Baby/Toddler - Best resort for activities?

Hello

Are there any resorts that are particularly good for baby/toddler activities? Such as a soft-play area, activity classes (singing, jolly babies, etc) or pool activities?

We're hoping to go for the whole month of January, so we need to pick the right resort (ideally driveable from the UK).

Our super-active 18-month old will love the snow, but he also loves his classes in the UK: Water babies, jolly babies, sign and sign, explorers, etc. I think he'll miss them and we need to replace them with something while we're there.

We're not keen on nurseries - me or my wife will take care of him each day. We'll have great fun playing in the snow, but for a whole month, he'll need more than that.

Any thoughts?

Thanks a million
Matt

Matt,

Do you have some preferred destinations yourself?
- France ?
- Switzerland ?
- Austria ?

In France there is the label famille plus montagne. "Family plus Montagne" is a French national seal of approval, developed jointly by a number of local tourist authorities.

Recognised by the French Ministry of Tourism, it is awarded to villages and resorts that make a special effort to welcome families.

Les Menuires, La Plagne, La Rosiere for example have this label.

Check it out and perhaps it will meet your requirements.

Cheerz,
Stefan

Thanks Stefan :-)

We weren't picky about the destination country - but I will look into famille plus montagne - thank you very much for mentioning it :-)

I cannot comment on actual baby/toddler activities, but I would say that the Italians have always been excellent with young children when we have been skiing with a family group.

I am however, talking about children in the 5-10 year age gap. Still worth checking some of the Italian resorts though.

mj62mj62 wrote:Thanks Stefan :-)

We weren't picky about the destination country - but I will look into famille plus montagne - thank you very much for mentioning it :-)

No prob ! :wink:

Post a comment when you require more information.

Cheerz,
Stefan

Thank you again :D

Your comments helped me in the right direction. When our baby is older, I hope to go to Austria where there were some very family friendly resorts.

For now, we went to Les Menuires, which is next to Val Thorens and part of the 3 valleys.

Our objective was to swap days out between the two parents, while the other stayed at home and took care of the baby.


Les Menuires was good because:
- had a massive indoor soft play area, free for under 3's
- had a outdoor snowcastle in the Les Croissette area to entertain the kids
- had many magic-carpets and sectioned-off areas for toddlers to sledge (spread out throughout the various sections of the resort, not just Les Croisette)

- very few (is any?) tour operators went there - so it was mostly french people and locals.
- many families, but no swarms of families like I saw at some other resorts
- very very quiet on the hills - most people seem to jet over the mountain to Meribel or Val thorens, leaving queue-less skiing locally :-)
- The Les Croissette area had an underground path connecting the various buildings, meaning you could get groceries with the baby in tow, without going outside

The bad bits?
- the conditions were better over in Meribel but you could buy a 3 valleys pass and go over the mountain
- the park was very small and always in a transition state - one day there was no boxes/etc at all, the next there were 3.
- it was far from Geneva compared to other resorts like Morzine

I think most people put their child into nursery, but our baby hadn't been to nursery so we needed a place where we could take care of him in an enjoyable way. By being in Le Croisette we were central and could easily do a range of activities with him.


Adult wise, the sports centre had a very lovely pool, sauna, steam room, etc, including basketball, squash, etc, etc. They did offer "apres-ski" massages, which were a complete joke - someone just rubs oil all over you and charges a fortune for it! But other than that, the sports centre was really lovely.

I hope this helps others :-)
Matt

Might be usefull for the next year :)
http://www.serfaus-fiss-ladis.at/en/winter/kinder-familie/
But bear in mind because they have so many activities for children the resort is overflowing with children :)