Andorra for a family?

[popsickle555]

We are looking to do a week ‘as cheaply as possibly without it being horrible’ as my DH says departing U.K. 31st December.

I’m thinking of booking flights to Barcelona and driving to Andorra. Or flights to Milan and driving to the Dolomites (don’t know where?!)

is Andorra any good for families? DC’s are 12 and 9 so not small and can both ski but would need to be in ski school still.

And if we do Milan / Dolomites can anyone advise on resorts to look at that are hopefully going to have some snow and would be good for the kids? DH is a snowboarder and advanced, I’m an intermediate skier.

We will be doing a b&b hotel type thing and hiring a car as it’s much cheaper than a package. Also flying mid week so it’s the only option.

I guess what I should be asking relating to the Dolomites is which resorts are relatively accessible from Milan, and which are likely to have snow / suit a family. I know the snow thing is impossible to answer but I’m thinking the higher ones are more likely to be snow sure.

Santa Caterina, Bormio, Livingo are accessible from Milan. If Turin is an option, you could try Pila (you can get the gondola up from Aosta) There is a cheap train Turin to Aosta which works out cheaper than hiring
Andorra - I have only stayed in Arinsal which is a lovely resort but not big. Very high percentage of British instructors though. You can also ski in Pal and Arcolis off the same lift pass or get a Grandlivara pass covering all resorts. Easy access to Andorra La Vella as well if you fancy a look around the capital. Snow level was iffy last year though so I would check records for when you go.

You'd be better off flying to Venice for the Dolomites. From Milan you're closer to the Via Lattea. The Dolomites are very lovely and I do wax lyrical on here often about them. Andorra perfectly nice too though I found the snow conditions a bit iffy both times we went. We stayed in Pas de la Casa once and Soldeu the other. Preferred Soldeu of the two.

Pila is lovely but I think your husband might get bored if he's advanced level as it's not very big but if you've got a car you could do a day in La Thuile and/or Gressoney. My DS did a gap year there though and managed to amuse himself. Mainly on the snow park !

Pas de la Casa might be good for the ages you recommend. Avoid driving from Barcelona towards Andorra on a Friday afternoon or evening and driving back on a Sunday afternoon or evening, the traffic is often miserable. You might consider taking a coach from Barcelona to Andorra and staying somewhere central.

What about flying to Toulouse and going to the Pyrenees?

I like the look of Baqueira Beret but not been yet!

Thank you for the tips so far.

Unfortunately Tolouse is not possible for us (from our airport) but Turin is.

So we can get reasinably priced flights to;

Barcelona (Andorra)
Milan or Venice
Turin

Cheapest flights are Milan or Barcelona but Venice and Turin not too much mor. For the Dolomites @massistar what resorts would you recommend? Main considerations are snow, lessons for kids, easy runs for my youngest, and cost (we are on a budget!). DH will manage whatever happens, this holiday is really to prioritise the kids getting to enjoy skiing rather than him heading off all day as he currently has a dodgy knee anyway so will probably just be with me and doing shorter days with the kids when not in lessons. I will have a look into Pila.

I must confess I haven't heard great reviews so far on Andorra which has put me off a bit, but it does come up quite cheaply.

Thank you

Turin is super handy for Pila, a really easy drive.

There are lots of lovely resorts in the Dolomites, somewhere like Corvara or Arabba might suit? Or Alta Badia. On another thread someone recommended Selva in Val Gardena. We've been to Canazei a few times which tends to be a bit cheaper and has great links. Most places link to the Dolomiti Superski or you can get a local valley pass.

Will see what f I can link to the other thread!

Resort recommendations for timid skier www.mumsnet.com/Talk/ski-snowboarding/5181218-resort-recommendations-for-timid-skier

Thank you @massistar I was going to paste the exact same thread! 😀

OP- In the other thread, posted above, I went through in detail some of the resorts mentioned above- Pila and Livigno from memory.

We've also been to Pas De La Casa in Andorra. We stayed at Manzano 3000 apartments, so had a kitchenette in our room. This was about 8yrs ago though, but I do recall the room being tiny! A short walk to the end of the road you were on the slopes with an easy ski down to the ski school meeting area or to get a lift up. The town itself was set on a hill, so from that particular apartment, we had to walk down the hill to get to shops/butcher/bars etc. It was fine, but we were fitter and younger then.
In terms of skiing, I recall long, wide ski areas, not many trees on upper slopes and the ability to ski across many resort areas- Soldeu being one. We had several days of blizzards which was limiting though.

We only skiied Andorra the once and Italy and elsewhere many more times.

I'd recommend looking on this website, because you can filter in terms of pros/cons of each resort and the percentage of beginner/inter/advanced runs etc.
www.skiclub.co.uk/

Hi everyone

Sorry for the later post on this forum, we are looking at the dolomites for new year and I just wanted to see if I could get some advice from someone please. (Never been the dolomites only Morzine/avoriaz)

We are a family of 4, 2 children 9 and 6 years.

Currently looking at Ortisei or Santa crist in val gardens (think I have spelt it right!) we can’t decide which will be better for New Year’s Eve, hoping to at least catch some fireworks or some celebration for the children.

we also have found that it’s really difficult finding available chalets on booking.com it’s more hotel options is that common for the dolomites?

Thanks for reading