Hi guys new to the forum chasing opinions on a snowboarding trip to Europe. Looking at 20/21 season jan/feb. have boarded in Canada and nz before live in Western Australia. This time around I need to choose more carefully on ski resorts as I will have a 15month old at time of travel. It will be my wife and I with the bub. Essentially I am looking at opinions on a family friendly ski resort with plenty of facilities, shops and childcare with world class snow the more picturesque the better. I am looking at Austria possibly flying into Munich heading to Kitzbühel stay for 2 weeks and head over to st Anton for another 2 weeks before heading home. All opinions appreciated! Thanks
Sounds like your research so far has paid off. Other options might be Saalbach in Austria, Zillertal in Austria, Ski Amade in Austria, Selva Val Gardena in the Italian Dolomites (sure to be the best scenery anywhere), Madonna di Campliglio in the Brenta Dolomites in Italy. Munich to Arlberg (St Anton or Lech) over the border to Selva would be my choice.
IMO the first question when the whole of Europe is open to you is which culture / language / food appeals and then narrow it down. Austria is different to France which is different to Italy and Switzerland has French, German and Italian speaking regions! I’m happy with France & Italy but others love Austria for good reason.
Thanks for the reply’s so far. I have been to Switzerland and Italy in the summer time(without children) and absolutely loved it would love to go back but at the same time would like to experience other parts of the alps ie Austria. I love the charming/ traditional picturesque villages and I feel Austria (Kitzbühel and St Anton) may be a good choice For that as well as being child friendly? The only concern is the snow quality at Kitzbühel? keep the opinions coming!
Yes altitude is very much your friend in Europe and Kitz is pretty low. I like ski areas where you spend most of your day above 2000m.
re: St Anton, some friends of mine run a hotel there: https://www.alkira.at/ - Barbara is Austrian but spent many winters at Mt Buller and her husband Christopher is Australia.
End of January = Kitzbuhel downhill. Biggest event in Europe/world. Big big party, very very roudy (in a good way Austrian style)...........take ear plugs for the Bub and you will have a ball! Exact dates change year to year, so you would have to check.
Do your research on childcare and family friendly accomodation options. A village or town location with pram friendly pavements, plenty of shops and an all weather playground will be more important than Slope access. Bub may also be too young for crèche so you may need to book a private nanny for time out. Try to find accomodation with some extra living space and ensure that there is enough room to set up a cot. European ski hotel rooms and apartments can be extremely small. Also think about purchasing an extra seat for Bub on your flight, or be prepared to share nursing an agile 15 month old for the flight duration.
I've just arranged a trip to Kufstein Austria, skiing at www.skiwelt.at for Dec to Jan. Will have an 11 and 13 yo in tow. More a Perisher style series of hills than true mtns but hoping will work for us as a family ski destination. Has trees. 90 lifts, 284 km of trail, multiple little villages at the base of a main big hill, plus some side hills. Never skied Europe though. Been pointed out to me here it is on the low side, but they seem to have big snow making. Looked ok on webcams of late. Jan after Xmas is "low season" there apparently.
Good point. I discounted that. I think Mayrhofen is worth looking at. Lowish elevation but the skiing is a bit higher than Skiwelt/Ski Armade/Saalbach. Heaps of skiing in the valley all connected by convenient rail. And Hintertux glacier as back up if it’s a bad season.
Yep Chamonix worked for us last year when Little Miss was 8-9mo, 1000m altitude, less than Buller's village at 1600m where she spent pretty much half a winter from 4 weeks onwards.
Are you going self-organised (ie booking everything directly) or would you consider through a Tour operator. The latter may be better for you regarding childcare. There are some specialist UK based TOs for families with childcare included in the package. Try posting on snowheads - https://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewforum.php?f=2 with as much detail as you can (eg dates, budget, accommodation style required etc).
https://www.espritski.com/ I'm actually at Turin airport right now having done our sixth trip with them. Amazing childcare to the point of doing "baby listening" in the evenings so you can have a civilised dinner and they'll tell you if baby wakes up. They go to St Anton, if coming from oz you could fly to innsbruck and pick up the package from there. Let me know if you want more info
You really can't go wrong with St Anton if you're a decent skier, but probably avoid if you have beginners in your travelling party. Is your wife a skier or just sightseeing? Solden another great option and has an extensive childcare facility right at the base of the gondola. I used to walk past it every day.
The wife does snowboard aswell however the snowboarding aspect is more for me. a big village with plenty of other activities/shops etc is just as important as the snow for her/bub. Does the childcare cater for 15month olds? We won’t need childcare everyday or anything just an odd day here and there when we both go out or want a few drinks child free.
The Childcare in Solden handles 6months + Also, for the scenario where you want to go out for drinks for a couple of hours in the evenings, your hotel will also be able to arrange an accredited in-room nanny. Very common in Austria.
Two of the UK companies that specialise in childcare (at least in some of their accommodation):- https://www.markwarner.co.uk/family-holidays/ski https://www.espritski.com/ But most others do childcare too. There are also ski resorts that are marketed as 'family friendly'. Note that prices go up dramatically over Xmas/New Year, British schools half term and (to a lesser extent) Easter. As I said above, ask the question (with as much detail as possible as to your requirements re budget, dates, accommodation requirements, resort requirements etc) on www.snowheads.com, a UK ski forum - plenty of posters on there have kids, ski/snowboard in the Alps & will be able to give more info/recommend tour operators/resorts etc. You need to register (free), and your best bet would be to post in the 'The Piste' or 'Resort Reviews and Trip Reports' forums.
