Wintersport is no ordinary holiday where you relax all day. Nope. You get up at 7am, have breakfast, take the bus to the slopes and you basically work your muscles the entire day. During lunch you stop for a schnitzel (or two), drink hot chocolate and you repeat this until about 5pm when you meet at a nice après ski bar where the hot chocolate makes place for a hot wine or Jägermeister. Awesome! But, I didn’t go for about 10 years. Until 2 years ago. Yes, it was time to rejoin the snow fun and see if I still had what it takes. But now, how could I make this winter wonderful holiday affordable? This was something I wanted to discover.
Austria and Switzerland and well known for their breathtaking views and slopes but it comes with a price.
But after searching around a bit I came across a town called Risoul in France. The town is sometimes called Risoul 1850 because it is 1850m above sea level.
Source: en.ski-france.com
How did I get there?
It takes about 12 hours to drive there (from Amsterdam) and I was with 5 other friends and we had a nice van so splitting the gas was good option.
You can take a plane to Lyon but you will need to continue your journey by train or bus and you will spend double the money.
My friends and I decided to start driving around 9pm so we would arrive in the early morning.
Why? This way you don’t lose a day of skiing/snowboarding!
Where did I sleep?
There are many hotels to choose from but we decided to rent a fully equipped apartment where we could cook and prepare our own food.
This is also a good money saving option. We stayed at Résidence MMV Antares. Our apartment had en-suite bedrooms, a small living room and a simple but good enough kitchen where we had breakfast and dinner every day.
Résidence MMV Antares in Risoul
Where and what did I eat?
When we almost entered Risoul, we stopped at the nearest Lidl supermarket, which we found on Google maps.
We bought everything from bread, eggs, and vegetables to sweets, soft drinks and alcohol. We split the bill and it had cost me 50 euro’s for at least 3 days worth of food and drinks including alcohol.
We prepared a nice breakfast every morning and we got fresh baguettes from the bakery across our apartment.
A good breakfast will save you money because we didn’t eat lunch until about 1pm.
Food on the mountain is expensive so when you’re on a budget, the best option is to prepare your lunch in the morning so you can take this on the slopes.
I’m not a big fan of bread so I prepared some nice salads and I always brought a banana for energy.
Of course there is always the temptation of ordering some delicious French fries so I must admit doing exactly that for at least 3 times. Yummie!
Beautiful pistes to ski!
So, what did it cost me?
» Travel cost by car/van: 120 euro’s pp
» Food/drinks including alcohol for 5 days: 100 euro’s pp
» Lodging including a ski pass for the entire area: 315 euro’s
» Ski hire: It’s cheaper to bring your own but I decided to rent them on the spot so it cost me 70 euro’s for ski’s, boots and sticks.
» Extra’s: Après ski and happy hour (Jägermeister) nights cost me about 50 euro’s.. (yes, this is all part of the fun)
Verdict: Skiing on a budget, it can be done! It normally cost about a 1000 euro’s and I did it for 655 euro’s!
Love,
Elke