Austria vs France

Germknoedel :D

Wow - it all depends !!!! Had great times in Austria, France, Italy and Slovenia. But the best snow / sun / blue sky was a freak week in Scotland with a mate driving up in a clapped out Ford Escort on a whim! Although in those days the accommodation was a shocker and the lifts basic!
Nowadays with web cams and long term weather forecasts - try booking last minute - when you know where the conditions are great. Book direct to your chosen accommodation and get some cheap flights and transfer- simple.
I love Austria - particularly the resorts that slip under the radar of the big ski outfits. Often the big resorts get very crowded at peak times so go elsewhere and avoid the lines! My wife gets cold easy so we now have a place in Gastein - she spends time in the warm thermal spas - while I ski with my boys.
Lets be frank - France is more business orientated - fast food and plastic tables. But everyone should try Deux Alpes, Alpe D Huez (the sunny place!) and Tignes (great black to Les Breviers). For me I 've settled on Austria !

gasteinsnowman wrote:Wow - it all depends !!!! Had great times in Austria, France, Italy and Slovenia. But the best snow / sun / blue sky was a freak week in Scotland with a mate driving up in a clapped out Ford Escort on a whim!

Thank goodness! I thought I was the oldest J2skier!

buntycake wrote:I don't agree that my comments were either subjective or stereo-typical......... this site is all about people asking for advice and, yes, opinions.

Hi Buntycake. That's Ok, I didn't actually say your comments were subjective or stereo-typical.

But I was saying that this sort of question "tends" to lead to subjective or stereo-typical comparisons....and tends to lead to arguments such as "my choice is better than yours" - Just look through some threads from previous years.

Now, I've been skiing about 16 times (spread over 30 years), and I've not even scratched the surface of one resort (in terms of the people or hotels or food) let alone all of France vs Austria....I just love France. Subjective & personal, pure & simple.

Have skied in both and have drawn a few conclusions.
In Austria you get to both drink more and sleep more. Apres ski culture is from the piste vs post midnight clubs in France. Austria Wins
More chips (fried ones)in Austria. France Wins
Many of the Austria ski resorts have low bases which for me is a great +ve, normal people, proper town. I would much prefer to catch a lift down to resort. Austria Wins
Both have amazing terrain and good snow records. You should look at what time of year you are going and plan accordingly. Score Draw

Definitely worth trying Austria especially if you are taking a car as so many options open up to you.
Austria wins, definitely worth a try.

This could just be my imagination but, with the exception of Les Deux Alpes, are the resort runs steeper in Austria?

Just to add an answer regarding the original question about going by car. I always drive when skiing to a European resort and have driven to both France and Austria, along with Italy, Germany and Switzerland.

The drive to Austria is not too bad, my preferred route is up through Belgium, Germany then into Austria. You could also drop down into Luxembourg before heading into Germany to take advantage of cheap fuel costs, but I find this usually adds extra time to the trip. These routes are usually motorway all the way there (depending on where you need to cross into Austria for your resort) until just short of the ski resorts. The German Autobahns are kept in great condition during the winter, plus if you wish, you have the unrestricted speed sections. I aim on about a 10 hour trip to central Austria from Calais. There are also plenty of places to stop should you wish to do a split journey.

Now, whilst it is quicker to drive down to the French Alps, assuming you will also be using the Autoroutes, you have the additional costs of the tolls :( This is running at around the 70 euro each way cost.

My experience has also shown that the traffic is usually much heavier once you get to the French Alps than it is when going to Austria, with the one exception of a nightmare I had crossing into Austria near Fussen, but that was a single lane road, and it coincided with a holiday weekend.

The French traffic usually means I allow about 8+ hours for the trip from Calais. So overall, you have to compare a slightly quicker journey which costs more, against a longer one which is cheaper.

There are of course different routes, and you could choose to go to Austria through Switzerland, but I think this just complicates the journey, it also adds the cost of the Swiss Vignette (about 40 euro) to the trip. I should add at this point, that if you are going to be on the Austrian Autobahns for any decent length, you do need a Vignette for those too. Simply purchased at the first Petrol stop you pass, and I think I recall this was 12 euro last year.

The Michelin website has a pretty good route planner, which also does a good job of working out the tolls and has a guess at fuel costs. It also has a feature in full screen map mode where you can display all the hotels etc along the route if you want to plan a stop. http://www.viamichelin.com/

And before people comment on my estimated times, yes I have a heavy right foot, and I am sure there are a couple of people on this site who will testify to that. So please adjust accordingly if you prefer a more sedate pace. Hope this info helps.

Quick addition to the above.

If driving down through France, I really do advise that you get a tag for the Autoroutes. They are a real god send when you get to a busy toll booth. Being able to drive past all the people in the queue to go through the tag lane is brilliant, and even better when you see the faces on the French drivers who think that a stupid Englishman has got in the wrong lane and is about to get in trouble :)