Half term skiing advice needed!

[zanyj]

I know I'm a bit late with this, but there is some availability left.. DD is in reception now so I guess we are trapped by the school calendar!

So, my questions:

(1) How crowded is the skiing in Austria/Switz/France during half term? Long lines everywhere?

(2) Does everywhere require a Saturday to Saturday booking? We probably can't find flights that work for these days now.

Thank you!

[LIZS]

1. Depends whether local half term is at the same time . Some resorts get more crowded than others we've had a very busy half termn in Saas Fee - lots of Brits, Dutch and Swiss whcoih had the skischool running to capacity and long lift queues - but less crowded in Engelberg where it didn't coincide with Swiss ones and attracts more local clientele than foreign tourists.
   
   
2. tbh you'll be lucky to find flights now for that week which give you more than a short break unless you pay extra for scheduled but you may be lucky if the tour oeprators still have spaces, usually Saturday or Sunday departures although some tailored made ones will vary it is accommodation is available but you'd probably pay more for the flight. If you book hotels direct they may be more flexible but at peak times you may find they can only offer weekend arrivals too.

[zanyj]

Thanks LIZS, very much. Yes, flights are tough now but there is some availability however if the hotels want Saturday-Saturday, it may be tough. The tour operators prob have some limited space-- But what will Heathrow/Gatwick be like on Feb 9th?? I hear it's a madhouse.

Mostly I'm just concerned with queues at the lifts, having been spoiled by going at less crowded times. So sounds like the key is going places that not only don't coincide with local holidays but also don't have lots of Brits!

[MrsTweedy]

You might be alright on Feb 9th as a lot of UK half term dates are for the week after - ours is here in the SE anyway. You could always try the train, and there are several operators such as Ski Peak and Le Ski that do Sunday departures.

[zanyj]

Great, thanks. I am new to the UK, so still trying to figure everything out.

[janinlondon]

Have you thought about Norway? There are NO queues. Try googling Geilo. Great for kids. (We are just booking our half term there now, and they have availability).

[debinaustria]

Austria will be busy - it's the Viennese holidays that week and we've been booked up since last year.

[ajandjjmum]

We've just booked accommodation in Switzerland for Sunday to Saturday - with flexibility if we have to alter our plans. Did get loads of 'fully booked' messages before we found somewhere though!

[quandry]

Advice about skiing at half-term?

Simple.

"Don't!"

(We did a few years ago in Austria - never again - long queues, packed restaurants, kids and grown-ups stressed, airport delays, etc etc)

(Sorry! But if you HAVE to, Norway, or somewhere less popular/ non-tour operator is probably a VERY good idea)

[LIZS]

Unfortuntately for you the earlier half term may mean more Europeans have their ski weeks at that time.

[MrsGuyOfGisbourne]

Envy you having Feb 9th as half-term as it is my birthday and it NEVER co-incides wih our half term...

[LIZS]

oh and if you arrive on say a Monday or Tuesday you may find skischool is already booked up for the week as group lessons tend to start on Sunday/Monday (hence why weekend arrivals are the norm).

[tortoiseSHELL]

We are hopefully going to Scotland for ski-ing in Feb half term - cheaper, less queues, and much less hassle! We go either Feb or Easter every year.

[QuintessentialShadow]

Go to Norway.
They dont "do" winter half term this year. They have merged it with longer easter holidays.

Try search for:
Hemsedal

kids crying got to run

[mummydoc]

take your daughter out of school instead ...oh I know really naughty but i see skiing as a vital social skill my dd1 needs ( she is very unacdemic and will probably go off to be a chalet girl/ski rep and hopefully meet and marry rich swiss banker and then look after me in my dotage) and then spend 1/2 term doing worhty museam trips and reading etc to catch up obviously when they get older i might not do it but when they are little what the heck. tell school she is practising her french while away ( thats what i say)

[QuintessentialShadow]

Hemsedal skiing website in case you dont want to take your kids out of school.

[LizP]

We have skiied the east coast of the US and Canada in Feb half term before. We took them out of school Friday lunchtime to get an early evening flight. Have done this when reception age and they seem to cope with the time difference fine. Have even flown them back from the west coast of Canada and sent them to school the next day without a problem, but wouldn't do that for a week.

[Anna8888]

zanyj - you don't have to fly, you can take Eurostar to go ski-ing in France.

[zanyj]

Thanks everyone! I have spent ALL day looking up places to go, emailing, calling, and my brain is fried. I did find tickets to Milan and I have a reservation, but now what? There a teeny single rooms available within 3 hours of there... I'd prefer more space with dd..

And too many choices, too many hotels.. I am so confused! Bormio? Courmayeur? Saas Fee? Cervinia? Actually haven't found too many openings but seems there is hope.

However... if the queues are awful and ski schools booked, then forget it.

As for skipping school mummydoc I'm too afraid! Even though she's only 4 and it's fee-paying!

[zanyj]

p.s. Thanks for the Norway tip... I am checking it out.

Liz P how did you manage taking kids out early on a Friday just tell the school you're taking them out? I should do this!

Also-- you went from West Coast of Canada to school next morning? We were in LA in July and it took us days to get back on track!

[LIZS]

Saas Fee gets very busy at half term and is not that near Milan.

[LizP]

Zanyj we just fill in a holiday form for a half day and collect at lunch time - never been a problem, but then they don't really do anything on the last afternoon. This year they are missing all of the last day of Easter term, but it is just church in the morning, colouring and then let out at 2 anyway so they will miss nothing.

We are pretty brutal on the jet lag thing - we don't let them sleep too much at odd times, send them to bed early and then off to school - they seem to survive with just a few early nights to catch up. dh often flies back from places and then go straight into the office, so I guess they just kind of accept that is what happens. Never let them think it is an option not to switch straight into what time zone you want them on!

[zanyj]

Thanks lizP-- well, we haven't got holiday forms at our school but I've decided that if there's a family trip or something, I'll just do that. I'm a bit sentimental, so I haven't wanted dd to miss last day of term if they're having a party or singing something that they spent the term learning! Still, better to save hundreds of pounds on airfare.

As for jetlag DH does that all the time too back from overnight flight then to the office. When we came back from LA it wasn't school, so we didn't have a schedule, but the issue was just that she would wake up in the middle of the night repeatedly and had trouble sleeping. Otherwise, we did stick a regular schedule.

However, b/c I worried about this, I booked our return this year from LA (spring) about 5 days before school starts silly me now I can't extend ticket.

As for skiing, well, the search continues! I guess Saas Fee is out! What about St. Moritz? I did find a reasonable option there. (I know these are all about 3 hours from Milan but it's ok). Otherwise, Crans Montana (also about 3 hours I know!)

Thanks so much...

[LIZS]

If it is also Swiss holidays they could all be busyish. St Moritz is also quite spread out skiing wise but very pretty. For Crans you'll have to change onto a bus from train and again the resort is fairly spread out.

[LIZS]

lists school holidays dates for each Canton - change to 2008 and click "suchen". February half term is under "Sport", which is largely staggered across the first 3 weeks of February although Graubunden (St Moritz) is at the end of February. hth

[zanyj]

Thanks you so much LIZS.. very helpful of you to post this information. I guess our half term will coincide with at least some other areas besides London/UK. What are your favorite places? I have actually found availability at several hotels in Italy and Switzerland, surprisingly. Also through tour operators for Austria.

If we go to Crans, we would rent a car and drive, btw.