Best ski resort with a 2 year 8 month old infant?

dinneenp

Hi,
We're looking to go somewhere with snow next year (Feb/March/April) and would love to introduce our infant (3 in middle of June 2010) to snow/tobogganing etc. Maybe try skiing; but if too young then no problem.

What are the best family ski resorts and what makes them good for the young uns?
And can you recommend any hotels/accommodation?

IF POSSIBLE but not essential we'd like to be able to fly from West Ireland (means more than likely Shannon)

Cheers,
Patrick.

EileenG

To some extent it depends on how much time you want to spend skiing and how much money to have to spend. If you have the cash, there are resorts with specialised nannies.

www.snowbizz.co.uk has an excellent creche set-up, with children out playing in the snow as soon as they are old enough.

My own personal favourite is www.cis-valcenis.com, which is cheap and provides huge amounts of lovely food and wine. Ski school takes children from age three, but isn't too strict about the age as long as the child is capable. The creche is beside the ski school if not suitable. The building itself is at the bottom of a hill which all children love climbing and sliding down. The CIS has lots of suitable sledges available for free. The easiest way to get there is often to fly to Paris, then get an overnight train to Modane. This works well with children, they sleep for the journey and you should have lots of flights to Paris.

Should have said. One of the best things about Val Cenis is that it has the longest green run in Europe. It zigzags across the mountain and even the most timid or scared skier can get down safely. And it goes right past the CIS.

Snowie

i thought kids can't ski until there 5 ?

flikflak

Snow-Monkey wrote: »

i thought kids can't ski until there 5 ?

No most places will take them from 3. You see a whole line of them snaking down the mountain. The earlier they learn the better.

Scheffau is good for young families and I would recommend the hotel Alpin.. If you go with a tour operator such as Crystal they have nannies. GO and get the brochures and see which resort has nannies available incase your little one does not take to the skiing. Also Esprit are good for nanny service but I dont know if they operate from here.

You need somewhere with short transfer times so look at that also in the tour operators brouchures. No good finding a great resort only to find it is 4 hours by coach up and down the hairpin mountain roads.

In Austria if you are flying to Salzburg then Zell am See, St Wolfgang, Rauris, Saalbach, St Johann, Waidring and a few others are all within an hours transfer. If you are flying to Innsbruck then Mayrhofen, Finkenberg, Alpbach, Soll, Niederau, Scheffau and Ellmau are a few of the resorts within an hour/hour and a half from the airport.

France also has resorts within an hour of the airports. From Geneva you can get to Samoens, Les Gets, Morzine, La Clusaz and others within an hour/hour and a half.

EileenG

I'll just mention that if you are going with an Irish tour operator, read the small print on the child care very carefully. We went with Crystal one year and ended up in a very expensive hotel in the middle of nowhere, just so we could get suitable childcare. It turns out that the creche staff's day off is in the middle of the week, so you either lose a day of skiing (and lessons etc) or pay them a huge amount of money to mind them privately for that day.

Also we got charged an arm and a leg for the hire of a cot we didn't want and other expenses for our totally breastfed baby.

granty1987

Snow-Monkey wrote: »

i thought kids can't ski until there 5 ?

I started skiing just after i turned 4. as was mentioned earlier, id say its fine as long as theyre capable

Overflow

EileenG wrote: »

To some extent it depends on how much time you want to spend skiing and how much money to have to spend. If you have the cash, there are resorts with specialised nannies.

www.snowbizz.co.uk has an excellent creche set-up, with children out playing in the snow as soon as they are old enough.

My own personal favourite is www.cis-valcenis.com, which is cheap and provides huge amounts of lovely food and wine. Ski school takes children from age three, but isn't too strict about the age as long as the child is capable. The creche is beside the ski school if not suitable. The building itself is at the bottom of a hill which all children love climbing and sliding down. The CIS has lots of suitable sledges available for free. The easiest way to get there is often to fly to Paris, then get an overnight train to Modane. This works well with children, they sleep for the journey and you should have lots of flights to Paris.

Should have said. One of the best things about Val Cenis is that it has the longest green run in Europe. It zigzags across the mountain and even the most timid or scared skier can get down safely. And it goes right past the CIS.

Hi EileenG, That place sounds great, im really considering it as we have a 2 and a half year old. I think he is still a bit too young to try skiing and he is still in nappies, so i was wondering if there were any day creches there? Also when would you say is the best time to go for the best snow conditions, mid-late Jan ? Thanks

EileenG

There is a creche there which is right beside the ski school and quite close to the CIS. I'm sure they do all day, but I think they charge by the hour, so you could easily take your child out for lunch at the CIS. It's a four course meal and included in the price, so no point spending more money in the creche than necessary.

We usually end up going during the Christmas holidays (kids at school) and there is usually plenty of decent skiing then. Last year was phenomenal, but it was like that all over. Mid January you should have no crowds at all.

Overflow

Ok thats great thanks, i found the links for the creche €6 per hour which is not bad. What part of the town did you stay in, i was looking at a place in Val Cenis le Haut, its this far from the town center and lifts. Also which part of Val Cenis is the town center? We are looking to book an apartment for 6 somewhere central.

Also you mentioned flying to Paris and getting the TGV. Does the TGV go directly from Charle De Gaulles airport. I like the idea of getting a night train. How long does the train take and can you get a sleep cabin or something?

Thanks again

EileenG

There are two main villages with free navettes running up and down all the time. Val Cenis Le Haut is at one end of the higher village, should be very handy for the swimming pool, not sure how close to the nearest lift.

I don't think there is a TGV from Charles de Gaulle. We usually fly to CdG or the Ryanair airport, have dinner in Paris, maybe take a trip on the Seine or something, then get an overnight train with a couchette from Gare de Lyon or Austerlitz. The train takes you to Modane, which is the valley town. A bus to Val Cenis meets each train.

Before you book apartments, I would take a serious look at the CIS. The price includes the lift pass, it means you have all the food ready with no shopping, cooking or cleaning up, they provide a kiddie club in the evening, and they have a bar and ski hire on the spot. Last winter, a friend booked an apartment and she said it was fine, lots of space and well furnished, but it wasn't nearly as much craic as she was used to.