Money saving tips for skiers
The only crunch you want to hear this coming season is the sound of your ski boots crunching through the freshly laid snow. So follow the Tirol Tourist Board’s top tips to survive the credit-crunch and still get out on the slopes for 2009-10.
Tirol’s top ski saver tips to beat the credit crunch:
- Choose your resort carefully - stay 3*, ski 5*. Just a stone’s throw away from some of the world’s top ski areas are lesser known cosy mountain villages that remain the best value for money, offering genuine and authentic Tirolean hospitality.
- Weigh up your accommodation options – you don’t just have to choose between hotels, chalets or apartments the Tirol has a myriad choice from B&B’s to small pensions to farm houses.
- If you can’t afford a week, opt for a short break. Most of the packages listed below also offer short break options, whilst some of the bigger resorts will only offer Saturday-Saturday durations. And with daily flights from the UK, it has never been so easy.
- Don’t purchase a full 6-day whole area pass if you are only going to ski mornings or if you are only going to stick to blue runs all week.
- Make the local tourist office your first port of call – some offer weekly cards entitling you to discounts on après-ski activities, local restaurants and will advertise any free events happening in resort.
- Pop into MPreis or another local supermarket bakery every morning on your way to the slopes – most will make up sandwiches for you.
- Money too tight for après-ski activities? Make your own fun by building a snowman, sledging or having a snowball fight.
For more information on the Tirol region go to visittirol.co.uk.
The packages below are based on accommodation only - Innsbruck is served by Easyjet (easyjet.com) from Gatwick, Liverpool and Bristol and by British Airways (ba.com) from Gatwick.
POUND FOR A POUND
The village of Pfunds is located in Tirol’s Oberinntal (the Upper Inn Valley) and perfectly situated for easy access to Ischgl/Samnaun, Nauders, the family ski area of Fendels and the Kauntertal glacier. All the areas are easily accessible using the free ski bus and the new ski pass ‘Snow Card Gold’ now incorporates all the areas. Prices start from €233 per person for 4 nights, staying at the family-run Haus Schuchter in Pfunds and includes breakfast and a 4 day ski ski pass ‘Snow Card Gold’ and free ski bus. See haus-schuchter.at
FOLLOW THE ICE MAN
The top resorts in the Ötztal (Ötz valley) are the ‘ski hard, party hard’ resort of Sölden and the traditional mountain village of Obergurgl. One of the best and cheapest ways to explore the skiing area is to embark on a Ski Safari and use the small village of Ötz, at the beginning of the valley, as a base to start. Stay at the Alpenhotel Ötz, with prices starting from between €44 - €58 per night in a double room, including half board. The free ski bus takes skiers directly to the slopes and with a 6 day ski pass costing €175 you can use all the lifts in Kühtai, Niederthai, Ötz and Sölden (for two days only). For more information visit alpenhotel-oetz.at and oetztal.com.
SKI AND THE CITY
There are not many European cities where you have skiing literally on your doorstep, but the Tirolean capital of Innsbruck has a total of nine ski areas, 80 lifts and 285km of piste. The ski areas of the Olympia SkiWorld Innsbruck can be reached by a free bus to each base station making all nine areas easily accessible. In the small, provinical villages around the capital you will find a host of affordable accommodation options. Stay at the Gasthof Isserwirt in Lans with prices starting from €50 per person in a double room and includes a free ski bus to the ski resorts of the Olympia SkiWorld. See isserwirt.at.
Or why not use the capital city itself as your ski hub? Visit skihotels-innsbruck.at where you will find a selection of specially designed ski packages for all pockets, whether you want to stay 3*, 4* or 5*. Stay 5 nights from Sunday to Friday with prices starting from €335 per person, including half board, a 4 day ski pass and a ski bus service to the ski areas of Axamer Lizum and Glungezer. What’s more there is a 10% discount on all pre-season and late season packages.
GROUP SAVER
For groups of family and friends it pays to stay in an apartment rather than a hotel as generally you pay for the property price rather than a per person price. The Haus Aradira in Kappl, close to the famous resort of Ischgl in the Paznaun valley, offers four individual modern apartments for up to four people, with prices starting from just €100 per day. Not only can you ski Kappl’s local slopes but you have the fantastic Silvretta Skiarena only a few kilometres away by ski bus. Visit aradira.at
SUPER SKI WEEK
Book early for late season skiing and take advantage of some of the top deals. Head to the Tirolean resort of Scheffau, regarded as one of the best starting-points to access the Ski Welt, Austria’s largest interconnected ski area with over 250km of marked piste. The Gasthof Bärnstatt in Scheffau is offering guests a ‘Super Ski Week’ for stays between 13th March and 5th April 2010, with prices starting from €642 for 2 adults in a double room for 7 nights on half board. Also included is a 6-day SkiWelt whole area lift pass and free transport with the owner’s own private ski bus. Visit baernstatt.at.