A little bit of help from our experienced travellers please

Thanks Bandit, useful info. I am thinking about exploring into Switzerland, although Zermatt might just be a little too far and too pricey. I need to do a lot of research. A good suggestion is stopping at Le Chable and skiing Verbier.

Re Zermatt...the journey is long-about 3.5 hours minimum I think on the train, depending on whether you have to change, though I think at its longest it's about 4 hours. In that sense it is a bit of a chore to get there. You certainly would struggle to fly into Geneva, get the train and ski on day 1, or ski on your last day and get a train that gets you back in time for flight check in. As I recall, we had to get up before 6am to catch the first train of the day out of Zermatt to catch a flight that left at around noon.

PertyB wrote:Re Zermatt...the journey is long-about 3.5 hours minimum I think on the train, depending on whether you have to change, though I think at its longest it's about 4 hours. In that sense it is a bit of a chore to get there. You certainly would struggle to fly into Geneva, get the train and ski on day 1, or ski on your last day and get a train that gets you back in time for flight check in. As I recall, we had to get up before 6am to catch the first train of the day out of Zermatt to catch a flight that left at around noon.

I thought as much, and to be honest looking at costs, I would prefer to take a package to a catered chalet in Zermatt.
I was looking for somewhere I could get to and ski first afternoon, or even all day last day ideally, so 2 hours tops travel distance.

Tony_H wrote:
I was looking for somewhere I could get to and ski first afternoon, or even all day last day ideally, so 2 hours tops travel distance.

Based on that criteria, your choice of destination is Chamonix. It's an hours drive from Geneva, all autoroute. :D

bandit wrote:

Tony_H wrote:
I was looking for somewhere I could get to and ski first afternoon, or even all day last day ideally, so 2 hours tops travel distance.

Based on that criteria, your choice of destination is Chamonix. It's an hours drive from Geneva, all autoroute. :D

Or Flaine, Le Grand Bornard, Les Carroz, Les Houches, Morzine, Samoens, La Clusaz, Morillon or Villars.

Tony_H wrote:

bandit wrote:

Tony_H wrote:
I was looking for somewhere I could get to and ski first afternoon, or even all day last day ideally, so 2 hours tops travel distance.

Based on that criteria, your choice of destination is Chamonix. It's an hours drive from Geneva, all autoroute. :D

Or Flaine, Le Grand Bornard, Les Carroz, Les Houches, Morzine, Samoens, La Clusaz, Morillon or Villars.

I would suggest that with the exception of Les Houches, all the others do not enjoy Autoroute to the door, and will take longer than an hour unless you are local ) )

Here's another suggestion to add to your confusion.
We have stayed on two or three occasions in La Tzoumaz (AKA Mayon des Riddes)-over the hill from Verbier and part of the Verbier ski area. It's a pretty little village with good lifts and, in my opinion, some of the nicest skiing in the Verbier/4 Valleys area, including accessible off piste in the trees. I think you could get to it by taking the train to Sion, and then a 30 min taxi ride. We stayed at the Auberge La Tzoumaz (it has a website under that name)-about 5 mins walk to the lift. It's a sweet little auberge, cosy bar, lovely brekkie and nice food in the evenings. There are half a dozen reasonable restaurants in the village, but not much else!
Madame doesn't speak much english, but was very welcoming. She only has about 5 rooms, a couple are ensuite-and nearly all have a spectacular view from big picture windows.

If you're still thinking about Verbier and staying in Le Chable-make sure you ski in Bruson-part of the ski area but you get a shuttle bus from Le Chable up to the lift. It's very quiet and miles away from the madness and hustle and bustle of Verbier (which I think is rather overrated).

I like the idea of getting Mrs H to Verbier seeing as I skied it with my daughter only. I thought about Nendaz and Thyon as options, but would be more than happy to stay in Verbier Le Hameau where I did before. I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the skiing in the 4 valleys.

Bandit, problem with Chamonix is 2 things:
1. I find the area very disjointed and it seems you need a car to get around to the different areas.
2. I will invariably want to do the Valley Blanche, but Mrs H has said "over my dead body" (which I told her could easily be organised....) so I need to resist the temptation.

Le Grand Bornard suddenly takes on interest, although like La Clusaz it seems awfully low.
A friend of mine drives to Les Gets every year and swears by the place but like Morzine its another low resort. Avoriaz has more appeal in terms of height and reliability..?