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rolfomatic
Joined: 31 Dec 2005
Posts: 315
Location: The other New York
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 Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 12:45 am Post subject: Recommendations for Family Trip to Alps and/or Germany |
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Looking for some ideas for skiing and non-skiing destinations and activities for a 1 week trip to Germany and Switzerland.
Will be with my non-skiing wife and skiing teenaged son.
Will arrive 4/7 and depart 4/14.
Would like to do one or two days of skiing and one day of sledding.
Need to visit relatives in Freiburg (2 hours from Zurich) so was thinking of flying in and out of there. Would also like to get to Munich too if possible.
Have not bought tickets yet.
Am interested in doing some sightseeing, but also value the experience of just hanging out in a cool town with a nice hotel, good food, relaxed vibe, beatiful vistas.
Have been to Jungfrau and Munich and Zurich in the past and enjoyed those.
Will likely rent a car.
Would like to rent a tele setup as i don't think I remember how to alpine ski anymore. |
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skizix
Joined: 07 Dec 2004
Posts: 1249
Location: da 'Ville
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| Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 11:04 am Post subject: Re: Recommendations for Family Trip to Alps and/or Germany |
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| rolfomatic wrote: | Looking for some ideas for skiing and non-skiing destinations and activities for a 1 week trip to Germany and Switzerland.
Will be with my non-skiing wife and skiing teenaged son.
Will arrive 4/7 and depart 4/14.
Would like to do one or two days of skiing and one day of sledding.
Need to visit relatives in Freiburg (2 hours from Zurich) so was thinking of flying in and out of there. Would also like to get to Munich too if possible.
Have not bought tickets yet.
Am interested in doing some sightseeing, but also value the experience of just hanging out in a cool town with a nice hotel, good food, relaxed vibe, beatiful vistas.
Have been to Jungfrau and Munich and Zurich in the past and enjoyed those.
Will likely rent a car.
Would like to rent a tele setup as i don't think I remember how to alpine ski anymore. |
I don't know if fits your program, but have you considered Austria? Switzerland has great skiing, obviously, but it's very expensive, and none of the cities are very good for visiting as a tourist, IMO. Germany can be great for a visit (Munich is awesome) but the skiing is limited (though you can hook it up with the Austrian alps relatively easily). Austria has an infini-tude of amazing skiing, and Vienna is tough to beat for a city to visit.
As always: try to go where the snow is (tough to do for a planned in advance trip, but...)
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Chamonix
Joined: 12 Dec 2007
Posts: 1951
Location: VT near Jay Peak
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| Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 1:32 pm Post subject: |
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St. Anton?
Depends on the snow. I have skied there late March, into first few days of April, in the past.
First week in April should be ok, later, depends. Wear a lot of sunscreen, you'll get fried! |
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rolfomatic
Joined: 31 Dec 2005
Posts: 315
Location: The other New York
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| Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 5:25 pm Post subject: |
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That's some good advice. I definitely would consider being in Austria instead of Switzerland. I initially thought of Switzerland because of the nearness to Freiburg.
Garmisch ios supposed to be a charming area, correct?
Also, can someone confirm for me that there will very likely be enough snow to ski and sled the 2nd week of April, or is this iffy?
Will the resorts bne open for sure?
We will have 7 days to travel (plus 2 travel days from the States).
I'd like to ski one day, sled one day, visit relatives one day and the rest is for driving around, visiting new places and relaxing.
Any and all suggestions are highly welcomed! |
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telemikey
Joined: 06 Dec 2004
Posts: 1769
Location: Yurp
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| Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 5:43 pm Post subject: |
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When you say 'sled', I assume you dont mean one of those motorised thingymebobs?
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rolfomatic
Joined: 31 Dec 2005
Posts: 315
Location: The other New York
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| Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 5:51 pm Post subject: |
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| Yeh, Mikey, I guess they call the traditional sledding "sledging" or tobogans. Looks like a real hoot and my non-skiing wife would have some good snow sliding fun. |
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skizix
Joined: 07 Dec 2004
Posts: 1249
Location: da 'Ville
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| Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 8:16 pm Post subject: |
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To update: looking at a map (duh, I'm GIS guy), Munich seems like your obvious jumping off point, AFA a great city to vist, with good access to all things Alps (you can be in Innsbruck in ~2 hours).
Vienna is a seriously tasty destination (as is Prague, BTW), but not so close to the skiing.
Just thought I should clarify, having suggested Vienna/Austria/Alps. Salzburg is supposed to be tits, so think about that.
Have a great time!
(btw, don't bother with Frankfurt. I'm stuck there now on business. Plenty of things to see, but the vibe in the city is...blahhh, compared to others). Unless all you want is a hotdog (kidding).
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knine
Joined: 24 Aug 2010
Posts: 111
Location: Breckenridge, Andermatt, Val d' Isere
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| Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 8:57 pm Post subject: |
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Might want to consider one of the glacier/resort around Innsbruck for skiing that time of year.
Hintertux, Solden, Subai etc...valleys should be coming into spring time colours yet the slopes on the glacier should be good.
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half-fast skier
Joined: 21 Mar 2010
Posts: 569
Location: rancho d'lux
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ghostofcarl
Joined: 22 Jul 2010
Posts: 6562
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| Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 1:31 am Post subject: |
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| rolfomatic wrote: | | Yeh, Mikey, I guess they call the traditional sledding "sledging" or tobogans. Looks like a real hoot and my non-skiing wife would have some good snow sliding fun. |
schlittelbahn / rodelbahn / rodeln. April might be a bit late - most run from the mid-mountain to the valley and things begin to melt out by then/close from lack of interest in my observations. If you go in winter, Berguen has a fantastic one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iQW7odbGeo
If you are just going for a day or two, depending on if you have a car, several of the central Swiss areas may offer more sightseeing for the non-skiers. Engelberg/Berner Oberland/Davos/St Moritz/Engadin. |
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steven hatcher
Joined: 15 Dec 2004
Posts: 2003
Location: Idahome
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| Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 6:45 am Post subject: Re: Recommendations for Family Trip to Alps and/or Germany |
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| rolfomatic wrote: | | Garmisch ios supposed to be a charming area, correct? |
Yes, it's charming but not nearly as charming as other places in Bavaria. A U.S. military base there lends a less-than-foreign atmosphere that may or may not be okay for you.
| rolfomatic wrote: |
Also, can someone confirm for me that there will very likely be enough snow to ski and sled the 2nd week of April, or is this iffy? |
Where? Higher resorts in Central CH and Austria, yes. Lower resorts, maybe. It's been quite warm and not a whole lot of new snow for several weeks now. All that could change over the course of March.
| rolfomatic wrote: | | Will the resorts bne open for sure? |
Also, it depends on where but in general, yes. Just. First two to three weeks in April are the Easter holidays--the last big push to draw skiers and most places will shut down after the holiday. If they are open they will be busy. Without much new snow, though, lower elevation places might start closing the end of this month.
Also, you asked about renting telemark gear. Don't count on it.
Rather than Munich I would look at Innsbruck or Salzburg. The Tirol and Salzburgerland--as well as the Arlberg and Vorarlberg--have had a great season. Same goes for central CH. Salzburg is a beautiful city to explore; plenty of good and big resorts nearby; and Berchtesgaden (in my opinion) is a much more charming Bavarian town than Garmisch if you still want to stray into Germany.
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jfbiker
Joined: 21 Feb 2005
Posts: 138
Location: Lowlands
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| Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 10:00 am Post subject: |
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Just back from the annual family ski trip, destination Davos (1st time).
Skiing there was great, also due to the good snow and lotsa sun.
Five (resort)areas to ski at short distance, all doable by (free) bus.
Pischa was the nicest; quiet and marked offpiste area.
Parsen and Jacobshorn are large(r) and more crowded.
Rinerhorn is somewhere inbetween; also great for sledging (can be rented on top).
We did'nt visit the 5th area, Madrisa.
Telemark equipment can be rented at the Fullmoons shop:
http://www.fullmoons.ch/
No experience with that though, we brought our own hardware from the flatlands (NL) ...
And yes, Switzerland is expensive, which means not alot of fellow Dutchmen over there, which is quite ok for me  |
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TeleInTheHead
Joined: 06 Dec 2004
Posts: 1604
Location: The Chosen Spot
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| Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 2:44 pm Post subject: |
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I'd sit around and just drink beer...
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SkaredShtles
Joined: 06 Dec 2004
Posts: 9480
Location: In a van................ down by the river
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| Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 2:46 pm Post subject: |
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| Berchtesgaden? |
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