Italian resorts within easy distance to Geneva?

Hi, been a while since I posted on here but here I am looking for advice :roll:
I''m looking to organise a group trip next March to Italy from N. Ireland and are a bit limited on flights-basically we are limited to Geneva unless we lose a nights sleep for a 6am flight out of Dublin! So, I know we can get to Cervinia with reasonable ease but we're interested in the Monta Rosa area if it were accessible-has anyone made the journey to Gressoney/Champoluc from Geneva? Or any other suggestions?
Failing that, can anyone recommend good accommodation in Cirvinia?
Cheers for any info.

Ummmm. To state the obvious, GVA isn't really the best point of entry to Italy - To get anywhere there, you'll be passing resort after resort in French, German and Italian-speaking parts of Switzerland. If you're choosing Italy because of cost, I'd say that any savings are likely to be eaten up, and then some, in ground transit costs.

If I had to get to Italy from GVA I'd consider going by train, as you can get on a train in the airport that will take you to Italy. The CH part of the trip would be around £85 if you get a Swiss Transfer return. Take a look at the www.sbb.ch website and see if you can do this, and what the price would be for the Italian leg.

I've taken the train on a day-trip from Martigny to Locarno and back in the summer and it was great fun and fantastic scenery, so you could make the train a part of the holiday experience.

I've always found the people at the Swiss TOurist Centre in London (www.stc.co.uk) really knowledgeable and helpful: they're usually Swiss with a lot of local knowledge. Although don't be surprised if they try and persuade you that a Swiss holiday would be better - To be fair, they do usually have some genuine offers available.

GVA to the Aosta Valley, Italy - perhaps via hire-car over the Grand St Bernard Pass? - is a relatively easy journey through French-speaking Cantons.

Thanks for the advice Msej449, I haven't really considered Switzerland as I have heard the prices are horrific, especially this year! We are also planning a Heli-ski day and I have read that In Italy the cost of this is much more achievable than other parts of the world.
But if anyone can advise otherwise I am very open to ideas

Thanks Michaeldawkes, I'll look into that.

Perfectly doable from GVA - Monterosa (well, Champoluc) is under 3 hours drive via the Mont Blanc tunnel, Gressoney probably about the same but Alagna's a little further I think.

The only thing to watch out for (AFAICR) is the queues out of the resorts and down the valley to the autoroute on a Sunday night (lots of people come up from Turin and Milan); we only just made our plane!

Good advice Admin, Champoluc is top of my 'wish list', if we make it we will be travelling back to Gva quite early on the Saturday or Sunday morning so would hopefully be going against the traffic.
What are your views on Champoluc? I read that the Monte Rosa area has great skiing, though the home runs are quite difficult? We may have one or two 2nd/3rd year skiers in the group but for once, I am looking for more challenging skiing as the more important factor as the majority are now well experienced-though not all keen on anything too steep (as in a few experienced but 'timid' ladies!).

I have to declare an interest, as I have an apartment in Switzerland, so I'm obviously a fan. What I'd say is that you at least price it out as an option. There are other threads on this but to minimise a Swiss trip I'd suggest the following. Apartments in our village (La Tzoumaz) rent for about CHF 1500/week for a 4-person (6 at a squeeze) 68m² apartment near to the gondola. Also note that Verbier, for example, has just cut all its prices by 15% across the board (www.verbier.ch)

0. Satellites: Look at some of the satellite/smaller villages like La Tzoumaz (Verbier), Leysin (Diablerets) or Champéry (PdS)
1. Apartments: If you've not got a chalet-size group, price-up one or more apartments, then either eat out or self-cater.
2. Tourist Office: Choose a location and email the local Tourist office and get them to work up some prices for you.
3. Book equipment ahead (usually gets you 20% or so off).
4. If you are hiring a car from GVA, try the '.ch' Swiss sites e.g. www.sixt.ch as these sometimes have vehicles or options not on the .com landing pages.
5. If you self-cater, buy in a valley supermarket en route, rather than in the resort.
6. If there are just 2-3 of you, a Swiss Transfer Ticket (available from www.stc.co.uk) may be cheaper than car hire. For 4+ a hire car is usually cheaper.
7. Buy your skipass on a day-by-day basis unles you can be sure the weather is going to be good throughout your stay.

To get an idea of what a satellite like La Tzoumaz offers, take a look at the recent article

The Guardian 6.12.14
http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2014/dec/06/satellite-ski-resorts-verbier-four-valleys-switzerland
"Satellite ski resorts – how to get Verbier snow for half the dough"

Mail Online 26.3.13
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2296527/How-Verbier-cheap--stay-little-sister-La-Tzoumaz.html
"Meet Verbier's chic little sister: Luxury for less on a chalet break in La Tzoumaz"

It's common practice in mainland Europe for clients to contact a local immobilier (agency) direct rather than take a package. To give you an idea of what's on offer, here's an agency in La Tzoumaz which is typical (go to the RENT section): http://www.carron-immobilier.ch/en/

HeliSkiing: Looking at the Ecole de Ski Suisse site http://www.tzoumazbooking.com/?page_id=1618&lang=en?&lang=en
this prices a heli-ski trip for four including guide as CHF 400 per person for a day, so that's around £280. Not sure how this compares.

To forestall criticism, I absolutely concede that the lift prices for Verbier are going to be pricey compared to a small resort in Italy or France. And that many of the above will apply as much in France as Switzerland. As I said, it's just a suggestion for you to consider CH.