get on the train straight here.

Send me a PM if you want some more details as I am here in the reosrt now.

EileenG

Honestly, you'll have no trouble. March is great skiing for most of Europe, and if you go outside school breaks, shouldn't be too expensive either. For two of you, I'd go for a half board hotel or catered chalet. Zermatt is great, amazing skiing and scenery, but might be a little pricey considering that you are not going to get value out of your ski pass.

You could also look at some of the smaller resorts, particularly in Austria. Ones that do a good summer trade usually have lots of non-skiing things to do if you want a change of pace.

CarPark

Thanks for all the advice above.
I have looked through all of the options, and this is what i have come up with:

Austria > Zell am See > Hotel St. Georg
1 week, 13th - 20th March
Half Board
€799 pps

There is an all Inclusive Learn to ski pack €450 pp
I presume that this includes lift pass, ski lessons, skis and boots, but i will check with Direct Ski tomorrow.

Has anyone here been to Hotel St Georg, or Zell am See?
If so, i would really appreciate your opinion, especially on
a) its suitability for beginners.
b) whether there would be sufficient snow at this time of year
c) is this a reasonable amount to pay

Thanks in advance

bovril

CarPark wrote: »

There is an all Inclusive Learn to ski pack €450 pp
I presume that this includes lift pass, ski lessons, skis and boots, but i will check with Direct Ski tomorrow.

Yes it definately does. I got this package last year but by the time I went skiing I had done some lessons in Kilternan and I needed to upgrade my lift pass on the morning seperately. If you have never skied before the beginners package will do you nicely.

flikflak

CarPark wrote: »

Has anyone here been to Hotel St Georg, or Zell am See?
If so, i would really appreciate your opinion, especially on
a) its suitability for beginners.
b) whether there would be sufficient snow at this time of year
c) is this a reasonable amount to pay

Thanks in advance

a.) Its a great spot for beginners. Lots of blues to build your confidence on.
b.) The snow should be fine and if its not then you can go over to the Kitzsteinhorn which is the glacier in Kaprun (10 mins on the bus)
c.) Not sure as I always go DIY. I am heading to Zell in 2 weeks and paid about €250 for flight, car and apartment.

Zell is a great place and there is lots to do off the mountain too.

ETA - Just looked at Sport Alpin ski school and they do a beginners package of lessons, hire and lift pass for €408. http://www.sport-alpin.at/skischule_english/index.htm

glanman

CarPark wrote: »

Thanks for all the advice above.
I have looked through all of the options, and this is what i have come up with:

Austria > Zell am See > Hotel St. Georg
1 week, 13th - 20th March
Half Board
€799 pps

There is an all Inclusive Learn to ski pack €450 pp
I presume that this includes lift pass, ski lessons, skis and boots, but i will check with Direct Ski tomorrow.

Has anyone here been to Hotel St Georg, or Zell am See?
If so, i would really appreciate your opinion, especially on
a) its suitability for beginners.
b) whether there would be sufficient snow at this time of year
c) is this a reasonable amount to pay

Thanks in advance

its dear enough as your staying in a hotel... would you not try a pension, what they call B&Bs? they give you breakfast in morn and make beds etc and are normally half the price of a hotel...

get the all inclusive, saves hassle and getting things wrong... nothin worse than having the wrong lift pass...

Overflow

glanman wrote: »

its dear enough as your staying in a hotel... would you not try a pension, what they call B&Bs? they give you breakfast in morn and make beds etc and are normally half the price of a hotel...

get the all inclusive, saves hassle and getting things wrong... nothin worse than having the wrong lift pass...

Jesus that is fierce expensive, you could do the same holiday for half that price if you didnt stay in a hotel!

glanman

Overflow wrote: »

Jesus that is fierce expensive, you could do the same holiday for half that price if you didnt stay in a hotel!

I have stayed in pensions both times I have went and find them great. you are out and about by 9 in the morn, prob not back til 6pm and then back out for dinner and drinks if you want and back to bed at 11pm/4am and back up at 9... you will fall into bed so don't worry about creature comforts... my last pension even had its out sauna!!

harrise

Hi,

I'm also a ski holiday virgin and finding it very hard to find anything cheap online as there are so many resorts! I would like to book DIY but dont know where to start! Zell am See seems nice so does anyone have any advice on how I can have a weeks holiday, last week in February, for 6ish people on the extreme cheap but still with nice accomodation. I'd be up for a pension/B&B but not a hostel.

Any advice would be really really welcomed!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks

EileenG

Go the website of the local tourist office, and look for the accommodation links. See what you can find. I'm a big believer in "sleep cheap and eat well", so I'll take a chance on low end pensions, and I've never had a bad holiday out of it.

Overflow

harrise wrote: »

Hi,

I'm also a ski holiday virgin and finding it very hard to find anything cheap online as there are so many resorts! I would like to book DIY but dont know where to start! Zell am See seems nice so does anyone have any advice on how I can have a weeks holiday, last week in February, for 6ish people on the extreme cheap but still with nice accomodation. I'd be up for a pension/B&B but not a hostel.

Any advice would be really really welcomed!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks

Yeah there are a tons of resorts out there, browse around the posts in this forum and you will find out what the popular ones are. Austria is generally a good bet, a huge selection of great resorts. Ive heard good and bad things about Zell am See. Not too far from Zell am See is another resort called Saalbach that ive recommended many times before, top class place. Its best just to pick one and try sort out accommodation. Have a couple of other options just in case aswell.

With regards to finding something on the extreme cheap, you will be hard pressed to find anything this late in the season. Most places get booked up early. Its best to start planning a ski holiday before the winter kicks in. I usually book something around Sept/Oct, although you can find accommodation later than this, i just like to be safe. You may be lucky though, it will require a bit of work to find somewhere though. Like EileenG suggested, your best off at this stage contacting the tourist offices in the resorts your interested in, maybe they can help you find something. It doesnt really matter where you stay because you will find you will be out skiing all day, you only need somewhere to put your head down really, if you are really set on going you should consider a hostel at this late stage.

spurscormac

I was in Zell am See a couple of years ago, absolutely loved it.
Didn't do it on the cheap - but then, we like our comforts, so went the full board in Hotel Berner.
If you're organising your own flights, accomm etc, look into the mobile ski rental there - its a bus that comes to your accommodation on the Sat evening, rather than queuing all morning on the Sunday.

Be careful with what is advertised as in Zell am See, there's an industrial looking town up the road at the bottom of one of the lifts, think its called Shuttdorf or something. Not that there's anything wrong with it, I never ventured into the centre to look, but I doubt its as nice as the older Zell, which has a pedestrianised town centre, nice to stroll around. In Schuttdorf, you're a taxi-ride away, which after 1 week, may negate any accommodation savings.