Which resort for a 2 and 5 year old?

A snowHead

Hi,

I'm hoping to go skiing again in 2017/18 when my girls are 2 and 5 (this year we are trying Scotland!!!)

My husband and I have both been skiing many times and my eldest has already been twice.

We're both teachers and therefore going with a company during school holidays is really expensive.

We're looking for some advice from parents that have been with similar aged children. Which resorts did you go to. Any tips on accommodation/childcare/driving or flying??

Ideally we would like ski in ski out resort, a childcare option for us to get at least morning skiing and maybe ski school for my 4 year old.

Please help,

Thank you,

Emma

A snowHead

@emma2785,
Welcome to snowHead

As far as generic advice goes skiing at the Easter break has a big advantage over skiing in February.
It is usually cheaper, it is sunnier and warmer for the kids being outdoors and if you are only skiing half days the afternoon slush doesn't matter much(though it's often not bad).
A long time since I skied with kids of that age. Lech was great when I did.
Puy St Vincent with Snowbizz always gets lots of good reports here.
Good luck anyway.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Whilst not a definitive guide, this might be of help http://en.france-montagnes.com/famille-plus-montagne-resorts I've been to both Les Gets and Grand Bornand with small children of a similar age and so long as they can go in Piou-Piou you'll be fine. From memory, Piou-Piou starts at 3 though? I'd agree that Easter is also a better option, though perhaps limits you to slightly higher resorts to be certain of good coverage

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A link to a post containing more links to my previous trips apart from the first one which was Les Menuires in March 2009 - when the children were just shy of 4 and 20 months old.

We DIY, driving ski in ski out resorts and areas in France. We stay in apartments and self cater.

We go most Christmas's and Easter. This is mainly due to my wife having trouble getting time off in Feb although obviously Feb is relatively expensive and busy.

Cost wise because of when and how we go the costs aren't much of an issue. The lift pass cost is no more expensive and in fact there are often deals at those times of the year. The apartments can be a little more expensive Christmas but not at Easter. Note new year week and Feb half term are the most expensive weeks for accommodation. The tunnel and ferry crossings aren't particularly expensive, especially if you book early and cross at slightly more unsociable hours as we do.

Driving with the kids has got easier as they get older. When they are very young like yours they are a bit needy still, get tired or fussed easier etc. We usually drive overnight which we feel helps as they will sleep for a large chunk of the journey. The alternative obviously is to stay somewhere overnight. We do that sometimes on the way back if the Monday is a bank holiday in the UK - and do some sight seeing somewhere on the way.

Self catering with young children makes it easier in terms of meal times and being loud and/or messy. You don't have to fit in with chalet/hotel routine or worry about upsetting the other guests. Obviously though you lose out some of the luxury of being looked after. For sure if you can afford it going with a good TO is going to be much more of a holiday. But going the DIY route, driving and self catering is an excellent way of doing it to.

I can't comment on the child care. On our first trip we had grandparents, on the second we do some skiing with the youngest and made do the rest of the time. By the third trip we were all skiing. We taught our own children (mostly my wife) but obviously that's quite rare/novel.

Resort wise, we tended to go to the bigger ski areas initially, which in hindsight wasn't really necessary when they were younger. We did go to a couple of smaller places after that which worked well (cheaper apartments and ski passes). As they've got older we make more use of the larger resorts.

The aspect of driving I always liked is less faff. Once the cars packed, that's it until arrival. And if you needed anything on the way, it's there with you. And it gives you flexibility. And you can stop at a supermarket on the way.

Layne

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

A vote for Puy St.Vincent here, we used Snowbizz about 22 years ago when my kids aged 2, 3 & 4 at the time, the older 2 learnt to ski. Given that Snowbizz are apparently still going 20 years + on they must be doing something right!

We drove down & have to say it was a very long drive from Essex to Puy in a day, but you could make life a LOT easier by getting a Friday night crossing & a hotel near Calais (we've used Lens b4 which isn't far from Calais), only leaves you the drive down France the next day & you've already lost the hour overnight so you will arrive a lot fresher. We've also driven down on the Friday & stayed within an hour or so of resort to get extra days skiing in on both first & last Saturdays b4 too staying at somewhere like Troyes or Chaumont on the way back up, as you're teachers I doubt getting the Friday off is going to work tho'! Puzzled

Puy is near Serre Chevalier & Briancon/the Italian border, very small "town" but ski in/out & more than adequate runs given that you will be restricted by the kids & has a very good snow record

Flaine was also very good, excellent ski school, used "The Rabbit Club" ski kindergarten (no idea if that's still going?) & was where my youngest learnt to ski the year following Puy

The following year we went to Chamonix, Argentiere ski school - absolutely dire, they had no classes available in between beginners & expert, initially put my son, then 6 & doing basic parallels, into the same group as both my younger 2 & our friends kids of similar age who had never skied b4!!! They then told him he wasn't skiing properly because he wasn't snowplowing! When we complained they put him in the "expert" group & they took them to the top of Argentiere to the unpisted diamond black runs, needless to say he couldn't keep up, or even cope with the terrain - they also left our friends daughter (in the beginners group) behind on the slopes after should had fallen & had her parents (totally coincidentally) not been watching then I suspect she would have become another mogul!! We removed our son from ski school, got our money back & used it to pay for a couple of private lessons for him, he's never looked back, & subsequently put the younger 2 in latter years in for 1 or 2 private lessons & had them ski the rest of the time with us rather than waste money on useless group lessons Puzzled

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We have children of 4 & 7.

Ski2 in Champoluc (Italy) are excellent. Not too cheap but they are very good. Great ski school for the young ones. I could not fault Ski2 at all.

I could also recommend La Norma (France) which is very family friendly. They have a superb nursery slope. I can't comment on ski schools as we had private lessons there. It isn't an expensive resort and none of the accommodation is far from the foot of the piste. You would have to book everything yourself as I don't think that any TO's go there.

We are going to Serfaus (Austria) at New Year and it seems to be the most family orientated resort in the country.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

I used to work for a very family friendly company called Chilly powder in Prodains (between Morzine and Avoariaz). I think they're brilliant. You can ski in but not out. The lifts are very close. They have there own creche and full time nannies. The owners are very involved in the day to day running of the chalet and are on hand to take care of their guests. They run there own ski school and have a max of 6 kids in the ski school classes. The only problem is that they book up soooo far in advance (loads of returning guests). My mate still works for them and I'm sure they are already taking bookings for half term 2018.

After all it is free

@emma2785, there's many different answers and only you will know what works for you. When our kids were little (less than 2) we went fully catered chalet for ease, but as they got older didn't like the lack of flexibility it gave. As such we switched to apartments and self catering, meant we could eat what we wanted when we wanted. Also meant had a place to come back to for lunch to give kids a break.

For last 10 years have been going to Vallandry, linked to Les Arcs, nice family friendly resort with plenty of ski in apartments. For childcare we have used the local nursery in village when little and when skiing have used ESF and others for morning lessons.

For us driving works

If you are stuck with school holidays then I would definitely go at easter - cheaper, the milder weather is better for small kids and the fact that you stop early because it is getting slushy is no issue because the kids will be exhausted.

Personally I'd go high and purpose built because of the easy ski-in / ski-out and better Easter snow. When are kids were that age we had good holidays in Tignes, La Plagne and Alp D'Huez. We went with Mark Warner (chalet hotels with creches / nannies - who would deliver the kids to and from ski school and then get them ready to ski with us in the afternoon) and Ski VIP (catered apartments with optional nanny).

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Have a look at Arc1950. Everything you'll need is there, extremely convenient and the whole village is built on a 2-storey car park.

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@emma2785, I appreciate you said you didn't want a package due to costs, however Esprit is very good for travelling with young children is isn't necessarily that expensive.

They currently have Christmas week for two adults and two children in Les Get for £1499. So tempted there!

We have second week of Easter holidays booked and the base price was £1949.20 paying extra for a two room suite, to Val d'isere.

snow reports

Thank you for all your thoughts.

I think we will drive so maybe looking at Morzine/ Avoriaz. Does anyone have any advice on accomodation/ childcare there?

I would love to go package- but the prices are too expensive (crystal would be over £5000 all in). The problem I have with Esprit is that I want to eat with my children- i dont like the idea of being apart from them all holiday.

Thank you and keep the tips coming,

Emma

Hi Emma
I've just booked 2 holidays for this season with a four year old. Like you we want morning child care, ski-in/out and to eat all together, which rules most of the family specialist companies which tend to be chalets. I looked at ski2 too, which sounds great but is out of our price range.
We've booked a week in Puy SV with Snowbizz. We went last year, and the childcare combined ski school is brilliant. The 2nd week we are going to Avoriaz - lots of budget ski in/out apartments and ski schools to choose from.
Before our little boy could ski we used to go to Morzine and he went to the local nursery (garderie) L'Outa. It's very French but he was very well cared for there. Several friends have used it and everyone would recommend it. We didn't use ESF in Morzine but little kids looked happy in club Piou Piou.
Snow isn't always great down to Morzine at beginning and end of season. I was skiing on grass at the end of March so Avoriaz may be better at Easter or Christmas.

You know it makes sense.

@emma2785, Now that there are direct flights from Gatwick to Ostersund in Sweden, Check Åre as a resort. Bjornen is particularly suited to children and families, and there is a strong family friendly culture in Scandinavian resorts. Price wise it will compare well with the Alps for the things you want (with young children I doubt booze is top of your needs) and the ski school will be able to provide a teacher with good English if you ask. If you search available accommodation on the Skistar website, remember that they price differently to almost everywhere else, and that the price they give is for the whole property, not per person, and there are no "under occupancy charges". Transfers from Ostersund are short (1 1/2 hours) and other distractions for small children (seeing reindeer, dog sledding, etc) are easy to arrange.

Easyjet for flights
Flygtaxi for transfers
Skistar for everything else.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

Does anyone know if Avoriaz has a creche for a 2 year old?
I woulkd love to go to Sweeden and Bjornen sounds lovely but we live in North Wales so no flights from Manchester yet. Maybe one day.

A snowHead

We took our children skiing aged 2 and 5 and went to Puy St Vincent with Snowbizz by train (Eurostar plus sleeper). It was a brilliant holiday. The youngest turned three on the day of arrival so was able to do their Totons class for one hour a day and then went to the crèche. The older one went to the main snowbizz ski school and loved it. Their nursery is purpose built and as they are only in one resort they are able to be very selective over staff. The impression I had was that the staff were there because they genuinely loved looking after young children, and given that there is no night life in PSV the staff wanting to work there are unlikely to be party animals. Snowbizz is also long established and family run and we found the customer service excellent.

The drawback of Snowbizz was that it is only in the one resort which is not my favourite and the accommodation was on the basic side. Since the holiday with snowbizz we have nearly always been self catering and booked through Peak Retreats or their subsidiary Ski collection who also offer very friendly personal service. We have either travelled by direct Eurostar or their self drive package including Eurotunnel flexi plus. I'd recommend La Rosiere or Montgenevre with Peak Retreats as both resorts have above average ski schools and are very family orientated. We used the ESF crèche in La Rosiere which was ok. there is a similar set up in Montgenevre. Arc 1950 with Ski collection would also be a good option with children that age, although we went there when ours were old enough to enjoy the larger ski area.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Avoriaz has a crèche called les petits loups. Google "garderie Avoriaz"

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Went to Avoriaz with a 2 and 5 year old last season, going back with 3 and 6 year olds this season so gives you an indication of how much we enjoyed it. I've skied in 100+ resorts and stayed in over 50 and Avoriaz really hits the mark for little kids. Only thing to consider is whether you're happy with the 2 year old sleeping so high but there shouldn't be an issue.

The resort is well laid out to keep everything easily accessible and the skiing starts right there so if you're short on skiing time you don't waste it on long lifts out of a base town or a ski bus etc. Also don't forget Aquariaz, that will keep the kids very happy in the afternoons.

We used Evolution 2 for the lessons for our eldest, the little one stayed with us and we took it in turns to ski. Loads of sledging places etc.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I know I bang on about Scandinavia, but you could do worse than a Norwegian or Swedish resort. It's quite simple to arrange a DIY trip to most resorts and it can work out fairly cheap (so long as you don't eat and drink out much). I understand that Easter weekend itself can be very busy, but it's quieter otherwise.

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we have been to Les Gets a few times since my daughter was 2. She is 5 now and this year we are going to Morzine ( where I went last year childfree myself to do a bit of research wink

). I have found ESF in Les Gets good for childcare in that it has a few cost effective options but it is not always busy with English speaking children so we have had some tears. This year daughter will be going to morning lessons with ESF Morzine and then getting picked up my an English speaking crèche from her lessons for 4 out of the 6 afternoons, that way we will have a few days where we don't have to get back down by lunchtime and a few days where we can take her up the mountain ourselves. I was happy enough with the costs and flexibility offered. Also when I enquired with ESF how they would deal with her fussy eating they were less than helpful but the crèche were great and said they would sort her out no problem
We managed to get a self catering apartment in Morzine very close to the lifts and childcare, really quite cheaply which from experience makes it a lot easier when a 5 year old is tired and grumpy and could really do with that extra half an hour in bed before lessons!

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

@emma2785, We've been to Morzine twice. The first year we stayed in a catered chalet with Reach 4 The Alps who are excellent. They do their own airport transfers as well without the whole coach ordeal but you're driving anyway so this won't be an issue. This year we stayed in a self-catered chalet through the same company as it worked out better than catered with my 3 year old. Their chalets and apartments are very central to lifts and shops (but not ski in ski out), reasonably priced, modern and immaculate. We used a nanny company both times for childcare (Jack Frosts and previously Cheeky Monkeys). We used Easy2Ride for kids ski lessons who were great and very reasonably priced. This DIY holiday worked out cheaper than a TO and gave us much more flexibility.
Good luck

After all it is free

Norway is significantly more expensive than Sweden. In Sweden, supermarket and alcohol from the off-licence are not too expensive. But eating and drinking out will be noticeably more costly from the UK.

Help!!

Which resort for a 2 and 5 year old?

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