Summer in France

A snowHead

Which ist the best ski resort for summer holidays with children? until now i find something really interesting in Flaine, Avoriaz - Morzine and Tignes.
Any other proposal?

A snowHead

Samoens

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@mooney058, agreed!

The Giffre Valley (where you’ll find Samoens and a number of other lovely villages) has a lot going on in the summer and there are ample free and paid activities to keep you and the children occupied.

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Briancon and Serre Chevalier by a looooooong way.
World class rafting, canyoning, parapente, MTB, walking, beautiful Queyras nearby.

And the climate, over 300 sunny days per year. At least 30% more than the Savoie and Isère.

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@turms2, the French alps are wonderful in the summer and I come out every year but if I was coming with children I would make sure that where you choose has a big swimming lake or public pool , it can get very hot in the afternoons and a bathing option is essential for the children .Exercise and fun in the morning rest and relaxation in the afternoon .

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@turms2, Morzineis often recommended for being lively in the summer, but I can’t speak from experience. You might want to take a look at Bozel (in the valley just below Courchevel), which has a fantastic swimming lake in the village.

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@turms2, Chatel in France is also great. In addition to all the mountain activities and attractions we also like to go to Lake Geneva via Switzerland to swim and SUP and there also a few small theme parks in Swiss not too far away.

After all it is free

@turms2, we’ve loved summer holidays (with children aged 7 and 12, the first time we went) in Les Gets, St Gervais, Morillon, Samoëns and Morzine, some of them more than once. Many villages have at least a swimming lake, others huge pools, plus any number of adventurous activities. The Alps in summer are fantastic. We’ve always driven and had an overnight stop - the best stopovers were in Parisian dormitory towns (Torcy and Bussy St George) so one included a surprise day at Disneyland and another a day in Paris, both easily reached via train.

Also do not go too high as you end up in a tree-less purpose built ski resort usually at the end of a long twist uphill road. Look for a year-round, usually cheese making, working village that is mid-altitude (800-1200m). It’s gets very hot during the day especially on south facing aspects in direct sunlight but generally cools down at night sometimes following a thunder storm.

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We have spent the last 4 summers (our children are now 15 and 12) in Les Gets and Morzine. Why? Here are some of the main reasons / criteria for us :

- both towns are alive and bustling in the summer / both are very family-friendly too
- everything is open
- easy access from GVA (and for us, from Calais)
- a mixture of lovely hotels (some of them with outdoor pools) and self-catering options
- heaven for cyclists and MTBs
- lovely hiking, SUPing and canoeing at Lac Motriond, inflatables at Lac des Ecoles, horse riding, white water rafting near Thonon, paragliding etc
- the pool (outdoor and indoor) complex in Morzine is superb
- on a warm sunny day, you can head down to one of Lac Leman's beaches

We are taking a break from the PdS this summer and are heading down to Val di Fassa via Austria.

You just need to spend a lot of time researching to find a resort (s) that would be well suited to your family.

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we usually spend the summer in AUT Alps however i am thinking to spend a week in Flaine, and maybe one week somewhere els in France before we head to Austria for the last week....

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We are going to Chamonix for the third successive summer. Our children are quite young, and too young for some of the activities that Chamonix has to offer (rafting, climbing). However, it is a busy, exciting town and we are glad to be going back. The free train up and down the valley makes it feel like you're taking little separate adventures each time you visit a different village.

One particular disadvantage at the minute is that the outdoor swimming pool is not open.

Yes, loads of wonderful options in summer. But be aware that it can rain, and very hard, too. Good to have something to do on wet days - take lots of books if your kids are readers. An indoor swimming pool is a useful option and lots of the more recent, high-end, apartments have pools.

You know it makes sense.

@turms2, I did my post cardiac op rehab in Aix-les-Bains… very agreeable.

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

@turms2,
If you go to Morzine stay with a multi pass partner.
Multi pass active card will then be discounted to €2 per person per day for your duration.
Makes it good value.
Multi pass gets you free entry to Swimming pool in town and into all the lifts as a pedestrian.

A snowHead

A snowHead

dont bother to go to a purpose built resort, as long as there are many things for the kids
The main idea of summer in FRA Alps, is find a place where we have all the activities in walking distance and do not to take tha car everyday as in AUT
hike in / hike out

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Saint Gervais was wonderful for us a couple of years ago. The summer lift pass thingy was excellent value and also gives access to the swimming pool and the ice rink.

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Morzine.
We always do at least a week there in summer. Loads to do and loads ‘within 1-5hrs’ drive for a change of scenery.

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i have been in Zauchensee a couple of years ago (summer) and it was super for the kids.
Also a "purpose built" place (but not so big) but the magicmountains programm was super

unfortunately the hotels over there are too expensive for us, since the kids will be 6 and 8

to be honest i was for 3 days in Tignes round 2012 but it was start of Juli and the glacier was open for skiing.
Mid August i think there is no skiing at all (usually)

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Les 2 Alpes is not a purpose built resort. We have summer skiing and about 100 other activites. there is a small lake and beach and a small outdoor pool + an indoor/outdoor one at the 1800 part of resort (which is purpose built). Try www.les2alpes.com to see what's on offer. There are also campsites in the village of Venosc where you can rent chalets or sort of giant tent things!
I've lived here most of the time for over 20 years, and honestly LOVE summer, but it can be very hot!

After all it is free

I’ve been in various villages on different holidays in July and August and have usually managed to catch a huge thunderstorm, mainly after an especially hot day. The storms can be spectacular but, once over, you’d never know they’d happened!

The thunderstorms are lovely! Fantastic to watch the lightning flickering round the mountains. However, it can also just rain, less excitingly, for days. There's a reason it's so wonderfully green. But there's also a lot more sunshine than we get in the UK, even in the warm south.

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@pam w, Yes, we’ve had wonderful weather, much nicer than at home but not the searing, high summer heat of the Costas. I’d never hesitate to take a summer holiday in the Alps

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@EasiskiLDA, I have to confess that I always thought Les Deux Alpes to be a purpose built resort. Why would you have a village that high in the mountains other for skiing and summer activies? AFAIR the resort consists of apartments, hotels, restaurants, shops and services specifically for people to stay in the mountains and enjoy themselves. As such it is good. Very good. (though I have to confess it is not my favourite ski resort). Venosc is a old mountain village and though it has a lift to Les 2 Alpes (and an enjoyable via ferrata) it is not in my opion part of the resort. This is a bit like claiming that Les Arcs is not a purpose built ski resort because it has a funicular to Bourg st Mauice.

@turms2, Almost all the purpose built resorts are very suitable for a summer holiday with children and have a massive range of activities laid on for them such as kids clubs (a bit scary when they come marching along a marked path wearing the same caps and singing), boucy castle type things, swimming pools, archery, crazy golf, mountain biking, promener un cheval, parkour d' adventure, as well as more exicting activites such as via ferrata and rock climbing. My son started via ferrata at the age of 6 and went on a dual parrenpointe about 11.

I would add Les Arcs to the list as well because of the funicular to Bourg st Maurice and the rafting on the Isere, but I also remember a carting track at Serre Chevalier.

@mountainaddict, You forgot to mention that Tignes also has the Grand Motte. This is an easy introduction to proper mountaineering. Visit compagnie de guides for more information)

I would also reccommend staying in a purpose built resort high in the mountains rather than a valley town. Ther resorts are really keen to extend into the summer and lay a lot on. They are also much cooler than the valley. During the last few years we have always been glad to return to the clean air and bearable temperatures of Arc1600 after being down in Bourg st Maurice. The views are better as well.

TBH I'm not sure which I prefer the mountains in summer or winter and I'm glad I can be there both. I even like the spring and autumn

You know it makes sense.

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

guns?

A snowHead

@turms2, Yes, they are called hunters and kill a few people every year (8 in 2021/2). I stumbled upon a party the last time I was walking in Les Arcs in November, but have no idea how many other parties out

A snowHead

it's OK, @turms2, they mostly just kill dogs and cyclists

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@johnE, It would seem that you never actually explored LDA, or bothered to find what's here. There are houses that are 400 years old at the Venosc end. Venosc is a very historic village, and I won't go into it all here, but thriving from before 1200AD at least. There were houses on the Alpe de Venosc way back for the summer grazing, and quite a few. + ruins of houses all the way down. Venosc has slate mines, and the whole of Venosc/LDA/Mont de Lans is now one commune, so yes - although we, in Venosc like to think we're separate, we are now part of the whole.

the first skilift in LDA was in 1946 I believe, and the first hotel not long after. Look at https://www.see2alpes.com/history to find old photos etc, and you will see. A purpose built resort is a ski area where there was nothing before the skiing ... LDA has grown organically and is thus quite different.

Obviously you are quite welcome to not like it here, or our ski area; but please - misinformation is not nice.

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@johnE, It came from your comments which were clearly not nice. Les Arcs/Val Thorens/Avoriaz/Mottaret/Tignes and others are purpose built even if there was a house or two there before. There were not villages, there were not many people living there, and the whole resort was started at one time. However LDA has grown one building at a time, like any other town. Thus it is NOT purpose built and we are very proud of that. Again, perhaps when you visited you didn't actually walk around the older parts. Did you visit Venosc? Mont de Lans? It is skiable when sufficient snow, however we were talking about summer holdiays in the alpes, not winter, so to dismiss parts of the area as not belonging is just plain rude.

I seriously think I may take another 10 year break from Snowheads! I've only been back for a month. Hurt

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I should also point out the numbers of people living all year round on the plateau - about 3500. When last in Val Thorens, chatting to the Ski Club chat, he said, yes - about that number here... I was astonished - turns out he meant seasonals, almost no-one all year round.

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@EasiskiLDA, Not sure how terms such as "good" and "very good" could be construde as "It came from your comments which were clearly not nice"

I actually know Venosc fairly well and quite like the place. Its relationship to L2D is similar to that of Bourg st Maurice to Les Arcs. Courbaton is actually quite a big village from which Les Arcs grew. It was the actual original skiing centre of what became Les Arcs. The mining community of La Plagne was quite large and of national importance. These were not "a house or two" but fair sized communities.

After all it is free

+1 for Les Gets from me. It was back in 2016 we went, and it was particularly appealing for our 16yo who is a crazed MTB nut, but we had a fabulous time there. Swimming lake at Les Gets, cycling, ice skating at Morzine, pool there too, loads of places to get around and about to (the Goat Village was highly entertaining!).

@johnE, Hardly. Bourg St Maurice is lot further from Les Arcs than Venosc is to LDA. We are all part of the same area. 8 mins on the cable car. I have worked in LDA for 31 years and lived permanently here in Venosc since 2014 - prior to that I have owned 2 apartments in LDA and spent most of the year there. Les ARcs is just big apartment blocks as per Tignes, Val T, Avoriaz etc. The main ones were all designed and built together - not so here. As I said, the buildings have grown one at a time, all at different angles to each other, all different sizes, all different shapes ... in what way can that be described as a 'purpose-built resort'?

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@EasiskiLDA, Let me get this right then

L2D is 8 minutes from Venosc by cable car, wheras Les Arcs is 7 minutes from Bourg by funicular. It was by cable car or by 2 chair lifts until 1985.

Les Arc started developing in the 1970s with buildings going up over the next 50 years. They are different heights, angles and shapes, sounds like L2D to me. There was no master plan. There are tower blocks and individual chalets scattered about.

All these developments were originally for skiing (though now there is a considerable summer trade) Thats why it is a purpose built resort.

Are you suggesting that all the buildings in L2D were put up for some other purpose than for skiing? If so what purpose? Having buildings of different sizes and shapes doesn't stop it being purpose built.

Help!!

Summer in France

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