Strategy for 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy?
Sep 7, 2004, 5:25 pm
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Strategy for 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy?
Maybe a little too soon to be thinking about air travel since we are more than 330 days out. But I would be grateful for any advice that the Athens veterans and others from the continent can provide (though admittedly Athens is rather inaccessible by land from the major Euro capitals).
How easy is it to get to Turin in the winter via car or train? I would imagine that Alitalia and the others will try to jack people on fares to Italy, but that one will have little difficulty getting good winter fares to Paris, Zurich, Munich etc. Is it feasible to drive from one of these neighboring gateways to Turin? Are there any discount carriers that fly there?
In 2002, I drove to Salt Lake City, which worked out great as it saved hours getting to and from each of the venues which were spread out over a large area. But that will not be an option in 2006 for those of us in the states.
It will also be interesting to see how they handle accommodations. One could literally find dozens of options in different price ranges on the internet for SLC -- many of which were reduced in price as the dates got closer. By contrast, I know people who went to Norway in 1994 and were bused 3 hours to events.
How easy is it to get to Turin in the winter via car or train? I would imagine that Alitalia and the others will try to jack people on fares to Italy, but that one will have little difficulty getting good winter fares to Paris, Zurich, Munich etc. Is it feasible to drive from one of these neighboring gateways to Turin? Are there any discount carriers that fly there?
In 2002, I drove to Salt Lake City, which worked out great as it saved hours getting to and from each of the venues which were spread out over a large area. But that will not be an option in 2006 for those of us in the states.
It will also be interesting to see how they handle accommodations. One could literally find dozens of options in different price ranges on the internet for SLC -- many of which were reduced in price as the dates got closer. By contrast, I know people who went to Norway in 1994 and were bused 3 hours to events.
Sep 7, 2004, 8:42 pm
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I've been to 4 Games, SLC being my last one. I'd venture to guess Cartan will be the offical US travel company for Torino (not sure but they have been for many years).
I've purchased my flights usually 10ish months prior to the time I'd be at the Games. Many times fares would go down significantly in which case I'd pay to have the airline change the fare to the cheaper fare. I only buy my tix early because I'm afraid the fares would be exhorbitant if I wait.
As for where to stay, that's always a crap shoot. I know all the ice events are in the city and the snow events in the mountains, some sites up to 2 hours away from the city center. I would guess there'd be a park and ride type bus service to the mountain events, as in SLC. So I guess you need to decide what events you'll be seeing and plan on staying near those events. More ice events, the city. Luge, skiing etc - the mountains.
Keep checking www.torino2006.org for travel information. I think more information will be available towards the end of this year/beginning of next.
I'm jealous!! I'd love to go there but, financially the mortgage calls
I've purchased my flights usually 10ish months prior to the time I'd be at the Games. Many times fares would go down significantly in which case I'd pay to have the airline change the fare to the cheaper fare. I only buy my tix early because I'm afraid the fares would be exhorbitant if I wait.
As for where to stay, that's always a crap shoot. I know all the ice events are in the city and the snow events in the mountains, some sites up to 2 hours away from the city center. I would guess there'd be a park and ride type bus service to the mountain events, as in SLC. So I guess you need to decide what events you'll be seeing and plan on staying near those events. More ice events, the city. Luge, skiing etc - the mountains.
Keep checking www.torino2006.org for travel information. I think more information will be available towards the end of this year/beginning of next.
I'm jealous!! I'd love to go there but, financially the mortgage calls
Sep 8, 2004, 7:47 am
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Originally Posted by Boraxo
Maybe a little too soon to be thinking about air travel since we are more than 330 days out.
On accomodations, I think that Torino would be somewhere between SLC, Calgary and (2010) Vancouver, and such isolated sites like Lillehammer and Alberville. Torino has an industrial base, so does have a certain amount of year-round business travel capacity.
As for driving, I've never done it in the winter, but maybe others can comment on the possibility of driving up from France (say picking up the car at Nice-Cote d'Azur Airport, where rates (and car selection) are likely to be better than locally.