Travel Life Europe 21/22 - Planning, General short TRs, Travel and covid
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Travel to Europe: What's New This Week - SchengenVisaInfo.com
With the epidemiological situation in the continent of Europe starting to worsen, many European Union and Schengen Area countries are already tightening their entry restrictions in a bid to control the further spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yesterday, Estonia announced that four EU countries...www.schengenvisainfo.com
My limited Euro experience as far as food is concerned is you are fine eating there if you like bread, ham and cheese.
Spain was heavy on the bread and Ham. I somehow survived by finding Lebanese and Turkish places to eat meat free. Their food has similarities to some North Indian food what with flat bread, plain yoghurt, chickpeas, salad, rice dishes etc..My limited Euro experience as far as food is concerned is you are fine eating there if you like bread, ham and cheese.
Syrians do a good line in flat bread but they mostly eat meat as kebabs. They make good food that is similar to Lebanese food, which does have some excellent Veg. options.
Booked on Emirates for 6 months in Europe. Early Dec to June 22 $2300 return including travel insurance that covers COVID apparently. Still struggling to believe it will happen. As mentioned before, looking at basing somewhere in Austria or Italy for Jan,Feb and March. Norway xc touring after this. Happy just to hang around one resort which has walk to lifts, xc ski tracks, touring options and relatively cheap accomodation. The list is narrowing to Kuhtai, Caterina near Bolmio and Monterosa. Maybe Gerlos. Any other suggestions welcome.
Check out Bad Gastein - ticks all those boxes plus daytrips to other SkiAmade regions very tasty
Looking fwd to the TRs
Hopefully I'll be spending a week in Kuhtai in March for the ski test.
I don’t know enough about Europe to offer any great advice but if I was bunkering down somewhere for a few months I would be dreaming about Cham, Tignes/Val, Arlberg or Verbier. Also check out the regional season passes in Austria like -
Let’s face it you’ll have a ball wherever you end up. Very jealous.Multi-Resort Ski Passes: Tirol’s Best Skiing on One Lift Ticket
Skiers and snowboarders who truly appreciate the variety each Tirolean resort has to offer are strongly recommended to take advantage of these super multi-mountain ski passes.www.tyrol.com
Yikes! 6 months in any of those locales and you better have a great fat chequebook!I don’t know enough about Europe to offer any great advice but if I was bunkering down somewhere for a few months I would be dreaming about Cham, Tignes/Val, Arlberg or Verbier. Also check out the regional season passes in Austria like -
Let’s face it you’ll have a ball wherever you end up. Very jealous.Multi-Resort Ski Passes: Tirol’s Best Skiing on One Lift Ticket
Skiers and snowboarders who truly appreciate the variety each Tirolean resort has to offer are strongly recommended to take advantage of these super multi-mountain ski passes.
Id be looking at somewhere less exxy and doing shorter visits to the destinations of financial fleecing.
This. While those places are nice to visit with epic skiing, they are hardly a good way to get a feel for the local culture and will send you broke. I'd be doing a season in a smaller resort for sure.
I'd second Bad Gastein. Wonderful place. Some lovely little swiss resorts at higher altitude which are a bit more snow sure too if there for a season: Andermatt, Engleberg but not sure what their villages are like these days.
Yeah, I suggested Bad Gastein because I did a season there and loved it. Also because it's a bit lesser known and therefore less "fleecy".
I reckon some of the smaller satellite villages of big names might be worth checking out - I give you Orelle (on the edge of 3Vallees and near plenty of other resorts):
I dunno. How much would one be willing to pay for a season in the snow?
A season pass is a given.
I've just done a simple Airbnb search for December 15 to April 15. Plenty of self catering apartments for 2 people in Cham and Tignes for $10000 to $12000 aud. From my experience 'resort' supermarkets do not gouge in Europe - prices are the same as in the valley.
Ski, eat, sleep. It doesn't have to be expensive.
And surely you want to have easy access to the hill on powder days?Definitely get one of those multi-region passes like the Salzburg super ski card or the Tirol equivalent. Then pick a place or two or three on that system that has direct access to a good ski area and also has easy access to several others on the same pass for day trips. I'm more familiar with the Salzburger pass, so places like Leogang, Maria Alm, Fieberbrunn, Flachau etc or Gerlos that you mentioned or somewhere in the Gasteinertal as others have suggested. Look for accomodation in a village slightly away from the main lifts but with free ski bus stop close by.
With the Salzburg pass you could even consider something like this:
Austrian virtual ski safari
Our company has been pushing for us to take several days annual leave this quarter to save on leave liability to try and help the bottom line and reduce job losses. It is a bit odd as I am actually quite busy supporting our client who are currently very busy, but I am taking the odd day off here...www.ski.com.au
Thanks for the comments everyone. Yep, season pass is a given. Accomodation is the big issue/cost. Wanting to be on snow and up high ain’t cheap although there are a few apartments in Italy on snow for reasonable amounts. As Heinz says maybe a lower elevation town maybe a better bet, especially in Austria. Budget about $1400 a week. Norway will DNT hut to hut mainly. Spent a season in Verbier in 87 went back a few years ago and was a little taken aback. Looking for something a little less OTT/ritzy. It’s certainly fun to be able to plan. Thanks again.
Is the $1400 per week Aud? I assume so.
Also is that accommodation only? Or for accomm and living expenses? Either way it sounds heaps to me. Just one person?
That’s for apartment style accomodation for 2. ($100 aud per person per night). Happy to go a lot less though and aim for $50 -$75 pp.
DNT huts are cheap place to stay, membership is a god idea, and you can get your own key.
As you say "touring" you can look at Sweden as well. Their hut are organised under Youth hostel system, an cheaper.
In the very north of one can make touring trips form hut to hut as well.
https://www.svenskaturistforeningen.se/aktiviteter/skidakning/ (use google translate)
Certainly basing yourself off snow, down in the valley somewhere will obviously be cheaper. But I think you need to really consider if you are going to be happy bussing it to the snow everyday for this 4 month extended period. Frankly that's not my idea of a holiday. Think about the atmospheric / enjoyment factor of a holiday in a ski village in the snow with all the various activities, events, apre etc. That beats dorming in a dreary valley village hands down especially when its raining down the valley & snowing up on the mountain. Whilst your budget is tight, on checking air bnb etc there are long term season rentals available in ski resorts for your budget. Santa Caterina , Bormio, & many others have accom. to suit your budget. Also take a look at livigno in the same region. They all have walk to lifts, XC etc that you desire. Don't stuff your holiday for the sake of a few dollars. Just bite the bullet & get searching for an acceptable long term rental in a ski village in the snow. You wont be sorry!
Totally agree with this and would probably get a car if we did stay off mountain.Have you looked at Aosta? Season pass is about €700 (https://pila.it/en/aosta-valley-skipass/aosta-valley-seasonal-skipass/). Stay in Aosta in an Airbnb for cheap, have the option of walking to the Pila gondola or have a wide variety of different resorts in driving distance.
Bonus of a "proper" (and stunning) town to spend your evenings!
The Europeans... are very good at picking good snow cars. When you do this, a lift ticket won't be required:
Yep around $2k on Emirates (booked through Qantas) when I’m looking (mid feb-mid march, arrive AMS and depart FRA).
Not primarily a ski trip but planning 5 days in Aosta and 5 in Lausanne. Wife doesn’t ski anymore after an ACL/MCL blowout so need to find a compromise on locations and they look to tick all the boxes. Just looking at travel sites again is getting me so excited!Booked 2 weeks at Chalet Anna in Leogang. Short skibus ride to the lifts on the main road.
Cheap appartment.
Bastard !Booked 2 weeks at Chalet Anna in Leogang. Short skibus ride to the lifts on the main road.
Cheap appartment.
Looks a great spot. Back door to Saalbach. Pub and restaurant close by?Booked 2 weeks at Chalet Anna in Leogang. Short skibus ride to the lifts on the main road.
Cheap appartment.
Also is there a local bus service of an evening so you can take advantage of the famous Saalbach apres on the odd occasion?
The mongrel knows every apres ski place within 20km of that place.
You can get sloshed in a hut on the hill and ski down . We used to do it often in Saalbach
I just priced up 2 adults, 1 3yo and 1yo but with a seat, not as a lap infant to Milan return for March, hair under $7k and that was not being able to get the lowest price non-flexible economy for the return flight. Outbound was $2600 but inbound on the flexible economy was $4400.
Those numbers are fine.Booked 2 weeks at Chalet Anna in Leogang. Short skibus ride to the lifts on the main road.
Cheap appartment.
Not too far from where I stayed in Leogang in 2015 (Dorfalm in Sonnrain). That part of Leogang is pretty quiet - not like Saalbach. There is an MPreis supermarket a bit down the road. You are only a short bus trip to the Steinbergbahn. You can also get the bus the other way to Saalfelden and link up with one to Maria Alm and the Hochkönig region.
One tip if catching the train there, it is easier to get off in Saalfelden and catch the bus as the Leogang stop is a fair way up the hill or else book a taxi from the stop.
Since we are supposedly arriving in Zurich on January 9 I thought I should book something.
So a week in Arosa Lenzerheide - 2 hrs from Zurich, high, good snow record, terrain to get our ski legs back, maybe some off piste.
Then a week in Diavolezza and Engadine doing glacier and off-piste stuff. San Moritz is 30 mins away if I need a new fur coat or Ferrari.
Then TBD.
Not sure we will actually get into Europe as apparently we need a vax passport that is compatible with European verification.
They don't want some weird Aussie Medicare PDF as proof. Scotty and team need to deliver a compatible app.
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After years of Eurosking I still get suprised by what I should know.
Kuhtai is one of the many lower tier Euro areas. Didn't expect much., turned out to be big and fun. This is less than half.
Obertauern looking ok this morning.
Last time I was there I didn't ski much on that side as the ski test was on the side where you are standing. Didn't explore as much as we could have due to it being pretty full-on for work, but yes definitely more than we expected.After years of Eurosking I still get suprised by what I should know.
Kuhtai is one of the many lower tier Euro areas. Didn't expect much., turned out to be big and fun. This is less than half.
I have only done full season in France at Serre Chevalier but I loved holiday in Saalbach and offpiste was amazing. Huge resort and staying at Leogang or Fieberbrunn you can still walk to lifts, quieter location and I’m assuming cheaper with access to sick off piste terrain and lively nightlife in Saalabach if you want it. Huge resort now as well with link to Zell am Zee. If you have touring gear the amount of terrain around Saalbach would be immense and no where near the competition for lines that big names have
Think about Bourg-Saint-Maurice - funicular access to Paradiski area, close to 3 Valleys, La Rosiere, Stainte. Foy and Ecspace Killy. Has good transport links via train to rest of France.
