We are just back and it was fab!
I just wanted to say thanks again for all your help and advice about travelling to Austria for half term skiing - without flying, as the rest of our large group did. We are just back and it was fab!
We travelled as 2 adults and 2 children. We left on the Friday night Eurostar to Paris, caught the RER from Paris Nord to Paris Lyon - so easy and better/cheaper than a cab despite the narrow barriers at some of the turnstiles. We still had some metro tickets from a previous trip to Paris (better value to buy a garnet of 10 tickets as it's cheaper and they don't expire).
Snowy FissPhoto: Lorraine Turner
We had booked an overnight stay in a quadruple room at the Hotel Terminus directly opposite the station. The hotel itself was small and basic but scrupulously clean and excellently located especially as we had to catch the the 7.23 train next morning to Zurich. There was only a short time to wait for our connection onto Landeck - enough time to grab a bite to eat just outside the station - and we arrived just before 15.30. A quick 25 minute cab ride up the mountain brought us to Fiss.
On the way back, admittedly we did travel all day starting at (a much more respectable) 8.33am from Landeck but the children thought it was fun to change trains and breaking up the journey meant it seemed much quicker than it was. There was also some lovely scenery to enjoy when people looked up from books/cards/electronics! There was a 14 minute slot to change trains in Zurich which I was anxious about but I needn't have been because this was more than enough time to get us and all of our luggage/ski equipment off and onto the next train. Also, the information about connections including platform numbers was displayed on the train screens before we stopped so we knew exactly where to go.
There was about an hour and 20 minutes before our Eurostar to London and we thought we would have time for a meal. However,we anticipated that it would take a long time to check in and get through passport and baggage control and we were right so I would be more prepared for that next time. Again though, there was no real hanging around for everyone to get bored and tetchy and we arrived back in London at 6.30pm ish. Would definitely travel this way again and having never skied in Austria before, we enjoyed the Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis ski area very much indeed.
Photo: Lorraine Turner
Fiss was great for families. Not a well-known resort in Britain, I would say. Good for all abilities and some fantastically located mountain restaurants to enjoy the beautiful scenery. The children enjoyed ski school which they did for 4 full days. This differed to France in that it was all day from 10am to 3.30pm with an hour and a half for lunch in kinderplanet, all managed and organised by the respective ski instructors. This allowed the adults to travel further afield each day and not rush back for the usual lunchtime pick up.
The children enjoyed the play area, the various kids' ski trails and jumps and slalom course as well as going on a 'bear hunt'. We did night skiing one evening with the older children and that included a show with jumps and stunts and fireworks at the end which was really fun. Tobogganing through the trees on the only day it snowed was beautiful but best to keep track of the route so you don't end up on a red run, as we did! The older children and adults really enjoyed the snow park and 'speed camera’. Have already started planning next year's adventure!