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Going Ski-ing By Train somewhere in France from UK

8 replies

naughtynoonoo · 07/01/2007 16:51

Ok we have decided that we want to go ski-ing next January with dd who will be 6.5 and ds who will be just 4. DH wants to go by train, we live about half an hour from Ashford so could get to eurostar no probs. Anybody done this with 2 children before??? WHere would you recommend?

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hatwoman · 07/01/2007 17:11

been by train pre-kids. if you go overnight I'd recommend being as far as poss from the disco carriage. however, these days you can get a day time train on saturdays, straight though to Moutiers, Bourg St Maurice and Aime la Plagne. no change in Paris and civilised timings. these are all in the Tarentaise area - which has great resorts - Courchevel, Meribel, Val Thorens, Les Arc, La Plagne are all an easy taxi ride from one of these stations

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hatwoman · 07/01/2007 17:12

having said all that I am taking about from waterloo don;t know if it stops at Ashford

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sinclair · 07/01/2007 17:19

we have booked the train to Switzerland for half term this year, visit seat61.com for masses of advice on rail travel generally. Kids are 5 and 7 - I am hoping they will think it is all a big adventure. We are changing in Paris but it isn't too bad - 2 stops on the RER I think. Seat 61 will tell you all of this and more, but you can't book until 3 months (I think) in advance but for busy periods you literally need to get on and book it three months to the day before you return.

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naughtynoonoo · 07/01/2007 18:09

thanks for your replies, think we will go with eurostar as they do a direct train to a few places, we just need to know when the best time is to book for next January to get the best fares. Now I will have to start a new thread to find out the best places to stay / ski with two children.

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alibubbles · 07/01/2007 21:32

My parents came on the Eurostar all the way to Moutiers on the 23rd December to join us. They said it was excellent, they were in business and the service was superb.

I only booked it in late October, but very good value, DH says we are going to do it next year instead if driving, but I liked the drive. It took 10 hours - 718 miles door to door.

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sinclair · 08/01/2007 12:28

Can highly recommend Snowfocus in Chatel, here . Small family concern, soup to nuts service - childcare/ski-ing lessons for kids, guiding and tuition for adults, and great ski-ing area Portes du Soleil in france/switzerland. they do get booked up early for peak but you should be OK for Jan.

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scarymamma · 14/01/2007 20:16

We stayed in La Rosiere last year - great place for kids and families - small and very friendly resort but with access to the whole of the San Bernando ski area - you can ski into Italy. La Rosiere has half dozen nice restaurants and a handful of bars - so not the place to go if you want great apres ski, but it is very geared up for families. More importantly, Bourg St Maurice is in the valley bottom - with the Snow train (plus the TGV) stopping in Bourg (I think it terminates here). I think there's even a shuttle bus up to La Rosiere. NB If you can, get a copy of Sundays (15th Jan) Daily Telegraph - has an article about travelling to ski resorts by train. La Ros has it's own tourist info website if you want to google it.