Latest posts for the topic "Family ski holiday half term 2017 Which resort/ country??"

Family ski holiday half term 2017 Which resort/ country??

Thu, 11 Feb 2016 14:15:47 GMT

Hello, really pleased to have joined this forum. We are a family of 5, kids will be 15, 12 and 6 next year. Took our oldest two to Borovets in Bulgaria and Flaine when they were little. Pre children we have skied in Austria few times.
In big dilemma, have found a great hotel in Niederau and have decided to save like crazy and now out little boy is getting a bit older taker them all skiing. Problem is we can only go in school holiday, could take them off on a Friday but due to my job i am really limited to school holidays. Other thing is I've now been researching and have read conflicting views on Niederau
We loved Flaine for its accessibility to the slopes and stayed in a Crystal hotel about 5 years ago but this hotel has closed now.
Looking for somewhere that has a good ski school and is good for younger children, like the idea of nice long blues and gentler reds to progress too. My husband is an intermediate skier but will fit in with us.We haven't got pots of money so budget is going to be tight (may fly, may drive to save on costs), can anyone recommend a good family resort that will be good for us?
Open to the idea of a hotel or could do an apartment but quite like the idea of mixing with other families too.

Thanks in advance

D

Re:Family ski holiday half term 2017 Which resort/ country??

Thu, 11 Feb 2016 14:50:05 GMT

DawnyP, to save money book early, where ever you go. Also, DIY is the way to save big money at peak periods such as half term. If you don't drink much and if you don't mind self-catering, then you could do far worse than one or two of the Scandinavian resorts (Hemsedal, Geilo, Beitostolen, Trysil, Are)

Re:Family ski holiday half term 2017 Which resort/ country??

Thu, 11 Feb 2016 14:57:05 GMT

Dobby makes a very good point about Scandinavia for peak times. There are some reports in the Scandi section of the forum of trips to hemsedal. I'll do a report on Are, Sweden when we return in 10 days time.

Re:Family ski holiday half term 2017 Which resort/ country??

Thu, 11 Feb 2016 15:58:28 GMT

I'd echo self-catering. We've done both as a family, and now always self-cater, more because you get a private space that you can spread out and relax in, although cost savings can be substantial compared to a hotel/chalet. I'd just book the apartment direct from a local agency. Or the local Tourist Office can also be very helpful and may have places on their books that aren't on the web. We have a flat in the Swiss Alps which goes for about GBP1,000/week peak school holidays, 2 bedrooms. You'd probably want somewhere with 3 bedrooms at least, which is around CHF 3,600/week (GBP2,571). Be aware that in France, rooms tend to be smaller e.g. our 68m2 2-bedroom place in Switzerland would probably be 3-bedrooms in France, at the cost of living space. Our Agency rental pages is

http://www.carron-immobilier.ch/en/rent

Put in Property Category = Rent and No. Rooms = 4 (in CH, the living room is counted as a room, so 3 bedrooms is 4 rooms). This'll give you an idea of prices in a satellite village of a big ski area. But obviously, you could do the same for places in France, Austria or Italy.

Re:Family ski holiday half term 2017 Which resort/ country??

Thu, 11 Feb 2016 19:38:54 GMT

thank you everyone so far ill do a bit of research into everything youve suggested.

Re:Family ski holiday half term 2017 Which resort/ country??

Thu, 11 Feb 2016 21:49:56 GMT

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Re:Family ski holiday half term 2017 Which resort/ country??

Thu, 11 Feb 2016 21:55:35 GMT

A lot of questionable advice/advertising above. I would suggest Soldeu Andorra. It would be perfect for your needs. And book with a tour operator. They do it all for you.

Re:Family ski holiday half term 2017 Which resort/ country??

Thu, 11 Feb 2016 22:16:01 GMT

If you can get a good value tour operator deal at half term go for it. Trouble is finding a good value deal at half term....

Re:Family ski holiday half term 2017 Which resort/ country??

Fri, 12 Feb 2016 07:40:15 GMT

If you want a reasonably priced holiday I'd stay well clear of Switzerland. We are taking out kids (2girls 5-7) to austria. Leogang. It's a great area. Great ski school and it cost us less than half the tour operator quotes that we got. I know the area well and have a good contact for the appartment. It cost for a large 2 bed GBP400 for the week. Hope this helps.

Re:Family ski holiday half term 2017 Which resort/ country??

Fri, 12 Feb 2016 11:26:15 GMT

A lot of questionable advice/advertising above. - No. I am not advertising anything, just being specific. Our apartment wouldn't be suitable and I get no financial inducement from the Agency that I cited.

I get annoyed at the mantra that Switzerland is expensive but France is cheap: Courcheval 1850 on-piste in a hotel in half term is no more typical than the Branson Chalet in Verbier at GBP125K/week. Choose a low altitude resort anywhere and it'll look cost-competitive but that reflects the risk that you may have no snow. I've heard colleagues complain that Switzerland is expensive and then it turns out they're off to Vail or Banff because they can't find anywhere suitable in France in half term. And so on.

My point was that self-catering extends the range of options available. And I also said that looking at an Agency is something you could try in France, Austria or Italy. If you do that and still find that the package tour operator is cheaper, fine ....

The problem with answering these questions is that you'll get a very random range of recommendations, reflecting the preferences of the people involved. What I was trying to do was to suggest that along with looing at Tour Operators offers (which can be very good value, don't get me wrong) you also choose one or two places and look at a couple of agency websites to see what self-catered booked direct might cost. But I appreciate that not everyone is keen on having to self-build their holiday flights, car hire and accomodation etc.

Re:Family ski holiday half term 2017 Which resort/ country??

Fri, 12 Feb 2016 12:39:37 GMT

Having skied in both France and Switzerland, I agree that costs are reasonably similar when resorts are compared on a like for like basis. There is no point comparing a French resort with a base of less than 1,000m with say Zermatt, and vice versa.

The lower you go the cheaper the holiday is likely to be. This rule of course doesn't really apply to Scandinavia where the freezing level is often at 0m.

Regarding DIY v tour operator, I'm a big fan of DIY. In fact, I've only been on one tour operator ski holiday. Didn't enjoy the transfer at all as we were kept waiting in the airport for an hour and a half, were squashed into an uncomfortable seat on the bus, had to wait whilst the coach dropped off people on the way and were required to leave the resort ridiculously early on the return journey.

Re:Family ski holiday half term 2017 Which resort/ country??

Fri, 12 Feb 2016 14:35:50 GMT

It is worth checking out the cost of ski passes. In some resorts your youngest would be able to ski for free.

Re:Family ski holiday half term 2017 Which resort/ country??

Fri, 12 Feb 2016 15:03:55 GMT

bedrock barney wrote:kept waiting in the airport for an hour and a half, were squashed into an uncomfortable seat on the bus, had to wait whilst the coach dropped off people on the way and were required to leave the resort ridiculously early on the return journey.

Absolutely this... a little planning with DIY and you can travel out of peak times, miss the jams AND get an extra couple of days skiing on the two Saturdays...

For the OP, to make your pound go further; look at driving to Northern Alps, places like Les Carroz and Morillon (Grand Massif) and Le Grand Bornand (Aravis) great for families and won't bash your budget too hard. You've said you can take them out Friday so definitely try and do that; Eurotunnel crossing will probably be cheaper than the Saturday morning. A little less traffic and you can do most of the journey on Friday, overnight somewhere cheap near the mountains, get up into resort first thing Saturday and have a relaxed day skiing...

...keep an eye on our traffic forecast thread for this coming weekend; snow and heavy traffic is going to mean some long journeys tomorrow - so watch it all closely and then plan to avoid the jams when you go next year! 8)

Re:Family ski holiday half term 2017 Which resort/ country??

Fri, 12 Feb 2016 15:05:59 GMT

Oh, and Jim makes a good point about the lift passes; "Child" and "Teen" definitions vary massively and - considering the price of a weekly pass nowadays - this could give you a significant saving comparing one resort against another.

Re:Family ski holiday half term 2017 Which resort/ country??

Fri, 12 Feb 2016 19:09:15 GMT

Whilst it may be roughly the same to stay in Switzerland it is certainly a lot more expensive to eat out , shop etc there than France and Austria from my own personal experience. We are by no means right but all vowed to never return. When you are paying 6-8 chf for a small bottle of water you can help but feel ripped off. Jus sayin.