4 nights end of March with 2 toddlers

[Newmummy46]

Looking to go for 4 nights at the end of March with our two toddlers (aged 3 and 4). It’s more of a trial run than a full blown ski holiday. Hope to get the girls on skis for a morning or two but otherwise looking to go tobogganing, play in the snow and go out for nice lunches. Any recommendations for where might fit the bill, realise it is late season so will need somewhere high.

criteria:

• high altitude as would like snow at resort level- is this possible?
• I like small and traditional but realise that may not be compatible with high altitude.
• don’t want to have to walk too far, would like to be able to play in the snow near accommodation.
• good magic carpet or similar children’s area.
• ideally a ski school for the children for a couple of sessions, if not we can take them out.

I have been to Meribel before in late March and it all just looked a bit sad, no snow in the resort and skinny brown and mushy resort runs- trying to avoid this vibe!

Any suggestions?

Take a look at Ste Foy, small and friendly, great nursery slopes at resort level, everything is nearby.

Other options might be Montgenevre, Obertauern or Obergurgl, but as these are larger you'd want to be more careful about accommodation location.

I'm sure there are plenty of other resorts that might fit the bill.

Great, thanks for suggestions. I’ve seen lots of people mention Sainte Foy on Mumsnet.

looks like they’ve got 2 magic carpets easily accessible. Are there nice placea for lunch- I dream of sitting on a big terrace in the sun! Either in the resort or up the mountain (accessible for non skiers).

I looked at Obergurgl but they didn’t do much self catering and looking for some cheaper options.

thanks again

Sye Foy is great and good for the budget. There are several sunny snow front lunch places looking over the nursery slopes. There are also a couple of places at the top of the first chair, which allows pedestrians, but not that easy to do the running off at the tip with young ones. Tricky but doable.

Ski Evolution were great with my kids, ages 3 and 5 at the time.

Tignes, we take our 3 year old multiple weeks a season. Not pretty but snow sure and lots to do out of skiing for the kids. ESF and Evo 2 have their own ski gardens for little ones. Nice swimming pool with toddler area, indoor trampolines, sledging.

We also use a fantastic nanny service for a few afternoons a trip and they are wonderful. All of the ski shops have tiny skis and boots. Would stay in Le Lac for easy access to kids areas.

Thanks for this. Very helpful. Will have a look at Tignes. We wouldn’t be doing ski school, we would be going with then ourselves for an hour or two. Would be still be able to use the magic carpet etc, given we wouldn’t be with a ski school?

Where are the magic carpets that are one access? Also where is tobogganing for toddlers? And are there nice mountain restaurants that would be accessible for non skiers?

Yep no problem with magic carpet, there’s one on the snow front in le lac which is very accessible then also Bollin lift in Val claret if they progressed with you- there’s a kids run with tunnels etc.

You can get the toviere bubble lift from le lac up to a cafe with great views and also go up to the glacier from Val claret (free 5 min bus), there is a very nice restaurant up there. Free shuttle buses run 24 hours a day and run in a loop, our little boy loves this and look at the diggers/piste bashers. There is a toboggan section on the snow front in lac as well as a play park (slides, swings etc) which is great in the snow.

Theres outdoor and indoor trampolines as well as ringos that are 3+ (but pretty fast!). The Tignes app is really helpful with all activities/ maps etc. Wealth of information. Worth getting the kids lift passes (they are free but you need to take passport into the lift office).

We use Abski childcare for babysitting/ afternoons off to ski by ourselves. They are really reasonable and have had 3 seasons of amazing nanny’s that we have always had 100% confidence in. Our little boy pushes us out the door sometimes as they turn up with bags of toys and games!

Wow- that’s so helpful, thank you. When you say the ‘snow front’, which side of the resort is that? I’ve found lots of maps but can’t find the key to it

I’ve circled in red the area that is the snow front, you have maison de Tignes (lift office, tourist info etc” and le lagon (swimming pool) also paladour chair lift and toviere bubble lift. Its a big area with lots going on- magic carpet, play park, toboganning, sometimes they build big snow tunnels/igloos. You can also walk across the frozen lake (on the marked path). Tignes put a lot of effort into entertainment and on the app have a weekly schedule of animations.

Highly recommend spend €20 on a decent sled from inter sport on the snowfront, it’s the main way we get our 3 year old around town.

We spend 6/8 weeks a season there so are really well versed in toddler entertainment in resort!

This is seriously helpful, thank you so much for taking the time to reply to me.

I am still trying to choose between Tignes and Saint Foy, it might come down to availability of accommodation.

This is where I’ve got to so far:
Sainte Foy (all based on Google research so anyone do please correct me)

• pretty, not very crowded. Smaller so easier to walk around with small children. Nice sunny restaurants at the base of pistes. We don’t need a big resort as we won’t be skiing ourselves so make the most of exploring a small resort. Magic carpet at resort level and toboganning.
• BUT- it is lower and worried about quality of snow at resort level in late March and also quantity of snow- will it look pretty and white or brown and slushy.

Tignes le Lac

• like the sound of lots of things for toddlers to do- magic carpet, toboganning, horse rides, bubble up to mountain restaurant. Sounds like this is all in the area of Tignes le lac right by the lake so not too much walking. Snow quality will be good and there will be lots of snow around.
• BUT worried it may be very busy and stressful getting the children around the town and not so much atmosphere in town. More practical but lacking the charm.

I’ve done an accommodation search on Airbnb and the following have come up, these were the closest to the right area. Would they be suitable for dragging a sled with the children on and not too far/busy/stressful! Really appreciate your advice!

Also, is Tignes le Lac the obvious Tignes resort to consider or does another if the Tignes resorts offer what I’m after?

We stay in Val Claret but we have an apartment there, le lac is the best place to be with kids. However the buses are great and it takes 5/10 mins to get round so really no problem. While you’re there it’s worth coming over to VC and exploring.

Snow quality is always great, we spend 3/4 weeks there every Easter and it’s always great. But the buildings are relatively ugly…

All of that accommodation looks fine, it’s honestly really accessible with kids and not too stressful. Recommend the magic carpets at lunch time when the ski schools are on break- best time to take little skiers! Also a good ski back pack with lots of straps to strap little skis and boots to. A hobble de hoo harness is also great (get them on Amazon) for skiing with little ones.

It’s worth looking on booking.com for accom as well, they have a few self catering apartments on there.