Ski by train with young kids

[LittleGift]

Hello, has anyone ever managed to find a ski holiday (or booked independently successfully) that has great childcare and allows travel by train?

Desperate to get back on skis now the kids are 3 and 5 but having massive climate guilt about flying.

Have done the train as a couple several times but can’t find trusted childcare.

Thanks

If you’re going to France you can probably do childcare through the ski school. Any of them will take the 5 year old and ESF definitely have programs for 3 year olds e.g. Club Piou Piou.

Alternatively you could book through an operate that provides childcare and choose to do your own travel- we’ve done this with VIP ski and Scott Dunn recently for skiing and Club Med for a beach holiday so I think they’d allow it for ski too.

Thank you. I’ll try Scott Dunn. Also, didn’t know ESF had programs for such young kids. Was club med childcare good? I have looked at them but think changeover is Sunday which makes the train slightly trickier. Not impossible though if the care is good. Thanks again.

We’ve never done a club med in Europe, only in the Americas but the childcare has always been very good if a little too attentive- one of the French girls kept texting us last time because the toddler refused her vegetables and only wanted chips for lunch!

Scott Dunn is pricey but we’ve done a private nanny in a chalet and their kids club in Val d’Isere and were pleased with both.

That is attentive! My goodness. Thanks very much for the info. Might mitigate the price a bit by going late season. The temptation is to just fly and get an easy package with Neilsons or someone, but it’s so easy for us by train too as we’re not far from Kings Cross. Plus reduced transfer time other end (my son gets really car sick - 3 hours on mountain roads in a coach..... ☹️)

Crystal ski have child care and do the train as well.
give ifyouski a ring 02033843300
they are a travel agent and can help they also deal with Club Med which has excellent child care.
there may be an option to do sat to sat and add a train.

Look at operators in La Tania - we went there twice when our 2 were those ages and via the direct ski train, piece of cake! Lots of little games and snacks and we were there before we knew it. We're outer south London so drove to Ashford as a lot less stress than getting to St P with all the kit. From Moutiers it's only a 25 min minibus trip up to La Tania - we used Family Friendly Skiing and they had in house child care to take boys to and from ski school / piou piou snow garden.

Thank you. I’ve only looked at Club Med direct so I’ll definitely try that.

The place in La Tania sounds perfect too. My fear is we spend loads of money on a trip, get there and the childcare is a bit dodgy so we end up not getting any skiing done! So recommendations are great.

I wish more operators would consider either including a train option or allowing accommodation only so you can book your own. Good for the planet and (for us anyway) really easy.

No advice other than to say you’ll not regret it! We took DS when he was 6 months so we didn’t miss out on a season and we will be going again when he is just over 1 and we’ve just bought his first set of skis..they’re so cute

What’s mostly put us off before is the long transfers - my son gets so badly car sick, we couldn’t face it. I’m missing it so much now though!

Val Thorens childcare options
I'm sure other resorts will have similar

How long are your transfers normally?

The resorts we used to go to seemed to be around the 3 hour mark. Although I never paid much attention pre-kids. Getting the train gets you nearer in my experience. And it’s much easier for us this end too. Loads of great tips on here. Thanks everyone.

I used to get the sleeper train to south of France as a kid and it was SO exciting. I did it again as an adult to Chamonix and was almost as excited. They'll love the train adventure, especially if a sleeper.

Have you looked at Austria? Our transfer is only 1 hour from airport to hotel when we go

I have thought about Austria. It’s definitely a possibility but I would love to get the train. As SmellMy has said it’s really exciting and loads easier (for us) but the real reason is we are trying to minimise the number of flights we take.

The ski industry is not great for the environment full stop. The deforestation for the runs, the snow making and so on. The flight is just part of it.
I say this as a conflicted skier!!

That’s true of course. ☹️

I also recommend la tania.... Have a look at chalet marmau with "le ski" .... Their childcare is great....and in the building! I took my two at those ages and it was fab!!! Great price too.

Thanks orange. I will definitely look at that too. Really appreciate all the suggestions.

You can get a train to bourg saint mairitz, then funicular up to les arcs- no transfer by coach at all!

I know! We did that as a couple once. Amazing. Love travelling by train anyway. Although I had a bit of a drama on the (sadly no more) ski train involving some very loud Benny Bennasi and a man wearing only y-fronts. Maybe that should be saved for another thread though....😳

There is a direct ski train overnight to bourg from St P.

Is that the Eurostar one? I was talking about the old SNCF snow train from Paris which had sleeping compartments and a disco carriage! As far as I was aware, they stopped it but could be wrong.

I don't think the Disco train from Paris still runs.

We have been skiing by train several times with young kids and it is an enjoyable way to travel.
I would suggest looking at the following options:
Snowbizz in Puy St Vincent. I think you can still get there by Eurostar plus Briancon sleeper and get a taxi up the mountain from Argentiere Les Ecrins station. Their childcare and ski school are very good. Downsides..resort not that extensive and their self catering accommodation is on the basic side. Nevertheless a very good family run company and childcare is A1. You would have to book the train yourself which can be tricky as Eurostar usually release their tickets before the SNCF.

La Rosiere is an excellent family resort and you can get there by the daytime Eurostar. We booked train plus accommodation through Peak Retreats and used the ESF creche and ski school in Les Eucharts (the new part of the resort) which was very good and also had a lunch club giving more time to ski over to Italy before picking up the children.
You could also get to Montgenevre by Eurostar plus TGV and use the ESF creche and ski school there. It is a very family friendly resort. We stayed at Novotel Gare de Lyon on the outward journey in order to arrive at lunchtime and get settled in. You can easily get back in one day changing in Paris. We also booked that through Peak Retreats and stayed in Le Napoleon luxury self catering residence with pool in the centre of the resort just across the road from the ski school meeting point.

For your first ski holiday by train I would say that La Rosiere is the easiest option as you don't have to change in Paris. We went there with a 3 and 6 year old and had a very good holiday.

chocolatviennois thanks so much for such a detailed response. It’s good to hear that the ESF childcare is good. I hadn’t even considered them before it was mentioned on this thread. I’m not too phased by a change in Paris and actually really like the idea of staying over a night there. Although, direct Eurostar would be easiest as you say.

I think if I can solve the childcare question (which this thread has really helped with) the travel is not to difficult to sort. Wish the train tickets were bookable a little further in advance though (same in UK of course). Been looking into a summer trip by train too but can’t look up train prices as not released yet.

Anyway, thanks again - loads of great tips!