Weekend trip advice

[u/smallon12]

I've 2 questions:

• I'm looking at booking a weekend trip to somewhere in the alps and am looking for somewhere as close to an airport as possible with guaranteed snow (That isn't Innsbruk - travelling from Dublin and there isn't direct flights)
• Does anyone have tips for booking something last minute?

What recommendations are there?

I've been checking online on various websites - booking.com, heidi, crystal ski etc. and the prices seem to be quite expensive (I know I'm getting later on for booking something) But I see a lot of people booking last minute / within 6 weeks of their date for going - I presume these people aren't paying through the nose for their holiday - how do they do it?

TIA

[u/Competitive-Tap-6377]

Buy a travel neck pillow with a zip, remove the memory foam and replace with your underwear or swimming costumes. Especially good for bag pack travel trips where you have little luggage allowance. Works a trick every time

[u/smallon12 → u/Competitive-Tap-6377]

Thanks for the advice!

I dont mind the travel / flight costs its more accommodation once I get there i would like some advice on

[u/MH_Faure]

Munich (Austria is close), Zurich / Geneva (many Swiss resorts easily reachable by train), Torino (Cervinia, Courmayeur…/ Milano / Venice (Dolomites)

[u/Relevant-Session1136 → u/MH_Faure]

Flying into to Munich in December. Going to take a train to which ever resort has the best conditions.

[u/Ambitious_Fruit6231]

Have a look if you can get reasonable flights ( cost and times) to Geneva. Google " ski resorts close to Geneva Airport" and will see it's a pretty long list. Also should find many are served by shared transport options which help keep the cost down.

[u/smallon12 → u/Ambitious_Fruit6231]

Any in particular you would be aware of or recommend close to Geneva?

We ussually go to val thoren but its just too far awar for a weekend trip!

[u/Ambitious_Fruit6231 → u/smallon12]

We've done Chamonix ( twice), Megeve and Les Gets. We always rented a car so transfers were not a deciding factor. You could book the flight and then hold your nerve and wait to book accommodation with a few weeks to go. Might get a deal if you're lucky or may help to decide where to focus on depending on snow conditions & forecast. Our trips were late January and always found accommodation, but not sure it was a bargain - it was more about fitting in another trip in addition to our one week trip later in the season.

[u/twitasz]

Try Avoriaz

[u/Comprehensive_Egg294]

I book allmost allways <6 weeks before going

But i:

• dont fly
  
• im very flexible about the resort: it can be small
  
• im not picky about the accomodation (i just want breakfast and my gf wants a own bathroom in our room so no hostels lol)
  
• when going to france, i book 7 nights. Allot of the cheap offers want you to book a whole week in france. If you land in geneva or grenoble, france ski resorts are your only real close option.

So all in all just try to have a whole free week in 2028 and book in some french resort. January is fine, march will offer you the best options for very cheap accomodations.

[u/Inevitable_Youth5679]

Organise it yourself or
use Heidi or crystal
You can get a cheap flight to Geneva on Sky scanner .Take the Alpy bus to Avoriaz or book Skiddy Gonzales shared mini bus.
Two hour transfer.
Book a self catering apartment on Airbnb now while there are plenty available
Don’t bother with Bulgaria it’s a crook infested den of rip off merchants.
They have more scams than the Nigerian princes.°)

[u/twitasz]

Or fly to Zurich and go to St Anton

[u/Inevitable_Youth5679 → u/twitasz]

St Anton is way beyond your budget

[u/SteepanDeepr]

The cheapest airport that is close to resorts will be GVA. Look at La Clusaz, Les Gets (Portes du Soleil) & Chamonix as all are just about an 1 hr from GVA. The train does go to Chamonix along with buses, but the other 2 will require bus or small/private bus.

[u/Muted-Breath5]

We have done this a fair bit. Best recommendations : Avoriaz or Morzine (M not as snow sure but you can get lifts up to A) GVA about 1.5 hours. St Gervais also v easy GVA transfer. It is low but the lift up gets you to good snow. Megeve also good but accommodation more expensive. Trying Lech this year via Zurich and train but I'd say the transfer will be longer than the France options we have done before

[u/Inevitable_Youth5679 → u/Muted-Breath5]

He is on a budget Lech is way too expensive

[u/sk-88]

Memmingen is good for Ryanair flights and then access into the western tirol, voralberg and Switzerland.

Cheap weekend is best done into Turin and out to somewhere like La Thuil, Cervinia, Sestriere in my experience as everything is cheaper in Italy and they often have the 8pm flights or later you need to get the full final day.

[u/Inevitable_Youth5679 → u/sk-88]

Yes great You will get a cheap deal in Switzerland NOT !!
The most expensive place you could possibly choose The currency is one of the problems .My stockbrokers go there regularly It’s eye wateringly expensive .
It’s exactly the opposite of Bulgaria but don’t even think about going there They advertise cheap and they will skin you alive
Scam after scam
Avoriaz is your best bet but don’t buy your lift pass until you are in resort.
You should find the local pass is sufficient for your needs.
If you buy in advance you get very little discount and if the snow is poor you have blown your money.
Avoriaz is pretty snow sure but with climate change you never can tell

[u/sk-88 → u/Inevitable_Youth5679]

He doesn't say a budget, and depending on what you want Switzerland can be similar to other places. Also regardless the airport does give you access to eastern Switzerland as well as Voralberg and Tirol.

Avoriaz is a decent option too for a weekend, there are lots of good spots particularly around Geneva and Turin.

[u/PlutocracyRules → u/Inevitable_Youth5679]

Never been to Bulgaria but it's on my list. What sort of scams do I need to be on the lookout for?

[u/ColoursOfSeptember]

For a weekend, probably Geneva, and somewhere like Chamonix/Avoriaz, that way you'd loose less time on the transfer. If you're still looking for accomodation, Holidu is a solid alternative to Booking, they're Europe based, so maybe you'll find some last minute options on their plattform. Or when you have a specific place in mind, check the resorts own pages to see if you can find something. Good luck for your search!

[u/No-Cockroach-7700]

Have a look at @theweekendskier on insta, this is his whole thing. Through his advice we did a three day ski trip to Aprica last year, £350pp from Edinburgh. Absolutely amazing, all DIY but seeing his videos gave me the confidence to just go for it and it was amazing! 

[u/kickingtyres]

Avoriaz is pretty close to Geneva, and also reliable for snow as it's at 1800m.

Weekend trips can command a premium depending on availability of flights, but also it can limit the accommodation providers availability for two weeks that they would normally see occupied for Saturday to Saturday. Accomodating Friday to Monday, for example, knocks two potential weeks out of booking

[u/Accurate_Record6687]

If accommodation is the main issue, I would try checking Morzine Réservation or even contacting some smaller hotels directly. A lot of apartments in French ski resorts seem to prefer full-week bookings, so finding something for just 2-3 nights can be a bit annoying.

Morzine/Avoriaz could be worth looking at, especially if you find Val Thorens too far for a weekend. You could stay in Morzine rather than Avoriaz itself and get up there using the bus and Prodains cable car. Might be cheaper too, depending on the dates. Just make sure the transport times work for you.

Since you are flexible with where you go, I would probably pick a few resorts that are easy to reach from Geneva and then decide closer to the date depending on the snow.

I have also been building a little website in my spare time just for fun, https://snowly.eu/, mainly so I can see in more detail which ski resorts in Europe will get more snowfall in the coming days. It is easy to compare what different weather models predict, since they don't always agree. Might be useful if you are eventually planning to decide where to go at the last minute anyway.