El Cheapo Ski Holiday

olaola

Greetings to my virtual ski family!
The season is nearly upon us... We're just back from our holliers, where we always seem to visit a ski resort or two. Just to 'have a look'. So even though we had written off a ski holiday in '16, my appetite has been severely whetted and not sure if I could cope without some schnee.

The ONLY way we can do this is on the major cheap. I'm now a full time Mamma, and the one salary can only stretch so far. So any help or suggestions would be majorly appreciated! I found Snowtrex last night, they seem ridiculously cheap, all prices including the ski pass. Has anyone any experience with them? We would usually book everything ourselves, but the ski pass is going to be a large chunk of the budget, and any way to reduce that cost is a major bonus.

Anyone skied in the Massif Central? We had lunch in Mont Dore (quite nice) mooched around Besse (gawjous) and spun around Super Besse (grim) last week. Could be a cheap option! Am also thinking France might be the best idea to keep the costs down. Any thoughts appreciated!

zagmund

I had a look at Snowtrex but couldn't find any reference to flights in their information. I may have been looking in the wrong place, but it looks to me like their prices are for accommodation only. If this is the case and you need to arrange transport yourself then I can't see the upside to using them vs just booking hotels directly.

If you are looking outside France then you can get good value on flights with Lufthansa, Swiss, etc . . . and you can get good value train connections. If you are trying to keep costs down (aren't we all?) then think outside the box - for example fly to Frankfurt, cheap advance booking train to Munich, cheap advance booking train to <several Austrian resorts>. It's a long oul haul, but it can save money. We did that route a few years back. The only slight problem with this approach this year is that trains in Austria might be (are currently) impacted by the refugee situation.

z

olaola

zagmund wrote: »

I had a look at Snowtrex but couldn't find any reference to flights in their information.

No flights, just accommodation & ski pass. Looks like you could get both for about €350, which is decent enough. Obviously not in the top spots, but beggars can't be choosers!

zagmund wrote: »

The only slight problem with this approach this year is that trains in Austria might be (are currently) impacted by the refugee situation.
z

$H!TE! Never thought of that... Am looking at Niedreau atm, and thinking of training it from Munich. Hm. Good point.

cormee

olaola wrote: »

Greetings to my virtual ski family!
The season is nearly upon us... We're just back from our holliers, where we always seem to visit a ski resort or two. Just to 'have a look'. !

You visit ski resorts during the summer, when they're closed? That's pretty hardcore!

Anyway, what about Bankso, Bulgaria? it wouldn't break the, eh, bankso

Timmaay

later in the season certainly cheaper, bit less snow sure lower down, but most places have snow making machines anyways. The only way you tend to get value with any of the package deals are if you wait last minute, and they are under booked so need to shift on packages.

hawkwind23

Im mad for the cheap as chips deals
and that includes costs when there so France / Swiss is out of the question.

I have priced up Italy for €600 all in (flights , transfers , pass , hotel , equipment and half board )
And thats in Madonna Di Campiligio!
So tempted to book but already have late season trip other commitments but im taking a YOLO approach with the more sensible half

Some packages to Bulgaria around same price all in

maddness

If its value your after go to Italy. Lift passes are cheaper, for example Sauze d'Olux weeks pass is €180 as apposed to about €280 in places like Meribel or Les Arcs. Food is much cheaper than France (much better too) and a beer is usually €4.50-5 ish and wine too.
A good option is La Thuile. It's only 90 mins from Geneva or just over two hours drive from Milan Malpensa. Small town that's very quiet but a great mountain and very good value. The Hotel Planibel is excellent. They do half board and the food is brilliant. Nice bar and good facilities and it's right beside the ski lifts.
If you can get flights to Turin Sauze is another great option.
if it has to be France then Ryanair to Grenoble and an hour on the bus to Alpe d'Huez or Les Deux Aples. Alpe d' Huez is better but les2 Alpes is cheaper.
I've never been but I hear that Ser Chavailler is over good value too.

olaola

cormee wrote: »

You visit ski resorts during the summer, when they're closed? That's pretty hardcore!

Well, when you're close, you couldn't NOT drop by. It would be rude not to

cormee wrote: »

Anyway, what about Bankso, Bulgaria? it wouldn't break the, eh, bankso

Friends went last year, will ask them how it was.

olaola

hawkwind23 wrote: »

I have priced up Italy for €600 all in (flights , transfers , pass , hotel , equipment and half board )
And thats in Madonna Di Campiligio!

Ooohh... tell me MoooOOOORee.

maddness

olaola wrote: »

Ooohh... tell me MoooOOOORee.

+1 that's dirt cheap

hawkwind23

Easy enough
Ryanair to Bergamo is only around £45 return
Car hire is £100
Equipment is £100

Hotels do half board and lift pass included in early season and late season for around €300PP!

Makes it as cheap a holiday i can find , ive came within seconds of booking so many times in the last couple of weeks

http://www.campigliodolomiti.it/lang/EN/eventi/cerca/std_id_categoria=25%7Climit=10%7Cref=top.html

maddness

hawkwind23 wrote: »

Easy enough
Ryanair to Bergamo is only around £45 return
Car hire is £100
Equipment is £100

Hotels do half board and lift pass included in early season and late season for around €300PP!

Makes it as cheap a holiday i can find , ive came within seconds of booking so many times in the last couple of weeks

http://www.campigliodolomiti.it/lang/EN/eventi/cerca/std_id_categoria=25%7Climit=10%7Cref=top.html

So do you mean £600 all in? If so that's a hell of a lot more than €600.

hawkwind23

God , some people !
Do you want me to carry you on my back too?

dates 5th-12th Dec

Flights €50 each (live prices skyscanner) €100
Car Hire €80 (also skyscanner)
equipment im guessing €100 each - €200
and as ive said with link above hotel half board with pass from €300PP - €600

so im getting €980 - €490PP
I like to overestimate for petrol , tolls , airport parking etc

€600 wouldnt be far off

hawkwind23

hawkwind23 wrote: »

God , some people !
Do you want me to carry you on my back too?

Would you carry me, pleaes?



In all seriousness, sorry to jump in on this thread, but seen as it's already been resurrected and came up on my search for "Skiing", I figured I'd ask my two fairly silly questions here:

1. When ye guys talk about the 'end of the season' for better deals on skiing, what kind of period are ye talking about? (I presume jan/feb?)

2. Is skiing the kinda thing that a joe soap can head off and do? I've always wanted to do it (no idea why), but my skiing knowledge and experience is a couple of funny youtube compilation videos. Would a group of chaps (4-5) heading off into a ski resort be okay? I don't mind making a fool of myself, or the odd tumble or fall, but rather not be coming back in a wheelchair :P

Sorry for the silly questions. Have always wanted to do the whole ski thing, but never really had the opportunity. Now I've a couple of Euro put away with no intended purpose, I'd like to try and pursue it a bit, but I've just genuinely no idea where to start, and like everyone else, would be happy to save a few Euro along the way where possible!


Cheers

Russman

Deleted User wrote: »

Would you carry me, pleaes?



In all seriousness, sorry to jump in on this thread, but seen as it's already been resurrected and came up on my search for "Skiing", I figured I'd ask my two fairly silly questions here:

1. When ye guys talk about the 'end of the season' for better deals on skiing, what kind of period are ye talking about? (I presume jan/feb?)

2. Is skiing the kinda thing that a joe soap can head off and do? I've always wanted to do it (no idea why), but my skiing knowledge and experience is a couple of funny youtube compilation videos. Would a group of chaps (4-5) heading off into a ski resort be okay? I don't mind making a fool of myself, or the odd tumble or fall, but rather not be coming back in a wheelchair :P

Sorry for the silly questions. Have always wanted to do the whole ski thing, but never really had the opportunity. Now I've a couple of Euro put away with no intended purpose, I'd like to try and pursue it a bit, but I've just genuinely no idea where to start, and like everyone else, would be happy to save a few Euro along the way where possible!


Cheers

I'm far, far, from an expert but I was kinda in your boat a few years ago. Anyway I joined up with the Tag Rugby ski trip that went to Westendorf and had a fantastic time. I probably could have saved a few euro by doing DIY but I hadn't a clue about anything ski related really. The one thing I would recommend is lessons, I found them invaluable, there were about 8/9 of us in the class who didn't know each other at the start of the week and we were almost best friends after a day or two.

zagmund

I forgot to mention above, but Crystal have some "buy one get one free" and "buy one get one half price" offers on lift passes in some of their resorts. The offer is only good until the 30th of this month, so you would need to get your skates (or skis . . . tee, hee) on if you want to avail of that. It puts the lie to my normal claim when people ask about discounts on lift passes and shows that there are indeed some discounts to be had. Maybe it's the lift companies trying to get a bit of dosh in early or something.

z

Timmaay

End of the season is say Paddys day onwards! Usually best to go for fairly high up resorts. I personally think that's the best time of year to ski, weather generally better, it's cheaper, and you often get great fresh dumps of snow.

hawkwind23

One of the best holidays you will have in a group!
We did nothing but laugh on our first trip , learning how to use button lifts , tbars , chairlifts and falling a lot was the cause for much merriment , that added to mountain air and over indulgence.

I would go for a DIY option if you are all beginners , you dont need to be in the alps , a few decent snow hills an cheap food and drink is all you need.

I only learnt a few years ago and well into my 40's, totally addicted now and want to spend more and more time skiing
Always wanted to go as a kid but that was for the rich kids in my school , then looking at package deals when i had my own kids i decided i could never afford it with the crazy prices.
Then we did a few days to Poland and it cost nothing , skiing is available to all
Do at least two trips each year now and bring the kids on one.

Just go for it

hawkwind23

Oh couple of other points
Go at the quiet times , not half term or easter.

Do get lessons for the group , the instructor will always make sure all of you are able to ski together after a few days , you need lessons and get them for at least 3 days.

olaola

hawkwind23 wrote: »

Do get lessons for the group , the instructor will always make sure all of you are able to ski together after a few days , you need lessons and get them for at least 3 days.

THIS x a million. You'll enjoy it much more if you can actually ski. And tbh, it's not the safest sport in the world, to avoid any of ye coming home in braces/casts, get yourselves to ski school. It's also good craic, you meet people & they generally organise a night or two out with the school which are always great.

Also, Jan is a good time to go. Quiet, cheaper & pretty good snow.

MayoForSam

Someone mentioned Poland. My kids have been pestering me about going skiing so I bit the bullet about a month ago, did a bit of research on Zakopane in Poland and it looks good if you're beginners like us (last time I skied was over 15 years ago).

We got return flights for 4 of us from Dublin to Krakow for €520 with Ryanair (February mid-term 2016), car hire for €110 and accommodation for 5 nights for €400 (self-catering apartment near the centre of Zakopane). My wife isn't too keen on winter sports, however I reckon another €300-350 should cover equipment and passes for 3 of us for a couple of days (there seems to be plenty to do aside from skiing). Total amount around €1400 for the 4 of us (plus food and drink when we get there) - I reckon €350 a head is a good deal for 5 days.

hawkwind23

MayoForSam wrote: »

Someone mentioned Poland. My kids have been pestering me about going skiing so I bit the bullet about a month ago, did a bit of research on Zakopane in Poland and it looks good if you're beginners like us (last time I skied was over 15 years ago).

We got return flights for 4 of us from Dublin to Krakow for €520 with Ryanair (February mid-term 2016), car hire for €110 and accommodation for 5 nights for €400 (self-catering apartment near the centre of Zakopane). My wife isn't too keen on winter sports, however I reckon another €300-350 should cover equipment and passes for 3 of us for a couple of days (there seems to be plenty to do aside from skiing). Total amount around €1400 for the 4 of us (plus food and drink when we get there) - I reckon €350 a head is a good deal for 5 days.

I love Zakopane
Do you have someone for lessons? I can recommend Barbara from Discover Zakopane.
Its a really easy drive , well signposted and pretty much a straight drive from the Airport.
You wont really need the car in Zakopane but well worth a day trip to the bigger resort of Bialka Tatrzanka , the SPA and pool there is amazing , i prefer it to the one in Zakopane.
Dont be tempted to rent the ski gear online , its easier to just rent at each slope when you get there.
Loads of restaurants to explore
the discover zakopane website pretty much sums it all up.

MayoForSam

hawkwind23 wrote: »

I love Zakopane
Do you have someone for lessons? I can recommend Barbara from Discover Zakopane.
Its a really easy drive , well signposted and pretty much a straight drive from the Airport.
You wont really need the car in Zakopane but well worth a day trip to the bigger resort of Bialka Tatrzanka , the SPA and pool there is amazing , i prefer it to the one in Zakopane.
Dont be tempted to rent the ski gear online , its easier to just rent at each slope when you get there.
Loads of restaurants to explore
the discover zakopane website pretty much sums it all up.

I believe you inspired me to visit Zakopane from your previous posts, hawkwind . I will appreciate any more advice you can offer. Lots of friendly Polish people living in my area, about time I visited their county (my brother-in-law is married to a Polish girl). Maybe the skiing is less commercialized than the Alps, but the culture sounds interesting.

hawkwind23

The skiing is perfect for beginners , time you go it might be busy with half term and it can be frustrating with the language barrier but i always find thats a good incentive to treat visitors to Ireland better
Kasprowy is worth a day toward the end of your holiday esp if weather is good , amazing views and skiing to match any resort!
Id like to help in any way i can , its a great place and you will have a top holiday , food and drink is cheap.
Feel free to PM or ask away on here with anything at all i can help with

fannymagee

Haven't read this whole thread, but I read one post that suggested flying into Frankfurt & training it to Munich as a possibly cheaper option and I had to jump in- do NOT do that, it's a hugely false economy (and a fcking nightmare!) It's a HORRIBLE train journey from FRA to MUN, it's expensive, it takes ages, there's lots of changes, just don't. Ugghh. I did it in Feb & nearly broke up with yer man over it, it cost me the same to get from Frankfurt to Munich on the train as it would have to fly direct from Dublin (and the orig FRA flight was the 'cheap' option via Amsterdam & was still more expensive than DUB-MUN direct) it was a NIGHTMARE all round. I'm still traumatised. Oh, and the train broke down too- that didn't help. It's also the most miserable airport on Earth. Uurrghh.

zagmund

I think you were doing it wrong Fanny. I picked a random date in December and can get direct from Frankfurt Airport to Munich with no changes for €29. Just sayin . . . it's cheap and it's direct. At the moment, you can fly Lufthansa to Frankfurt for €90 including bags.

Now that you mention Amsterdam . . . you can get from Amsterdam to Munich with a single change in Hannover for €49. There's a bargain if ever I saw one. In fact, you can get all the way from Schipol to Rosenheim for the same €49 fare. Bedad, I think I have a plan for next year . . .

I'm not necessarily advocating going that route, but just checking out alternatives to "fly to Salzburg at the same time as everyone else and get a taxi to the resort at the same time as everyone else" if you want to keep prices down.

It's a long aul haul, but then no matter where you change or what you do, it's going to take time and *any* change of transport along the way is going to be a killer.

z

fannymagee

zagmund wrote: »

I think you were doing it wrong Fanny. I picked a random date in December and can get direct from Frankfurt Airport to Munich with no changes for €29. Just sayin . . . it's cheap and it's direct. At the moment, you can fly Lufthansa to Frankfurt for €90 including bags.

Now that you mention Amsterdam . . . you can get from Amsterdam to Munich with a single change in Hannover for €49. There's a bargain if ever I saw one. In fact, you can get all the way from Schipol to Rosenheim for the same €49 fare. Bedad, I think I have a plan for next year . . .

I'm not necessarily advocating going that route, but just checking out alternatives to "fly to Salzburg at the same time as everyone else and get a taxi to the resort at the same time as everyone else" if you want to keep prices down.

It's a long aul haul, but then no matter where you change or what you do, it's going to take time and *any* change of transport along the way is going to be a killer.

z

Haha yes I was DEFINITELY doing it wrong! But you'd need quite a few ducks in a row to make the perfect combo of cheap flight, cheap train fare and no changes/long stops. It was a disaster of a trip all round, I had to go to Frankfurt first, and I made the rookie mistake of letting someone else book my flights so basically ended up going in a big circle to eventually reach Munich. By the time I got to Rosenheim I was fit to be tied!! So you're dead right- my experience was crapper than usual, but it's still a bit of an ordeal to go that way

amber2

MayoForSam wrote: »

Someone mentioned Poland. My kids have been pestering me about going skiing so I bit the bullet about a month ago, did a bit of research on Zakopane in Poland and it looks good if you're beginners like us (last time I skied was over 15 years ago).

We got return flights for 4 of us from Dublin to Krakow for €520 with Ryanair (February mid-term 2016), car hire for €110 and accommodation for 5 nights for €400 (self-catering apartment near the centre of Zakopane). My wife isn't too keen on winter sports, however I reckon another €300-350 should cover equipment and passes for 3 of us for a couple of days (there seems to be plenty to do aside from skiing). Total amount around €1400 for the 4 of us (plus food and drink when we get there) - I reckon €350 a head is a good deal for 5 days.

Hi just reading your post was in Zakopane last year really enjoyed it going again this year, just attaching a pic of ski lesson prices & ski rental prices, if you book a lesson your instructor will come pick you up take you to get your gear & take you to and from the slopes. We used Go Ski Zakopane, Paulina was a pleasure to deal with emailed all sizes and everything was waiting when we arrived so no messing around with fittings. Hope this is of some help, any questions just ask.

hawkwind23

amber2 wrote: »

Hi just reading your post was in Zakopane last year really enjoyed it going again this year, just attaching a pic of ski lesson prices & ski rental prices, if you book a lesson your instructor will come pick you up take you to get your gear & take you to and from the slopes. We used Go Ski Zakopane, Paulina was a pleasure to deal with emailed all sizes and everything was waiting when we arrived so no messing around with fittings. Hope this is of some help, any questions just ask.

I used them too but found that after the lessons you had to cart the stuff to and from the digs.
Awkward and unnecessary , much simpler to rent at the area you decide on each day.
One thing i will say is that their equipment is very good.

MayoForSam

hawkwind23 wrote: »

I used them too but found that after the lessons you had to cart the stuff to and from the digs.
Awkward and unnecessary , much simpler to rent at the area you decide on each day.
One thing i will say is that their equipment is very good.

We are just back from Zakopane (6 days) and had a great time. Not a huge amount of snow but plenty for us greenhorns! We got our gear from GO Ski and as we had rented a car, it was easier for us to hold on to the skis and boots for the few days we were there, saving us time getting measured up and fitted every day (only €8 per day for skis and boots). We had booked a GO Ski instructor for the first day (Jake), he was a cool guy, very friendly and gave us some good tips. Nosal was a good spot to learn the ropes. We also spent a day in Witow, about 20 minutes from Zakopane, better ski lift and longer run there.

The resort itself was great, very busy with mainly Polish tourists, some Brits and Irish. Lots of restaurants and bars to choose from, food quality generally excellent and terrific value (50 Euro to feed 4 of us including drinks most nights, where else would you get that?). We managed to squeeze in the Wieliczka Salt Mines and a walk around downtown Krakow on our final day too. I would consider going back there and perhaps going to Białka Tatrzańska where the skiing is meant to be very good.

Thanks to hawkwind for putting Zakopane on my radar a few months ago .

hawkwind23

MayoForSam wrote: »

We are just back from Zakopane (6 days) and had a great time. Not a huge amount of snow but plenty for us greenhorns! We got our gear from GO Ski and as we had rented a car, it was easier for us to hold on to the skis and boots for the few days we were there, saving us time getting measured up and fitted every day (only €8 per day for skis and boots). We had booked a GO Ski instructor for the first day (Jake), he was a cool guy, very friendly and gave us some good tips. Nosal was a good spot to learn the ropes. We also spent a day in Witow, about 20 minutes from Zakopane, better ski lift and longer run there.

The resort itself was great, very busy with mainly Polish tourists, some Brits and Irish. Lots of restaurants and bars to choose from, food quality generally excellent and terrific value (50 Euro to feed 4 of us including drinks most nights, where else would you get that?). We managed to squeeze in the Wieliczka Salt Mines and a walk around downtown Krakow on our final day too. I would consider going back there and perhaps going to Białka Tatrzańska where the skiing is meant to be very good.

Thanks to hawkwind for putting Zakopane on my radar a few months ago .

Happy days
We laugh that we should be ambassadors for the place as we tell everyone about it.
Glad you enjoyed it and at the prices you can enjoy a break every year, its nice in the autumn for hill walking and sightseeing.

Bialka is where we go now for the skiing but you can use a few resorts nearby with the same lift pass , i think its around £80 for the week
Not much nightlife but some excellent restaurants.

next time your there try seeing the castle , its about a 40 min drive from Bialka , very picturesque.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niedzica_Castle

The food really is superb

next time try these two closer to Bialka

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g1024754-d3650297-Reviews-Karczma_Litworowy_Staw-Bialka_Tatrzanska_Lesser_Poland_Province_Southern_Poland.html

and this one for the decor alone

http://www.burymis.pl/burymis/pl


Sadly we didnt make it this year so hoping to get a short break in the autumn or next winter for sure.

zagmund

I had to come back on to give out about this one . . . after closer inspection of my invoice it turned out that Crystal lumped on a mysterious "Supplement" line item of something like €40 per per person, so we "saved" X but paid supplements of something very, very suspiciously close to X.

I rang them to query what *exactly* the supplement was and the guy on the phone said something something something manager adds it on something something busy flights something something.

When I told him that I could book the exact same holiday on their website and pay the full lift pass price and yet still pay the same amount as with a "free" pass he said something about the flight loading, trying to make out that somehow the flight was now less busy than when I booked originally and so it didn't attract a supplement. I mailed them in to seek official clarification but they didn't bother replying.

I gave the tour operators one chance in 10 or 15 years and this is what happened. I will be going back to booking it all myself next year.

The one good part of this was the flight times - left Dublin at something like 1400 and left the resort at 1200. That sure beats a lot of the other charter flight timings.

z

zagmund wrote: »

I forgot to mention above, but Crystal have some "buy one get one free" and "buy one get one half price" offers on lift passes in some of their resorts. The offer is only good until the 30th of this month, so you would need to get your skates (or skis . . . tee, hee) on if you want to avail of that. It puts the lie to my normal claim when people ask about discounts on lift passes and shows that there are indeed some discounts to be had. Maybe it's the lift companies trying to get a bit of dosh in early or something.

z