There is no denying the fact that skiing is expensive. With this first blog on Budget Cruncher Ski Holiday, we will help you keep your budget in check so that you can enjoy a wonderful ski holiday with an ideal price/performance ratio.
Firstly, a simple way to keep costs cool on your ski vacation is to go to smaller ski resorts. The glitz and glamour of world-renowned ski resorts is often over-rated. Prices for lift tickets, accommodation, restaurants and even ski rentals vary dramatically according to the size and location of the ski resort, and these variables all add up in the end to a price difference of 20 to 30%.
There are many wonderful smaller ski resorts in Austria that are not so well known and overcrowded, but still offer excellent opportunities for skiing. If you don’t care about celebrity spotting, smaller resorts have a lot to offer skiers!
Kleinarl, Salzburg
Filzmoos, Salzburg
Tauplitz, Styria
Phyrn-Priel, Hinterstoder
Klosteral, Voralberg
Gerlos, Tirol
A second budget cracker concerns location, location, and location. As wonderful as it is, “ski in/ski out” accommodation is usually very expensive. If you look on the outskirts of the village or even in a neighbouring village, there are significant differences in price per night and it is usually less crowded.
Most ski resorts have free ski buses that drive a circular route throughout the area taking guests from their hotels to the ski lifts in the morning and back again in the afternoon. For example, Kaprun has a bus route frequency to rival most medium-sized cities. Before booking, ask if the hotel is directly on the bus route.
There are also hotel chains that have specialized in secondary locations in order to be able to offer a top price-performance ratio. Additionally, there are interesting internet platforms that specialize in arranging cheap ski hotels.
Thirdly, rent a self-catering apartment or house rather than a hotel room. Of course, you don’t want to spend your holiday in the kitchen, but trust us on this one, having breakfast in pyjamas and dinner in your ski thermals is quite a luxury, and often more comfortable than eating at the hotel dining room. Many ski resort grocery stores or butchers offer great prepared take-away options, so you need not skip on quality and great food.
Fourthly, lunch at a mountain lodge is usually a budget bomb. Schnitzel with fries for €20- is not uncommon. Hungry skiers are often willing to pay high prices for mediocre food. If you fill up on a good breakfast, a drink and soup is usually enough to keep you fit for the afternoon. A traditional skier's snack in Austria is the famous “Manner Schnitten”, which provides a good sugar boost for the tired skier. The impact on your vacation budget will be remarkable!
If you have school age children, ignore this following point as it is a rather frustrating truth of life with which you are likely already quite familiar.
Fifly, off-season skiing! Skiing during school holidays is expensive. One of the best ways to keep costs down is to avoid high season. Therefore, the weeks before and after Christmas, New Year’s, February break and Easter are the best times to ski.
Climate change has also had an interesting effect on the ski season that we have been observing for years. While there is often a lack of snow in December, the months of March & April often have excellent snow conditions.
There are many benefits to late season skiing. The queues at the ski lifts are very manageable. The days are longer in the spring time and you can soak up some sun again after the winter months. Good for the budget and good for the soul.
The five tips above will help you organise a budget ski holiday that gives you more skiing for less money. If you have any budget tips on ski accommodation, let us know at office@skigala.com.
The Budget Cruncher Ski Holiday will continue next week ... so, check us out at www.skigala.com!
