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Your guide to Ski-ing with children from Carhire3000
Car hire France, Italy, Spain & Canada

Ski-ing with children

Skiing is a great choice for a family holiday but there are many questions that often need to be addressed before you can settle on a particular ski resort.

If you’re travelling with young children, then you ideally need to consider the following:

  1. Length of the flight - destinations such as France are a good choice for a family ski holiday with short flight times.
  2. Pick a resort with a short transfer time - remember that the drive up to the mountains is likely to be winding (not good for those who suffer from travel sickness) and busy (particularly weekends during January and February)
  3. Choose a hotel or chalet close to the slopes - it can be hard work tramping about in heavy snow boots. Many resorts offer shuttle buses to the slopes - so if you can’t ski from your door, it’s a good idea to ensure you’re on a bus route.
  4. Ensure there is adequate provision made for younger visitors and beginners such as good nursery slopes, ski schools and childcare facilities. Additional resort amenities and activities should also be taken into account - swimming pools, cinemas, ice rinks, tobogganing and bowling can all provide family fun if you need a break from the slopes.
  5. Pick a suitable hire car - take into account how much luggage you’re likely to be carrying, along with any ski equipment. Family-sized estate cars and mini-vans tend to be in most demand so advance booking is recommended. It is also possible to pre-book car hire with “ski packs” at many locations, including ski racks and snow chains. And don’t forget to request your child seats well in advance.

Here are some popular wintersports resorts for familes....

1. Flaine, France

Height: 1600m - 2500m
Airport: Geneva (approx 1 hr 30 minutes away)
Season: December - April
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Flaine is the gateway to one of France’s largest ski and snowboard areas, “Le Grand Massif”, with 137 pistes over 265 km to accommodate all abilities. The resort is also blessed with one of the best snow records in the French Alps. But to ensure the best conditions throughout the season, the resort also boasts 218 snow cannons to top up the snow cover on the most fragile slopes.

car hire FranceThe resort is compact and purpose built with shops and amenities grouped together so you never have far to walk. One of the key elements in its design was to create a safe environment for children - thus, cars are stopped at the edge of the village (although you are permitted to drive up to your accommodation to load and unload).

There are plenty of childcare facilities in the resort from crèches and kid’s clubs and many hotels/apartments have games rooms to distract younger guests. More importantly, there are dedicated children’s ski lessons at each of the resort’s ski schools; the Ecole du Ski Francaise and the Ski Ecole International - and each also offer a separate, safe area for smaller tots to take their first turns.

Beginners and families will appreciate the wide, gentle nursery slopes which can be found close to the village and there are also free beginners’ lifts.

Away from the slopes there are plenty of other family-friendly activities in the locality, including ice-karting, cinema, dog-sledding, an outdoor skating rink and indoor climbing wall. For the budding snowboarder there is even a kid’s half pipe called “Fantasurf”. And you should definitely take the 12 minute ride on the Grandes Platières cable car for the most amazing views of Mont Blanc.

Apres-ski is fairly informal and there is a great range of family friendly restaurants to choose from.

Between 19th and 26th December this year, Flaine will be celebrating its 40th birthday so you can expect plenty in the way of festivities from fireworks and torchlight descents to live music and ice sculptures. There are also plenty of family-friendly activities organised leading up to Christmas and the New Year, including a visit from Father Christmas, torchlight parade, carol singing and Christmas lights.

2. Morzine, France

Height: 1000m (ski range 1000m - 2350m)
Airport: Geneva (70km, approx 1 hour away)
Season: December - April
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Morzine is ideally situated within the Portes du Soleil ski area which offers an extensive 650km of ski runs over France and Switzerland. Morzine itself offers ski access to the Morzine-Les Gets ski fields as well as gondola access to Avoriaz.

Accommodation here tends to be built from wood and slate in a traditional chalet style. This means that development is mostly low-rise and the resort retains a unique Savoyard charm.

There is a good choice of restaurants from pizzerias to gourmet dining and there’s a regular Wednesday market for buying local produce. There are also plenty of outlets hiring ski and snowboarding equipment.

car hire FranceA particular selling point to families is the resort’s commitment to the national “Famille Plus” scheme - a label designed to recognise resorts that have gone the extra mile to providing family-friendly facilities and activities. And there is plenty here to amuse the youngsters including an outdoor skating rink (located close to the Tourist Office), a bowling alley, 2 cinemas, snowshoe trails, a toboggan run (at the foot of the Crusaz chairlift), an outdoor play area and horse-drawn sleighs.

There are 3 ski schools in the locality - Ecole du Ski Francais, Easy2Ride Ski & Snowboard Academy and The Snow School - each offering both group and individual lessons. The Ecole du Ski Francais prides itself on its children’s lessons which are conducted in small groups and its children’s club (3-14 years) which provides both indoor and outdoor activities in their dedicated “snow garden”. Smaller tots (3mths -6yrs) can join the crèche for full or half days.

There are also plenty of independent instructors within the locality for some dedicated one-to-one tuition.

There are 2 cable cars as well as numerous chairlifts available from the centre of Morzine - providing easy access to the slopes.

Young families will enjoy the gentle nursery slopes at Le Pleney as well as Avoriaz but intermediate skiers are also well catered for with over 650km of runs. The area also boasts over 20 black runs for the more experienced as well as numerous off-piste opportunities. And for those who want to try their hand at snowboarding, this is definitely the place to come, regularly featuring in specialist magazines - all going to prove that Morzine offers enough to keep the whole family happy, whatever their ability.

The resort also hosts a number of events from husky racing and snow shoe trials to film festivals and torchlight processions. The local Tourist Information Centre will be able to provide you with more information about what’s going on during your visit.


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