1

"am totally open to anywhere in Europe within a 3 hour flight"
from where?
There may be more suitable flights from London than from Belfast, for example.

2

He wrote: the day I fly out of London

3

Hi....

How about a ski resort in either Bulgaria or Romania? Budget flights are available from LGW, STN and LTN.
It's so easy in the resorts of both countries to get accommodation and a daily ski package.
Also, the prices of everything are a lot cheaper than in Western Europe resorts.
Just Google either 'Ski Romania' or 'Ski Bulgaria.'
See how you get on - and let us know if it's any good.
I can give you a short guide to all the main resorts in both countries.
Over to you.

4

Fly to Innsbruck. There are excellent resorts close by, it is a nice town, lots of accomodation of all kind and they sell a ski pass which includes transport and 7 different resorts.

5

OP - *sebba....

Do you have a limited budget, or isn't that an issue?

6

Thanks, regards, I overlooked it.

I suppose you know that flights are rather expensive at your dates, unless you start from London extemely early in the morning of New Years day.
In this case, you may check:

Gatwick dp 7.25 - Geneva ar 10.05 with BA (46 GBP), dp 11.00 by bus - Chamonix ar 12.30 or GVA dp 11.20 - Megeve ar 12.45 or GVA dp 11.20 - Avoriaz ar 13.10.
BA return flight to London City airport on January 6th GVA dp 20.40 (214 GBP). The connecting buses leave Chamonix at 17.30, Megeve at 17.00, Avoriaz at 17.10.
or
GVA dp 11.24 - Verbier 13.57/16.25 - GVA ar 19.06

Gatwick dp 6.50 - Zurich ar 9.30 with easyjet , ZRH dp 21.20 - Luton ar 22.15 (175 GBP round trip). Connecting trains:

ZRH dp 10.20 - St. Anton am Arlberg ar 12.59 - Zuers an 13.34
Zuers dp 14.16 - St. Anton dp 15.00 - ZRH ar 17.38

ZRH dp 10.13 - Davos 12.55/17.02 - ZRH 19.46.

If your dates are flexible, you my also check
Dec 31st: London city airport dp 18.30 - Bern ar 21.10 with skywork (129 GBP), dp 21.50 - Adelboden ar 23.59 resp taxi BRN - Belp (very short ride), Belp dp 21.54 - Grindelwald ar 23.36
Jan 7th: BRN dp 17.15 - London city airport ar 18.00 (GBP 109). The connecting trains/buses leave Grindelwald at 14.19, Adelboden at 13.50.
Or fly back 1 day earlier from ZRH with easyjet: Grindelwald dp 17.19/Adelboden dp 17.30 - Gatwick ar 22.40

You may also fly to Turin and go from there to Breui-Cervinia, Gressoney or Bardonecchia.

Innsbruck would be fine, if you can find a suitable flight ar your dates.

7

You can book flight and accommodation separately.
Last three winters I flew to Bergamo with Ryanair (cheap) and skied in Alleghe, Gressoney and Madonna di Campiglio. Gressoney/Champoluc was best out of the three and Alleghe, with nearby Arabba and Sellaronda, second best.
Alternatively you can fly to Turin.
Try to avoid NYE week (if you can) as both flights and accommodation will be at its peak.

8

...unfortunately the bus ride from Milano to these places takes 3 to 4 hrs and direct buses leave so early that it is impossible to catch them if you arrive by plane from London.

9

To Nice by easyjet and from the airport by coach to Isola 2000 (1,30 drive).

10

#8
Transfer from Milan Malpensa to Gressoney is 130 min, from Turin 105 min.
It's a quick and affordable way to get directly from the airport to the slopes, although for only one person it might be too costly (roughly €200 1-4 ppl one way).

11

Thanks so much for the advice.
Unfortunately I arrive at LHR at 0500 from Melbourne on 1/1 and most discount flights leave from other airports.
So would probabaly have to stay in London and fly out next day then get back on very early flight on 6/1 or the day before as I fly out of LHR to Israel on a 10am flight on 6/1.
East European options look good but too difficult to fit in with only a 5 day window
I might just have to settle for a week in London unless anyone has another cunning idea to get into the snow given those limitations.

12

Are you willing to hire a car or rely on PT ?

13

If you fly in with BA, you can book the BA flight LHR dp 7.20 - ZRH ar 10.00 and reach many Swiss ski destinations before 2pm. If you have to fetch your luggage at LHR and check in again, this would be too risky however.
if you feel fit enough for driving a car after a overnight flight, you could fly to Geneva, rent a car and arrive at Megeve before 1pm.
http://www.megeve.com/en/hiver/mont-blanc/alps/haute-savoie/france/page/ski-area

By public transport, you could do the following:

LHR dp 1.1.13, 8.30 - GVA ar 11.05 (BA, 78 GBP); GVA dp 11.54 - Villars ar 14.19, Champery ar 14.21
http://www.villars.ch/en/page.cfm/Hiver/SportsHiver
http://www.champery.ch/editorial.php?nav=28&pageType=1&language=2&season=1
LHR dp 1.1.13, 8.55 - ZRH ar 11.45 (BA, 100 GBP); ZRH dp 12.51 - Wangs Pizolbahn ar 14.35,
http://www.pizol.com/winter2/aktuell/news-und-events2/ski-und-therme.html
ZRH dp 12.47 - Stoos ar 14.48
http://www.morschach-stoos.ch/de/winter/wintersport/ski-snowboard/pisten

But be aware that around New Year it gets dark between 4.30 and 5pm; most ski lifts run until about 4pm

14

No problem with hiring a car at Zurich airport and then driving .
I'll check whether I can make the connection from heathrow to make that 0720 flight
That will be a marathon from my home in melbourne to megeve!
Any suggestions for accommodation?