short trip to Åre

I wrote a while ago about trying to arrange a trip to Sweden to ski ... without any direct flights, it wasn't easy to arrange, and so I never went !

Now that Easyjet have announced a weekly flight on a Sunday from LGW to OSD (which is about 80km from the ski area), it should make the trip more feasible.

The EZY flight departs LGW at 07:00, arriving OSD at 10:50 - and then departing at 11:10, arriving back into LGW at 12:55

The LGW-OSD price during March is between 42 gpb and 75 gbp for a single.

The OSD-LGW price during March is 27.50 gbp (26th), 33.50 gbp (19th) or 55 gbp (12th)

Getting to OSD on connecting flights from London takes a while - using SAS flights connecting in Stockholm, you could depart LHR at 10:35 and arrive OSD at 16:35 with a very safe 4 hour margin in ARN.  Prices in March are about 88 gbp single.

It would be possible to get a shared transfer for these flights for 295 SEK each way per person (approx 27 gbp each way).

The same company also does shared transfers from Trondheim - at 13:15 and 17:15 on a Thursday (and further times on a Sunday) - but sadly the only direct flight from London to TRD arrives into TRD at 23:35 on a Thursday.  The cost is 390 SEK per person each way.

However, there's a direct flight from TRD to LGW departing at 18:00 which would require getting the 13:30 bus from the ski resort (arriving at the airport around 16:00) - but it would be another option.

Another option would be to fly from London to Stockholm on Wednesday evening - so able to do a full day's work, and then travel up to Åre on Thursday morning.  This might work better, as it appears the standard "handover" days in Åre are Thursday and Sunday.  Flights are generally available for 52 gbp from LGW to ARN with Norwegian.

Flights from ARN to OSD are generally available for 54 gbp - with 5 flights a day from SAS and more from BRA (which are slightly more expensive).

Another option is the overnight train from Stockholm - a seat would cost 595 SEK and a berth would cost 746 SEK (68 gbp).  The day time train takes about 7 hours and costs anything from 195 SEK, with a more typical price being 365 SEK (33 gbp).  Prices are only currently available on the Swedish Rail website until 19th March - presumably because it's too far in advance.

As far as accommodation - it looks like there are basic self catering apartment/studios available near the main town for 268 eur for Thu-Sun - which sleep 2 or 3 people.

in summary

Wed 22nd eve LGW-ARN  52 gbp

Wed 22nd overnight train to Åre with cabin 68 gbp

Thu 23rd train to ski area 10 gbp

3 nights accomm 120 gbp (two people sharing the cheap accommodation)

3 days ski pass 114 gbp

3 days ski / boot hire 85 gbp

Sun 26th transfer to OSD airport 27 gbp

Sun 26th OSD-LGW  17.50 gbp

Total 493.50 plus transfer to and from LGW

London to St Anton

I'm looking to get to St Anton on Saturday 20th February ... there are loads of different options from London ... so I ended up putting together a spreadsheet to work out the different total costs - including the various different baggage fees from different airlines, and the different rail costs from different airports.  Below are the cheapest flights I could find, ignoring the 7am departures !

I ended up booking this flight to Innsbruck - it has the shortest transfer time - so hopefully I will be able to go and pick up my skis and boots from the hire shop in St Anton on Saturday evening.  The trip from Innsbruck airport into town by bus is quite straightforward ... and with a direct train from the main station at 17:15, i could get a taxi into town if the connection was getting tight.

Dep LGW	13:25
Arr INN	16:25
Flight	76	gbp
Bag	18	gbp
Airport - HBf	2.7	eur
Inn HBf - StAaA	21	eur
Train time	1.5 hrs
Total	112	gbp

Whilst the option of going to Salzburg was a bit cheaper - the airport is a bit of a mosh pit at weekends during the winter, and i wouldn't get into St Anton until after the ski shops had closed.  And the amount Monarch charge for a bag in the hold is just crazy.

Dep LGW	14:15
Arr SZG	17:20
Flight	33	gbp
Bag	23.75	gbp
SZG - StAaA	53.6	eur
Train time	3 hrs
Total	99	gbp

The Friedrichshafen option was quite attractive - but it would mean an earlier start in the morning, and some of the train connections were a bit tight (although there were plenty more trains, it would just take a bit longer).

dep LGW	11:00
arr FDH	13:45
Flight	52	gbp
Bag	18	gbp
FDH - StAaA	31	eur
Train time	2.5 hrs	3 changes
Total	94	gbp

I've never flown to or from Memmingen airport ... but it just sounded like too much effort on this occasion (including a not overly frequent bus service from the airport to the train station) ... even though the fare is very good.

dep STN	11:45
arr FMM	14:30
Flight	33	gbp
Bag - guess	15	gbp
FMM - HBf	3	eur
Memm - StAaA	48	eur
Train time	4 hrs
Total	88	gbp

I really like Zurich airport, and the fact that mainline trains depart from underneath the airport - but the fare just wasn't competitive.

dep LHR	15:40
arr ZRH	20:05
Flight	86	gbp
Bag	20	gbp
ZRH - StAaA	54	eur
Train time	2.75 hrs
Total	148	gbp

I also looked at prices to Munich - but sadly the cheap Lufthansa flights arrived to late to make the last train to St Anton.

Flights to Geneva weren't particularly cheap, and the train costs around 120 euro each way - so the totals weren't competitive.

Dublin to Ischgl for a few days skiing

Ischgl isn't the easiest of places to get to from Dublin ... there aren't (m)any direct flights from Dublin to Innsbruck (the nearest) airport to Ischgl ... so the journey is a bit longer ...

The other complication is that Swiss (the airline) seem to have gone back to the dark ages with their pricing ... single flights are exorbitant ... so if there isn't a flight in one of the directions on one of the days that you want - you're screwed !

Aiming to fly out of Dublin on Tuesday 2nd February ...

Dep Dublin 16:15
Arr Zurich 19:25
price 79 eur plug baggage (EI)

Dep Zurich Flughafen 20:18
Arr Landeck Zams bahnhof 23:42
price approx 60 eur

Taxi to Ischgl
price ?

Another option is to fly to Innsbruck on a connecting flight ... with plenty of time to check in again in LGW

Dep Dublin 07:35
Arr LGW 09:10
price 23.40 eur plus baggage (FR)

Dep LGW 11:30
Arr INN 14:30
price 68 eur plug baggage (EZY)

Bus F from the Flughafen terminal to the Hauptbahnhof takes less than 20 mins and departs every 15 mins
price 2.7 eur

Dep Innsbruck Hbf	15:57	17:01
Arr Landeck-Zams	16:58	17:57
Dep Landeck-Zams	17:05	18:05
Arr Ischgl	17:58	18:58

Price 16.1 eur for the train (postbus not bookable online - fare approx 10 eur)

A further option is to fly to Salzburg - one advantage of this routing is sold as a connecting flight by BA (although DUB-LGW is operated by EI) - so if you miss the connection in LGW, it's up to BA to find you a new one !

Dep Dublin 07:00
Arr LGW 08:25
Dep LGW 10:05
Arr Salzburg 13:05
price 157 eur including baggage

Dep Salzburg Flughafen	14:25	15:25
Arr Salzburg Hbf	14:47	15:47
Dep Salzburg Hbf	15:00	15:56
Arr Landeck-Zams	17:39	18:30
Dep Landeck-Zams	18:05	19:05
Arr Ischgl	18:58	19:58

Price 53.6 eur


Accommodation

Ischgl has a reasonable amount of accommodation bookable through the town's website - with B&Bs in the town (rather than in Mathon which is 5km away) from about 55 eur per person per night sharing.  Ganahl is showing availability on the website - others may be available offline by email the tourist office.


Return flight

Need to get back into Dublin around lunchtime on Sunday 7th February ... so looking at options that give a full day skiing on Saturday 6th ...

None of the airports have late flights on Saturday to Dublin - so starting off looking at late flights to London (so could fly to Dublin on Sunday morning) ...

Innsbruck
The last (sensibly priced) flight out on Saturday evening departs at 17:15 - so that's not much good

Salzburg
There's a 19:45 flight on Saturday evening from to London for just 37 eur - but you'd have to leave Ischgl by 2pm in order to make it

Zurich
The 20:50 departure to LHR is 148 eur - that would mean leaving around 3pm

Munich
The last flight from to London on Saturday night is soon after 7pm - so that's not much use


Looking at travelling to direct to Dublin on Sunday morning - so spending Saturday night near the airport ...

Munich
dep Ischgl 17:58 (or 15:58) and arr Munich 22:21 (or 21:15) for 39 eur (no price showing for earlier timings)
dep Munich Sunday at 11:05 and arr Dublin 12:45 for 106 eur plus baggage (EI)
or Sunday evening departure at 20:10 (arr Dub 21:50) for 100 eur plus baggage (EI)

Zurich
EI direct flight departing at 8pm (arr Dub at 21:25) for 102 eur
or connecting BA flight departing at 7am (arr Dub at 12:20) for 150 eur

Innsbruck
No direct flights
connecting FR/EZY flights departing at 10:45 (arr Dub 15:35) for 150 eur with 2:35 in Luton to transfer / check in

Salzburg
No direct flights
connecting FR flights departing at 10:30 (arr Dub 15:05) for 99 eur with 2:05 in Stansted to transfer / check in


Looking at travelling to London on Sunday evening

Munich
8pm departure for 86 eur plus bag (EZY) or 9.15pm departure for 100 eur - but doesn't work with connections
to make the 8pm departure - would need to leave Ischgl around 2pm

Zurich
9.25pm departure for 171 eur plus bag (EZY)
departing Ischgl soon after 3pm would get you to the airport by 7.45pm

Innsbruck
sadly the last flight to london is at 5.40pm (for a crazy 473 eur) and the 3.10pm flight (for a still hefty 219 eur) isn't very helpful

Salzburg
the last flight to london is at 5.05pm for 157 eur with BA
departing Ischgl soon after 10am would get you to the airport for 2.30pm - trains only every 2 hours

ischgl

i'm thinking of going to Ischgl for some skiing in January 2012 ...

the best value package holiday seems to be with Inghams for 602 gbp, which departs on a saturday, via Innsbruck ... or for 29 quid extra you could fly with BA, and with the evening departure on the way back, might get an extra morning's skiing (depending on the timing of the bus transfer to the airport) ...

alternatively, to be guaranteed an extra day's skiing, you could do your own package ...

accommodation

there isn't a great choice of accommodation that can be booked online through the town's website (unlike St Anton) ... but they do have a large number of B&Bs, it just seems that you have to contact them directly. their accommodation brochure lists Frühstückspensions from page 36 onwards (ÜF means Bed and Breakfast and HB is half board) and the map grid (planquadrat) helps to find the property - each street/house number combo is highlighted on the town map. to stay in the town itself, ignore all properties with a village name in brackets after the property name (Mathon, Versahl etc.)

one of the good options looks to be Bergfrieden which has 7 twin rooms and is located on the eastern side of town, about 10 mins walk from one of the gondolas, and a few minutes further to another gondola - which goes up to a different part of the ski area. prices start from about 35 euro per person per night ...

travel

the closest airport is INNsbruck, and Easyjet have return flights for around 191 gbp (including 1 piece of luggage). the resort isn't easy to access by train, but is possible with a bus into Innsbruck central station, a train to Landeck-Zams, and then a postbus up to Ischgl - total time would be about two and a half hours. the train part costs around 30 eur return, the postbus presumably another 10 eur each way, and the bus/taxi into Innsbruck station something similar ...

there doesn't seem to be any direct transfer buses, and the 100km journey by taxi for up to 4 people would be 300 eur or 320 eur return, or for up to 8 people it would be 382 eur return ...

another alternative is to fly to Allgäu airport (that well known hub) for 130 gbp (including the cost of a 15kg bag and the rip off credit card fee) from Stansted (dep just after midday) with Ryanair. the journey to Ischgl is about 200km - the 60 quid saving on the flight, could well be eaten up by the double distrance transfer ...

another option is to fly to ZuRicH - flights available from 98 gbp with Easyjet (a bit cheaper to fly back to LUTon) - the 3 hour train (approx 51 gbp) connection to Landeck-Zams (arr 19:21) would be too late for the last postbus up to Ischgl so would require a taxi 68 eur taxi. earlier flights with BA would be 150 gbp (cheaper available for horribly early departures) - so better to get the taxi up the valley ...

DIY price

so the total price (including an extra night's accommodation) via Zurich would be about 440 gbp (assuming the local taxi was shared between 3 pax) ...

flying via Innsbruck and got 4 people sharing a transfer the cost would be very similar to the long winded bus/train/bus option (even cheaper if there were up to eight in a minibus transfer) - and the total price including flights and accommodation would be around 500 gbp ...

Final Thoughts

if there were 4 or more people to share the transfer - Innsbruck seems like the best choice, or if there were just a couple of people, Zurich sounds fine !

more flights to barcelona ...

now looking for flights from london to barcelona ...

thu 30th dec

dep Luton 08:45 to Barcelona for 79 gbp with Easyjet

dep Luton 17:40 to Gerona for 83 gbp with Ryanair or

wed 29th dec

dep Gatwick 17:20 to Gerona for 72 gbp with Ryanair or

dep Stansted 16:05 to Barcelona for 83 gbp with Easyjet or

dep Gatwick 13:50 or 18:15 to Barcelona for 87 gbp with Easyjet or
dep Luton 08:45 to Barcelona for 95 gbp with Easyjet or

dep Stansted 17:40 to Gerona for 105 gbp with Ryanair

on the way back, looking to depart from Alicante on 3rd Jan, the best option is at 19:50 for 95 gbp

london to glasgow - august bank holiday weekend ...

as an alternative to travelling directly to edinburgh, travel [or at least the outbound leg] to Glasgow is a possibility, preferably departing london on the evening of friday 24th august ...

GNER has Saver Returns from 98.20 gbp ... but a friday 17:15 departure, arriving into Glasgow at 21:54, costs 17.50 gbp ... with a saturday 07:00 departure, arriving at 12:50, being 22.70 gbp ... a return train arriving into London at 01:30 [which would require a cab journey home] costs 17.50 gbp ... but a more sensible 00:15 London arrival is 42 gbp, and a more civilised 23:14 arrival into London costs 59 gbp - and most trips require a change !

thetrainline.com also has Saver Returns from 98.20 gbp ... and has the same 17:15 on the friday for 17.50 gbp ... with the Saturday 07:00 departure for 25.50 gbp, and with the 01:30 arrival back into London for 43 gbp, the 00:15 arrival for 67.50 gbp, and the 23:14 arrival for 84.50 gbp - all suggesting that the GNER site is the way to go ...

skyscanner show an Easyjet departure from Luton on Friday at 20:55, arriving at 22:10 for 33 gbp ... and another Luton departure at 08:40 on Saturday for 35 gbp ... with the best return flight being a bmi departure at 21:30 for 33 gbp ...


Update 4th July 2007
bmi have the Friday 21:35 and the Saturday 08:40 departures available with frequent flyer points - the cost of taxes and charges is 28.90 gbp ...

Update 15th August 2007
the cheapest single for the friday evening on either GNER or thetrainline is 42 gbp for the 18:00 departure [the 17:15 departure is now 97 gbp single], arriving into Glasgow at 23:30 ... with returns costing 98 gbp ...
the first train on saturday morning is at 06:19 and the single fare is 38.50 gbp ...
skyscanner has a Luton departure at 08:40 arriving into GLA at 09:55 for 58 gbp ...
airberlin [which doesn't show up on skyscanner] has a Stansted departure at 07:50 for 52 gbp ...

london to edinburgh - august bank holiday weekend ...

looking for train or plane travel departing london on saturday 25th in the morning, and returning late afternoon on monday 27th ...

the cheapest Saver Return on GNER [which looks remarkably like thetrainline.com] is 98 gbp ... but they have singles on the same trains which add up to 65 gbp - but the return arrives in after midnight, so a more sensible 22:19 arrival back into london puts the price up to 89 gbp ...

thetrainline.com has Saver Returns for 98.20 gbp and same singles for 67.50 gbp or 100 gbp ... showing that it's worth booking through the GNER website !

Skyscanner shows an 08:10 departure from Luton on Easyjet for 50 gbp ... with an Easyjet flight to Gatwick departing at 21:10, arriving into London at 22:40 for 44 gbp ... or perhaps a better option would be their 19:15 departure for Luton, arriving at 20:30 for 48 gbp ...

unfortunately Skyscanner has stopped listing BMI flights ... but they don't have any sensibly priced flights for the weekend - the cheapest being 162 gbp !

ScotAirways fly from London City, but they don't have any flights on the Saturday, and have just a single flight on the Monday evening ... the total price of a return, with a departure on the Friday evening is 189 gbp ...


Update 4th July 2007
bmi have the Saturday 06:50 [and ones from 15:00 onwards] departure, arriving at 08:10, available with frequent flyer points - the cost of taxes and charges is 28.90 gbp ... for the return to London, the 18:35 departure is available for 28.60 gbp, or 48.60 gbp and half the points ...

both thetrainline and First Scot Rail have an overnight Sleeper returning to London on the Monday night for 66 gbp ... it is not clear from either website what the cost of a return is ...