 Poster: A snowHead
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Booked ourselves in for skiing in the French alps for New Year and am now considering how to get there!
We have a 3 year old so driving all the way in a day may test everyone’s patience and we also have a bit of time so we could stop off somewhere for a couple of nights.
So… any recommendations of fun places for a 3 year old between Xmas and new year? Ideally somewhere around Reims or maybe as far as Dijon. Lots of places seem to have Xmas markets, but they seem to stop on 24 Dec as far as I can see.
Aside from Christmassy things, anything involving diggers or dinosaurs seems to go down well
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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When our kids were young I would drive down through the night. They would sleep snug as bugs without a care in the world or concerns over being on the road for 8 hrs. When driving we would select resorts such as Grand Massif and Espace Diamanté which are in easy reach of Calais. My wife would get plenty of sleep too but happily drive a couple of hours on the autoroute if I needed her to. It always worked out really well for us.
I know this isn’t for everyone, I was very used to working long hours and driving long distances so the trip never phased me at all. We’d arrive at resort around 0800, having missed all the holiday traffic and get some breakfast and get all the gear sorted. I could happily ski that day and then just get an early night.
Just a thought in case you haven’t considered it.
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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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@Arno, Reims Christmas market has lots going on. Merry-go-round, street entertainers, lots of stalls and pretty lights. I think it usually goes on after Christmas, it certainly used to as we've been there then.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@Hells Bells, sounds promising and me and Mrs A could get stuck into some Champagne 
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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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@jirac18, not really a fan of overnight driving for my own sake if nothing else! We don’t have much on between Xmas and the day we arrive in the mountains so happy to take a bit of time
We may still end up flying but are exploring the options
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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We’ve done Disney as a stop off because MagicBreaks did really good package deals including the tunnel. Not a huge diversion and its tolerable at xmas time. Just.
Other than that - stop in a hotel with an indoor pool (Novotels are good) - we have been doing long drives round europe since ours were born and we have decided a pool is the best stop off option.
Also the aires all have enclosed playgrounds - ideal for burning off a bit of energy whilst the iPad recharges!
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@Arno, if you stay at the Val Moret (Troyes), it has a great indoor pool setup. That used to keep mine happy for hours.
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@Nadenoodlee, @snowdave, good shout on the pool. Our little guy loves swimming
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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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Yup, our usual criteria for a hotel was an indoor pool.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I'd endorse le Val Moret and its pool complex. In the winter, it's getting dark early anyway, so even without the children, we like to arrive by 4-5pm and just unwind with a swim and then go off to dinner. The restaurant is child-friendy with good food, but unpretentious. You'd probably want to be on the main site, not the Les Camellias suites which are along the road a bit (not far, only a couple of hundred metres but in the dark/wet you'll prefer the main site). If you have an EV they have chargers. You can sample the local Champagnes by the glass and buy bottles from reception at a reasonable price if you want to take some away. In the summer, we've stayed a couple of nights and there are various things to do in the area, but in the winter, as you might expect, the options for toddler entertainment are more limited. If you're into massages etc. then there's a health treatment setup in the spa, so one of you could do that while the other entertaines the little one in the pool. I don't know what the babysitting arrangements are, if any.
Last edited by snowHeads are a friendly bunch. on Thu 5-10-23 16:23; edited 2 times in total
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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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3 is a difficult age for long distance travel, with many kids. They are too big, and often too excited, to sleep for long periods, but too young to understand that sometimes you just need to sit there, for hours on end, not moan and suck it up! The ones that don't get car sick can play with screens. The ones that do get car sick sometimes respond well to drugs. But not always.
They are also not necessarily good at settling down swiftly to sleep in an entirely novel hotel environment - and once they are asleep, at least one parent is stuck with staying with them. Take a good book for an adult, as well as a favourite story book.
At a slightly older age my kids loved audio books - that was before the age of screens in cars. The whole family listened, rapt, to "The Sheep Pig" on one long drive south from Ayrshire and my daughter and family are all Harry Potter fans and listen again and again to Stephen Fry's matchless delivery. But three's too little.
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Try the Magic Juice...
Vomex.is the Name in Germany.
Usually is for nautia or whats the Name of this damned Thing when the kids through out in your car and you have to loose a couple of hours to clean everything.
We use it for my daughter when the road has many u-turns etc otherwise...
PS car sick is the Name i was looking
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You know it makes sense.
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At age 3 there really is no good way to do this.
We generally did the drive the night thing but also occasionally did stop off's but at 3 options are limited but just staying in a Hotel and wandering round a town will be fairly exciting!
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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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My son and family love this place near Troyes https://www.western-city.fr/ and always stay there on the way to and from Provence - for the kids it's part of the holiday. But it might be more of a summer destination and perhaps a 3 year old is too young to make the most of the cowboy-theme place. they also reported very positively on nearby Nigloland - nowhere near such a rip-off as British theme parks.
According to my daughter in law the master-mind of Western City is a real character and an absolutely lovely man who has invested himself, and lots of money in the place.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@pam w, that place looks bonkers. Love French Wild West obsessives
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Went to Western City in July. Very funky western style place and pretty quiet. Lovely for an overnight stop. We had one of the western wagons. Doesn't look much from the outside but fantastic inside - esp stroking the furry wall (bearskin). Nothing really within walking distance though.
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