Europe trip advice needed.

[Sbooker]

We're a family of four from Brisbane looking to arrange a trip to Europe in January 2018. We are already committed to a North American trip this year. We prefer a tour that involves skiing for a few days, another activity for a while (like touring a city) and skiing again for a few days. We've done these types of trips in Canada and US quite a few times. Ideally we would prefer -
- Reliable snow cover (not necessarily snow fall while we're there) as big long groomers are the preference for us.
- Good intermediate skiing (wife is not keen on too much expert terrain).
- Lodging that is affordable but clean in a setting with village atmosphere - walk to restaurants/bars. Not necessarily ski in/ski out - but that would be a bonus.
- Easy to get to with public transport would be ideal. Open to hiring a car but certainly not a preference.

My kids are learning Italian at school so we would be likely want to see Rome and Venice etc. An itinerary like Rome/travel north to ski/travel to Munich/travel to ski/travel to Venice/head home might be an example although that could be ridiculous for all I know?
Which countries offer the best family skiing? Or do all countries have a variety of options from economical family to high end luxury?
Thanks in advance.

 

[Legs Akimbo]

Why not stay in Italy?

 

[Sbooker]

Why not stay in Italy?

I'm open to that. Are there two or three areas that could easily be split by touring other towns or sights?

 

[CarveMan]

I'm open to that. Are there two or three areas that could easily be split by touring other towns or sights?

For sure - you could ski Dolomites and Aosta valley for example. Both world class ski areas but very different scenery / experience etc.

Look at Cortina/Corvara/Canazei in the Dolomites for example, then Courmayeur or La Thuile or Champoluc in Aosta.

These are just a couple of examples, there's also stuff out of Turin etc.

 

[Zimboo]

Rome, Venice then 160kms north from Venice to..........
https://www.j2ski.com/ski_resorts/Italy/Dolomiti_Superski.html
As CarveMan suggests:
https://www.j2ski.com/ski_resorts/Italy/Alta_Badia.html

 

[absentskier]

Yeah I went to Cortina from Venice. Was a nice trip.

 

[Heinz]

Have a look at some of the other Europe threads.

Schladming in Austria would tick many of those boxes except the Italian bit. Otherwise obvious choice would be somewhere in the Dolomites as suggested above.

 

[Mike Pow]

I did Trentino Dolomites then Verona then South Tyrol this past March.

Went to Bolzano and Verona for city breaks.

Great time.

https://www.ski.com.au/xf/threads/c...rafoi-dolomites-italy-13-19-march-2016.74482/

Facebook keeps changing the coding for pics, so here they are

https://www.facebook.com/mike.richa...10154090912868624.1073741875.506688623&type=3

 

[Research101]

Last January we did a week in the Dolmites they were struggling for snow when we arrived, they have a comprehensive snow making system and with only a few cm of natural snow were able to get endless km's of runs open, it was quite amazing. Fortunately we got more snow when we were there which made the skiing great.
It is a vast area and perfect for lots of intermediate cruising all day long.
On mountain food was the best
We stayed 10 min outside Arabba but we had our own car. The hotel ( Hotel Cesa Padon ) also offered drop off and pick up service into Arabba.
If I went back with no car a good centre would be Corvara - nice family village and fairly central
Would have no hesitation in heading back
We also had a week in Lech ( great but expensive ) and Mayrhofen ( great )
Make sure you go sledding with the kids - never laughed so much

 

[Kletterer]

Best bet is probably Cortina. Express bus from Venice airport is 2 Hours. Cheap rate but any other destinations would be more economical for 4 with a hire car. Any of the Sella Ronda resorts is nice for families particularly the Seiseralm area at St. Christina . www.seiseralm.it/en/winter-dolomites.html. In Spring kids under 12 pay half, under 8 free

 

[Johnb007]

My kids are learning Italian at school so we would be likely want .

In the Dolomites be aware that generally the locals refuse to speak Italian. They speak Romanesh. They are FULLY fluent in Italian of course but as a matter of principle the locals refuse to speak it. Local ski instructors teaching Italians run the lessons in German or English!! Go figure. During the season there are Italians from all over Italy working there and they of course speak Italian. Everyone speaks German and English so communicating is no trouble. Just be aware of that little idiosyncrasy. A strange quirk of ancient history.

 

[Draizuh]

For sure - you could ski Dolomites and Aosta valley for example. Both world class ski areas but very different scenery / experience etc.

Look at Cortina/Corvara/Canazei in the Dolomites for example, then Courmayeur or La Thuile or Champoluc in Aosta.

These are just a couple of examples, there's also stuff out of Turin etc.

Could sneek over to les arcs or tignes or Sainte Foy..