Fly into Germany to get to the Alps? It’s madness! Well, perhaps not. If you’re weary of the check-in scrums, queues, traffic congestion, over-crowded eateries, and inadequate facilities of Alpine airports like Salzburg and Geneva on changeover day, then you’d be wise to follow the smart skiers’ example and opt for a little German efficiency.
Friedrichshafen airport (officially Bodensee Airport Friedrichshafen, but everyone just calls it Friedrichshafen) lies on Germany’s southern border, strategically positioned just above the line dividing Austria and Switzerland some 25km away. With Monarch Airlines (monarch.co.uk/ski) offering low-cost services from London Gatwick and Manchester, Friedrichshafen is a quick and easy route to the top resorts of the Austrian, Swiss (and if you fancy a change German!) Alps.
Apart from its proximity to the slopes, it’s also a very well-managed airport, but still small enough to be on a human scale, making passing through it much more pleasant than the ski holiday norm. Currently, the airport is in the final stages of a global industry contest to identify the best airports worldwide. Friedrichshafen has been shortlisted in the world top five for an airport of its size (less than 4m passengers per year) from 421 airports considered, and may yet win the top spot.
Big Ski Resorts, Short Transfers
Many of the best known ski resorts in world skiing are only a 90 minute to 2 hour transfer away by fast motorway connections, and Friedrichshafen also offers faster connections to slightly more distant resorts than any other airport can.
Austria
St Anton (90 minutes)
Legendary for its spectacular powder ski slopes, and equally its hedonistic nightlife scene, fewer people are aware that St Anton also holds a key status as a key pioneering resort in Alpine skiing. Marketed as “the cradle of Alpine skiing”, as one of the first ski clubs in the Alps it was established in 1901. Appropriately St Anton hosted the World Alpine Skiing Championships a century later in 2001.
This is a resort of contrasts; the timeless, peaceful village centre contrasts with the buzzing nightlife (although at the same time, the two seem to complement one another); the prepared trails cover in excess of 280km of marked runs in the Arlberg, and then an incredible 180km more of unpisted routes for experienced skiers to explore. All this makes St Anton a magnet for serious winter sports enthusiasts of all ages the world over, in the same special way as Chamonix in France, and the US resorts of Crested Butte in Colorado and Jackson Hole in Wyoming.
There’s evermore accommodation choice in St Anton too. Last season the brand new MOOSER Hotel opened, this winter sees the opening of the 4«Anthony’s Life & Style Hotel (www.anthonys.at) located in St Anton’s pedestrian zone.
You can also, of course, easily reach neighbouring Arlberg resorts like Lech-Zürs, famous for its own great skiing, fantastic gourmet food and wonderful shopping.
Ischgl (2 hours)
Ischgl is a large, but traditional, Tyrolean village below one of Austria’s greatest and highest ski areas, crossing the border to be linked with Samnaun, making a unique Austro-Swiss ski area. Now one of the largest ski areas in the Alps, it has an enviable snow record, and a reputation for its big music concerts, free to lift pass holders, at the start of the season in late-November and at the end in early-May. Superstar performers have included Kylie, Rihanna, Pink, Bob Dylan and Elton John on an increasingly long list.
The 200km ski region is one of the largest in Austria (at least partially), and with a vertical approaching 1400m up to 2872m it is much higher and bigger than some of the country’s other big name ski areas like Kitzbühel. With 90% of the ski area above 2000m, this makes the area particularly snow-sure.
Switzerland
Davos (2 hours)
Davos is the largest and most successful of the first breed of classic ski resorts. Along with a huge, snow-sure and glacier-capped ski area linked to neighbouring Klosters, Europe’s highest town is annual host to world leaders in staging the World Economic Forum. Another important pioneer in winter sports, Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, skied from Davos to Arosa in the late 19th century, and the world’s first T-bar lift was installed at Davos in 1934.
This season, as last, Davos is a particularly good choice before Christmas, as along with its snow-sure slopes, anyone who books direct from a long list of participating accommodation, will receive a lift pass completely free of charge!
Arosa (2 hours)
A classic high-altitude resort of the type that only exists in Switzerland, Arosa is famous for its views over the local peaks and its well laid-out lift system. The local ski club was founded in 1903, making it one of the world’s oldest, and the ski school began in 1933. Developing from a destination for health-giving holidays in the last century into one of the pioneering winter sports meccas before the era of modern skiing, Arosa has managed to turn itself into a winter sports destination with the facilities modern tourists want, but at the same time it has continued to capitalise on the stunning natural beauty that surrounds it, an ever more valuable asset.
And this winter the children of guests in Arosa can learn to ski free, thanks to the resort’s “Ski School inclusive” initiative. Any child born in or after 1995 (so around age 17 years or younger), and staying at least two nights in one of the 70 participating hotels and self-catering properties, can get free ski school lessons!
Monarch Ski (monarch.co.uk/ski) offers regular flights to Friedrichshafen from London Gatwick and Manchester with low prices and added special offers and benefits, the latest of which are always online.
All Aboard The Ski Shuttle
If you’re not on a package and prefer not to self-drive, there’s a number of excellent ski shuttle services connecting with your Monarch flight, and then running direct from the airport to your hotel in dozens of Austrian, German and Swiss ski resorts. For Swiss resorts take the Graubunden Express to big names like Arosa, Davos-Klosters, Flims/Laax, Lenzerheide and St Moritz, or for Austria hop on the Ski Express St Anton, which despite its name goes to many more resorts too, including Galtür, Ischgl, Lech-Zürs, Serfaus/Fiss/Ladis, Sölden or St Anton – again among dozens of choices. Prices vary depending on destination – a single to St Anton is €48pp (about £39) for example, €84 (about £67) return.
