Can’t afford to go skiing this year? Think again. It needn’t cost a fortune –
as proof, here are eight great ski holidays for less than £600pp. That price
includes flights, accommodation, lift pass, equipment hire and some, if not
all, of your food.
Just to be clear, these aren’t one-lift backwaters in the Balkans – each is
excellent in its own way, several are unreservedly Alist, and all of them
will save you money.
£367: PILA, Italy
They keep the pistes in superb condition in Pila. Admittedly, it’s too small
for a whole week, but for a long weekend it’s ideal – provided you don’t
expect too much from the nightlife. Private ski tuition is cheap, too: four
hours for two people costs just £62.50pp (www.scuoladiscipila.com).
A three-night weekend for two at the three-star Lion Noir hotel (00 39 0165
521704, www.lionnoirhotel.it),
arriving on January 17, costs £104pp, half-board. A lift pass costs £56pp,
mid-range ski and boot hire with Ski Set (www.skiset.com)
is £28pp, and return flights from Luton to Turin, at suitable times, are
currently £92pp with EasyJet (www.easyjet.com).
Car hire adds £82pp (with Holiday Autos; 0870 400 4461, www.holidayautos.co.uk)
and fuel about a fiver each.
£482: CHAMPAGNY-EN-VANOISE, France
You get two vast ski areas for the price of one at Champagny. To the north
lies Paradiski, home to 425km of groomed and marked runs, accessible by lift
from the village. To the south, a 20-minute drive away, are Courchevel and
the Trois Vallées – 600km more of the same.
A one-week break for a group of four, arriving on January 26 and staying in a
studio apartment in the “R42” block in Champagny, costs £54pp,
self-catering, with Lagrange (020 7371 6111, www.lagrange-holidays.co.uk).
Return Eurotunnel crossings (www.eurotunnel.com)
for one car at suitable times will cost £30pp, fuel and tolls (from Calais)
about £62pp, lift passes £133pp and mid-price ski and boot hire £63pp (from www.interlocation.com).
The catering budget (allowing £10 each for lunch and dinner) is £140pp.
£489: SAMOENS, France
Most of the resorts featured here are high and purpose-built. The scenery is
spectacular, but the towns themselves are rather short on traditional Alpine
charm. Not so Samoëns, which is officially one of France’s “Monuments
Historiques” – but has links to the Grand Massif network’s 265km of pistes.
If you plan to take a more relaxed approach to your skiing, this is the
place.
A one-week package for four, arriving on February 2 and staying in a two-room
apartment at the Fermes de Samoëns, costs £121pp with Peak Retreats (0870
770 0408), including return Eurotunnel crossings. Fuel and tolls (from
Calais) will cost about £40pp, lift passes £127pp, mid-price ski and boot
hire £61pp (from www.interlocation.com),
and food £140pp.
£511: VAL D’ISERE, France
Val d’Isère is one of the world’s most well-rounded resorts – an intoxicating
mix of scenery, skiing and nightlife. It can also be one of the most
expensive – but not in the week before Christmas. Chances are there won’t be
much deep powder, but the groomed pistes should be in good nick, and there’s
a happy atmosphere about the place as everyone celebrates the start of the
season.
A one-week package for a group of four, arriving on December 15 and staying in
a studio apartment at Les Jardins de la Balme, in the centre of town, costs
£114pp with Erna Low (0845 863 0525, www.ernalow.co.uk),
including return Eurotunnel crossings. Fuel and tolls (from Calais) will
cost about £47pp, lift passes £127pp, mid-price ski and boot hire £83pp
(from www.snowfun.com), and food
£140pp.
£576: COURCHEVEL 1550, France
The highest of this resort’s four villages, Courchevel 1850, is where the
Russian billionaires go. Just below, however, at 1550 (the numbers refer to
the altitude in metres) is the resort’s bargain basement, and it’s only
fractionally less well connected to the fast, flattering pistes. Les Brigues
apartments (00 33 1 58 56 56 56, www.odalys-vacances.com)
will do you proud. It’s cramped inside, but you’re only going to be there to
eat and sleep.
A week for a group of six, arriving on February 2 and staying in a three-room
apartment, will cost £84pp, self-catering. Return Eurotunnel crossings (www.eurotunnel.com)
for two cars at suitable times will add £40pp, fuel and tolls (from Calais)
about £62pp, lift passes £152pp, mid-price ski and boot hire £98pp (from www.interlocation.com),
and food £140pp.
£580: VERBIER, Switzerland
Verbier’s lift-accessed off-piste terrain is the perfect place to progress
from groomed snow to deep powder. You’ll need lots of tuition to help you –
so how do you keep costs down? Book The Bunker (00 41 27 771 66 01, www.thebunker.ch),
a former atomic shelter that has been converted into a hostel.
One week here, arriving on March 8, costs just £73pp, B&B. Return
flights from London to Geneva with EasyJet (www.easyjet.com)
at suitable times are currently £99pp return, and a return rail ticket to
the resort costs £42pp. Your lift pass is £138pp, ski and boot hire £88pp
(from www.mountainairverbier.com),
and food £140pp.
£591: TIGNES, France
The new-year week is usually one of the two most expensive in the mountains
(the other is February half-term), so it’s gobsmacking to find this
all-inclusive break in the Alist resort of Tignes for less than the target
price.
You’ll stay at the UCPA – a French organisation that promotes the sporting
life to 18-to 40-year-olds – and while that means sharing a bunk room with
four others, it also affords you good-quality food and a convenient location.
This is one of the more cosmopolitan UCPA centres: your instructors will be
used to teaching in English as well as French. A one-week package here,
arriving on December 29, costs £591pp (irrespective of group size) with
Action-Outdoors (0845 890 0362, www.action-outdoors.co.uk).
The price includes coach travel from London, full-board accommodation, a
lift pass, five full days’ tuition and equipment hire.
£597: ALPBACH, Austria
Alpbach is an absurdly pretty Austrian village that conforms to every fantasy
you’ve ever had about pitched roofs and onion-domed churches. The locals
even go to church on Sundays in traditional Tyrolean outfits.
The ski area is minute by modern standards (just 45km of pistes), but that’s
hardly the point of coming here. Kick back, soak up the atmosphere, and
you’ll have a ball.
A one-week package for two people, arriving on January 5 and staying at the
Pension Gratlspitz, costs £597pp, B&B, with Inghams (020 8780 4433, www.inghams.co.uk),
including flights from Gatwick, coach transfers, lift pass and entry-level
ski and boot hire.
LATE-BOOKING DEALS
Finally, don’t forget the last-minute approach. The best bargains are to be
found before Christmas and in January – and provided you are flexible about
where you ski and what kind of accommodation you stay in, you should be able
to go lower than the £600 limit.
Start your search a couple of weeks before you intend to travel, and check out
both angles: discount websites, such as www.ski-holidays.com
and www.igluski.com, and tour
operators’ own internet portals. Last winter, in December, the big tour
operators were offering January trips to the Trois Vallées in France,
staying in catered chalets, for £299pp, half-board, including flights and
transfers. Add £152pp for a lift pass and £98pp for equipment rental, and
you have a super-convenient holiday, with someone else doing all the cooking
and driving, for just £549pp.
For detailed reports on all the resorts mentioned here, visit www.welove2ski.com.
Have you tried the Arber ski region in the Bavarian Forest on the German/Czech border? It's used by the German National team for training and is the venue for Women's World Cup events in Slalom and Giant Slalom, again this year, so can't be bad. Plus the slopes are less crowded than those in the Alps.
Lessons cost around 65 Euro for 3 mornings either Ski, Board or cross-country. Equipment hire is under 50 Euro and a 3 day lift pass 66 Euro. There's a wide range of accommodation. You can find pleasant Bed & Breakfast rooms for around 50 - 60 Euro a night, per double room, similarly self catering flats. Yes you have to arrange your own flights and transfers. Public transport is cheap, clean and efficient. A Bayern ticket costs 27 Euro for up to 5 people.
So a 4 night ski break for 2 adults would cost around 630 Euro, + flights & (car hire) The most convenient airport for the Bavarian Forest is Munich. It's then a 2 hour drive or 3 hours by public transport.
Check out www.arber
Claire , Bournemouth,
I agree booking independantly is a great saving. However many of the prices quoted are off peak. The trick is to avoid the UK big tour operators. Finding a hotel and booking direct is advisable or finding an Italian or swiss or French local operator who will give you key in hand...even better we booked with a small local operator (www.monticolo.it) who had English staff, all inclusive pacakge and in Peak we paid less than some of the off peak rates quoted above.
Colin Reed, Reigate, UK
Not very exciting we've never paid more than £600 each and we go at Christmas or New Year rather than off-peak times quoted here. Unfortunately we can't take advantage of late bookings as one requires a visa.
This year it's Alpe d’Huez, apartment for 6, Skis, Boots, Lift Passes, Creche for the week, flights and transfer for 4 + 1 baby £1,800 with FirstChoice.
If you want to drive then try Pierre Vacance for booking apartments direct. 2 bedroom apartment for about £350 for the week and no restrictions on start date or number of nights.
Terry, Leeds, Yorkshire