Skiing absolute beginners...where would you recommend?

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never skiied in our lives but heard so much from friends. Also ds age 5 has seen his cousins photos of ski school.

So for next year(?) me, hub and 5 yr old none of us can ski, most weve done is go sledging!!!!!

What would you recommend, where would you recommend?

Its hard to suggest somewhere as there are so many places to go . Just ensure ski school is not too far away from hotel or apartment and that it is English speaking . Money permitting i recommend staying in a Chalet with catering laid on...you know the Swiss pine type of place. In France I have been to Les Deux Alps... very nice. Serre Chevaliere ..good too. Bulgaria is very nice and cheaper but longer flight than The Alps. My partner has a studio apartment in Megeve, (French Alps) which is bout an hour and half from Geneva airport...skiing there is fabulous but they dont have much english ski school.
Booking a package is prob best, flight, accommodation and ski stuff, i.e. boots, skis, lift pass etc.
Grab some ski holiday brochures and plough through and try to get travel agents advise....sometimes they have actually been to these places and know what they are like.
Clothing wise... i really recommend getting thermals socks, sun glasses, goggles, gloves, etc from Aldi or Lidls as its cheap. ...Its great value for growing kids...
You can pay a fortune if you go to a proper ski toggs shop for gear.
Good luck.

Lots of choice but things to look for:

ski to the door (or nearby anyway - long walks in ski boots is not fun for little ones)
in house childcare - although your ds is maybe old enough not to need that but will probably only do half day ski school
fun things to do in the village or accommodation (swimming, ice skating, sledging etc)
short transfers
good value child places
I like catered chalet board - quite sociable atmosphere but very british - staff and other guests - so not if you want to experience the local culture

if you are wanting to do it on a budget try Crystal - loads of choice and a good brochure to start with anyway

other family friendly companies to consider - esprit, mark warner, scott dunn, ski beat, ski2, venture ski, family ski, ski famille, snow bizz, snow focus, snowline - as I say loads of choice - look back at old threads and mumsnet reviews.

France for ski to the door and big ski areas, Austria and
Switzerland for culture, Italy, Andorra and Bulgaria for value or go to America or Canada - loads of people say it is much much better over there and wouldn't ski in Europe again.

A good place for reviews of resorts rather than accomodation is the ski club of great britain website

Bulgaria or Andorra - it's a complete waste of money you going to a "pretty" or "advanced" resort when you only need the basics. Either of these countries will more than cater to your first-time needs. Enjoy - but be warned - it's addictive...

Yes, Skihorse...VERY VERY addictive. Good point !!

Just make sure you wear lots of warm clothing and you will enjoy....nothing worse than being cold !!

Soldeu in Andorra. English speaking ski school, nice & cheap. Only draw back would be the long transfer (about 3 & 1/2 hours from Toulouse or Barcelona).

I'm biased but I'd suggest a very small resort in Austria. You don't need any milage in terms of pistes. I'll come back with suggestions later.

I could suggest loads of resorts but having given it more thought I agree you need a package with a good company and a decent rep/chalet manager. I agree with others suggesting a good catered chalet (hit & miss) so there is someone to hold your hand re ski passes, ski school, equipment hire.

Ski Peak

we've just come back from a week in Les Gets with ski famille and it was fantastic. DP and DS1, 5 were complete beginners and I hadn't been since school but they loved it and we had a great time. Chalet hosts, nannies, ski school and ski hire shop all fantastic and organised by the company so all I had to do was get the clothes and the lift passes. Really made it easy for first-timers and rusty people like me. Fantastic holiday (but not a cheap option tho i don't think).

Les Gets, generally, seems a great resort for families, beginners and improvers.

one more thing to think about to add to my list...

make sure there will be some snow when you go - not that you can guarentee it but either go in February or go to a high altitude resort (probably above 1600m).

Try Flims in Switzerland (Laax is the main website but Flims itself is nicer imo!) - the ski school in Flims itself is excellent and brilliantly organised with the skihire place in the same place as skischool HQ, with lots of English speaking instructors as the guy who runs it is a swiss/kiwi!

They also have excellent instruction for children. We've been there with Powder Byrne who are outstanding but quite expensive. (No hassle, look after the kids amazingly etc. etc. would totally recommend!)

For stunning scenery try Grindelwald as it's underneath the Eiger and the Wetterhorn and close to the world cup course at Wengen. It is less snow sure but lovely. There is one ski area (First) which is excellent for beginners and there is also a proper blue and red run in the total beginner ski area (Bodmi), which is where you would probably do the first day or two! Neither of these suggestions are ski in / out but I don't really mind that, whereas some people really do prefer to put the skis on in the chalet and go. Most hotels I've stayed in in the alps provide a hotel bus that picks up from the bottom of the runs so if you don't want a chalet or a ski tour co. check how much help the hotel gives.

(Check the altitude range of the ski area for snow)

Hope that is of some help, but like someone else said, be warned - skiing is addictive!!

also be warned that accomodation is only about half the cost of the holiday - ski hire, lessons etc add another 50%.
you can try out a uk ski slope - indoor or dryslope to see if you like it (and it will mean the holiday is far more enjoyable as you will be familiar with the kit. i very much recommend this for the kids.

that is good advice. I took ds1 to milton keyne sno dome for a couple of lessons the week before we went and I am glad we did. Our flight was delayed the evening before so we had to hire skis etc in the morning and it was really hectic so he pretty much just got dumped with the instructor and whisked up the mountain in a lift. He loved it, luckily but I think the fact that he actually knew what the whole skiing thing was about really helped.