Austria vs France

Hi,

A bit of an open question, but does Austria have anything to offer over and above France?

I have always skied in France, and usually drive there. I am curious to try Austria, but wondered if it had anything to offer over and above France?

My guess is that drive travel time/cost will be about the same. For cost of accommodation, ski hire and piste pass, is Austria any better? Are the pistes any different? I'm guessing food will be pretty similar?

Ta.

Hi
No contest. Austria is so much better. The Austrians really care that you have a great holiday. The hotels are much better and the food is usually very good too. OK, you don't have the high snow-sure resorts but then you aren't skiing in lunar landscapes either. I much prefer skiing through trees. If you have kids or beginners, the Austrian ski schools are fantastic. We did France for a few years when our son was small, mainly because of Mark Warner and the child are they offer, but we couldn't wait to get back to Austria. On the downside, it's not cheap but I think it's terrific value because of the level of service you get. It's much prettier and 'Gemuetlich'. As I said, no contest.

Hi- totally agree with Buntycake. Having tried both Austrian and France on many occasions Austria gets my vote. The people are great and always found it much better value. The tuition is superb too. One word of caution though is choose your resort carefully in terms of altitude as the last couple of seasons have been poor snow cover. Also consider the type of skiing you want to do as some of the areas are not linked in quite the same way as France. Hopefully these points shouldn't be an issue but worth bearing in mind.

This is a bit like saying you prefer beef to pork. Some will prefer one to the other, or some may like both equally or neither at all.

Surely both countries offer the fundamental requirements (snow, hills, lifts) but, beyond that, comparisons tend to be either too subjective or stereo-typical or worse.

For me France is first choice most trips...but love to see recommendations for Austria...it will make the slopes quieter where I am ;-)

...and for anyone who says the French can't have a laugh... :D

I don't agree that my comments were either subjective or stereo-typical. I have skied in both France and Austria and while I accept that the skiing in France is more snow-sue, my experience and that of many friends, is that Austria delivers a much better experience in terms of the service and overall quality of the hotels. And surely, this site is all about people asking for advice and, yes, opinions. The main disadvantage of Austria is that it can be a longer drive.

I'll let you know after February as we are hoping to go to an Austrian resort then. Probably Lech.

Our ski holidays in France have all been great. Good food, good skiing, good people.

Really is a no-brainer. Austria superior in food, scenery, culture (more like Anglo-Saxon), price, linguistics (more English speakers) and attitude. Skiing about the same.