Feb half term- where to drive to? Dolomites?

[applegate79]

Hi,
I’ve read through thread after thread on here and the more I read the more confused I become! We want to ski Feb half term, very happy to drive and don’t mind a long drive as trying to economise a bit given the flight prices for half term.
We are a family of 5. My husband, myself and oldest daughter have skied before ( me not for 15years tho) younger 2 children 10 and 12 haven’t so we’ll want ski school etc.
I’m trying to avoid France as I anticipate it will be extremely busy so I’m looking at Dolomites but can’t pin it down to where exactly, does anyone have recommendations? Or any ideas for anywhere else. The more I look the more I have no idea where to go to..,...

@massistar, you’re an expert on the dolomites aren’t you?

We love Corvara: lots of cruisy blues there. Not sure on accommodation though. DD went to the local ski school and as it was half term, was in a fully English speaking class. I think was half day Mon-Wed and full days Thu-Fri. Would be quite a long drive though (look on Snowheads.com for driving route suggestions through Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria) and be prepared to have winter tyres on your car (compulsory in Germany and Austria in winter) as well as snow chains.

It's a very long drive to the Dolomites!
Although it can be very handy having a car when you're there.
I really like Alba di Canazei.. it's between 2 gondolas so you've got choice of slopes.
We're going to stay right on the slopes on Marmolada this year but don't think it's for beginners.
Have also stayed in Sesto which is lovely too. Friends also highly recommend Kronplatz for beginners.

I once went to the Dolomites (Andalo) by coach and really think it would be a long way to drive for a week. Maybe you could look at the nearest resorts in Austria or Andorra or the French Pyrenees. Otherwise I would suggest driving to France in a quieter week eg. Christmas or first week of Easter holidays and choosing a high resort.

Corvara is fab (or Alta Badia which is opposite side of plateau). Kronplatz also amazing...really anywhere on sella Ronda is good so wherever easiest to drive to! Is a bloody long way tho!

Thanks all, been chatting to dh who is much keener to fly and looking at flights we could go Monday to Monday as the children have an extra day off and it’s much more reasonable than flying sat to sat. It’s just so hard to pin it down to exactly where although availability of accommodation might make our decision for us, veering towards Corvara at the moment....

You might struggle doing Monday to Monday over half term - most places are weekend changeover. Corvara is fab - what’s your budget?

Also look at Badia tho - learner slopes really convenient for town.

Try Colletts mountain holidays - prob sold out of chalets but might have access to self catering - they do ski guiding tio

Thanks I’ll look atvthem I was hoping around £4000 budget wise but could push to a bit more if needs be ( I’d like it to include ski school, ski hire, lift passes) if we could fly mon to mon for £200 which is what I’ve found flights at. If we need to do Saturday to Saturday flights are £2000 for the five of us (!!) so I’d probably go back to the original plan of driving.....

Collets catered chalets about £800 pp not including flights, add £200 pp ski pass, not sure about ski school.

Where are you thinking of flying to? We fly to Venice but Verona is also a possibility, as well as Innsbruck (nut flights difficult). I think Milan is about 4 hours drive...

Alternatively you could fly to Munich - it’s about 5 hours drive I think but flights could be a lot cheaper - you could always go a day early and overnight in Innsbruck on the way...

Some places expect Sunday to Sunday btw...

I love the dolomites but the nicest places on the sella ronda all book out to Italian families a year ahead.

Not many catered chalets in Italy. You'd be better off looking for small family run hotels as they're more likely to be flexible re dates. We've booked Monday to Friday half term week that way as staying with the in-laws in Venice on way there and way back.

We loved Alpe Cermis in March. We stayed in Cavalese and went to Obereggen and Ski Latemar aswell. We just done a blog about it. The accomodation was fantastic and I think you could get a 2 bed apartment in it for under £1000..not sure if you think thats good value. We flew into Miland and our car hire was just £60 for the week.
aroundtheworldin18years.com/alpe-cermis-diamond-of-the-dolomites/

We drove to somewhere near the Dolomites. Setting off at midday for a 5pm tunnel crossing, with multiple loo stops and a 10 hour night break we arrived at just before midnight the next day. It was a looonnngggg drive.