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Family friendly resorts?

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  • 29-05-2009 9:42am
    #1
    --amadeus--
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,096 ✭✭✭


    Apologies if this has been covered before but I didn't see another thread on it.

    We went to Dubai last year and all took beginner lessons in the snow dome there (yep, we visited teh desert and all anyone wanted to do was ski :rolleyes:) Since then we've been kicking about the idea of going on a proper skiing holiday but I know nothing about the resorts, expected costs, etc.

    So, what advice have you for a complete n00b? What kit is essential to buy and what can you hire? What should you buy anyway even if it can be hired? Would we be best buying locally or online? How much should we expect to have to pay for kit?

    What resorts would be good for a family with 2 kids (5&7)? Any recommendations on tour operators or should we book direct? What sort of budget would we need to be looking at?

    What else should we know?

    Thanks!


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    #2
    loobylou
    Registered Users Posts: 1,418 ✭✭✭loobylou


    Heres a good place to start, lotsa info, http://www.wtss.co.uk/index.jsp


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    #3
    robinph
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 24,065 Mod ✭✭✭✭robinph


    For starters have a gander here first. ;)

    Not really up on the family freindly resorts myself though.

    I would recommend booking via a tour operator for your first trip though, and probably even more so with the family, just down to then having someone else to fall back on when your out there and that you can be a bit more certain that you've not forgotten to book anything vital.

    You shouldn't need to really buy anything though until your sure that you like skiing, everyone probably already has a suitable winter coat and gloves. The trickiest bit to use something else for is the sallopetts though although you'll probably want to buy goggles, they can both be found cheap enough in the likes of TKMaxx when they get their winter kit in later in the year.


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    #4
    --amadeus--
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,096 ✭✭✭--amadeus--


    that's great thanks! Especially that FAQ, something like that should be stickied at the top of teh Winter Sports forum to stop muppets coming in and asking the same stupid questions over and over again...










    ...oh wait :o


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    #5
    robinph
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 24,065 Mod ✭✭✭✭robinph


    I'm sure someone else will be along with suggestions for where is good for the little ones soon enough, remember that it is currently off season for most of the people here though but people will be starting to think about booking for the next northern hemisphere season soon enough.

    There are loads of options to choose from in Europe though, but somewhere with plenty of easy runs and good english speaking ski schools would be high up on your list. Again someone with more experience of such matters will advise better, but the length of time that 5 year olds last per day in lessons may be an issue so having other distractions in the resort would be useful as well.

    By the end of the week though both the 5 and 7 year old will be much, much better skiiers than yourself though, so be prepared to get left behind.


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    #6
    mal_1
    Registered Users Posts: 163 ✭✭mal_1


    Haven,t gone skiing with a family, but as a Beginner, maybe consider Andorra as an option.
    Reasoning been;
    All the resorts are relatively small in terms the numbers of runs and their difficulty, so most of the skiiers are on their first or second snow holidays before graduating to larger resorts of France Austria etc.
    The atmosphere is generally more laid back. (That may be because of 'tax free' status)
    Ski passes and hiring ski gear are cheaper.

    Definitely use a tour operator, considering their completive pricing, last year and presumably next, You dont need to have to negotiate Ryanair baggage charges for carting winter gear.


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    #7
    Overflow
    Registered Users Posts: 1,266 ✭✭✭Overflow


    mal_1 wrote: »
    Haven,t gone skiing with a family, but as a Beginner, maybe consider Andorra as an option.
    Reasoning been;
    All the resorts are relatively small in terms the numbers of runs and their difficulty, so most of the skiiers are on their first or second snow holidays before graduating to larger resorts of France Austria etc.
    The atmosphere is generally more laid back. (That may be because of 'tax free' status)
    Ski passes and hiring ski gear are cheaper.

    Definitely use a tour operator, considering their completive pricing, last year and presumably next, You dont need to have to negotiate Ryanair baggage charges for carting winter gear.

    I wouldn't necessarily take that advice, maybe its handy for you to do it that way the first time you go as you don't have a clue about how to arrange all the various aspects of the holiday, but you really should consider booking everything separately by yourself, its not that hard, just a bit of research with google, you will find you can save a lot of money and get a much better deal in the end. imho.


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    #8
    Static M.e.
    Registered Users Posts: 3,087 ✭✭✭Static M.e.


    Hi --amadeus--,

    I know EileenG here has gone with her kids for the last couple of years and they are now well able to Ski, doing blacks I think.

    Anyway she might be the best person to speak to you.

    I could point you in the direction of a couple of big resorts which I'm sure would have children's facilities but I honestly wouldn't know which was better or worse than others.

    Andorra - Soldeu could be an option, basically when you go up the first gondola in the morning you come to open area where all the beginners and kids do lessons. That could be useful as you would all be in the same area and very close to each other. They also have a couple of restaurants at the some place so you could meet for lunch as well.

    Just one thing that should probably be pointed out is when you go on ski trips to the little ski towns and villages, a lot of them close down during the day and have very little amenities anyway to begin with. If you don't ski you will have practically nothing to do... just so your aware of it. Some of the resorts which are family specific might differ but I haven't been to any so its hard to tell. You might also try and make sure you get a place that has English instructors.

    I have a couple of guide books that I'll look at for you if you don't get a response here.


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    #9
    EileenG
    Registered Users Posts: 5,775 ✭✭✭EileenG


    My personal recommendation is Val Cenis (in France, but accessible from Turin), which is lovely mixed resort with decent red and blacks for better skiers but some very good beginners runs, including L'escargot, the longest green run in Europe. It zigzags across the mountain and enables even the most timid or tired of beginners to ski back down safely.

    Stay in the CIS (www.cis-valcenis.com) to get full board (four course meals with wine) and lift pass as well as a little bus that takes children to ski school and picks them up again afterwards. Better skiers can ski to the door of the locker room.

    Val Cenis is about half the price of the more famous French resorts, and much friendlier. It also has an ice rink and swimming pool and stuff like that. The CIS has its own gym and jaccuzzi and massage complex.

    Other possibilities are Les Arcs, the home of Ski Evolutif, and a holder of the family friendly award (so is Val Cenis). More expensive than Val Cenis, but much bigger ski area and some very challenging blacks and off-piste.

    Chamrousse is so handy from Grenoble, and has lots of easy blue and green runs on one side of the mountain, Olympic downhills on the other side.

    Puy St Vincent in France is another good family resort (www.snowbizz.co.uk), lessons i morning and free ski guiding in the afternoon.

    Personally, I reckon that if you have children that eat, it's worth looking for accommodation like a youth hostel or half board hotel where they feed you. I hate cooking and cleaning on holiday, so if we stay in apartments, we end up eating out in restaurants all the time. The French Youth hostels do this thing where they provide all your meals and organise your lift pass etc, so they are a good deal.

    If you fly to Paris, you can get an overnight train (with couchette) to the Alps. This is often the best way to travel with children, they'll have a ball and won't drive you distracted with "Are we there yet?"


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    #10
    --amadeus--
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,096 ✭✭✭--amadeus--


    That is absolutely brilliant a huge thanks to everyone and especially Eileen. I'm going to have a read through and my be back with more n00b questions :)


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    #11
    Snowie
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,048 ✭✭✭✭Snowie


    EileenG wrote: »



    Puy St Vincent in France is another good family resort (www.snowbizz.co.uk), lessons i morning and free ski guiding in the afternoon.

    I couldn't agree more probably one of the most fammilly friendly resorts to go to very quite, and wide piste's....


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