The French Alps
You may think that winter holidays are not for families but I can assure you there’s plenty to do and see that’s not only skiing/snowboarding and aprè ski.
We have travelled to 2 resorts in the French Alps (Reberty 2000 and Ardent) with our young children and both were great fun but it is worth bearing in mind they are not the most restful holidays we’ve been on as we crammed in lots!
For both trips we stayed in fully catered chalets and had childcare available if we wanted it – I would fully recommend this if you are thinking of a skiing holiday with children. It certainly provided us with a lot more time as a family to relax and not worry about either cooking or eating out. The kids could go crazy, make a mess, be loud and it didn’t matter! It also meant we were in the comfort of a fully functional home for the week (this included high chairs, children’s crockery, baby monitors etc.) and meant we could keep our normal routine at breakfast and dinner/bath/bed time; which for our kids and our sanity is crucial!
So, what can you do in these resorts that isn’t skiing I hear you say! Well let me explain…
Reberty 2000
This village as the name suggests is at a higher altitude than a lot of other suggested family resorts so worth noting however our youngest at the time was 9 months old and thankfully didn’t suffer with any altitude sickness.
Reberty 2000 is a small piste-side village which is part of the larger Les Menuires resort. It is not far from Val Thorens and Meribel and if you get the three valley pass (I’d recommend it for the sake of an extra £20) these are perfect days out!
This is a ski in ski out village and being higher up you have great snow conditions all season which meant sledging outside the front door was completely normal! There were basic amenities nearby such as convenience store for shopping, several good restaurants, ski rental shops, ski school and bus stops straight to the main local towns. It may sound like a mission getting on a bus but it’s so easy, everyone does it and it’s reliable and FREE!
There were several great things to do in and around Reberty with the kids but by far our favourite was a ride in a Gondola (the Bruyeres bubble) to eat ice cream (it’s never too cold apparently) and take in the stunning view of the Alps. You need to bring the children’s ID to get them a lift pass but it is free for under 5’s and for taking Bruyeres bubble the ski pass office is just next door.
If you hop on the free bus to Les Menuires there is a leisure centre with a great sized swimming pool which is a hit for all ages in our house. It’s worth checking out their website to ensure availability.
There were several children’s snowparks and sledging slopes with magic carpets dotted around which gave us hours of sledging and general snow fun! You can hire a large sledge (big enough for an adult and child) for roughly €20 for 6 days from local ski hire shops.
In terms of a local restaurant, La Ferme was highly recommended to us and we also thoroughly enjoyed the food and atmosphere!
For this trip our kids were just a little too young to try skiing or snowboarding but they loved sledging and if given the choice would’ve stayed out all day playing with snowballs. We found the trick was to not expect too much seeing as this was our first family ski experience and if the little ones don’t want to try it straight away that’s ok – they will soon ask to get involved as they see the other children having a go. This was a great first family ski trip for us!
Ardent
The tiny village of Ardent is much like Reberty 2000 in that it is also part of a much larger resort called Les Portes Du Soleil. Similarly it had just a few amenities locally but everything you could ever need a short free bus away. Thankfully the important things were right next door like a gondola, ski shop, restaurant, bar and bus stop. For this trip we went very late in the season which for skiing alone was risky but for us it worked really well in this area as it has so much to offer.
A ride or 2 in the telecabine (or gondola to me) were again firm favourites with the whole family and this region has an almighty one called the Prodains that takes you to the town of Avoriaz which is otherwise inaccessible by car/train/bus etc. Again the lift pass is free for under 5s and you can get a ticket when you arrive.
Once you get up to Avoriaz there are numerous cafes/restaurants/bars, snow parks, shops and amazing views but what we had been looking forward to were most definitely the sleigh rides! Yep you can choose to take a tour around the town or even use as a taxi service the large sleighs driven by wonderful horses. Epic!
We also explored around nearby Morzine (10-15mins by bus from our hamlet, Ardent). Set in a gorgeous valley, Morzine has a lot to do; from shopping, eating, local markets, parks, outdoor and indoor swimming pools, playgrounds, horse riding and even a Go Ape style obstacle course that ranged from 2years and up! We tried almost everything we could squeeze into our time and just missed the chance to go horse riding but we had a great time and would recommend the area over and over again as it had something for everyone!
This was our second ski trip and as mentioned earlier although Max was still too young to do ski or snowboard lessons (minimum age 3 years) he was desperate to try having watched mummy and daddy and everyone else! So excitedly we rented him the smallest snowboard and gear we could get and off he went! All of his snowboard gear we rented for €18 euros for 3 days and most ski shops had equipment for young kids – a bargain considering how much all the stuff would cost new.
At his age it was all about just having fun in the snow and with the equipment for as long or little as he chose. In the end we took him out 3 times and that was just perfect! We may even have our own little Shaun White in the making!