# Best timeshare for European skiing?



## DanM (Jan 30, 2009)

I've poured through the reviews, but too many people seem to visit the Alps in summer  

Any skiers who have opinions about the best timeshare for skiing France, Switzerland, Italy or Austria? Best three timeshares? Prefer lifts in walking distance too.

Thanks.


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## sml2181 (Jan 31, 2009)

RCI will have "the best" resorts to ski in Europe, II has only a few.
My laptop has lots of trouble to access RCI.com but they have a few ski in ski out resorts. These resorts do not have any RCI rating and some of them are in good locations but their units are terrible (like one in Tignes - you really don't want to stay in these units, but you do want to ski there). There is a resort which is in Val Cenis in France, which is ski in ski out, close to Italy (a little more than an hour from Turin) their units are not luxurious by any standards but - it is still pretty new, so it's ok. It has a pool and the village is a traditional French village. Because it is in the Northern Alps, it is snow certain, which you cannot say about most ski timeshares in Switzerland/Austria - of course there are some exceptions.  

It depends on when you want to travel and how your skiing skills are. If you are looking for Holiday skiing - go high. If you are going February - go to a resort where you can ski at least above 1500m if you want to go in March - go high. That is basically what we do and we have always had plenty of snow. Zell am See for instance is pretty, but low (I think 750m) and for most of the skiing you would have to take the bus to Kaprun which has a glacier so it is snow certain. This area is much cheaper than most higher ski resorts in France/Switzerland.
Andorra is pretty snow certain too with some ski in/out resorts but I haven't been there. 

The saying is that avid skiers go to France, people who want the Swiss quality go to Swiss (but if you want the real Swiss quality you would have to do the 5 star hotels like in St Moritz and Zermatt - some people simply think it is more "chic" to go to Switzerland than to Austria) and people who want to apres-ski (more than the skiing) go to Austria. Of course that is not true for all ski areas but I do understand why it is said. In Italy Cervinia for avid skiers - and in Italy you really want to make sure you are above the 1400m for the skiing. 

It also depends on what you expect - nice village, only skiing or doing other things too, authentic....and keep in mind that in Europe, spring break is in February (pretty much the whole month, with the 1st week the least busy). March is cheap and low season. Most timeshares are already not the most expensive during high season, and in January/March, they are just plain cheap and I would not look for a timeshare at all during these months, but I would look at other deals.


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## Carolinian (Jan 31, 2009)

I am not a skier, but DAE regularly gets January weeks in a resort in the Italian Alps that is in a palace formerly belonging to a Queen of Savoy.  If I remember correctly, the name of the resort is something like La Villa della Regina.  If I skied, I would look into the skiing in that area.  Even not being a skier, I might grab one of those weeks just becuase the resort looks so interesting.  They also get a lot of ski weeks in Austria.


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## Janie (Feb 1, 2009)

We have skied at two places in Austria; both were nice and I'd go there again. 

Alpine Club at Schladming is both with II and RCI. You can ski right to a chairlift from this one.   The ski area is connected to three other mountains, so it's large. However, it's not terribly challenging.  We are intermediate skiers and we were a little bit bored there for a whole week.  The resort is about a mile away from the town.

Mondi Bellevue at Bad Gastein.  This one is a fantastic (in my opinion) place.  I did write a review on TUG.  You can walk to a gondola, but it's a very steep walk uphill about 1/2 mile.   We did it once, and then elected to drive to the slopes.  However, in every other respect, this place was wonderful and I'd go back in a heartbeat.


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## Sue S (Feb 3, 2009)

For the last 5 years we've stayed at Alpenland Sporthotel, Maria Alm, Austria (II).  Seems to be a lot of availability and the skiing is good.  Just walk out from the timeshare, cross the road and you're on the Natrun slopes.  These are fairly basic but 2 minutes on the ski bus (every 15 minutes) will take you to the Aberg, a bigger mountain which links across to another couple of peaks.

I've also stayed at the Alpine Club, Schladming but it's out of town so not as much fun in the evenings.  I believe the chairlift across from the resort is now closed but I'm not certain.  I enjoyed the skiing at Schladming and you can ski from mountain to mountain and back. 

Personally I prefer Austria for skiing as the prices are much more reasonable than France - I've never skiied in Italy so can't comment.

Good luck


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## DanM (Feb 3, 2009)

Thanks, this is great info. Anyone ever get a trade into the ferienclub privilege resorts (II) in Switzerland? I can trade with II or RCI. Thanks again.


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## sml2181 (Feb 3, 2009)

No, never tried because, to be honest, I have stayed at one of the hotels once and I/we thought it was terrible, especially considering the price we had paid. BUT - that was years ago and I don't know anything about their timeshare units.
Try to get Arosa or Davos - although I am not too fond of Davos, this resort is located pretty well in the nicest part of the village. (In my opinion.)


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## julle (Feb 6, 2009)

*Try Scandinavia*

I do not ski, but lots of poeple who go to Norway and Sweden to ski. It is not going to be nearly as crowded as the Apls.


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