| 11-day Escorted Ski Vacation to Moena in the Val di Fassa, Dolomites, Italy, for Seniors and over 50's
Friday February 27th to Monday March 9th, 2009
Double Occupancy CAD $3100.00 per person
Single Occupancy CAD $3300.00 per person
Included in our Tour:
* Depart for Italy from Toronto Friday February 27th, 2008 in the evening. Arrive in Venice, Italy on Saturday Februay 28th at Marco Polo Airport, early in the morning, about 3 hours drive to the resort hotel in Moena, Val di Fassa.
* Current flight taxes and fuel surcharges of $320 Canadian
* TRANSFERS from Venice Airport to resort hotel, from resort hotel to Venice hotel and from Venice hotel to Venice Airport
* 7-NIGHT'S ACCOMMODATION in MOENA, VAL DI FASSA
 in the 3+ star Hotel Catinaccio Rosengarten, with indoor swimming pool, optional sauna, etc., (as good or even better than many Caribbean so-called 5-stars), including buffet breakfasts & Full Course Italian Dinners.
* SKI SAFARI Ski Around to a different ski area every day for all six days with Bruno Pederiva, our group's own certified Italian local mountain Guide & Ski Instructor ... 6 days Alpe di Lusia, Latemar, Arabba, ski tour Sella Ronde (including Val Gardena & Corvara), Passo San Pellegrino and other nearby ski areas in the Dolomites, depending on local conditions.
Note: The Ski Safari Ski Around Around program is not for beginners. Skiers who might be a bit uncomfortable with some of the ski around program slopes may elect to be escorted part of the time by Ed Pollock, the tour escort.
* 2-nights accommodation in Venice (Mestre), Saturday March 7th to Monday March 9th, 2009 at the 4-Star Hotel Plaza, with buffet breakfasts Sunday morning and if time permits, Monday morning before leaving for the airport.
* LOCAL ACCOMMODATION TAXES and HOTEL GRATUITIES for both hotels are included.
* Return Monday, March 9th, 2009 arriving back in Toronto in the afternoon, after 9 full days in Italy.
* Escorted by Ed Pollock from Toronto to Italy, daily during stay, & back to Venice and to Toronto. This is Ed's sixth ski group trip to the Di Fass Valley, in addition to more than a dozen previous ski trips to the Alps. A senior and ski writer, Ed has also skied all over North America.
NOT INCLUDED
* SKI PASS - Super Dolomiti 6-day ski pass is not included because seniors born before Nov. 25, 1946 get a 15% discount when their pass is purchased at the ski area, and certified ski instructors and others with acceptable documentation may also qualify for an additional discount. This also reduces the cost of advance payments and travel insurance. The adult 6-day pass is 200 Euros, approximately $325 Canadian, less any applicable discounts, to be paid in Euros on arrival.
* SKI RENTAL - 6-day ski rental prices range from about 50 Euros for basic carving skis, to 100 Euros for top of the line - approximately $100 to $150 Canadian.
MOENA - a beautiful small Ladin town, ideally situated in the centre of Val di Fassa with Vigo di Fassa, Pozza di Fassa and Canazei a few km north and Cavalese a few km south.
There are more than 120 ski lifts around the valley, consisting of 8 cable cars, 7 gondolas, more than 50 chairlifts (5-seaters, quads, triples and doubles) and more than 40 surface lifts. The resort altitude is 1300m, highest peak 3284m, longest run 6km and vertical drop 2060m.
There are more than 250km of marked downhill ski runs, nearly all with snowmaking, rated 40% easiest (blue runs), 45% intermediate cruising (red runs) and 15% more difficult (black runs). In addition, the area has over 100km of cross-country trails, many with snow-making and track setting.
Most of the lifts are the latest new high-speed detachable quad chair lifts, many with bubbles, that have been installed in the last few years, replacing the old surface lifts and
double chairs . Many of the lifts also have moving carpets at the loading area. Because the detachable high speed lifts get you up the hill so much faster, you can easily ski more than 4,000m (as much as 15,000 ft.) of vertical each day, never ski the same run twice and ski a different area each day.
Villages range in size from fewer than a thousand permanent residents to
a few thousand. The valley language, architectural style and local cooking is a reflection of their Ladin heritage (similar to Romansch in Switzerland) with a blending of Austrian (from the days of Emperor Franz Josef prior to the first World War) and of course, Italian.
There is a good variety of shops in Moena and nearby towns and villages, offering rentals and new downhill and cross-country equipment, as well as clothing, plus all the regular kinds of stores you would expect to find. And of course there are the bars, cafes, discos etc. for your après-ski and evening enjoyment.
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You will ski at different area every day, including Alpe di Lusia, Latemar, Arabba, Passo San Pellegrino, and all or some of the famous tour around the Sella Ronde, 26km of fully lift-serviced downhill skiing on the slopes surrounding the Sella mountains, including the Val Gardena downhill run. You will seldom ski the same run more than once. We may try to add a day at Marmolada and/or Cortina d'Ampezzo as well this year, depending on the weather and local road conditions.
The package includes the certified local instructor (and famous mountain guide) and arrangements for transportation from the hotel to and from the slopes to visit and tour different ski areas every day.
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Moena Resort Guide
Town Altitude: 1295m
Highest Peak: 3284m
Vertical Drop: 2059m
No. of lifts: 89
No. of snow canons: over 400!
Longest Run: 6 km
Kms. Of Piste: 350km
Cross-country trails: 90km
Halfpipe & Terrain Park
VIEW VAL DI FASSA TRAIL MAP |
VENICE - On the Saturday, after 6 days of skiing, we will leave the resort hotel after breakfast for an unhurried drive to Venice, where the group will stay at the ideally situated 4-star Hotel Plaza for 2 nights.
Staying in Mestre solves the problem if you stay on the island of Venice and have to transport your skis and boots as well as your ski clothing and the rest of your baggage from the bus to the hotel.
Hotel Amenities and Facilities – restaurant, bar, 24-hour front desk, lobbies, newspapers, non-smoking rooms, elevator, safety deposit box, luggage storage, all public spaces non-smoking, room service, business centre, laundry, dry cleaning, ironing Service, tour desk, fax/photocopying. wireless internet hotspot entire hotel € 6.00 per hour, guest parking nearby € 7.00 per day.
Hotel guest room amenities include satellite television, mini-bar, internet access, a safe, radio, telephone, heating and air-conditioning controllable from the room, breakfast in room,. Bathrooms are equipped with a hairdryer, telephone and radio.
Hotel location – Right across the street from the train station, with trains to Venice just about every half hour for the less than 10-minute trip to the railway station in Venice on the grand canal. All trains to Venice stop at Mestre station. Marco Polo International airport is only 8 km (5 miles) from the hotel.
Hotel restaurants – the Poseidon Restaurant offers gastronomic specialities in the best Italian and Veneto traditions, accompanied by wines from its international cellar. The modern and stylish Plaza Café for an informal brunch, cocktail or appetizing first course dish.
Venice - You will be able to spend Saturday afternoon and evening and all day Sunday sight-seeing in Venice. We recommend taking a twilight cruise on a Grand Canal "Vaporetto" (ferry), when the lights are just coming on and you can see in through the windows of the palazzos along the the canal. If you want to be able to say you've had a gondola ride in Venice but don't wish to spend about € 75.00 for less than an hour's ride in your own rented gondola , take a trip across the grand canal on one of the gondola ferries that go back and forth across the Grand Canal. It isn't very glamorous but only costs about € 1.00 and then you can say you had a gondola ride while you were in Venice.
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Flights can be arranged from anywhere in North America. Contact us at 1-866-648-7757 for more details.
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