Planning a ski holiday for your family, is all about making the basics work for everyone. You need to choose the right resort, pick the right time to go, and plan your itinerary, so the whole family enjoys the trip.
Important decisions like where you stay, how you’ll deal with transfers, how to book lessons, and what you’ll do off the slopes are all things to consider before you leave. Here are some handy tips to help you plan your family ski holiday of dreams.
Choose A Resort That Works For Everyone
When you’re deciding which ski resort to choose for your holiday, make a list of the priorities, considering each family member, with things like lessons for beginners, gentle green runs for children, and more challenging terrain for more advanced skiers in your party.
Look for a resort with strong ski school options and childcare, if you have young children. Resorts offering ski schools for children and/or childcare will reduce your stress, and give the adults time to ski, without worrying about the safety of your children.
Check out the resort’s layout before you book, as a compact village keeps activities close together, and a ski-in and ski-out lodging makes transitions so much easier. If you choose a big, spread out resort, it’ll mean you’ll spend more time (and money) on long transfers between your accommodation and the lifts.
Make sure your resort has some fun non-ski activities to keep everyone happy, like indoor heated pools, sledding, ice skating, and local tours, so you can all fun off-piste.
Book Your Transfers To The Resort With Minimum Hassle
Transfers are one of the most important choices you’ll make for your family, for your ski holiday.
You need to choose a transfer type that will suit your family’s size and budget. You can opt for a shared shuttle to save some money, private car transport for door to door convenience, or even a coach for larger parties.
Val D’Isere is one of the most popular ski resorts, and for good reason. It offers 300 km of interconnected slopes, and is an iconic ski resort for families with all ski abilities.
When traveling to Val D’Isere, if you book your Geneva To Val D’Isere Transfers before you leave, you just need to worry about your daily itinerary.
Keep your travel times and connections realistic. Ensure you leave enough time for customs and baggage claim in the airport, and inevitable winter road delays.
You can make a transfer pack for your family, with your printed booking reference, printed transfers confirmation, small snacks, water, and a compact entertainment device for children. Ensure your luggage is labelled, and keep your essential bits and pieces with you.
Sorting Lift Passes And Ski Hire In Advance
If you want to save money, you can book your lift passes before you travel, to lock in a lower price, and avoid long ticket queues at your resort.
You can compare options that are available during the dates of your trip, to find the best value package for your family’s ski ability, and schedule.
Another thing you can do in advance, is sorting out your ski hire before you leave, especially if you’re travelling during peak times, to guarantee the right sizes and children’s safety gear is available. When you pre-book, you can request child-specific ski equipment (like shorter skis, ski helmets and softer boots).
Consider bundling your passes, lessons and hire all-in-one, for extra savings and convenient too. Many operators sell packages that combine your lift access, your ski equipment rental, and beginner lessons at a combined, lower rate.
Planning Days That Suit Different Ski Levels
Once you’ve got your transfers and equipment all booked and sorted, you can get to planning what you do, when you actually get there.
Make yourself a simple daily plan that lists who skis, where they skin and when. You can make a bullet list to show morning and afternoon options for the different abilities of skiing you have within your family.
For example:
- Morning: beginners go to ski school and advanced can go off-piste or do the steeper runs.
- Afternoon: swap groups up, join a family run, or do a fun après-ski activity like tubing or sledding.
Stagger any lesson times, arrange shared lunch windows, and set out clear meeting points, just to keep everything stressfree (and enjoyable).
Make sure your trip is flexible, and not too crammed with activities, so you can rest when needed, and enjoy non-ski options like the spas, sightseeing, indoor pools and half-days for rest.