I agree with all Ian has said.
If you want a bespoke holiday, do the research and book yourself.
For an average off the peg, no worries 7 day break, go with a tour company.
Trying to do things 'on the cheap' almost always dont work out that way!!! :shock:
For Mr W - but everyone else welcome to have a say
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I have used Peak Retreats and there accomodation good if on the small side, it's fine if you don't mind bodies all over the floor at my age I like a little bit of comfort, but by booking direct with the owner, yes you might have to translate a bit of French but you will find cheaper accomodation. :wink:
Mrs W wears a ruckack, with all my stuff in :wink:
Random comment :lol:
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Started by NellyPS in Ski Chatter 26-Feb-2009 - 19 Replies
Brucie
reply to 'For Mr W - but everyone else welcome to have a say' posted Feb-2009
"Better to remain reticent and have people think one is an idiot, than to open ones mouth and remove all doubt"
Rickytoo
reply to 'For Mr W - but everyone else welcome to have a say' posted Feb-2009
Hiya, if you can get good price flights to Geneva, there are a stack of good resorts within an hour or 2 drive, so private transfers tend to be more reasonably priced.
A good company to check out is Peak Retreats-they do good deals for chalets throughout France and can include ferry or channel tunnel crossings.
You can find them online, Peakretreats.com I think.
Good luck.
A good company to check out is Peak Retreats-they do good deals for chalets throughout France and can include ferry or channel tunnel crossings.
You can find them online, Peakretreats.com I think.
Good luck.
Form is temporary, class is permanent.
Ian Wickham
reply to 'For Mr W - but everyone else welcome to have a say' posted Feb-2009
Rickytoo wrote:Hiya, if you can get good price flights to Geneva, there are a stack of good resorts within an hour or 2 drive, so private transfers tend to be more reasonably priced.
A good company to check out is Peak Retreats-they do good deals for chalets throughout France and can include ferry or channel tunnel crossings.
You can find them online, Peakretreats.com I think.
Good luck.
I have used Peak Retreats and there accomodation good if on the small side, it's fine if you don't mind bodies all over the floor at my age I like a little bit of comfort, but by booking direct with the owner, yes you might have to translate a bit of French but you will find cheaper accomodation. :wink:
Salski
reply to 'For Mr W - but everyone else welcome to have a say' posted Feb-2009
Hi NellyPS, I always do a DIY holiday (myself, OH & 10 year old) - & take great pleasure in doing the hours of research necessary to get a good deal :D I like to go to places that aren't frequented by the big tour operators & I read reviews of different resorts on here, Ski Club of GB website, Snow-Forecast, Go-Ski.com, & TripAdvisor etc. I also trawl through public albums on places like Picasa & Flickr to get an idea of an area. We go late January, take 10yo out of school, find accommodation that has flexible arrival & departure dates (start off by doing a Google on apartments in ........)
This year we decided on St. Gervais-les-Bains & a couple of friends came with us:-
Return Easy Jet flights from East Midlands to Geneva £55.00 each (out on a Tues, back on a Thurs)
Return Minibus transfer to apartment £45 each
Accommodation (shared between 5)£82.80 each (including bedding, towels & end of stay clean)
The adult lift passes were 214 euros for 8 days & we had ski hire to pay too.
We took a picnic lunch every day & ate in most nights. The shopping bill for the food & drink we purchased out there came to £50 each.
Our friends always book through a tour operator & they were very dubious that it would all work out :roll: . They couldn't believe how smoothly everything went & how cheap it was compared to what they normally pay. We also had a 10 day holiday, rather than a 7 day one.
I've looked at supposed tour operator bargains numerous times, but when I put all our details in there are always so many supplements it is never a bargain. Also, I don't want to fly from a London airport, or even Manchester for that matter when I can fly locally with a choice of times to suit me.
Have also driven to the Alps which gives lots of flexibility too, but it can take as long to drive from home to Dover as it does from Calais to the Alps - which is a real pain in the backside - particularly on the return journey!
We did a similar trip to Samoens last year & both holidays were very successful. If you want to see some photos, have a look at:-
http://picasaweb.google.com/Jimandsal/StGervaisLesBainsWebAlbum#
Good luck - & feel free to ask any further questions.
This year we decided on St. Gervais-les-Bains & a couple of friends came with us:-
Return Easy Jet flights from East Midlands to Geneva £55.00 each (out on a Tues, back on a Thurs)
Return Minibus transfer to apartment £45 each
Accommodation (shared between 5)£82.80 each (including bedding, towels & end of stay clean)
The adult lift passes were 214 euros for 8 days & we had ski hire to pay too.
We took a picnic lunch every day & ate in most nights. The shopping bill for the food & drink we purchased out there came to £50 each.
Our friends always book through a tour operator & they were very dubious that it would all work out :roll: . They couldn't believe how smoothly everything went & how cheap it was compared to what they normally pay. We also had a 10 day holiday, rather than a 7 day one.
I've looked at supposed tour operator bargains numerous times, but when I put all our details in there are always so many supplements it is never a bargain. Also, I don't want to fly from a London airport, or even Manchester for that matter when I can fly locally with a choice of times to suit me.
Have also driven to the Alps which gives lots of flexibility too, but it can take as long to drive from home to Dover as it does from Calais to the Alps - which is a real pain in the backside - particularly on the return journey!
We did a similar trip to Samoens last year & both holidays were very successful. If you want to see some photos, have a look at:-
http://picasaweb.google.com/Jimandsal/StGervaisLesBainsWebAlbum#
Good luck - & feel free to ask any further questions.
The plan is.... there's no plan!
Ian Wickham
reply to 'For Mr W - but everyone else welcome to have a say' posted Feb-2009
Salski wrote:Hi NellyPS, I always do a DIY holiday (myself, OH & 10 year old) - & take great pleasure in doing the hours of research necessary to get a good deal :D I like to go to places that aren't frequented by the big tour operators & I read reviews of different resorts on here, Ski Club of GB website, Snow-Forecast, Go-Ski.com, & TripAdvisor etc. I also trawl through public albums on places like Picasa & Flickr to get an idea of an area. We go late January, take 10yo out of school, find accommodation that has flexible arrival & departure dates (start off by doing a Google on apartments in ........)
This year we decided on St. Gervais-les-Bains & a couple of friends came with us:-
Return Easy Jet flights from East Midlands to Geneva £55.00 each (out on a Tues, back on a Thurs)
Return Minibus transfer to apartment £45 each
Accommodation (shared between 5)£82.80 each (including bedding, towels & end of stay clean)
The adult lift passes were 214 euros for 8 days & we had ski hire to pay too.
We took a picnic lunch every day & ate in most nights. The shopping bill for the food & drink we purchased out there came to £50 each.
Our friends always book through a tour operator & they were very dubious that it would all work out :roll: . They couldn't believe how smoothly everything went & how cheap it was compared to what they normally pay. We also had a 10 day holiday, rather than a 7 day one.
I've looked at supposed tour operator bargains numerous times, but when I put all our details in there are always so many supplements it is never a bargain. Also, I don't want to fly from a London airport, or even Manchester for that matter when I can fly locally with a choice of times to suit me.
Have also driven to the Alps which gives lots of flexibility too, but it can take as long to drive from home to Dover as it does from Calais to the Alps - which is a real pain in the backside - particularly on the return journey!
We did a similar trip to Samoens last year & both holidays were very successful. If you want to see some photos, have a look at:-
http://picasaweb.google.com/Jimandsal/StGervaisLesBainsWebAlbum#
Good luck - & feel free to ask any further questions.
Mrs W wears a ruckack, with all my stuff in :wink:
Salski
reply to 'For Mr W - but everyone else welcome to have a say' posted Feb-2009
Ian Wickham wrote:
Mrs W wears a ruckack, with all my stuff in :wink:
Random comment :lol:
The plan is.... there's no plan!
Tony_H
reply to 'For Mr W - but everyone else welcome to have a say' posted Feb-2009
Not at all. Mrs H wears a rucksack with all my stiff in.
Including an endless supply of dodds.
Including an endless supply of dodds.
www
New and improved me
NellyPS
reply to 'For Mr W - but everyone else welcome to have a say' posted Feb-2009
Thanks boys and girls (even for the random comments), lots of great advice to keep me going. I love researching stuff on the internet so that gives me something to do when we get back off our hols next week.
One other question, I never seem to be able to find any accommodation that doesn't stick to the 7 day Sat-Sat rule, but then I might be looking in the wrong places, ie, never looked at the tourist info websites for accommodation. We want to go for 10 days.
Thanks again, am off on my hols on Sunday (much excitement!) :D
One other question, I never seem to be able to find any accommodation that doesn't stick to the 7 day Sat-Sat rule, but then I might be looking in the wrong places, ie, never looked at the tourist info websites for accommodation. We want to go for 10 days.
Thanks again, am off on my hols on Sunday (much excitement!) :D
Topic last updated on 05-March-2009 at 17:17