help with first family ski trip!

Hi, Hope you can help-we have booked tickets to milan-because they are cheap! for 12th april for 5 of us-kids are (9,7 & and 4 and have not skiid before-look I can't even spell it. Myself and husband both have skiid for 2 weeks or so many years ago. I was thinking of cervinia as it is snowsure for that time and lots gentle runs. Is this the best choice and can we get there relatively easily from milan[orio al serio]-seems there is a train to chatillon and shuttle bus but where do we get train-another bus from airport?. we could hire a car- would that be easier?, as may not be much more expensive after paying 5 train/bus tickets. Thank you very much for any help you can give, Juliette

Cervinia is a good shout because of the snow higher up that time of year.
Its also very good for beginners and early intermediates.
If you take a car, you can be more flexible. Hiring from the main airports is never a problem, but pre book before you go. I use Holiday Autos or CarHire 3000, but you can get the best prices compared on travelsupermarket.com

Good luck.

A few years ago (2003) we stayed in Puy St Vincent for that same April week - in fact we came home 21st April. Puy would be a recommended resort for a beginner, purpose built, totally unpretentious. Loved it.
But I don't think I would want to risk it again that late, it was running rivers by the time we went home and was muddy.

However, we went to Serre Chevalier for the day as it was free for a day on our Puy pass.
We could not ski down to the resort (I think we went on the Chantemerle gondola) but the snow was good higher up and the nursery slopes were in operation.

There may be other people who have an opinion of Serre Che as to whether it's suitable for your needs, but worth a consideration.

AA route planner has the journey time as 3h 21m, 179.3 miles.
Dids

Serre Che is certainly a good option. The runs into resort were ok 3 weeks ago, but only just holding up after some warm weather in places. I think Cervinia is more likely to be snow sure unless you go higher up at SC.

thanks very much for the quick replies!

Went to Cervinia this Christmas, was a lovely place, especially Hotel Mignon. Hired a car at Malpensa and drove up, no problems but heavy snow might require chains.

However, I'm not sure it's the best resort for recent beginners. It was our third trip and there were few "easy" blues. It didn't help that the heavy snow closed some runs for a few days, and it seems to be prone to high winds. Most of the blues are nice and long but do have some steep slopes in places. Even the main slope into the town (2 Cretaz) is steep at the end and was quite busy.

We very much liked Cervinia, but were glad we didn't go there for our first or second trips. It seemed to be more suited to intermediates or at least not absolute beginners. If you do go, I recommend you take the gondola to Plan Maison and try the short runs 8 and 8bis, and the much longer 6.

Have fun,

Geoff

thanks very much for the help. have booked a good deal at Cervinia now so looking forward to it!

Hope you have a great time, please let us know how you get on, what the weather, Hotel, etc. was like. We are thinking of returning to Cervinia next season.

Just got back from Passo Tonale, had a great time but the strong sun meant the pistes were slushy and cut up by lunch time. Need to get up earlier! :-)

Cheers,

Geoff