 Poster: A snowHead
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My family, from New Zealand, is intending on doing the 2024/2025 ski season in France. Our children are intermediate skiers aged 8 and 10 years. My husband and I are advanced skiers/snowboarders. We want to find a good area/town with plenty of intermediate skiing and enough advanced that us parents don't get bored. The kids will do home schooling but keen to get them doing regular activities to engage with other kids/learn French. Ski lessons, French lessons, swimming lessons could appeal to them. We'd love to be super close to the slopes but also want to have as many typical amenities available as possible, plus rental accommodation that is good value for 3 months. Thanks in anticipation.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I'd recommend looking into eitherCourchevel or Meribel. Both have excellent ski schools for the kids plus lots of on-mountain options for all ability levels. The towns also have nice amenities and community vibes that would be great for experiencing French culture.
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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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Welcome to Snowheads, @MiekeRoy. Super idea. Really, you have a trade off between being "super-close to the slopes" and being somewhere which might qualify as "proper town". Do you speak French? If you do you might be in a minority in either Meribel or Courchevel.  Neither strikes me as ideal if you want some "French culture", and both are very expensive.
In terms of a "proper town" one possibility is St Gervais (which gives access to the Evasion Mont Blanc) area. There are a number of Snowheads who know the place well (I've only visited the town, not stayed there). If your kids are not going to a local school and rapidly acquiring some French it might not be easy to find "regular activities" for them. Not sure how that would work but others will be along to advise.
I guess that, as always with skiing, you'll have to prioritise your needs. It's unlikely you'll find all you're looking for anywhere.
Do you envisage having a car?
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@MiekeRoy, ooh..where do I start. I'll focus on France as that is where we tend to ski and that is where you want to go. I expect someone will suggest you abandon the French plan and look at Austria (it's the SH's way!
"Good value rental accommodation for 3 months"-start looking NOW, particularly if you want to be in a ski resort. That timescale is not quite a season rental (which tends to run early Dec to Late April), so you may have to look for a weekly rental and negotiate a deal. People book NY week and, in France, half term weeks which are staggered from 8th Feb to 8th March 2025, very early, so it reduces the availability for longer stays. February dates also coincide with the other european school half term weeks too.
In France staying by or very near the slopes is not an issue, but the closer you are, the harder your search will be for your 3 month rental and the higher the cost. I presume you will rent a car for those 3 months? For reliable in resort snow you might want to look at resorts at 1400m-1600m and above. At that level you can stay in a year round village (more trees, quainter vibe), but resorts above 1800m tend to be more purpose built. The tree line fades out at 1800-2000m (Nice to ski in trees as I know that's not an option in NZ!).
If you are prepared to stay at the bottom of the mountain and drive/get a bus to the slopes it reduces the rental rates at there may be more options.
I anticipate others will be along shortly who I think may suggest suggest St Gervais, Serre Chevalier..
I'll put in my pennies' worth-the 3V's will blow you mind in terms of scale and variety of skiing,
Lovely village at the bottom of the mountain with easy access to the 3V ski area: Bozel, or (with gondola access to Meribel) Brides les Bains. Or, if you want to be up the mountain and can afford accommodation a short drive from the slopes, we have a place in the Belleville valley, and you may find some rental accommodation in the satellite villages to St Martin de Belleville.
Wherever you decide, the best source of your sort of rental are the local estate agents who mainly are holiday rental agents. They can tell you what is available for longer lets and help negotiate a deal. Airbnb might also be a source, but check for scammers.
The further away from the slopes a property is, the less likely it is to rent in the quieter weeks, so a longer let is always appealing to the owners.
EDIT-I see the St Gervais suggestion popped up while I was typing my post!
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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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good luck finding long term accommodation at a reasonable price in or close to a station you are competing against seasonable workers and bought in ski instructors even in the drivable villages below resorts competition is high .
Bourg St Maurice and Briancon might be worth looking at or possibly some of the areas in the Beaufontain area .
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Of course, a "reasonable price" is as long as a piece of string. If you have a generous budget you should be able to find something. Those 4 French holiday weeks in Feb/March are critical. You might be able to negotiate a good rental for the season if you can vacate your accommodation for those weeks. They are not the best time to ski, anyway - very busy - big lift queues just about everywhere.
@Rob Mackley suggests the Beaufortain - an area I know quite well. The altitude of the skiing could be a problem here though there's plenty of variety in the Espace Diamant and some excellent and challenging off piste and touring in Areches-Beaufort. The town of Beaufort itself is attractive and very French, but it can be cold and shady down in the valley in winter (as can many valley towns - it's critical which side of the valley you live on). It might be more possible there to find regular activities and friends for your kids but v difficult if they don't speak any French and are not in a local school. People blithely say "everybody speaks English" but that's certainly not true in Beaufort.
Yes, somebody will suggest Austria, so it might as well be me!! Innsbruck is the obvious "proper town near lots of good skiing"!
Or, of course, there's Italy 
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Maybe Samoens a village of the Grand Massif?
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Once was, the Office de Tourisme used to publish a glossy brochure listing all the French resorts in the northern Alps. It was a great read. There was an online version and I managed to grab a copy of the last version here.
In particular, a short way in, there is a map of the whole area with dots for the resorts and blobs for the domains that cover several resorts on one pass. This could be important if you're looking to buy a season pass. They tend to go on sale at a hefty discount around October time so make sure you organise yourselves early.
That brochure is a little out of date. The mountains don't change but the domains can. It seems that the Maurienne Valley, in particular, cannot get their act together and area lift passes seem to come and go. If you can find something at good value then I'd suggest you have a look at staying in St Jean de Maurienne. It's a decent town with a big swimming pool and sports centre and has easy access, with a car, to all the resorts along the Maurienne.
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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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@altis, Ski lifts are identified in the OpenStreetMap database, a good view of it is this.
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@rjs, useful!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Somewhere along the Maurienne Valley would be worth a look as accom is cost effective - gives access to lots of different resorts with easy access so you can pick and choose where to ski depending on the prevailing weather and does not limit you to one particular place. Lots of other winter activities available and annual passes are pretty reasonable - Haute Maurienne Vanoise season pass was circa €360 (includes 3 days in Bardonnechia, Montgenevre, Pralagnon la Vanoise and Crans Montana for trips out) adult last year if bought by end of September. You can also look at the Skiogrande ski card that gives a discount on the day rates at 17 resorts in the valley with a free day in every 8.
You can also link into the 3Valleys area by using the Orelle lift taking you up to Val Thorens.
Happy searching.
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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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@MiekeRoy,
Welcome to Snowheads.
Tignes. Val D'Isere. Start looking for accommodation now, as season rentals go quick. You may have to pay for the full season rather than your 3 months - maybe do the whole season?
Have a look at tignes.co.uk for accommodation leads & other Tignes related data. If Tignes suits, concentrate on Lavachet, Le Lac and Val Claret as this would put you close to the other activities available.
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Morzine would be worth a look too. Proper 365 days/year town so all the amenities the locals need outside of the ski season, including full sized swimming pool and schools (meaning there are local children and so ski clubs/etc where yours can make friends for more than a week at a time).
If you're going to be home schooling, so not out skiing each and every day it's also worth considering staying a little bit further away from the slopes. A lot of the locals who work in Morzine/Avoriaz 17km/30min down the road in Taninges, so an even more 'local' experience and without the 'in resort' tax on accomodation. There are buses but for a season worth just buying a banger, at which point it's easy enough to get up, jump in the car, and be in the resort way before the day trippers have got there/half the tourists in town have gotten out of bed.
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You know it makes sense.
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It's easy to suggest places for the skiing, but the key is having activities your children could join in with, rather few of us have had that experience.
Someone suggested St Gervais which is certainly a nice town with skiing on the doorstep being mostly intermediate but the Chamonix valley being a short drive with plenty of advanced and indeed hairy skiing (and there is a pass available, Mont Blanc Unlimited, covering both areas). If it's one you want to follow up, @devilabit is a local there and I seem to think has children.
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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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@MiekeRoy, I suggest you first invest in a book ‘Where to Ski in France’ by Chris Gill.
That should help you get from a longlist to a shortlist quite quickly.
Then ask for local detailed information about your shortlisted areas back here on snowHeads.
I have no vested interest in the book (there are also Austria and Italy versions). I just think you’d get concise, independent information, which could save you a lot of time.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Serre Chevalier offers a really good mix of intermediate and challenging skiing, some of which is possible to combine as a mixed ability group. Also very popular with snowboarders owing to the natural bowls providing some in-bound off-piste.
Traditional villages, plenty of other activities. Very easy to get around the valley owing to the bus service.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I intend to do the same in the next few seasons and I’ll be going to Briancon/Serre Chevalier.
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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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Thanks to @altis and @rjs for the OpenSource Map and the brochure of Haute Savioe and @PeakyB for the Chris Gill book. The combo is incredibly useful!!
We are planning the same as you @MiekeRoy, but one year later. Where have you ended up?
Our kids are 6 & 9; we have French passports, and we're thinking of putting them in school to get them fluent.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@geraldine57, glad you’re finding the Chris Gill book useful. I like it’s straight down the (fall) line honesty, along with easy to digest format and style.
Wouldn’t be without all the higher tech info but sometimes an old fashioned book is just the job.
Putting the kids into French school? Sounds a great idea.
Language skills, friendships, family contacts and integration into a local community would all get a boost. Facilitating your family putting something valuable back into that community, as well as benefiting from it.
Yeahh, start strict and very gradually ease off
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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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@MiekeRoy, where did you go? How did it go? Was it so good that you’re still there?
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| PeakyB wrote: |
| @MiekeRoy, where did you go? How did it go? Was it so good that you’re still there? |
One post and never came back! 
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@PeakyB, I don't think he's gone yet
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I'm happy to pick up where @miekeRoy left off 
To the extent you can guess, which towns at the base of Serre Chevalier might have grade schools?
- Ste Chaffrey
- Chantemerle
- Salle Les Alpes
- Monetier Les Bains
Obvi there's Briancon, but I'm hoping for a community a little smaller than population: 7,000+.
It's hard to tell from the map if these are resort-villages or real-town-villages with full-time residents.
A population of 1000 - 2000 with a grade school and lift access would be IDEAL.
TY!
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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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Serre Chevalier is nice. This year we will be spending this season in the Haute Maurienne Vanoise. It is super cheap (€416 for a season pass), good snow and quiet. none of the resorts are huge but we use our motorhome for accommodation and go from resort to resort.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Genius! @davidof
Merci bien
Love it @MAthert. That's my plan once I'm an empty-nester.
For now, I'm looking to immerse my kiddos in French-speaking, hence the ecole-primaire search...
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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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@davidof, can you clarify / what do you mean:
"a town having a school and a town having places for new kids are two different things"
Do you mean that just because there is a school does not mean the school will have spots for new kids, or something different?
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| Quote: |
Do you mean that just because there is a school does not mean the school will have spots for new kids
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That does seem likely to be the case - it's certainly the case with schools here in England!
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FAQ
