Best way to get from UK to Val Gardena/Selva?

I have never skied the Sella Ronda and consequently have a desire to do so, however it appears that it's not the easiest to get to. I tried all sorts of combinations of airport destinations and subsequent bus/train transfers, but was beset with long or expensive options and limited choice of UK-Italy/Austria departures.

It became so complicated that I gave up hope for this year (22-23) and have booked Zell Am See instead, but I'm thinking well ahead for next year (23-24) and I'm hoping that folk out there who have made the trip - self-organised or package - can give me some idea of how I may achieve this goal.

Many thanks for any help provided,

Dave.

Hi

Made the trip lots of times now. Usually fly Gatwick to Innsbruck but have also done Gatwick to Verona. Used to always go with Neilson and their rep Frosty in the area was fab. However they now only have one hotel which they run and we prefer to now go half board in better quality family run hotels - there are some lovely 4* plus hotels in the area. We are going in Jan 22 with Inghams but we have travelled with Crystal in the past. We have stayed in Corvara, Arraba, Selva and Badia. All have their pros and cons. We have done Sella Ronda many times now and it can be busy and a bit like a motorway! We like to think of the Sella Ronda as a charm bracelet with each ski area/village as a charm, we pick one or two a day and spend time exploring each. There is always somewhere fab to eat, the people are friendly and they have good snow making facilities. We have skied there when there was so much snow there was a state of emergency and when everything was man made and brown around the edges. There is loads for all abilities We have had seasons where we have gone elsewhere including Canada but we always get drawn back to the Dolomites.

Many thanks Ashcoop. Having had experience of basing yourself in different resorts within the area, where could you recommend for a small group that likes to party and have pretty quick/easy access to the slopes?

Plus, perhaps my searches weren't as comprehensive as they could have been, but the provision of packages or accommodation for the area appeared to be very limited or nonexistent. (I confess that those searches were limited to Val Gardena/Selva, so that probably did skew results quite a bit). To complicate things further we are based in Northern Ireland so that unless we could use a Dublin departure we would inevitably have a hop across to the mainland (most likely Manchester for convenience) which always increase the costs and can be a logistical headache for coordinating flights within time constraints.

At the moment it does seem as if it may remain an unrealised aspiration, but I'll not give up without a decent attempt!

ATB, Dave

Hi
Manchester is a possibility. We are boring old buggers so not too bothered about night life so can't really advise on that.
Arraba, selva and Corvara depending on hotel are all really easy to get to slopes, I hate having to walk or even worse get a bus. Selva right in Sella Ronda too as you actually ski down to the road through the village before you cross over to the gondola on the other side. Arraba is easy access but depending on your hotel the closest run back might be challenging. Corvara is lovely but we stay at the Sporthotel which is out of the village a bit but really close to slopes and the col alto lift. It takes you straight to the heart of the Alta badia area which is just lovely. Never stated in Colfosco but that's an option.

Great info Ashcopp. From the little bit of resort info I've gleaned ref nightlife, Selva seems to be the spot and from your post would also appear to tick the box of slope proximity too.

Btw, we are a reduced group of four - for this year at least - and despite having an age range of 69 (yours truly) down to 40, we do enjoy a good old knees up of an evening.

Many thanks for taking the time and trouble to respond to my query and I may have course to call on you again at some stage. :thumbup:

No probs It really is a great place to ski

I have been on a couple of group holidays to the Dolomites with a mixture of travel arrangements.
We do "independent" rather than with an operator.
Venice has been our airport of choice and could be an option from Dublin, simplifying travel for you Numpty.
Being a small group a bus transfer is quite reasonable split between us.

Thanks OldAndy,

I have thought of Venice (Marco Plo) as it's possibly one of the easiest to get to - e.g; Ryanair from Dublin (altho' Verona & Milan possibles?), but could you enlighten me a bit more about the transfer, please? I.e; how big was your group to make it a reasonable cost and how long a journey is it roughly? I am aiming for a group of 8 for next year, but as happened this year, it can prove difficult to co-ordinate diaries and commitments so that it might only be a 4-some. We would book the flights and transfers ourselves but possibly use SunWeb to book accommodation (+ included Liftpass!) as they seem to have a few places that would suit our needs & budgets.

Several other - less common - airports that I looked at all seemed to be linked to exorbitant transfer quotes making the whole trip a non-starter, plus some were a longer run than we'd prefer. We're used to having to do 3-3 & a half hrs for example in France, but I did a very uncomfortable 5hr+ transfer from Brescia to Livigno once and I'd rather not repeat something like that again if possible.

Many Thanks,

Dave