DIY Family holiday with skiers and non skiers

[FleawoodMac]

We are hoping to go skiing next year with my parents, siblings and kids - 6 adults and 2 kids in total. We've kind of badged it as a winter holiday with skiing rather than a ski holiday. 2 of the adults don't ski at all, others would be happy with just a couple of days. Where can we go?

Pre kids we used to go Val D'isere/Tignes and Austria, post kids we've been to Bulgaria with Crystal Ski, to keep costs down!

I'm wondering about a city break in Slovenia or somewhere with options for the skiers to get a bus to the pistes.

Any suggestions? Thanks

What do the non skiers want to do whilst there?

I'd stay somewhere nice in the valley so as to give the non skiers more choice. For example near bourg st Maurice in France or Aosta in Italy. This gives the skiers a bit more choice of slopes if the snow is a bit pants too

Good question as to what the non skiers will want to do. I think a bit of walking, coffees and hopefully looking after the kids. I've just realised there are 3 small kids not 2!

Thanks for the Bourg St Maurice and Aosta suggestions. I'll take a look. I've got the train to the former before but hadn't thought of it as an end destination, so I'll take a look.

I was looking at Oslo as a possibility for a similar type of holiday. There is a small ski resort about half an hour's bus ride from the centre apparently.

Innsbruck? Plenty of ski slopes in essy reach of the city by public transport.

There's a few resorts easily accessible from Innsbruck. Weve skied a lot on the Stubai Glacier.

As a non-skier on these types of trips I was looking for nice lodges for a coffee or hot cocktail, preferably someplace happy for me to spend the day sitting quietly by a fire reading my book. Also cute shops to poke around in.

(Honestly, I did not want to spend all day looking after other people’s children while they skied)

Cross Post!

This sounds like a really nice holiday OP and depending on the situation I would say some people really DO feel happy looking after other people’s kids while their parents ski! My MiL feels that way and I felt that way about my nephews when they were small. So much fun dressing up a little one to go and play in snow and then filling them up on hot chocolate . 😍

Look at Wengen or Grindelwald areas. Might be expensive but really lively for non skiers who can get about by mountain railway.

Zell am see in Austria?

Also came to suggest Zell Am See or Grindelwald. Grindelwald has the train, so non skiers could get the train up and meet you for lunch if they wanted (I've never done it, but it was suggested to me several times when I looked at a similar holiday).

Or Les Arcs? Stay in 1600, and the funicular is there for the non-skiers to go down to Bourg, and the skiers can access the pistes and ski school easily.

Thanks for all the suggestions, sounds like quite a few places could fit the bill!

It will mainly be my mum and (sometimes dad) looking after the children. I know it wouldn't be everybody's choice of a holiday activity but they are retired and do lots of holidays, so this wouldn't be their only holiday, but they know it would be ours, so are happy to facilitate it. I think they just appreciate that they kids still want to holiday with them!

Thanks everyone!

I was also going to suggest Innsbruck (but haven't done it myself). We've been with non-skiers to Kitzbuhel and Zell am See, both of which are well connected by train to lots of places. And both have good walking options. Kitz the much better ski area IMO.

I'd second the Austria recommendation - Seefeld is not a bad base, reasonable sized village, on a main trainline into Innsbruck. I've only done cross country skiing there and it's super organised, so hope the downhill is similar.

Hemsedal in Norway is lovely - the skiing is good and they also have things like horse-pulled sleigh rides, tobogganing and dog sledding for the non-skiers

I did this with my mum (non skier) a number of times when the dc were small and she always says her favourite was Zermatt. Still talks about how lovely it was 15 years later!

Take a look at Samoens in the French Alps. A charming village in its own right with things to do for non-skiers. Gondola up from the village to 1600 and beyond. It's part of the Grand Massif ski area.

We have a mixed group this year and are self-catering in the “secret valley” of the 3 Valleys, Orelle. They have a new fast cable car straight up to that lovely high altitude skiing in Val Thorens, and there is also pedestrian access on the gondola into VT so that non-skiers can access the town for the cinema, bowling, etc. All without the VT prices. The village tourism office does things for non-skiers like bus excursions to Italy, and you can also easily visit the resorts and their offerings on the other side of the Maurienne valley (Valmeinier, etc). You can get there directly on a train from Paris if you don’t want to fly.

I vote for Innsbruck too. The zoo is nice, it's low enough that there's plenty of walking without snow, there's a theatre and museums and the main advantage is that the restaurants are better the in resort villages. The skiing is good because you can ski a different resort every day, although only Stubaier is high so the snow isn't always amazing