JulieVikmanis

We are looking for a ski trip location between Christmas and New Years. It will be my husband and I (non-skiers) and our grown son who is a very good skier. We need a place where he can ski for several days and where we can do some winter sightseeing.

In years past we've gone to Garmisch-Partenkirchen where we loved the scenery and day trips but he found the skiing a bit tame and to Salzburg where we found good scenery and day trips and he found the skiing at Kitzbuhl and other surrounding places very good.(Salzburg has a wonderful tourist info office that sets up excellent ski bus deals.)

We'd rather not repeat ourselves so I'm looking for recommendations of ski areas that will afford him some challenging slopes but also permit us some scenery and day trips rather than just the opportunity to sit around ski lodges and drink by the fire.

All suggestions gratefully considered. Thanks.

Steve_James

Hi Julie - I always give the same answer when anyone asks this - VAL GARDENA in the Italian Dolomites.

SELVA is one of the top resorts in Europe. Neighbouring ORTISEI is an equally good base (- I've based there in December the past 5 years).

Have a look:
http://www.dolomitigallery.com/inverno/

Dolomites Superski is the biggest ski carousel in Europe, I believe.

Val Gardena itself hosts the 'Sass Long' World Championship downhill race just before Xmas - so your son will certainly find some challenging slopes.

From Selva he has easy access to the famous Sella Ronda circuit - one of the most spectacular ski circuits in Europe.

For the non-skier you can easily visit nearby towns and villages e.g. Casterotto, Bolzano, Bressanone, Chiusi, Vipiteno - or a little further afield Trento, Merano, Brunico, Innsbruck.

Or ... you can just take one of Val Gardena the cable-cars (e.g Alpe di Siusi, Ciampinoi, Dantercepies, Seceda/Fermeda ...) and enjoy the magnificent views over lunch and a gluwein.

Your son may enjoy the video:
http://www.valgardena.it/?artid=730&...1&lang=ita

Hope this helps ...

Steve

Some links:

http://www.valgardena.it/en/val-gard...den/page4.html

http://www.dolomitisuperski.com/ValG...hx?ccode=en-US

http://www.valgardena.it/en/val-gard...o/page120.html

JulieVikmanis

Thanks, Steve. Not to have you do all my work for me, but if we based in the Dolomites to spend, say, 6 days, where would we be best advised to fly into (coming from east coast USA) and given our interests do you favor Selva over Ortesei as a base or would Castelrotto be ok as well? We were in Castelrotto for a day while staying in Bassano del Grappa and enjoyed that town very much. I'd also appreciate any suggestions for nice lodgings in which ever town you recommend most highly.
Thanks.

And any other suggestions for other areas to meet our needs still of interest.

bmw732002

Julie:

You have been to two of my favorite area's, Garmisch and Kitzbuhl.

Steve gave you a great area to explore. Italy always ranks high on my list, especially the Food and People!

That time of year is PEAK (no pun intended) and I am sure most good spots are already booked.

Austria has a great ski area in the Alberg Area. One side of the valley is Lech and the other side is St. Anton, Fabulous scenery and Skiing. But might be a bit tough to tour sites from, that valley gets hit with snow.

One spot that I had been to had great sightseeing and good (not great) skiing is the area of Courmyeur on the border of France and Italy. You can spend time in the town of Aosta, tour the Gran Paradiso Park, and take a breathtaking cable car(s) from Italy over to France. And of course there is the FOOD!

JoyC

We're also going skiing in Austria this Christmas and though I can't say we are experts or <i>off-piste</i> skiers, we do/can tackle black diamond in Colorado. We will be going to Kitzb&uuml;hel, Arlberg (St. Anton, Z&uuml;rs and maybe Lech) and Ischgl. Serfaus is another consideration if we have time.My son is a young teen and more of a snowboarder, though.

JoyC

Sorry Julie, though we will be going to the areas I've mentioned above, we will mostly be skiing and not sightseeing so I can't recommend nearby areas for you to visit.

bmw732002

Joy:

Ha! We must have been posting at the same time!

If you can ski black diamond in Colorado, you will have no problem with those areas! Lech is my favorite but St. Anton has the rep for great skiers, challenging terrain and World Class Apre-Ski!!

I am jealous!

JoyC

Hi bmw !

Thank you for your insights about those areas. We're quite excited to try the trails in the Tirol region of Austria especially St. Anton.

Julie:

If you are going to the areas I or bmw or Steve suggested, I urge you to book your hotels ASAP. I had quite a difficult time booking (did these last March) during the period Christmas and New Year because these are indeed PEAK season and most of the nice ones that were not outrageously priced were already booked!!

JulieVikmanis

Thanks for the tips and the advice on getting going to get reservations. I'm forwarding to my son for consideration and hope to get moving within the week or so.

Anyone have favorites in the French Alps areas or areas of switzerland that would afford both skiing and sightseeing for our differing interests?

divine54

french alps i would highly recommend les troi vall&eacute;e but only for skiing (snow guaranteed area - almost these days) not for seightseeing.

div

bmw732002

I will again put in my 2 cents....

Zermatt: The skiing from Switzerland to Italy (there is that Italy thing again!) was worth the whole trip.

Many, many people just go for the modest hiking trails to great lunch spots (Che Vroney comes to mind!)

So I see your son skiing the shadows of the Mattahorn while you hit the trails for lunch and then get back to the fine hotels for some spa treatments and heated pool time!

You are captive in a unique location!

Steve_James

Hi Julie - I think the best base in the area to meet your needs is Ortisei.

It has easy ski-bus access to the ski slopes of Selva and S. Cristina for your son and is well placed for trips to other areas for the non-skiers.

Hotel recommendations? What kind of place are you looking for?

I usually stay in a 3* B&amp;B in the village centre:
www.hotelvillapark.com

If you want something more upmarket, here's the hotel catalogue - there are many fine hotels in Ortisei.

http://www.valgardena.it/bilder/HF20...lrich_2008.pdf

As others have said, you need to book asap.

Let me know if I can be of more help ...

Steve

Steve_James

Forgot to say ... the nearest airports are Bolzano, Innsbruck, Verona, Brescia ...

But for direct flights from USA you're probably looking at Venice, Munich or Milan.

JulieVikmanis

Returning this to the top in hope of hearing from someone with info on French and Swiss ski destinations with good sightseeing surrounding.

JulieVikmanis

Anyone, please?

Not that I'm opposed to any of the info received so far. In fact very grateful, but want to be sure all bases are covered. let's hear about France an Switerland. Thanks.

swandav2000

Hi JulieVikmanis,

That time of year is pretty early for skiing, as already noted. So you have to get to some elevation, and that means probably either Zermatt or the Engadin Valley.

I've skied Zermatt one year and wasn't truly impressed -- I thought the village was overbuilt (the &quot;Manhattan of the Mountains&quot, and the skiing was really (REALLY) cold with fierce winds and blowing snow. Also, Zermatt is pretty isolated at the end of the valley, so your touring is limited to that area -- maybe as far out as Brig, Riederalp, Bettmeralp.

The second option, the Engadin Valley, is a favorite of the poster, Ingo. I've spent a week in the town of Zuoz in the Valley, but I've never skied there. I think it's a glorious area, a narrow valley with a river, framed by gigantic, massive peaks. The architecture is much different than the rest of the country, relying on local stone instead of wood (and the stone facades are decorated with the ancient art of Sgraffiti). The food is also different, and many folks in Switzerland and Germany say this is the best cuisine in Switzerland. The EV also get the most sunshine of anywhere else in the country.

Some places to investigate are: Pontresina, Sils, St. Mortiz, Samedan.

As I said, Ingo is a frequent visitor there, and he has just returned from spending two weeks in Sils. Here's a link to his report:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35144578

He posted links to his photos, too, so you might want to look at those to see the area.

Good luck!

s

Steve_James

Where did you pick in the end, Julie? Just curious ...

JulieVikmanis

You won't believe this--Barcelona. My husband decided that the difficulty of selecting the right ski spot--especially with little time left to make scarce reservations--was just too much to handle. Furthermore he decided that what we really want to do is enjoy our son's company rather than treat him to a ski vacation that takes him away from us much of the day. DH decided to tell son to go skiing with friends and travel with us somewhere we can all enjoy another of our favorite sports together--dining. So it looks like we'll be back in Barcelona in Dec/Jan. rather than in February as we have done for the last two years.

That said, I still very much appreciate the help you all gave me in trying to select a ski/sightsee place for us. And the work won't go to waste. I'll file it for another year/time when we can plan a bit further ahead and others who search on the locations you all wrote about
will have excellent comparative information to base their selections on. Thanks.

Steve_James

Xmas dining in Barcelona sounds like good sport to me too
Great choice ...