 Poster: A snowHead
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I'm planning on taking my boy skiing at half term this season (just me and him), so was wondering if anyone had any specific recommendations for a child friendly resort in terms of good instruction and fun things to do if he doesn't fancy skiing one day.
I know Avoriaz very well and it meets the criteria but it's stupidly expensive at half term and I'm really not that fussed about a large or challenging ski area as I have a couple of other trips in the pipeline for me, this trip is all about him.
I've got a preference for France purely because I can speak french and he's even picked up a few words after spending the summer there, but I'm open to suggestions for anywhere.
It just seems silly to pay top whack for a massive high level resort when all we really need is the children's ski school. Convenience to the slopes would be handy, simply to save carting kit around in the mornings and end of day
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Try Kaprun. I haven't been with my son, but when I did go with a few friends there were plenty of families and everyone I spoke to raved about it. The skiing is really good for adults, and enough apres to keep a busy Dad entertained. Wherever you go, let everyone know, as I for one would be interested to know what resorts are good, as hoping to take my son in 2016.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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feef, good instruction would seem to be the priority. At 4 "fun things to do" when not skiing could be just digging around and sledging in the snow until wet and cold.
I've been to La Norma which is nice and cheap and good skiing for a 4yo learner. Les Contamines would be OK if you don't mind riding home in the lift as the run home would be tough for a 4yo. Some good learner slopes.
A swimming pool could be handy. We stayed in an apartment in Les Contamines that had one in the building. We used it a fair bit.
Are you self catering/half boarding flying/driving?
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| Layne wrote: |
Are you self catering/half boarding flying/driving? |
Whichever. I'm not bothered what combination is required.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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feef, you won't find anywhere cheap in France at half term, though certainly some places are cheaper than others. And if you go to a smaller resort - Les Saisies for example - apart from being busy, group lessons will be basically French, and opportunities for private lessons pretty thin, because all the instructors will be so busy.
It seems a shame to take a 4 year old at half term - if you made it another week a whole world of possibilities would open up. But if it's France, avoid the last 3 weeks in February and the first week in March. I do agree with Layne that just "mucking about in the snow" is the key activity.
As for the suggestion that apres ski is important...... I imagine that apres ski will be getting all the stuff off, thinking about getting it dried, wondering how the inside of ski boots can get so wet, trying to find two identical (or even similar) mittens for the following morning, cooking some tea, having a bath, reading a story and putting him to bed. Followed by a beer or a glass of wine bought earlier in the supermarket. Do you have any friends you could go with - would make it much more fun?
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I have a preference for france solely from the aspect of language, as said in the beginning, anywhere in Europe is cool.
As for it being half term, thats dictated by it being his school holidays
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feef,
Just about anywhere in Austria / Switzerland and language won't be a problem (assuming you don't have too bad an accent  ). As mentioned above, all you need is snow and a good swimming pool. Mine have never wanted more.
The mushette didn't really get on with all day ski school at 4 which was surprising. She was OK in the mornings but got a bit upset at/after lunch. Probably because her brother was ignoring her and playing with his new friends by then.
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| Quote: |
thats dictated by it being his school holidays
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He's 4? He doesn't legally have to be at school at that point - and you can have a week off "unauthorised absence" under most LEAs anyway (what you need to look up is the "Code of Conduct" on unauthorised absence for the relevant LEA).
But if there are family politics involved which mean it must be school hols, have you considered Easter? It's better in almost every way especially for such a young child.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Kappl is great for kids - skiing quiet and kiddies fun park too (to use his twin tips ) Serfaus is supposed to be amazing for families but not been
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| pam w wrote: |
| Quote: |
thats dictated by it being his school holidays
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He's 4? He doesn't legally have to be at school at that point - and you can have a week off "unauthorised absence" under most LEAs anyway (what you need to look up is the "Code of Conduct" on unauthorised absence for the relevant LEA). |
Been there, done that, not possible. Even in Reception year, there's no unauthorised absences. Anyway, neither I nor his mum agree completely with taking him out of school just for the sake of a holiday.
| pam w wrote: |
But if there are family politics involved which mean it must be school hols, have you considered Easter? It's better in almost every way especially for such a young child. |
I may be away myself at Easter, or at least too close to easter to make that possible, but it is a consideration.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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feef, if you don't agree with taking him out of school, fine - it's a very valid position. But no child legally has to attend school until the start of the term after he is 5. I wonder if an LEA could issue a Penalty Notice to a child under 5? An interesting question.
Cambridge seems to have a more hawkish position on penalty notices - which can be issued if a child has less than 85% attendance in the previous 4 weeks - but it's not true to say that "no unauthorised absence is allowed" (though schools have sometimes been less than transparent about the terms in which they have informed parents). Of course it's not "allowed" (or it wouldn't be unauthorised) but no action will be taken unless various boxes have been ticked.
If it has to be half then if you want to go to France be prepared to find everything very busy - most half decent accommodation will already have been booked in most French resorts. Our half term coincides with the Paris holidays, unfortunately.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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as said too. It doesn't HAVE to be France, I am just able to speak French so, everything else being equal, there's a preference... but everything else would have to be equal.
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I'll chip in here and suggest you talk to school. Our lad started reception year at 4 and we went away in Jan, we asked permission and were told we don't need it because legally he doesn't have to be there. You may not agree with taking him out but do you really think he's going to miss anything at that age? Take some phonics books with you if you do.
We went to Les Gets which we found more than suitable for our first skiing holiday with him.
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You know it makes sense.
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I've been through the discussion with myself and his mum, the dates aren't in question.
Can we now stop discussing whether it's possible/right/wrong/good/bad/legal/illegal to take him out of school and just make some recommendations for resorts? 
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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feef, you'll be lucky
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Poster: A snowHead
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From experience look at Les Gets as I recommended before. Luckily our 4 yr old had lessons prior to arriving so it worked well, ski school in the morning and then he joined us in the afternoon to do the blues with us. Nice compact resort.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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feef, you know you said stupidly expensive in Avoriaz for half term, what do you mean exactly? Have you got a budget in mind, for accom only? for package?
I have a few ideas for you but it might help to know a bit more. For example very quick googling shows up £1400 for a week SC accomm only in Avoriaz, is that your 'stupidly expensive'?
This question is really wide open, there are loads and loads of options for you 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| sarah wrote: |
feef, you know you said stupidly expensive in Avoriaz for half term, what do you mean exactly? Have you got a budget in mind, for accom only? for package?
I have a few ideas for you but it might help to know a bit more. For example very quick googling shows up £1400 for a week SC accomm only in Avoriaz, is that your 'stupidly expensive'?
This question is really wide open, there are loads and loads of options for you |
Cost isn't an absolute. Can you point me at where was offering £1400 for a week SC there, as the cheapest I've found, with Crystal for example, was £1552 per adult but charging a £3104 total. If I change the search settings to 2 adults and a child, it costs £1552 per adult £3813 total party price. Crystal only give a child reduction if there's 2 adults however, I'm not sure where a child is supposed to sleep in a 2 bed apt if there's already 2 adults there.
in a nutshell, the TO's aren't really geared up for single parent travellers.
If the wee man could ski and could take advantage of the PdS ski area, then it certainly wouldn't be expensive, but it's a lot for just the resort facilities and a week in the Piou-Piou or Ourson and not much else.
The earlier suggestion of La Norma seems to be closer to the mark, the overall cost is much lower and has what we need. I suppose I'm just far more familiar with the larger areas in Europe so don't really know about these smaller places which, for trips like this, would be ideal.
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feef, have you looked here:
http://www.folgarida.co.uk
When I was booking for this coming season we were considering there for half term week, they came I pretty reasonable for half term week when looking at a family of 4. Obviously not sure how they compare for one adult 1 child.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Personally I would book the week off and get everything ready. There are always deals to be had and I am pretty sure if you were flexible on the destination and airport there will be some pretty good deals with esprit nearer the time. Obviously there is a risk, but I'd be pretty sure You'd find a good value deal closer to the time.
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Try esprit ski, they cater for single parents. Of course they only do catered chalets so price still may be quite high.
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| ansta1 wrote: |
| Personally I would book the week off and get everything ready. There are always deals to be had and I am pretty sure if you were flexible on the destination and airport there will be some pretty good deals with esprit nearer the time. Obviously there is a risk, but I'd be pretty sure You'd find a good value deal closer to the time. |
When I was watching the late deals with Esprit for school Hols last year, the only availability was for 1 adult 1 child or 2 adults + infant. So a definite possibility for you.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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If you're happy to sort out own transport then have a look at snowtrex &/or ski.sunweb.com both websites showing plenty of apartment availability for half term week in various resorts. Looking on average around £800 for the two of you inc lift passes.
But you do have to get there.
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feef, the £1400 for a SC apartment in Avoriaz came from looking on Booking.com for accomm only for the half term dates. Given you know the resort it might still be worth it as I think it's a really good place for kids, the new Aquariaz pool complex is fab especially at that age and there's a good choice of very good ski schools there.
Other options which came up were some fairly reasonably priced but modest looking hotels on the Swiss side.
Other ideas are maybe try Esprit as they often have 'one parent and one child' offers where they have just one room left in a chalet. Same might apply for the other family operators like Family Ski Company etc.
Puy St Vincent with Snowbizz is a fantastic option with a child that age. We went there when mine was 4. Really good service and staff, truly ski in and out apartments, fun activities for kids and their own ski school. Might already be fully booked though.
La Tania is a good place with little kids. Again good choice of very good ski schools there, lots of ski in and out accomm. Can get bus up to Courchevel for pool, ice skating etc. and there's a small pool in one of the hotels there. Lots of small family operators there too.
Courchevel 1650 is a good place, snow front accommodation, good ski schools, and the Indiens run and Indien village for kids. Again lots of family operators.
Morillon would be a good place for tiny kids, there's lots of accomm on/very close to the snow front at Morillon 1100. It has a really lovely easy run through the trees for kids with lots of signs and info boards about different mountain animals. You could go on the bus into samoens in an afternoon for more stuff to do.
Just a few ideas. Will keep thinking.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| feef wrote: |
| sarah wrote: |
feef, you know you said stupidly expensive in Avoriaz for half term, what do you mean exactly? Have you got a budget in mind, for accom only? for package?
I have a few ideas for you but it might help to know a bit more. For example very quick googling shows up £1400 for a week SC accomm only in Avoriaz, is that your 'stupidly expensive'?
This question is really wide open, there are loads and loads of options for you |
Cost isn't an absolute. Can you point me at where was offering £1400 for a week SC there, as the cheapest I've found, with Crystal for example, was £1552 per adult but charging a £3104 total. If I change the search settings to 2 adults and a child, it costs £1552 per adult £3813 total party price. Crystal only give a child reduction if there's 2 adults however, I'm not sure where a child is supposed to sleep in a 2 bed apt if there's already 2 adults there.
in a nutshell, the TO's aren't really geared up for single parent travellers.
If the wee man could ski and could take advantage of the PdS ski area, then it certainly wouldn't be expensive, but it's a lot for just the resort facilities and a week in the Piou-Piou or Ourson and not much else.
The earlier suggestion of La Norma seems to be closer to the mark, the overall cost is much lower and has what we need. I suppose I'm just far more familiar with the larger areas in Europe so don't really know about these smaller places which, for trips like this, would be ideal. |
Most TOs don't really discount at all for children (at least not at a time when you can take them on a holiday). That's the main reason we DIY. Obviously you can't save on the flights, but depending on the ages and where you stay kids can be anywhere from half price to virtually free.
Our Christmas holiday for 2 adults and 2 kids is approximately £1500 cheaper DIY than with Inghams/Neilson for the same hotel. For that we get a better room than we would with the TO and a private taxi transfer to the resort, and BA flights at sensible times with free ski carriage.
Having said that, the Easter before last we got a late deal from Thomas Cook. £1600 for a HB holiday in a 2* hotel in Sauze. I went into town to buy a Harry Potter book for junior and came back with 4 skiing holidays 
We didn't mind paying to eat out every other night with a deal like that.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Left field option, but its cheap and has a lot to do and for beginners is very underrated… Chamonix/Les Houches.
The kids/beginners ski areas are small (e.g. Planards, Savoy, Les Houches, Le Tour) and therefore very cheap (e.g. La Vormaine half day pass about E10). Planards in particular is fantastic as the lift ticket there includes the luge run. The accommodation is cheap (you’ll easily find a 2bed apartment for <£1000, and probably £600-700).
Easyjet flight out currently about £80 at start of half term, and if you’ve got some avios as of 30 mins ago (when I just booked mine) there were still some Avios seats left on BA on sun 22nd GVA-LHR.
Minibus transfer/car rental £100-200.
Ok-ish majority-english ski school (Panda club), or cheap ESF, or pricier private instruction.
Vast amount to do if he doesn’t enjoy skiing. Great pool, ice skating, climbing wall etc.
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Does booking last minute with a TO cause problems with ski school? If not, then NickyJs info seems to indicate the way to go. If that would mean ski school is a problem then that suggests DIYing now is a better option. I don't fly so don't know when people book for half term. Driving out with by yourself with a 4yo would not be attractive for many. Likewise some people may think self catering in a small apartment with just the two of you wouldn't be ideal either.
La Norma would IMO (having been there with wife and 2 young kids) a great little resort to go to. We got a great apartment for less money than I've paid just about anywhere. I've no idea about ski schools though.
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You know it makes sense.
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feef, Ski Esprit offer single parent deals (a cursory glance suggests no supplement) and child discounts, even at peak times. They may well be fairly well booked up already, but probably worth a look.
At least your son will have similar aged children that he can play with and you can dictate the schedule around whatever works best for you/your son.
May be worth looking at La Rosiere - Le Braconnier. Practically ski in/out, close to the lift. Close to the children's learning and play areas. Very handy for going outside for play/fun/games for you both.
The resort isn't huge (excluding Italy link) and it is generally really easy to get back to the chalet and kids clubs in a hurry, should the need arise.
My daughter learned there at 3 and again at 4 - its a great set-up and, by 4, she was taking the button lift up (50m from the chalet) with her lesson group, then the next lift up and skiing down. All in all a very positive experience for her and, subsequently, for her parents
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Cacciatore, my guess based on the wording of last years offers is that if they have an odd room left in accomodation that is when they put them up as 2 adults plus infant or 1 adult 1 child offer, to fill that last room.
Obviously just because I saw them for last year doesn't mean there will be any this year, and given the week is set, I personally wouldn't risk it BUT then I am rather obsessive about planning and booked our holiday for April 2015 in Jan 2014!
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Poster: A snowHead
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If you're not bothered about DIY - going direct to the hotelier could be cheaper than going through Bookingdotcom or similar, eg Pierre et Vacances, Nemea, Maeva, Lagrange for French self catering as I did this a few years ago (admittedly pre kids but it was earlier than October for a March trip as was a group).
NickyJ, I don't feel so bonkers for thinking about Feb '16 already then! Going to see how Alex gets on this season (Jan & March, we're going for broke!) and then think about DIY for Feb '16 half term. We're sort of DIY'ing in March by going to La Tania with FFS as we've had to book the travel separately but they are doing transfers, chalet board and childcare.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| NickyJ wrote: |
feef, have you looked here:
http://www.folgarida.co.uk
When I was booking for this coming season we were considering there for half term week, they came I pretty reasonable for half term week when looking at a family of 4. Obviously not sure how they compare for one adult 1 child. |
We charge the same price for everyone over the age of 3. The reason for that is the airlines change the same. The hotels charge the same. Etc. The only saving is that the lift pass is reduced. However our contract with the lift pass company is "per person", so it's not the same as you'll see on their website. We don't get free passes for infants in our contract. But as we only take a few people under 5 it's not a big problem for us.
This type of contract is a good thing for us as it's the same as we have with the hires shops. This means we pay per person. Regardless of what they want, the cost is the same.
What most people with young children do when booking with us is to take the Non-Ski discount of £160 per person that we offer. This way they can buy their own lift pass when they arrive and get a free one for the child.
This means that a half term holiday for two people would be £1544.
For £1544 you would get: Flights, Transfers, Hotel (3*), Meals.
You need to buy an adult lift pass when you arrived, which would be approx. £125 depending the exchange rate you can get at Thomas Cook.
You would also need ski hire at approx. £30.
A fully inclusive holiday at Half Term for 2 people for less than £1,700. I agree this may not be the cheapest option available anywhere, but I hope you think it is at least reasonable.
I took my 4 year old and she loved the Kinderland on the slopes.
Details here http://www.brentaski.com/pages/skiing_children_school.html
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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always29, glad I am not the only one.
I am seriously considering Whistler for Easter 2016, but that is going to be pricey especially as I would be doing 10/11 days. So I am still looking at other options as well.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Lisa_BrentaSki, and yours is one of the options
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| Quote: |
Does booking last minute with a TO cause problems with ski school?
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could well do at such a busy time. The ski school is such a key part of the deal that I wouldn't risk it. In fact, I would try to avoid having a 4 year old in a huge half term ski school class too - it's not uncommon to see 14 kids in an ESF school at half term.  Try to book with a school (possibly an ESI) that does maximum 10 though 6 is hugely better. If you go to a small French resort where private lessons are cheap (and group lessons would be predominantly francophone, regardless of how well the instructor speaks English) it might be worth looking at a few private lessons - though they'd have to be booked very well in advance. A four year old with a patient and competent father would do well with a few private lessons at the beginning of the week, to get him going with a snow-plough, then loads of time spent playing together on the same sort of terrain. My 3 year old grand-daughter did well that way and she loved it all. Frankly she'd have hated being in a group of 12 with practically everybody around her speaking French. Her dad is a PE teacher, which probably helps.
She enjoyed skiing but not for more than an hour or two a day. She preferred toboganning because she was allowed to go faster!
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NickyJ,
Have you looked at Mark Warner Ski Holidays.
The have a really good set up for dealing with kids.
If you call them I'm sure they would be able to talk to you about the best options.
I went on a summer trip with them 2 years ago and it was really well organised
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Lisa_BrentaSki, went with them Easter just gone, due to them not realising that a particular week was school holiday got quite a descent deal but normally they come in over the odds for school holidays.
2015 we are booked with Esprit.
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Problem solved.. my folks have decided to come with us, so I've booked a 3 room apartment in Avoriaz for half term
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Lessons are booked, but I don't see any early bird pass prices. I need to see what sort of pass my folks might want anyway
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FAQ
