http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/ Welcome to Been there. Your tips on the places you know - that you love, live in or have just visited - are what make this guide. http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19577
My tip is to do what I've been doing for a couple of years now and forsake the over-priced Alps for the lowcost splendor of the Pyrenees. Much cheaper and easier to reach the resorts (Ryanair, easyJet, Jet2 and Flybe all fly into Toulouse, Carcassonne or Pau), cheaper and friendlier accommodation and, a big plus, hardly any queues at the lifts!

Of course, the ski domains are smaller and the runs a bit shorter but for a weekend break at 250 euros it's hard to beat.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19577 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19484 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19484 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19380
The couple who run the place were very helpful - they recommended an excellent ski instructor who was great with the kids.

We're definitely going back next year - I miss the hot tub!]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19380 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/18639
A hotel which has a great view of Mount Olympus is the Semeli Resort. It's small but cosy and is beside the forests. Great walking opportunities, birdwatching, mountain biking, skiing - when there's snow.

In 20 minutes' drive you can visit Dion, Vergina in one-hour drive, Thessaloniki with a vast collection of Byzantine churches and ruins, museums and the beach is 20 minutes' drive. I love this area - beautiful mountains, small villages with simple but genuine life. It is worth visiting.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/18639 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/18619 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/18619 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/18548
We've been there in winter and also on walking holidays in summer and can't decide which we liked better. The village (Bad Mitterndorf) is really unspoilt by tourism - no package tours go there and the atmosphere is really Austrian. It's on the edge of the Austrian Lake District - great for swimming in the hot summers! We just keep on going back for more. Oh, and they've got mountain bikes that guests can use free of charge, too.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/18548 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/18385 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/18385 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/18383 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/18383 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/18067
It's family-run with amazing service, modern luxuries/facilities and excellent cuisine and wine - I cannot recommend this place enough. Simply the best week's skiing my friends and I have ever had. Will definitely go back again.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/18067 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17975
Get your ski/skiboarding gear from La Tania (where it's cheaper) and take the free bus to Courchevel 1500 or 1850 from La Tania.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17975 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17954 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17954 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17771 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17771 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17432
Use the lifts to get your elevation, then work out of ski area boundaries for fresh snow, long descents, beautiful views, challenging skiing/boarding and solitude.

Or better yet, use skins to climb up where there are no lifts. Or hire a helicopter or a ski-plane to drop you on a nearby peak.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17432 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17339
This resort is built like Breckenridge years ago, there are runs and lifts across the face of three mountains and on the backside of one, without any of the crowds.

Base lifts are a five-minute shuttle ride from the condo, a private hot tub with views of the ski area is super great! Which you'll need because you skied so much and waited so little.

It's very cold but if you love to ski and hate crowds this is the place. $369 a night, over the holidays.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17339 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17283
Prices are also very reasonable; passes and ski/boot hire are both about £12 a day. The resorts have just invested in four new lifts, artificial snow canons and a new trattoria.

The town of Sarnano is a top base for a white week in the Sibillini mountains, it has over 20 restaurants, a late music bar and even has a funky nightclub.

There's plenty to see and do locally, the area is full of wonderful medieval villages and fantastic for walking below the snowline.

There are many hotels locally or maybe you would prefer a cosy apartment with woodburning stove and free wood, in the old Sarnano Farm Villa San Raffaello.

The resort is easily reached on cheap flights into Ancona, Pescara, Perugia and even Rome and Bologna.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17283 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16831
The Campaign for Better Transport are actually running a competition to win coach tickets down to various skiing destinations (including Val D'Isere).

Take a look at: www.bettertransport.co.uk.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16831 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16829
So it's cheap to get to and onward travel to the ski resorts of the east Pyrenees - Font Romeu, Ax, Les Angles and Andorra - is relatively simple - a 90 minute drive. Rather than fight with the crowds in the big ski airports of Geneva, Lyon or Grenoble here is a charming and cheap alternative.

We've been doing this for three years now and wouldn't go back to the Alps.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16829 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16808 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16808 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16544
During the winter this sizeable mountain plateau is a cross-country skier’s heaven. In summer, when the snow melts, the land takes on a slightly barren and desolate appearance but a network of marked trails and rest huts open it up as a hiking destination. A popular jaunt is the six-hour round trip to the Trolltunga (Troll’s tongue), a dizzying outcrop of rock where those with a strong stomach can stand and enjoy an impressive panorama.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16544 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16517 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16517