I am an intermediate ski guy at best, but would love to do some skiing in Europe. What mountains/towns have people been to that seemed great. I was in Europe over the summer and fell in love with all the countries, so please choose a bunch of places! Thanks

The Serre Chevalier ski domaine (Briancon is the main town) in the Hautes Alpes region of France. It's a traditional ski area, as opposed to most of the purpose-built and therefore unattractive ski resorts in France. State of the art lift systems, etc. Wonderful place for families or those not looking for exciting apres ski.

quebec,

For me, THE (capitals do not mean shouting this time ;-)) place to be is St. Anton, Austria.
Gorgeous slopes, great snow, although it's not super high, nice crowd, sporty skiing and great "apres- ski" (party on slope at Krazy Kangaroo, Moserwirt and in Postkeller right at the end of the slopes in town). There are (I think) approx. 100 miles of slopes- and the villages of Lech (more posh) and Zuers are included in the ski- pass. Wonderful rustic lunches at Rodelhuette...cannot wait to go there myself this winter.
Also nice is Soelden in Austria and Obertauern, also in Austria.
In Italy, the Valtellina region is pretty snow- secure as it's pretty high (Livigno and Bormio). For Switzerland there's of course, Zermatt. In France, very good skiing is to be had at Val D' Isere/ Tignes (probably the best I have experienced). But the overall atmosphere is just not as authentic and "gemuetlich" as in Austria. It is rather artificial with terrible architecture (esp. in Tignes).
I think the best place is St. Anton, after all!
Happy skiing ("Schifoahn"- to make it Austrian !
hsv

Kitzbuhel, Austria -- and the town is charming. The Hotel Zur Tenne was wonderful.

Val Desire in France has long runs, immense ski area (one of my favorites). Town is modern and lacks charm. Lyon is a great town to fly into. Old town has great food. Chamonix has good expert runs but the ski areas are not connected. Annecy (old medieval town with canals) is a great town to stop over before Chamonix. St. Anton, Lech, Zurs are 3 Austrian towns connected by ski runs. Great area, fun apres ski and night life. I agree Moselwirt and Krazy Kangaroo are a must see apres ski bar on the slopes. Kitzbuel has alot of charm but skiing not impressive. Not much vertical feet and not very advanced. Zermatt with the Matterhorn is spectacular scenery. Pedestrian town no cars allowed. Each of the 3 ski areas not as well connected as Val Desire or St. Anton but scenery makes up for it. Great restaurants on the slope and can ski to Italian side for lunch (Cervinia). Cortina, Italy and the Dolomites have dramatic views but I prefer the Alps. You can ski the Sellaronda (around the mountain) in the Cortina area. Ski from town to town circling the Sella mountain. Quiet at night but has the Italian atmosphere. So overall, France the best runs, Austria and Switzerland best scenery and charming towns, Italy the Italian atmosphere and a stopover in Venice. Have fun! I go over to ski every year with friends. If you need more info hotels etc.. email at [email protected]. The worst day skiing is better than the best day working. Also invest in daily ski insurance when you buy your ski ticket. Covers rescue, doctors etc... for $3/day. If very advanced skier, I recommend hiring a private guide to take you off-piste skiing.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but Kitzbuhel "not impressive"? Don't tell that to the locals or the championship skiers that come every year to take part in the Hahnenkamm.

My choice is for Austria. I went to Meierhofen (SP?) outside Innsbruck on a one week ski holiday 2 years ago and loved it. We were on a package from Dublin but our friends booked independently and stayed and a nicer place (The Krammerwert) in the village and near the (whats the bloody word I am looking for... The thingy that takes you up to the slopes in a metal box... funicular?) There is great apres ski and other activities as well as glacier skiing for those who are at a higher level. Also there are barsand restaurants at the top of the mountain in circus like tents. We would have a shot of schnapps (or 2) and head home for the day over the mountain. It was insane and great fun. I hope to go back this year, the scenery was breathtaking.

My husband and I are intermeiate skiers and have found plenty of trails to enjoy in Kitzbuhel. The best thing is that you can walk to the slopes from many of the hotels and Gast Houses in town, ski all day and take a bus back to your starting point from whichever little village you have skied into. If you are interested in shopping after a day on the slopes, the stores in town are great.

quebec
I think you have to define yourself, on what kind of place you are looking for
otherwise you are going to get a lot of info but difficult choice. Ski resorts do specialzed and some are more family oriented, or budget or younger people. And in any of the types you have different price rates. So fisrt I suggest you define a country and then the type of place.
There are places like Zermatt in switzerland that probably have the best ski in Europe but if you want to meet young people other places will be better, like the nearby resort of Saas Fee. Same applies for Italy, France,Austria.

Great response, car!! Exactly what I thought.

HSV - nice to hear from you after a long time - I absolutely agree with you on St. Anton. I did not like Soelden very much, though.

One thought on Kitzbühel: Have been there and it was relatively good, not top. A major concern is snow reliability due to low elevation.

Good luck that my favourite spots were not mentioned yet want to save them for me, LOL!

INgo

Cheers to you Ingo- showing a completely new side here, aren't you;-). Reluctant to give away your favorite skiing destination?- Now that makes me curious!

BTW: It just popped to mind that you might also want to consider Ischgl/ Austria. I have not been there myself, but over recent years it has built up a reputation for good slopes and excessive parties in the evenings...

Ischgl is definitely not as good as St. Anton (in my opinion at least). For me it seems to be a place for those who made too much money in little time (and want to spend this money in still shorter time!). Excessive parties, yes. Not my personal favourite.

The good thing on Ischgl is, however, that the skiing area is connected with Samnaun/Switzerland. Better food there, sunnier slopes and tax-free shopping.

HSV, I'll post a message when on skiing vacation this winter and you'll see where it is ...

Übrigens, eine Kollegin fährt am Dienstag für drei Wochen zur Kur nach Boltenhagen - da könnte man neidisch werden. Habe ihr natürlich Ausflüge nach HH, HL und Wismar empfohlen.

Cheers, Ingo

Ingo,

guess why I haven't been to Ischgl- it certainly has a nouveau- riche appeal about it that does not make me too inclined to go there.
But then again- I did not want to judge something that I do not know myself and there certainly is an increasing number of people who go there, which is why I wanted to mention it in this context.
BTW coming to think about one of your summer posts, I suppose I might guess where your winter preference lies- but I won't out you here ;-)!

Reg. Boltenhagen: Sehr schöner Ort- aber derzeit bestimmt sehr ruhig. Dennoch klasse. Viel Zeit einkalkulieren, um nach Hamburg zu kommen (ca. 2 Std.), da der Verkehr durch den Wald in Lübeck immer noch katastrophal ist. Ein Tip- wenn sie in den Wald in Lübeck fährt (kenne leider den Str.- Namen nicht), nicht an der Ampel rechts abbiegen (also nicht den Wegweisern folgen), sondern geradeaus weiterfahren in die Stadt und erst dann zur Autobahn. Ein Blick auf die Karte lohnt sich und spart locker 20 min.- halbe Stunde!

Just as an explanation: The last passage in German is a bit off topic regarding a trip to a German seaside resort town called Boltenhagen-- no offense to anyone!

hsv, you are probably right with your idea about my favourite skiing area

re: Boltenhagen - wow, danke für den Tip. Das spart sicher Zeit. Ich habe das gleich weitergeleitet. Übrigens sucht sie die Ruhe - also perfekte Zeit für die Kur.

Gruss Ingo

Hey quebec:
hsv gave you some great info! I loved skinng the Lech, Zurs, St. Cristoff and St. Anton area!! Combined, they have some of the greatest variety of slopes and Apre-ski fun in Europe!
JOhn

Back in the 80's I lived there for a few years. St Anton remains my favorite for Skiing. Kitzbuhel is a close second....more picturesque and more to do outside of downhill (like shopping).

So sorry to hear that the crowd has found Ischgl - while small it used to be locals only, no Americans, no excessive cash.....too bad