skiing for family of four for under £2k - is it possibl;e?!

[lacarete]

pse settle an argument - I've been doing all the research and failing to find anything either self-catering or half-board that will work out less than £2k all in. DH reckons it can be done though is failing to find out - anyone know how we can? dcs both under 4yrs ...

Including flights, ski packs/passes and childcare, probably not - at least only if you book for out of peak season ie now Having said that Esprit do have some all in deals on certain dates on their website and igluski emailled me a load of offers yesterday.

DIY is cheaper - book your own flights, accommodation and transfers. Book your ski hire and ski school online before you go and get your lift passes before you go.

The only ting you are lacking then is childcare, this may take a bit more research as you wouldn't have access to the big tour operators facilities, but most big french resorts will have snow creches.

OK - give me a date and I'll get back to you! Is it to include ski lessons for you and DH?

esprit couldn't get any lower and diy cost over that last year! mind you we were is Saas Fee which is expensive. any ideas for cheaper resorts?

If you want cheaper don't got to Switzerland!

Mid-sized French resorts tend to offer best combination of not too expensive but enough skiing to keep you interested.

Some here although skiing & childcare costs etc would be on top.

It will be far worse when you have to do school holidays. It shoots up for the week starting 14th Feb!

re switzerland - i know i know ... nice though!
wow toomanyprojects! was looking at 25 Jan - no ski lessons for us but lessons for 3.5yr ds and childcare for both ...

We went in summer one year to the Stubai Glacier. It was much cheaper, and we stayed in a pension, half board. We were only able to ski for half the day but our lift passes included the local swimming pool, buses etc so we had plenty to do in the afternoon and evening. It was great, lovely blue skies and warm sunshine. I loved it!

Oh, and we drove there, cutting the cost down further and giving us more flexibility. I'd highly recommend it, although admittedly if it is challenging skiing you're after, it may not be for you.

that does sounds fantastic - but i really wanted to go sooner if poss!

Have you looked at kinderhotels?

Try the hotel Alphuebel in Saas Fee - childcare is free and under 6's stay free in your room .

oh and there are bargains for January on that link !

Maybe you could try looking at Snowbizz..we went with them last year and found them very good. They go to Puy St Vincent which is a cheap resort (but has good snow cover) and when we went the childcare was very good (English nannies) and less expensive than the ESF resort creche we used this year.

They also do lessons for 3 yrs upwards. They have self drive or flight options. We actually went by train but that would probably be more expensive than flying or
driving.

Alternatively you could book a cheap appartment and self drive and book childcare/lessons through the ESF in your chosen resort. Ski collection have a classic selection of appartments.

Looking at Esprit to La Rosiere it is currently:

Accommodation 1295
Fuel supplements 70
Nursery 229
Spritelets 171
Snow Club 181
1 lunch 69
Adult Ski passes 330
Skis - DC 057
Skis - Adults 188

Total 2590

If you hang on before booking the accommodation is likely to come down to 800 or 900 saving 4 or 5 hundred but still just over your 2K

just a work of warning ref self catering - a friend of mine went this yr and last and reckons it cost 30-40% more this yr due to Euro and general cost of living etc

friends of ours have said that too.

OK far too much time on my hands

Serre Chevalier - been there a few times with kids and had some fun, wide ski area for more experienced - some fun nursery areas - green runs back to resort that beginners can do after a couple of days.

Flights - Ryan air to Turin selections of UK airports I have used East Mids and 3 bags to be paid for £150

Self catering apartment - wide variety available from - £500

Car Hire holidayautos.com - £150

Ski Hire sport 2000 (using ski2000 promotion code) - ?215

Ski School (local ESI 2 adults and a DC) - ?425

Total about £1400

add food, petrol, and snow creche.

Oh to be able to travel during term time again.

The ? were euros when I typed!

who needs travel agents - that's brilliant! we can remove the ski lessons for grownups and that would pay for the creche. have you used that creche (feel bad asking more questions after all that!)

We had a super-cheap skiing holiday in Bulgaria. It was great.

Hey it beats working - mine were all just old enough (min age 4 not to use the creche) but the vid on the ESF creche page (far too much time on my hands this afternoon) looks like fun - they will do some skiing so need to add anothe E60 for the little one and it looks like up E160 for the crech (everything is half day for kids), beware we used simialr last year (not in Serre Che) and dc3 had a torrid time due to lack of English speaker (and we were there in half term) do specify and respecify ENGLISH speaking.

For ski school in Serre Che we have used the ESI twice and never had any problem with english speaking but they don't do a ski kindergarten there.

LIZS - is Alphubel good? looked at that last year

Dad - sorry if I am missing it - does your total incluse lift passes - is that under the lessons?