You leave the French Alps early evening the following Saturday, giving you
eight days on the slopes. Prices start at £229 per week, based on four
sharing a self-catering apartment in St Gervais. A week in a Mayrhofen B&B
over New Year will only set you back £469.
Another popular coach operator is Ski
Weekends. As well as offering long weekends in the Alps by coach
starting at £169, the company also offers week-long holidays at its own
hotel in the town of Brides-les-Bains, a gondola ride away from the slopes
in Méribel. A week’s B&B in January for two people at the
hotel costs just £398 all in.
Go to a smaller resort
Many of the world’s most popular ski areas are among its most expensive. Yet,
by choosing to stay somewhere other than the big name resorts at their
centres, you can save money. Take Nendaz in Switzerland’s Four Valleys for
example. The jewel in the crown of this network is the resort of Verbier.
A week’s half board holiday in the three-star Hotel Mont-Fort in Nendaz is
around £100 per person cheaper than the three-star Hotel de la Poste in
Verbier. Even greater price differentials exist between the small resort of
St Martin de Belleville and Méribel in France’s Three Valleys.
It’s also worth looking at small resorts which are not part of a big network.
These are often far cheaper than the Val d’Isères or Méribels of this world
and many people are surprised to find that they actually enjoy themselves
more because of the lack of queues and warmer hospitality they encounter.
Take a campervan
The thought of spending a week in below zero temperatures in a thin-walled
campervan may not sound appealing but several companies offer ‘winterised’
vans with central heating if you fancy taking off to the Alps. Just
Go, for example, rents out a six-berth campervan for £435 a week,
including European insurance and breakdown cover.
The company also has a number of special deals next February 14, 15 and 16
where you fly out to Italy and pick up a campervan there and drive it back
home over the course of the next week for just £200, including flight on the
way there and the ferry crossing back (extra passengers cost £50). The
special price is because you are doing the company a favour by picking up
the campervan for them from the Italian manufacturer.
Several ski resorts have their own campsites that remain open in winter. Camping
Arlberg opened up in 2003, close to the resort of St Anton. It has 200
pitches and is open in winter as well as summer. A campervan pitch with
electricity costs SFr 15 a night plus, SFr8 per adult and a SFr1.50 a night
council tax.
Camping Le Versoyen in Bourg St
Maurice is perfect for exploring Les Arcs. You’ll pay €13.70 for a pitch and
another €6 for electricity. There’s a shuttle bus from here taking you to
the Les Arcs funicular.
Look for a deal
Tour operator deals are another way of doing things on a budget. However, be
aware that there’s often a very good reason for the price of a ski holiday
being slashed, often to do with poor snow. However, there are exceptions to
the rule. Deals often pop up in resorts that are proving hard for a tour
operator to sell, regardless of the snow conditions.
This is often the case with resorts that have only been introduced by the tour
operator for the current season. If it isn’t proving popular, the price
often plummets as the firm tries to get shot of their allocation.
Check out www.crystalski.co.uk, www.inghams.co.uk,
www.skideals.co.uk, www.skisolutions.com
and www.igluski.com to find some of
the best deals around.
