Jurassic perks of a Dolomites road trip
IT MAY be a bit of a trek, but if you drive to Austria or France this season you’ll find great value and multi-resort ski options. Alternatively, head for the slopes of Italy’s Dolomites for perfect pistes – and a local museum’s Early Jurassic dinosaur.
AUSTRIA’S handsome Ramada Saalfelden apartment complex has an indoor pool and the balconies look out on the Leogang and Salzburg Slate Alps. But why drive? Because from here, it’s easy to explore an enviable choice of nearby resorts.
Five to 20 minutes away are the gentle slopes of Maria Alm and lakeside Zell am See, Kaprun’s snow-sure Kitzsteinhorn glacier and Saalbach and Hinterglemm.
Two sharing a one-bedroom apartment from January 8, 2023, costs £519pp for a week’s B&B (ramadaresidencessaalfelden.com). Standard car return from Folkestone to Calais is £227 (eurotunnel.com).
Or head for the purpose-built slopes of Tignes Le Lac at 6,900ft, with even more terrain above on the Grande Motte glacier, a snow-sure resort with lift and piste links to Val d’Isere.
The piste-side, three-star Village Montana residence has access to an outdoor heated pool and hot tub. It’s still a trek – about ten hours from Calais – but a two-bedroom apartment, for seven nights’ selfcatering, starting December 17, costs £549pp, based on five sharing. Price includes Flexiplus Eurotunnel crossing for a standard car (peakretreats.co.uk).
Budding palaeontologists heading to the Dolomites can examine ichthyosaurus, a dinosaur skeleton reconstruction from a fossil found in 1968. The marine history, fossil and coral collections are at the Gherdeina museum in Ortisei.
Ortisei is a free shuttle bus ride from Selva Val Gardena, which offers more than 100 miles of pistes, and easy access to the 25-mile Sella
Ronda circuit. A week’s half-board at the family-run, four-star Hotel Rodella, with pool and free shuttle to skilifts, costs £1,293pp, with flights and transfers (inghams.co.uk).
On a tight budget? The largest tour operator, Crystal Ski, has launched The Ski Edit, ski wear to rent on the ByRotation app. Or try ecoski.co.uk, where a father and 10-year-old son can be kitted out for £185 and £145 respectively for eight days.