Samoens - in general but also Feb 1/2 Term

Hi,
Seriously thinking of going to Samoens for Feb Half Term (2 secondary school kids so no choice on dates I'm afraid) - Neige et Roc studio on hold at the moment.

Just wondering just how busy the roads to there are going to be (aiming to get past Reims on Friday night) and also how busy the resort itself would be.

We have been in La Plagne & Tignes at half-term before (approx 20 years ago) and actually didn't think queues were that bad - so is all the doom and gloom about this period just that or are things decidedly worse now?

Any other feedback on Samoens, ski-school, ski-hire, ski lockers, accomodation, eating-out, buddies appreciated as well.

Cheers,
Bongo.

I am also looking for an answer to this Bongo as we are looking to go Feb Half Term to. If it's any help we do this trip avery feb half term. The roads on the Friday are generally very good. We normally stop around Troyes. However the roads on the Saturday will be hell. Get up early and beat the rush!

Peteward15,
same as you on this one, what would the drive on the Sunday be like?
Cheers
FB

No idea about the roads on the Sunday. We always arrive Saturday about 1pm and leave on the Saturday too.

I can tell you loads about Samoens - I've been there 6 times - so you can tell I like it.

We would normally go at Easter as it's quieter, but realise that's it's a bit late his year.

Firstly, roads - We've tried a few ways - and found the best time was Sunday. Saturday is really busy and driving through Friday night we found exhausting. Worth it though if you can manage to share the driving.
Do the A39 motorway (I think head for Dole)
It's not a bad drive though, just 15 ish miles off the autoroute.

I am afraid we only tried once at half term as the slopes were just far too busy in Feb half term. But we went in 2007 when the snow was very poor, so there were a lot of slopes closed, which of course made those open more crowded. With good snow and most slopes open it would probably be no worse then most busy French resorts.

The Perce Neige and Dahu get very busy and cut up at the end of the day, so avoid them and use the Marmottes, which has recently been downgraded to a red. The gondola gets very busy, but the queues move pretty quickly. During that busy half term week we drove up to Samoens 1600 a few times and left the car there. It meant that you beat the people on the gondola who were heading up to Tete de Saix. However, this was before the new lifts were put in for 2009/10 season.
There are 2 new chairs taking you up to the Tete de Saix and we noticed that it was a much quicker run over to Flaine this year than in previous years.

We've been to Neige et Roc (2006 Easter) - it's lovely. We stayed in the Hotel - the food was excellent.
There's a small pool which the children enjoyed. One night there was a fondue/raclette party evening which was fun. The hotel is a very short walk out of the village and there are some lovely shops there. There's a large supermarket out of town in the direction of Taninges if you are self catering it would be cheaper to use this.

We take our own skis, but last year having 1st time boarders with us we rented from Extreme Glisse, it's right next to the gondola and you can leave skis/boots there overnight.
There's a ski bus that goes from right outside N&R, but also a very large car park that we always drive to as the gondola is about a mile out of town.

We used the Ecole 360 for snowboard lessons last year. Private lessons (for boarders) worked well and the instructor was good with our 2 14 year olds. i can't comment on ski lessons, but there are a few schools round about - Zigzag and ESF being 2 others I can think of.

My favourite skiing in the Grand Massif is Les Carroz, but you can't beat Flaine for the wide open runs and usually good snow. We've never been lucky enough to ski Cascades from Flaine to Sixt as it's never been open when we've been there. I've heard it's worth a go, but can get bit monotonous towards the middle section. But, the scenery is said to spectacular - as it is off the top of Flaine.

There's very little in the way of nightlife in Samoens, as in a lot of french villages, but there's lots of bars and cafes in the village. We've not eaten out a lot there, so can't recommend anywhere I'm afraid. We spoke to some people who said the Louisiansa pizza restaurant was very good.

I realise you are tied to half term but it's worth noting, for anyone reading this that Samoens has fantastic offers at Christmas and Easter where children under 12 get a free service with every adult paying. I got a price list from Neige et Roc the other day and kids under 12 got free pass, skis, hotel board and lessons as long as an adult had the same!
The dates are very specific, so you'd need to check the website www.samoens.com

If you want more info please ask, I've got a flickr folder with photos from last year and can let you have the link if you wanted to send me a private message

There's an ice rink and the local ice hockey team play there - Wednesdays I think.
With your 6 day lift pass you get the benefit of a free day in Portes De Soleil. You need to go to Prodains lift in Morzine to get your day pass.
We've only done that once though as the Grand Massif will keep you occupied for a week.

If you do decide to go there I hope you love it.
Good luck. Enjoy.

Thanks for the great reply. I learned a lot from your post. It's looking more and more likely that this will be our destination this half term. We normally stay at Les Gets so will be able to pop over using our free Portes de Soleil lift pass!

Dids1 Thanks for that fantastic reply. Looks like you have answered most of our questions.

We have gone ahead and booked the Studio in Neige et Roc.

Just have to grin and bear the traffic on Fri/Sat, pray for plenty of snow in resort and be prepared for a bit of queuing for lifts etc. (We were in a resort in 2007 where there was only one blue run open so are used to queuing to go up and down the mountain!).

We had been looking at Intersport for equipment but Extreme Glisse do seem come in cheaper (if my school days french is correct) and if they are right next to Gondola saves lugging the stuff around.

Need to think about ski-school now so if anyone has some good recommendations that would be great. Not sure if we would be best doing private family lessons or whether group lessons (which would be more sociable) - would like 11 & 14 yo to be together or at least have plenty of own-age British company if separated.


Cheers,
Bongo.

Hi - we were in Samoens in January 2008 & had a great time. It was pretty quiet so I can't comment on half term skiing. We flew to Geneva then got a mini bus transfer to our apartment. As the area was new to us, there was plenty to do from our base & we didn't feel we needed a car.

We did get stuck in Morillon one afternoon when the links back to Samoens were closed due to strong winds, so that's something to be aware of. Extra buses were laid on & we got home eventually, but I imagine that this could be a bit chaotic at busy periods. We were also able to do the Cascades run to Sixt, although it was closed for most of the time. There are a couple of uphill sections, but the effort was worth it as the scenery was fantastic. Make sure you time it right to get the bus back so you don't get stranded in Sixt.

We didn't eat out but did have a few excellent take away pizzas from La Tartinerie, the pizzeria in the main town square. Also, there are a couple of excellent bakeries in the town especially the Boulangerie Tiffanie – you can't miss them as you wander around.

Samoens is a lovely town & we would happily go back there. If you want to see my photos they are at:-

http://picasaweb.google.com/Jimandsal/SamoensWebAlbum#

Hope you have a great time!