Town for a season for family with 1 and 2 year old

A snowHead

Hi all

We are planning on renting a place and staying in a ski town in France from January to April next year.

At this stage i am thinking st gervais. Reasons for this are it seems like a nice town and a proper town not just a resort, there is childcare at Bettex, quick access to skiing through the gondola near town, big resort and close to great skiing at La Montets and other resorts. My only negatives are resort is maybe not that challenging and a bit low in altitude. I have done a lot of skiing having done about 3 seasons before, so the more challenging the skiing the better

Any other suggestions for other towns based on the thoughts above?

We are also struggling to find accommodation in st Gervais for the season, at this stage we have tried to contact local real estate agents (only century 21 has replied), the information center and had a look at airbnb.

Any tips for getting long term accommodation?

Would it be better to book a couple of weeks for when we get there and organise the long term rental when we are on the ground?

Thanks in advance

A snowHead

@SJOSHA, St Gervais is a good choice IMO. You’re clear on the two disadvantages too. Assuming you’ll have a winterised vehicle, plenty of more challenging skiing not too far away, Chamonix, Argentiere, etc. Les Contamines also keeps the snow well.

The other obvious base to me is Bourg St Maurice. Funicular access to Les Arcs 1600, fully linked to Paradiski circuit. 30-40 mins drive to Tignes, for all that Espace Killy has to offer. Similar time to La Rosiere, linked to Ka Thuile. St Foy about 20 minutes drive. Over 1000kms across that lot, with plenty of challenge!

Bourg St Maurice offers the longer season and guaranteed snow. Usually mid Dec to mid April, but longer up in Espace Killy.

Almost certainly rental would be more expensive than St G. Both have main rail links and bus services. Personally I’d want accommodation for a season booked in advance. Tried Owners Direct, AirBnB, Saissonnaire websites, etc?

What an adventure! Enjoy.
snowHead

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

I think you will struggle to find a short term let starting in January to cover the period to the end of the winter only. Season lets as in-Dec to April-get snapped up quickly. The alternative id finding a property let weekly and taking it for longer. However...half term weeks are already booked in many places.
If there is a local Facebook group or forum (as there is in the 3 valleys-The Valley Echo), try joining. People post season lets via that route sometimes.

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Thanks - appreciate the feedback

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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Of interest could be the Maurienne valley and specifically Val Cenis village.

Unlike the headline big name places it has a much more subtle profile but offers some great skiing and places to stay.

More likely to have availability in accommodation during the ski season, it's a real village and infrastructure with a varied ski domain plus associated individual ski villages all on one pass.

Certainly worth consideration.

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

Remember StG is linked to Les Houcse by the TMB if you’re buying the Mont Blanc unlimited pass.
Also worth asking “Saint gervais estate agent” a user on here about accommodation

After all it is free

@ski3, good shout Maurienne Valley. Access to 3V via Orelle, in addition to Les Sybelles lift pass area.

I imagine long term rental availability and costs more reasonable than most of French Alps.

Not as attractive / scenic as Evasion Mont Blanc area though?
snowHead

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Go with the snow.

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thanks all. We will have a good look at Val Cenis and still struggling for accommodation in gervais area

@SJOSHA, I do truly mean this in a helpful fashion and hope it doesn't come across to abrupt, but I am up before the sun ...

it seems like a nice town - looks nice when you drive through, yes

and a proper town not just a resort - do you think? not really my impression, a bit tumbleweedy out of season

there is childcare at Bettex - not that hard to find elsewhere...

quick access to skiing through the gondola near town - hardly unusual - we live two minutes walk from the Brevent bubble

big resort - what? really?

close to great skiing at La Montets - where?

maybe not that challenging - nope

a bit low in altitude - yeah, well, maybe, if that's a problem.

about 3 seasons before - where? - so the more challenging the skiing the better - that's not St G afaik

only century 21 has replied - so you emailed? and expected a response? you've never been to France have you?

Would it be better to book a couple of weeks for when we get there and organise the long term rental when we are on the ground? - wouldn't be my call. Where you from?

Try pinging @marcellus - he has been known to do seasonal rentals. St G would not be my immediate thinking. But I don't know it very well at all - and have only skied over that way once.

More obvious locations might be Chamonix/Morzine/Les Gets which have definite anglo populations and are known for this sort of thing?

You know it makes sense.

Does it have to be France? Aosta is a great place to be. With a bubble up to Pila and the rest of Val D’Aosta resorts accessible.

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

Bourg Saint Maurice also, everything you need in town and more things to do as the weather warms up, also very fast access to the snow.

A snowHead

@alasdair.graham, I would imagine BSM a better idea myself.

A snowHead

@fifiskis, lots of Italian resorts. Ditto Austria.

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

@sjosha I think you may get a bit more feedback if you provide a bit more detail on your circumstances, objectives and preferences. You say 'we' ? How many is that? You and another adult? Plus the children? Perhaps a grandparent(s) will hop over for a week so is that a max of 2 couples + 2 kids? What is the other adult's level of skiing experience and requirements? Will you do nothing but ski? Or are you happy to spend some time doing other things like swimming or snow shoeing. Do you have any interest in taking some days off to visit interesting places in the locality? Do you want somewhere with a gym (eg. you're keen to maintain a running regime) or sauna, pool? Are you based in the UK or abroad? Will you be driving down, hiring a car, or prefer to use public transport? How much space are you after e.g. 1 double bedroom, +1bunk bedroom (even 2 people + kids can find that using the 3rd bedroom as a dumping-ground is useful). Do you need decent broadband e.g. for remote working, streaming, gaming or uploads? Would you like to have CableTV with UK channels and inbuilt NetfliX (if you have a VPN you may not care, but then you'll want reliable broadband). Do you have a preference for one of the Alpine airports, like Geneva (e.g. your local airport has most flights going to GVA, or Zurich etc.).

Finally, budget? Last year we had a long 'can someone suggest' thread, then after a lot of responses, it transpired the budget was just not realistic. I appreciate that you may not want to provide too much detail, for all sorts of reasons, which is fine. But you must have a budget in mind and this could be helpful to members feedback.

I also wonder whether there's really a lot of point in running over in the Easter school holidays? It'll be much busier and the tail-end of the snow and you just may not find it that enjoyable. It's going to complicate the rental process because it's such a high-demand period (as you've found). Just a thought.

On the upside, as I've said on many threads, as an owner, I regularly get enquiries from our rental agent for long rentals. For us, the only really 'guaranteed' weeks are the main school holidays. So a period booking has it's attractions and merits a discount on the standard weekly rate. Online booking sites won't reflect this at all - you'll need to contact individual agencies or Tourist Office to get the best period discount.

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@under a new name,

Thanks appreciate the reply. Chamonix was the initial spot we thought about but the issue is we could not find childcare for kids under three. Do you know if this is correct? i would guess babysitters would be easy to get but we would prefer the kids to be at childcare for the social interaction.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@LaForet,
thanks additional details as follows
- just two adults and two kids 1 and 2 years old
- adults both experienced skiers having done seasons when younger
- activities would be downhill, nordic skiing and snow-shoeing. Pool would good for off days with the kids, gym not required
- we are Australian
- we will get a car, i think planning to do one of lease / buy-back deals with peugeot or renault
- can live with 2 bedroom, but 3 better
- no preference on airports, no tv required, broadband needed

any advice appreciated.

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i think both BSM and Aosta look awesome.

Main issue would be childcare.

At BSM childcare seems to be up at Les Arc 1950, which would be fine when skiing there but probably not convenient if going somewhere else.

At Pila no childcare and i have not been able to work out yet whether there would be childcare accessible for foreigners in Aosta itself.

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

One possibility for child-care would be to find someone to live-in (needs that extra bedroom) and do some childcare in return for board and lodging, ski pass and modest remuneration. How modest would depend on time required, obviously. A gap-year student, perhaps?

After all it is free

One possibility for child-care would be to find someone to live-in (needs that extra bedroom) and do some childcare in return for board and lodging, ski pass and modest remuneration. How modest would depend on time required, obviously. A gap-year student, perhaps?[/quote]

Nixmap ????? Very Happy

Not quite Nixmap, @Timberwolf - I am proposing remuneration.....

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Valloire. Plenty of nearby off piste and a "real" town. Also look at Monetier les Bains. Nothing wrong with St. G, but you would have to drive to challenging skiing, but I think you don't want to be too far from your kids at that age.

If you can find accommodations. To be honest you may have left it a bit late for this season, given that the holiday weeks are probably pretty full already.

Child care might be tough, however, for kids that young. Obviously you've committed to this this year, but if you waited two years you could put them in Piou Piou club through the ESF.

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Town for a season for family with 1 and 2 year old

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