Just musing about a future trip. @Kletterer mentioned in another thread that the town of Imst near Landeck in Austria would be a nice place to spend some time. It got me thinking. I would prefer to stay in a traditional village away from ski resorts when on holiday because I find they're quieter and (I could be mistaken here) but more 'genuine' and I find the locals are friendlier. Add to this the accommodation and restaurants are generally more reasonable and I believe it's worth considering. Next Christmas I will be either heading to Canada (not related to this thread) or Europe for early season turns so proximity to mountains with a good early season record would be best. I'm thinking Ischgl, Arlberg, Solden, Obergurgl etc in Austria or Tignes, Val Thorens, Val D, Les Arcs etc in France. I would have a car and would like a base to take in a couple/few/number of ski resorts over the course of the holiday. *We went to the Zillertal last year and loved it so would like to check out a different region.
For the French resorts stay in Bourg St Maurice. Down the valley from Tignes/Val d'Isere. A funicular up to Les Arcs. I have only passed through and a fleeting impression was that the place is a bit drab. It also is at the end of a railway line and at least has a Europcar agency.
Landeck is a regular town that is within an hour (by bus, less by car) to 3 different valleys - Fiss-Serfaus-Ladis, then Kappl, See & Ischgl and also St Anton. So 3 huge areas. This year I stayed in the valley in Ried for Fiss-Serfaus, but also stayed overnight in Landeck and did a day trip to Ischgl. Also as per previous comment Ischgl is probably as far removed from a quiet village that you can get. It's crazy, but great terrain and lots of fun.
If you read the first post I said I would like to stay in a quiet town close by to those hills. I understand St Anton and Ischgl aren't quiet.
Thanks. I've looked at BSM. My daughter (14) is really into French and staying somewhere that isn't full of English speaking tourists would be great. Clean lodging and somewhere to eat and drink is all that's required. No need for dancing girls and amusement parks.
Yes it is before Ischgl, but closer than Kappl, but I can't remember the exact name - but my friend google says Paznaun is the hamlet/village/whatever before Ischgl nearby.
I reckon the challenge is not finding small traditional French villages there’s so many of them across the alps. The issue is finding one that actually has some restaurants and isn’t too quiet.
I stayed here - it has a reasonable little restaurant in the hotel (it does have beer!!) http://www.tannenhof-ischgl.com/en/the-hotel/welcome/welcome.html
I stayed at my Aunties place in Imst for few weeks. Used to hop on the morning train to St Anton. If you get freshies the local hill is tons of fun. Fond memories of Springtime at Bruck an der Glocknerstrasse ( near Zell am See) You can hear the church bells ringing at various centres in the valley with the sound carrying across the lake .Once I had to sleep in my cousins room and the ratbag would leave the window wide open every night ( in February ). It was getting down to around minus 5 to minus 10. He said thats not cold- it was minus 20 last week. But yeah Bruck is very lovely.
How close to the ski resorts do you want to be - ie what maximum drive time each way are you looking at?
I suppose one hour max. But I wouldn’t want to do that everyday. There would have to be a local resort within 15 minutes too.
Looks beautiful. We're staying at Piesendorf for a few days which is not that far from Bruck but don't know if you would describe it as a village.
Landeck also has a small local hill Venet (haven't skied there myself). According to Google maps Ischgl, St Anton & Fiss are all around a 30 min drive. You could stay in one of the valleys to be closer to one of those but you would then be further from the others as Landeck is pretty much the gateway to those valleys. So it is a bit of a compromise. Maybe Saalfelden? That is between Leogang to the west which is an access point to the massive Saalbach circus and Maria Alm to the east which accesses the also sizable Hochkönig region. They are each less than 10 mins drive away. Or stay in one of those villages which are relatively quiet. Or Lienz in Osttirol which is like a smaller version of Innsbruck. Has a couple of small local hills plus access to Sillian/Pustertal or over the border into Südtirol, plus Matrei/Kals and the Defreggental to the north. Then there is the Ennstal. I like Schladming but there are several smaller villages in the valley that give you access to the Schladming/Dachstein region. Most of these places will have German, Dutch and a few Eastern Euro visitors but very few English. I have been to and written about the above in my blog here.
Rauris is 25 minutes drive from Bruck if you are interested in uncontested offpiste with easy lift access or superb ski touring .
In France anywhere along the road N90/D1090 and the D902 from Albertville eastwards would suit. Do note that this road can get VERY busy at weekends, especially if:- It is Saturday (much more traffic than even Sunday) It is the French school holidays There is any snow The rest of the week the only travel problems would be caused by snow or an accident.
