Posts Tagged ‘France’
Ski + City Breaks in Europe
Make the most of your holiday time with our definitive guide to the best European cities for a short break – before or after a stay in the mountains.
Whether you want to take advantage of cheaper weekday flights, or you just fancy a bit of culture and shopping to enhance your ski holiday, Ski Independence can easily add on a night or two in a city destination.
Here are 7 great cities that work well combined with a ski holiday – with some recommendations of where to stay and what to see while you’re there.
1. Verona – The City of Love
Top Picks for Skiers and Non-Skiers Alike
It goes without saying that here at Ski Independence we are incredibly passionate about winter sports. However, we understand that a trip to the mountains is about so much more than just skiing or snowboarding. A number of our regular clients don’t clip into skis at all and instead prefer to relax, breathe in the clean air and simply experience being in one of our featured resorts for the pure joy of the mountains. With this in mind we’ve selected our favourite properties that will work well for skiers and non-skiers alike – ideal if your other half doesn’t quite share your love for skiing!
Hotel Mont Blanc, Chamonix
Chamonix offers so much more than just skiing. It’s a fantastic town to visit with an excellent choice of restaurants, bars and visitor attractions as well as spectacular mountain views. The town itself is charming and historic and it’s perfectly pleasant simply strolling through the streets.
Read the rest of this entry »Our Favourite Quieter Resorts
Avoriaz, France. Credit: Avoriaz Tourism
You might be looking to spend your time on the mountain in a slightly quieter resort with fewer lift queues this year, or for a resort where you can avoid using enclosed lifts like gondolas and cable cars. So here are a few of our suggestions for our top recommended quieter ski resorts: Read the rest of this entry »
What’s New in the Three Valleys
Meribel, France. Credit: 3Vallees, David Andre
With over 600km of pistes, the Three Valleys (Courchevel, Méribel and Val Thorens) is the largest ski area in the world. This alone is reason enough to plan a trip there but there are also plenty of exciting developments in store this winter. Read the rest of this entry »
Our Tips for Driving to the Alps in Winter
Flaine, France. Credit: Kasya Shahovskaya on Unsplash
Not only is driving to the Alps cost effective, it gives you the freedom to travel at your own pace, stopping off en route at some lovely places. Read the rest of this entry »
Our Private Luxury Chalet Collection
Chalet Haapiti, Méribel
There’s something very special about an alpine chalet. Your very own beautiful home where you can totally relax and unwind in a cosy yet elegant setting Read the rest of this entry »
Winter X Games 2012
With less than one week to go until the biggest European meet of freestyle skiers and boarders, preparations in Tignes are well under way for the 2012 Winter X Games. For the third consecutive year Tignes will be broadcast to the world when 150 of the finest athletes in snow sports go head to head to take home the gold.
Originating as a summer event in Rhode Island, the Winter X Games first shot to light in 1997 at Snow Summit Mountain Resort in Big Bear Lake. Following increased popularity, bigger names, stiffer competition and larger crowds the Winter X Games has now been resident in Aspen since 2002. Last year the event attracted crowds of over 74,000 on the final day. In 2010, X Games Europe arrived in Tignes which has been hailed as one of the best spectacles on the snow ever seen in Europe.
So, what can you expect to see at the X Games in Tignes? Here is a taster… Read the rest of this entry »
72 Hours in Courchevel
I’m sitting in our slopeside chalet watching the snow fall with a coffee in hand, looking back on the weekend and wishing I could stay for the rest of the week!
It has been 72 hours of full-on Courchevel 1850 experience. We arrived in the village on Friday afternoon, passing by the many boutiques, bars and restaurants on our way to Le Pilatus restaurant just above the resort’s Altiport (in case you prefer to take your private jet. I left mine at home). After an afternoon of work, we returned to our chalet (complete with sauna and pool table) to get ready for the opening night of the new 5* Hotel K2 (a sister property to the Kilimandjaro). And it certainly didn’t disappoint – both the hotel rooms and chalets were stunning and the facilities excellent (including private pools in the chalets, iPads throughout, fantastic restaurant). Read the rest of this entry »
Snow, snow and even more snow!
I woke up on Sunday morning and it was snowing!! How can someone in their late 20’s (come on allow me some poetic license) get so excited every time it snows? If you know the answer please let me know! So I thought to myself, if it’s snowing here in Edinburgh then it MUST be snowing in our favourite ski resorts across the world – right? RIGHT!
It started to snow across France on Friday, across Switzerland on Saturday and it’s not stopped since. In fact my email inbox is full of like minded people getting really excited about the snowfall. Have a look at this picture that has just been sent to my colleague Eve (one of her friends is in Val d’Isere and like a kid at Christmas, that’s his car!)
Dude, Where’s my car?
Movindependence – Update
On first glace as I sit here looking around the Ski Independence office nothing seems out of the norm… that’s until one of the “guys” look up from their computer screen to show off their 15 days of growth on their top lip (now more commonly known as a lip cosy!), some may be impressive, some may be sculpted (Andy’s Trucker!) and some are just plain ridiculous!
To clarify the situation for those of you who are wondering why a bunch of guys at Ski Independence are growing (or attempting to grow) moustaches, it’s all in support of Movember. No, that’s not a spelling mistake, Movember is correct – a very worthwhile charity with one aim, to raise money for prostate cancer, a subject which I am sure is close to many. Now, this is not a plea for money by any means however if anyone does have a few spare coins (or notes) and would like to support this worthwhile cause then they can do so by visiting the Movindependence site to make a donation! Read the rest of this entry »
