skiing in Feb - with kids, which resort

[bagpussmice]

anyone got any advice/recommendations for where to go for good nurseries and childcare... looking at val d'isere or tignes. 2 families, and 5 kids, ages ranging from 2 - 6. looking at a chalet rather than a hotel.

I'm not sure I'd recommend Tignes for small children - although I love skiing there myself - as the nursery slopes are pretty steep, especially in Val Claret. We've always done self-catering, so I can't offer advice on chalets (and there aren't that many chalets in Val Claret anyway; they tend to be located in the Le Lavachet part of Le Lac). Val d'Isere probably has more in the way of accommodation and suitable childcare. Resorts in France with good childcare facilities (activities, nurseries, ski tuition) are awarded the 'Les P'tits Montagnards' label, so may be worth looking for resorts with this. FWIW, if I had the money, I'd go to Vaujany with 'Ski Peak'; they have catered chalets and a good reputation for childcare. The resort is not that high (about 1250m I think, but should have snow in February), but links to Alpe d'Huez, so lots of challenging skiing for parents. Vaujany has it's own nursery slopes. Sorry I can't help more!

that's helpful Stringbean - thank you.

baggpussmice- if you get any quotes and want me to see if i can undercut email me on [email protected] I am fully abta bonded travel agent and a homeworker (so overheads are lower) we rarely get beaten in price! Email me all the details over dates duration etc and i will see what i can do

Val D'isere and Tignes are both long transfers from Geneva/Lyon for the kids.Especially in February when the roads are a lot busier with parisian hols, regional hols and UK school holidays.

You also have to consider the time it will take you to get from the skiing to the childcare location in both those resorts. Tignes accomodation is quite spread out so you will be relying on the ski bus to get around unless you self drive. In Val D'isere you might find the kiddie care is in one part of the resort and you are staying in the other which also adds to the fun.

I would recommend Skivolution in Courchevel for the kids care, chalets and excellent included ski lessons, plus Courchevel is about 90 mins closer to the airports than Val D/Tignes. Go to www.skivolution.co.uk for more info. They are a small specialist business and very good (I do some work for them on there performance courses and know them well)I also took my daughter (4) on her first ski trip in April and stayed in Courchevel (we self drove) and it was great

You could also look at people like Ski Esprit as they specialise in kiddie stuff.

If your on a tighter budget you could look at Crystal in the larger resorts.

nsld - do I know you? We used to spend a lot of time with the skivolution guys in the pre-children/training for BASI days? Not so much lately as have been spending a lot of our winters in British Columbia (and slight technicality of having a 4 year old who's been skking pretty well since he could stand and would NOT be amused to be told he's too young for classes!).