What tour companies are still operating from Ireland ?

zagmund

I gather that Inghams have pulled out of Ireland. Who else is still left doing packages to Switzerland at this stage ? We normally go independently, but some of our party this year are thinking of going for a package for a variety of reasons.

I know of Direct Ski (don't do Switzerland) and Crystal, but who else is there ?

z

bovril

Topflight and Highlife. Not sure on whether either sell deals to Switzerland.

thatsme

Highlife only do France to the best of my knowledge and they are expensive Topflight do packages to Switzerland, it is an expensive place to ski and with the stong Swiss Franc will only get more expensive. Italy is a much more cost effective option, Austria is also quite reasonable with a great selection of resorts

Regards

zagmund

Thanks for the pointers. It looks like Topflight only have Austrian resorts and Highlife only have French ones so that leaves Crystal only.

I know Switzerland is going to be expensive this year, but for a combination of reasons it's where we have lined up. We've gone to Austria for the last 10 years or so, and this year CH is on the agenda.

Looking at flights, it seems that Swiss have the best times out of Dublin - depart mid-morning, arrive in Zurich early afternoon and plenty of time to get the trasin from the airport to the resort. They're also cheaper than Aer Lingus (and you get free food on the plane . . .)

Inghams seem to have some good value at their "chalet hotels" when flying out of Belfast, but I've no experience of this. Chalets I understand, but Chalet Hotel is a new one on me. One of the places they have listed is a hotel we stayed in a few years ago so I know it as a normal hotel. The only difference seems to be that someone from Crystal (or presumably a local) prepares the food for you in the evening and lays out breakfast in the morning . . . all of which sounds very like being in a hotel. What I mean is, if this hotel has something like 60 or 70 guests, how does the 'chalet' part work ?

z

rossc007

I think in this day and age, you should have no problem putting a trip together yourself! We've done it a couple of times and as long as you get the flight at a good price then its pretty easy to beat the operator prices.

zagmund

Thanks, but I've put trips together myself for years. This year in particular one of the party wants to go with an operator for a variety of reasons. I think we'll probably end up doing it ourselves anyway, but I thought I would give the tour companies a go, just to see how they hold up.

z

rossc007 wrote: »

I think in this day and age, you should have no problem putting a trip together yourself! We've done it a couple of times and as long as you get the flight at a good price then its pretty easy to beat the operator prices.

westham87

If you can get a cheap fligght out of Dublin, I know www.ActivityBreaks.com have deals in Swizerland. Last time i checked they did Davos....