Why not choose an alpine ski village for your next family ski holiday?Take a look at alpine ski village resorts if the idea of spending your family ski holidays in a purpose-built resort doesn’t inspire you. These traditional resorts can be an excellent choice for families.
Traditional resorts do tend to be at lower altitude – think about it, would people have established a village if it was not practical to live there all year round? Lower altitude can be better for babies. We have heard of cases of altitude sickness where babies are taken to resorts above 2,000 metres. But lower altitude can mean less snow, or snow which is not reliable. So, if you’re set on staying in a charming village, look for one with good, speedy links into higher neighbouring ski resorts. If your chosen destination doesn’t have these links, at the very least make sure that a ski bus shops close by to take you to higher slopes. You’re also likely to find wonderful quirky characteristics. Take the resort of Montchavin in France. We last stayed there in 2001 and there was a smallholding right next to the base of the gondola station. Chickens, pigs and goats were there for our toddler to see – and the farmyard smells, well, you can’t get more authentic than those! In a small, quiet alpine ski village resort you might well find that there are a handful of shops with perhaps one bar or restaurant. If you're looking for buzzing nightlife, you won’t find it here – but are you really looking for that now that you are skiing as a family? We have found that small resorts welcome families to restaurants and serve superb quality local speciality dishes. It is a wonderful opportunity for junior to sample authentic local cuisine and practice a few more foreign language phrases. And then there’s the cost factor. Accommodation costs are very likely to be less than a large, popular ski resort. If you choose a smaller ski area, you’ll find that the cost of lift passes, tuition, and ski hire are noticeably less than those resorts which tempt you by being the biggest in the world. So if you want to stretch your family budget as far as possible on your ski vacations, and really get a feel for the country you’re visiting, we’d definitely recommend an alpine ski village. To return from the alpine ski village page to the family ski resorts page, please click here. Alternatively, please click here to return to the home page.
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