DIY Ski holiday

Northern Monkey

Hi everyone,

We have been skiing for a good while now and have always went with a package holiday for handiness, but this year we are thinking about doing it ourselves.

We are thinking about going to the 3 valleys (probably late January) and we are trying to figure out what options we have out of Dublin for flights and transfers.

Would it just be a case of flying to Geneva and getting a private transfer from there or are there flights available to Chambery out of Dublin?

Cheers

lexa

You could fly from Dublin to Lyon or Grenoble as well. Aer Lingus fly to Lyon and Ryanair to Grenoble in Winter. I don't know if either fly to Chambery though. That is the closest airport to 3 Valleys but might just be charter flights from Dublin that fly there.
There are usually public transport options to the resorts although private transfers are often less hassle if there is a group.

hawkwind23

would any of you mind putting some rough price guides up?
would love to get to France or Austria but always becomes too expensive when i add everything together esp with the 2 kids!

Cathalibm

4 Airports are used to get to the 3 valleys
Geneva
Lyon
Chambery
Grenoble

Airlingus do direct flights to both Geneva and Lyon.
Chambery seems only to be accessed via the uk, BA, Flybe fly there
Ryanair fly to Grenoble.

For the record my own preference would be Geneva, the added bonus of duty free is nice to start the hols.

Below website is the 3 valleys website listing all the airports details, etc....

http://www.les3vallees.com/en/by-plane/from-geneva.53/

Fattes

Avoid Chambery airport if you can! It closes on an almost daily/weekly basis! Personally I would pick Geneva ebookers do really cheap flights with Swiss most winters including your ski bag and 23KG checked bag in the price and a meal. Plenty of transport options from Geneva, Aply-Bus, Mountain drop offs etc are good value if you are in a group.



hawkwind23; What are you looking for and I can give you a ball park cost. So many variations need a little background to confirm.

hawkwind23

hi Fattes ,
maybe easier to put something up per person.
basically

flights
accommodation
transfers/car
passes
equipment hire

and cost of food and drink!

its the niggly things that boost the price up too , like luggage etc.
we have booked to JASNA this year DIY and thats ended up €500 each!
i suspect we could do france /austria for that price next year

Fattes

Austria Maybe France probably not!

flights €100-250 Depending when & who you book with
accommodation In austria you can get Pension B&B from 30 pppn
transfers/car Some Austrian Accom will include it but car hire is standard rental rates
passes Austria Average 170 France 220
equipment hire Austria 70-100 France and about 10/15%

Food and Drink on the hill in Austria - 10 per head France 15-20

Evening add about 5 euro - 10

The only way you would do France for that budget is a smaller less known resort, there is no way you would get the mega resorts for that price.

hawkwind23

Thanks for that Fattes.
its an expensive week away with the kids all right!
think ill stick with the cheapy places till they grow up.

i know from the main online packages that its around €500 a week for flights / transfers and accommodation , then add the passes and hire etc ......

maybe if i can get a week away just the two of us then Austria might be a possibility.

murra

Hey guys,

If I were to fly into Lyon, where would the closest most affordable resort be ? I can get flights very cheap due to a friend working in an airline so any advice on cheap accom and good value lessons and equip would be great.

additional info: 5 or 6 lads going over, very average skiers, will probably drink quite a lot.

Cheers

Lhotse

murra wrote: »

Hey guys,

If I were to fly into Lyon, where would the closest most affordable resort be ? I can get flights very cheap due to a friend working in an airline so any advice on cheap accom and good value lessons and equip would be great.

additional info: 5 or 6 lads going over, very average skiers, will probably drink quite a lot.

Cheers

Les deux alpes is handy enough from Lyon, there's loads of self catering there, good nightlife and it has a glacier. It's also a great DIY option from Grenoble with a ben's bus transfer.

petronius

I have done DIY ski holidays myself
I think you can save money (or get better choice of accommodation etc by doing it yourself)

To me the key was always getting flights so as the transfer was not too long - ALso Cork and Belfast as well as dublin often have options. and booking in advance will save you some money!

For French Resorts from Ireland
Lyon (Aer Lingus)
Grenoble (Ryan Air)
Geneva (Aer Lingus from Cork or Dublin)
Geneva (Easy Jet from Belfast)

I think Chambery is only charter flights
And I dont think their is flights to Turin from Dublin which suits skiers any more

To get to the resort from the airport
Hiring a car can be daunting - but it is ok
I think it is better with a small group 4+ to hire a transfer taxi/bus
there is lots of companies and most work out around 50-100 return\
You can do public transport, trains are good, but the difficulty is getting from the resort to a railway station I found

salmocab

Skied in Val Thorens last year and one of our group lives in Switzerland and he got a bus to VT from Geneva airport said it was real handy think he had to change in the bus station that the tour operators use but he said it was all very easy.

petronius

I did a DIY ski holiday in Austria hiring the Pension was grand, lots of options in the Resort to hire skis.
Often the accommodation you book will help you with organising transport, ski pass, and equip hire.
Most Pensions or Hotels will advise on ski hire if its best to store them at the end of the main slope/lift in a locker or at the Pension in a ski room
The Hotels often advise you on airport links (I found them honest and not trying to sell you something) I found the pension very helpful in advising on using public transport like using the bus to get to a rail station ( I found this in France also the owner of the challet was very helpful)

On thing I always try to do is if you arrive in an evening, try and get your boots and equipment sorted that evening so as your good to go from early the next day
I recall one moring being behind a whole lot of TopFlight gang getting measured etc. which took forever

petronius

On a DIY deal look at some of the online companies who sell packages
see if they sell the travel package without accommodation (some UK groups do)
Most sell without the Ski Gear and Pack - but often the prices of these in the resort are pretty fixed.

ATS was a company i used for transferring between airports and resorts
I did find doing the DIY options you got better accommodation, and in Austria the package was quite a fixed and packed in small hotel, where as the pensions i got doing DIY were excellent. Similarly in France the challet I hired from an individual was excellent where as the TopFlight one was pretty bog standard.

I used http://www.skimcneill.com/ in belfast before and found them very good
I think they are part of Directski now (whom i also had a good experience with)

But there is a good number of cheap ski holidays available from a company if you book early enough. Or if you leave it to the last minute -

http://www.snowtrex.ie/ is a german gang who do cheap holidays

zagmund

We've done loads of DIY trips to Austria over the years. The most interesting route was from Rotterdam direct to Zell am See on a sleeper. We did it another year from Venlo I think. Both times we would have flown into Amsterdam and got a connecting train straight from the airport. The company we went with went bust a few years back, but I see there's another company doing equivalent transfers from Brussels - http://www.b-europe.com/Travel/Trains/Treski.

They show prices starting at €85 single which isn't too bad. Especially if (for example) you can fly into Brussels on Friday, have some decent food, jump on the train, have a drink or two, go to sleep and wake up in Zell am See a couple of meters from your hotel right about the time the other Irish folks are landing in Salzburg *and* still potentially be cheaper than the flight to Salzburg.

Other times we flew to Salzburg and got a car transfer to St Johann, and others again we flew to Munich, subway from the airport and then train to whatever resort we were going to.

You should contact hotels & apartments directly and see what offers they have - quite often they have very discounted prices for children which (in our experience) the agents serving the Irish market don't pass on. That can save quite a lot of money.

z

peejay1986

Didn't want to create a new thread as this is pretty similar to my Q.

There's six of us looking to go to the 3 Valleys (specifically La Tania) for a week at the start of Feb. We've found it works out cheaper to do a DIY job but we're unsure of a few things.

- Anywhere you'd recommend for ski/snowboarding equipment? Any deals to be had for groups?
- What's the deal with ski passes? Again, any discounts for groups?
- Same question for lessons...

We've priced flights to Geneva €168 (minus luggage) per person. Pretty happy with that one. I'm assuming that most private transport to the resort would be pretty similar?

The accommodation we were looking at was this:

http://www.booking.com/hotel/fr/pierre-et-vacances-le-christiania.en-gb.html?

Seems pretty nice and a lot better than some of the options the travel agents were offering us, for about five times the price. Working out at very little per person. Should we have any reason to be worried as to why it's such good value? Is this just a perk of doing the trip yourself? The company seem to be a chain of hotels/apartments so looks good to me.


I'm aware I'm rambling on...a lot!...but this will be our first ski trip so thought it best to ask people with experience of such holidays.

Any help/advice would be hugely appreciated.

zagmund

You can be pretty sure that you won't get a discount on lift passes. The companies have an absolute monopoly in any one resort, so there's no incentive to them to discount. They might throw in one free pass for a group leader with a group of 20+, but that's not your group.

You might get a discount on ski hire, but either these will be flagged in advance on the hire companies websites (unlikely for a group of only 6) or else you chance your arm on the day on the basis that you can wangle something from the folks in the shop.

For both lifts & skis I've only ever seen discounts for kids - some places will give free kids skis & boots when parents hire skis & boots. Most (all, really) of the lift passes are discounted on a graded scale - free for kids born in (say) 2007 or later, 30% for kids born in (say) 1998 or later, etc . . . None of this will apply to your group, but others with kids may be interested.

The good news is that you can normally get discounted lessons, at least with the smaller schools. The big established ones are less likely to discount in my experience, but if you go to one of the smaller ones they are likely to be happy that you (as a group) will book 10, 15 or more hours and will throw in a bit extra or knock a bit off the price.

z

ozzyo

I stayed in the christiana apartments in La Tania a few years back, They have been refurbished and are really nice (for a ski apartment) and are in a perfect location on the main ski run to the La Tania gondola.

La Tania in my opinion is the best place in the 3 valleys to learn to ski, all the accommodation is ski in ski out and there is a nursery slope right outside the front door and a Green run from the top of the main Gondola back into the village. Then when you find your feet there are a few nice blue runs from the top of the lift.

To save money on ski passes, you can buy a pass for the La Tania gondola only for the first few days while learning this will give you access to all the slopes you will need to learn the basics. Then if you want to go further afield you can buy the courchevel lift pass for the remaining days. This will work out much cheaper than forking out for a full 3 valleys pass for 6 days which is totally pointless on your first ski holiday.

petronius

Yes Ski passes are pretty much a standard price - a single company - maybe it is something you get a slight discount on if you go through an agency but i have found they are pretty much a fixed price. I did find one time since my DIY flights meant I had an extra day at the end and had to buy a day pass 25euro. The ski shop didnt charge me anything for the extra day.

Never did the fly and train to an alpine resort but it sounds interesting

When doing a DIY ski holiday I price each item below and see how it relates to a package.
Flights
Transfers
Accommodation
Ski Pass
Ski Equip Hire
Lessons
Meals
(Since some packages and most pensions can be B&B like or Half or full board so depending on the type of accommodation you choose you may make a saving here)

Fattes

Simple advice never take your ski rental with the Tour Operator always go independent you will save money. If you are a beginner get the cheapest skis and slightly better boots, you wont know any different, unless you are a full hardcore Bumps, Big mountain and race carver, don’t bother with the Top level skis.

Life passes are fixed price and difficult to get discounts on the only savings can be made with, pensioner rates, or if you have an ISIA/ISTD card or if your accomidation/TO will include them in the package they sell you. Other than that you will not get a discount on your ticket.

petronius

I agree its best to wait and get the skis when your in the resort
Many tour operators dont include the ski hire in their advertised price and its an add on - I think waiting is best.
Before i booked skis with the tour operator and it confined us to have to go to the same shop in the middle of the town each day to get skis where as there was on closer shop to our hotel which would have been skiable to and from
also since i had to get the skis adjusted and the smaller boots (my feet shrink!) I had to trek to it rather than have it close by where I was staying

ozzyo

If you want to pre book ski hire you can use snowbrainer.com I have used them before. You can pick which shop to hire from and the price is decent.

peejay1986

Thanks everyone for the advice.

ozzyo wrote: »

I stayed in the christiana apartments in La Tania a few years back, They have been refurbished and are really nice (for a ski apartment) and are in a perfect location on the main ski run to the La Tania gondola.

Good to hear. I was surprised when I seen the price, especially considering how nice they look and their location. Seemed almost too good to be true.

ozzyo wrote: »

If you want to pre book ski hire you can use snowbrainer.com I have used them before. You can pick which shop to hire from and the price is decent.

Had a look but they're all coming out more expensive than what we've been quoted over the phone.

salmocab

last year we just googled ski hire and the resort and we pre paid online and got a great deal 40 to 50 % cheaper I'd say they are happy to get money in out of season, there was a good few options.

Fattes

peejay1986; Salmocab has hit the nail on the head go straight to the resort shops and call them, most will give you a better deal direct especially if you have more than 3/4 people.

petronius

Shopping around for ski-equipment hire can save you a good bit.
If you are a group even 3 or 4 they will often give you a healthy discount.
I found in the last two years most ski hire places were pushing hiring a helmet more than before. One place offered me helmet hire for free with our deal.

Again with ski hire doing it yourself you get better quality and more options than through a package deal.
Also make sure the ski place is convenient from your Hotel and the main lift if you have to store you skis in the shop - and if your arriving on an evening, see if they are open so you can get sorted the evening you arrive so as your good to go the first morning.

Dr Nic

How's about long weekend diy skiing lads?
Fly out Thurs night.
Sleeper train to the resort maybe and ski Fri til Monday flying home Monday night....
Is it possible?
Thanks!!

Fattes

Dr Nic

You dont even need a sleeper train,

From Geneva - Chamonix, Flaine, Les CLusas and Villars are all an hour away with easy accesiable transfers. Less than 2 hours, Courmeyaur, St Gervais, Megeve, Nendaz.

Something Diffrent, Fly to Munich and rent a car or train to Garmisch real Bavarian town with some decent skiing and a glacier less than 90 min from Muncih. Flight are well timed with Aer Lingus to (We do it for races some years)

Also Munich Ski welt and Mayrhofen are less than 2 hours accesiable by transfers, public transport or hire car.

petronius

Garmish is as close to Munich(Aer Lingus) as it is to Memmingen(RyanAir) airports. So which ever suits is probably best, hiring a car in germany i found handy.
Munich is better if your trying to get to austrian resorts via public transport, which in austria and germany are very good options.

bazzer86

Hey, Have you a plan for Jasna, Id be interested in seeing your itinerary for the €500 if you wouldn't mind letting me know.. €500 seems like great value

hawkwind23

bazzer86 wrote: »

Hey, Have you a plan for Jasna, Id be interested in seeing your itinerary for the €500 if you wouldn't mind letting me know.. €500 seems like great value

yeah sure , ill stick what im looking at below.


flights return to krakow £70 (easyjet from belfast )

weeks accommodation around £150 each ( http://tinyurl.com/qgobjuq )

ski pass €180 http://www.jasna.sk/en/prices/skipass-pricelist-winter-20132014/skipass-pricelist-online-gopass/

gear hire €80 http://www.skijasna.com/images/2012-season-prices.jpg

not sure what that is , looks around €500

transfers not included as yet , will prob just hire a car but might just get a return lift , add another £50 each for that.


hope that helps

bazzer86

Thanks a lot for that... Looks pretty decent... Have you skied at Jasna before? What's it like? Good resort? Thanks

cormee

ozzyo wrote: »

I stayed in the christiana apartments in La Tania a few years back, They have been refurbished and are really nice (for a ski apartment) and are in a perfect location on the main ski run to the La Tania gondola.

What's the nightlife in La Tania like? We stayed in St. Martin (also in the 3v) last year and, while it was a gorgeous location, it was a bit quiet. There will be a few learners in our group so the green back to the village would probably be idea for them, and the red for the rest of us.

fobster

Going to go to the UCPA in Les Deux Alpes with action-outdoors.co.uk.

Seriously good value, full board accomodation, ski rental, 12 hours instruction, 6.5 day ski pass and transfer from Grenoble can be gotten for as low as €620! €15 more each will get you a room for four people.

jameshayes

finding it hard to get a good deal for 4 people on the 15th of Feb at the moment, price of flights is the killer! - Not too concerned about the destination to be honest

salmocab

jameshayes wrote: »

finding it hard to get a good deal for 4 people on the 15th of Feb at the moment, price of flights is the killer! - Not too concerned about the destination to be honest

is that the week of the mid term breaks? usually you will get spanked on price that week

tech

yes thats mid term week, also looking to head away that week -Cork - Munuch flight sat - sat are just under 550e!!!

jameshayes

salmocab wrote: »

is that the week of the mid term breaks? usually you will get spanked on price that week

tech wrote: »

yes thats mid term week, also looking to head away that week -Cork - Munuch flight sat - sat are just under 550e!!!

I'm after getting a great price of 769 B&B, flights, transfers, acc, hire and lift pass which I'm pretty impressed with, but everywhere else I'm looking is atrocious

UPC123

My partner and I have being going skiing in January for the last 3 years. Last year we went to Arnisal in Andorra which cost us €750 each (through directski) for lift pass, school, hire, hotel (breakfast) and flights etc. This year packages seem a lot more expensive, does anyone know why?

fobster

jameshayes wrote: »

I'm after getting a great price of 769 B&B, flights, transfers, acc, hire and lift pass which I'm pretty impressed with, but everywhere else I'm looking is atrocious

Nice, where's that for?

jameshayes

fobster wrote: »

Nice, where's that for?

Andora, Soldeu -

Didn't get it that cheap in the end, hotel didn't have the right number of rooms so we moved to a better hotel, then we got gready and went for an even better hotel

Here is a possible price for 4 people:


apartment:
http://www.booking.com/hotel/ad/apartamentos-la-pleta-3000.en-gb.html?sid=fe9842b5b4a42d9c9c2418f2ae41eeb2;dcid=1;checkin=2014-02-15;checkout=2014-02-22;srfid=39d6ab912f31dfa41c1dbbb7b1939ef7f19837faX1

jameshayes

Anyone been to Soldeu - this is the first time I've had to book my own ski equipment, the last time I went DIY someone else booked it..

Whats the situation with this, better to hire it when I get there or book it all in advance?

d-don

jameshayes wrote: »

Anyone been to Soldeu - this is the first time I've had to book my own ski equipment, the last time I went DIY someone else booked it..

Whats the situation with this, better to hire it when I get there or book it all in advance?

Booking your own ski gear when you get there is easy ... Walk in say what you want etc .. I hired my own blades in arinsal in March as I had my own boots and even bartered a better price !

Fattes

Whats the situation with this, better to hire it when I get there or book it all in advance

Booking in advance will normally get you a better price, especially if you pool group resources and book for a group.

Andora, Soldeu - 250 for a lift pass, and 120 for Rental

The next time someone tells me Andora is a cheap alternative I may have to punch them in the face!

fobster

Was thinking the same thing, my jaw dropped at the lift pass! That'll get ya 7 days skiing in Les Deux Alpes!

Dr Nic

Lads Google ucpa.co.uk. they're hol prices are unreal!!!

jameshayes

Dr Nic wrote: »

Lads Google ucpa.co.uk. they're hol prices are unreal!!!

:eek:

fobster

Yeah UCPA looks great! I booked for Les Deux Alpes through Action Outdoors which is a UCPA partner. Paid €700 for everything (including FULL board BUFFET!) just have to pay flights, travel insurance and beer money!

http://www.action-outdoors.co.uk/resorts/winter/les-deux-alpes/dates-prices

Dr Nic

Headed to val disere for 700eur all in everything bar beer dec 14 to 21. Can't wait. Ucpa are savage if all you want is snow

hullabulloo

Ive been looking at flights for a good while now & including baggage & boardbag/skis you will be lucky to get flights to any of the resort servicing airports for 250-300 which bumps up the price. Think directski will run a sale soon & can rarely be beaten for value.

FortuneChip

I looked at the DIY approach, but found it expensive, as Hullabulloo said, nearly 300 for flights if you're bringing equipment.

Crystalski have a "Plus" package, which includes flights, transfers, rentals (exc boots), ski carriage, & lift passes. You can choose self catering/half-board or full-board for varying prices, and they seem pretty reasonable.
Self Catering deals from around 520+