Family Skiing Holiday.... where, what ..Help

M

mum3

Guest
Hi,
have a few special occasions coming up next year and to mark them was thinking of splurging out on a Family Skiing holiday (2 kids will be 4 & 6 before end of this year). Never been on a Skiing Holiday - dont know anyone who has been so we are really clueless on whats involved... classes .. ski passes... ski gear ....who would be good to book with...
Anyone been lately that could give some advise :)
Dont have a clue where to start so any help would be really really appreciated.


Thank You.
 
Hi there, I have been skiing a few times with family who have children that would have been similar ages are yours.

Some tips when picking a resort - proximity to skischool, airport and family friendly hotel. I can recomend Clavier in Italy and Ellmau. We booked them through Crystal Ski. But you do need to be quick as family rooms book up quickly.

Of both those resorts I would choose Ellmau mainly because the ski school is very near the town - which makes it logistically easier for you..
I would also recomend Crystal Club hotels, the food is OK, but it had such good family support with pygama clubs for kids, a cresh etc - we could not fault it really as my in laws really did have holidays..
 
Flaine in France has a good reputation for family holidays. As Pinky Bear rightly points out the resort is not to far from the airport and many of the hotels have ski in-ski out access to the ski school and adjoining square where all the ski schools meet each morning.

Chourchevel is also very good but can be very expensive.
 
have a look at www.wtss.co.uk - its the website behind the Daily Mail ski Magazine. IMHO its the best around. Also you can buy their WTSS yearly book which is excellent as there are sections/resorts broken out by category - looking at my 2007 book it lists Flaine as Creditlimit has above, Lech, Les Arcs now joined with La Plagne, Valmorel and Wengen, Saas Fe etc.

Would 2nd Courchevel you can also stay at 1300 (la Praz) or la Tania and is much more reasonable.
 
You could find a lot of specfic ski advice here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055046273&page=7

I have done Italy and Austria with the family. I would definitely recommend a return to Austria, no one does it better than them for kids and lessons.

1. Austria has all day lessons - this is REAL important with the kiddies as its probably the only time away from them you will get on your holiday! If they already do creche, then they will take to the austrian ski schools like a duck to water.

2. Pick a resort where the school meeting point is very close to your hotel/apartment. nothing worse than having to take several lifts or buses to get there. Think no hills.

3. Get your ski gear from a place that is also close to the school meeting point. Wait unitll you get there, find out the lie of the land (literally hills suck with kids), then buy all your gear when you know what place is easiest.

4. Creche, playarea, pools etc are all icing on the cake if you get the first 3 right. Kids love skiing, they might complain about the early start - but get them to the place, drop them off - and never look back. The austrian teacher gave out to me when i came back the first day at lunch to check on my kid - and she was right!

5. Overpack for the kids in terms of weather. Hats, gloves, scarves, neck warmers, proper ski suits/pants... dont skimp on them - they will be miserable. have two pairs minimum of everything. if it aint wet its sweaty...
 
Hi there, one last tip, when you are booking accomadation make sure you are clear about your requirements regarding a family room. In general accomadation can be just OK for skiing holidays. My SIL one year requested a family room - like you has 2 kids at the time they were 3 and 4. She was given a cot and the room already had three beds.

If I were you when you are booking, be very clear about what you want in terms of accomadation, contact the travel company directly. I would agree with eveything Yankinlk has said...
 
Thank You

Thank you so much for your replies. Would never have thought of any the points you passed on to take into consideration.

Off now to do some research :)

Thanks.
 
Also be aware of the transfer time from the airport to the resort. They can range from 2hrs to 6+hours (e.g. Livigno in Italy)
 
You've got some great advice there, I'll just add one thing re France - whereas the skiing may be fantastic, apartment accommodation can be very cramped. We stayed in a hotel so we were ok, but our rep spent the whole week dealing with people upset at the tiny amount of apartment space they had. Additionally, it seemed that people had to make their own beds upon arrival!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top