Morzine family ski holiday top 5 things to do

Vallée de la Manche

Our friends arrived at lunch after a long drive so we wanted to take them somewhere where everyone could stretch their legs. We also wanted to do something that would make them feel that boom their holiday has started.

We drove up to the top of the Valley Du Manche to Ergine (you can also get a bus, line E). Then continued our journey on foot carrying toboggans for the return journey and to drag kids, if they got tired, to the Crapahute restaurant. The Crapahute is about a 20 minute walk along and up the cross-country skiing track to a beautiful cabin in the woods. This is accessible only to those who walk or take the decent off-piste to get there.  It is not a hard walk. You would certainly want to book in advance. There is also an option to book a private dining cabin! Outside the Crapahute there is an expanse for running around. The restaurant also has sledges one can use for the hill close to them. Along the way up there is a giant igloo and plenty of opportunities for snowballs, and snow angels. One can then use the toboggans you brought up for the way down!

Source: Photo from the Crapahute Facebook page 

Nyon

The next day the kids had lessons in the morning. Be prepared that if you have lessons starting on the Sunday or Monday at 09:00, so do a lot of others. It can be busy at the meeting points. Top tips from one of our favourite skis schools Bill Ski are …

• If you can meet your instructor at the bottom of the lifts before your lesson, this will help speed up the process of getting up the hill. As using the ski school lines is a great way to skip the big queues in the holidays. 
• If not, I like to get to the bottom of the lifts before they open to make sure you are at the front for when the lifts open. Then arrive with plenty of time before lessons to 1) have a coffee in the great mountain restaurants. 2) the important pre ski lesson toilet stop. 3) make sure you are all buckled and zipped up with sun cream on before your lesson is due to start to avoid any missed valuable minutes on the mountain!!
• Always get some water on board and a snack in your pocket to help with fatigue! A good stretch and warm up always helps. 
• Top tip in the queues: Always queue on the outside of the queues near the fences. They always move quicker. Ski school lines do move quickly and will be filtered in single file to fill seats. Get help from the lift operators and get you to the top as quickly and safely as possible to enjoy the pistes.

After Lessons

Post lessons the kids were keen to show us what they had learnt so after a little elevenses refuelling, we took the bus from near the bottom of the Pleny cable car to Nyon. At the top of the Nyon cable car the Point Du Nyon Restaurant seems to want to please everyone. It has a sunny terrace, a bird of prey show (you can also go around the back of the restaurant and visit the birds), a seafood buffet, aged steaks, veggie options, a soft play area hidden on the lowest floor, a magic carpet with adjoining nursery slope that beginners can lap (a good tip is to ask for a table on the far right as you look up the mountain so if you allow the kids to lap the carpet you can watch then from the balcony while you finish your lunch). There is also a picnic area downstairs at the restaurant. 

For more experienced skiers there is also a border cross, a viewing platform of Mt Blanc that sticks out from the mountain with a glass floor panel at the end and a 1 km descent. 

Morzine

After lessons on the second day we scooted along to Action Sport Cafe to refuel the kids. Another great sunny spot with a button lift in front of it that the kids can loop until their heart is contented. 

Should one yearn for more adventure afterwards, then back at the top of the Pleny cable car is a magic carpet, the famous Chemin Des Zouzous – a safari trail of Alpine creatures to spot and the Pinguin Park – a ski area for kids with gongs, tunnels, giant xylophone, totems, lumps, bumps and objects to ski over, under and through. 

Photo credit Sylvain Cochard. Morzine Tourist Office

Photo credit: Morzine Family Ski Holidays: Skiology.co.uk ltd

Les Gets

For a godparent’s treat, we booked kids snowmobiling in Les Gets, which all of the kids aged from 5 to 10 loved. It cost €25pp, was really well and safely run, the kids were stoked to get a certificate at the end and the icing on the cake was that the snowmobiles are all electric so no emissions! 

Photo credit: Morzine Family Ski Holidays: Skiology.co.uk ltd

While in Les Gets we went skiing the Park Des Indiens. This is always a hit with the kids. An Indian-themed ski park with plenty of novelties to duck and weave between. There are teepees to picnic in, a farm with donkeys and goats and if you get the timing right a face painter to give you war paint too! There is also a snake run and plenty of really nice mellow family runs such as Bluet and Gentiane. The Park Des Indiens is located just above the Chavannes ski area. This is a great base with many top restaurants such as Le Grand Cry.

Later that week for a further godparent treat, we returned to Les Gets where my 11-year-old goddaughter was staying. We took her to Alta Lumina. Alta Lumina describes itself as an enchanted night walk. I won’t spoil the magic so will only include one of the photos we took. I would really recommend it!

Source: Skiology.co.uk

Avoriaz

It was one of friend’s birthdays and he was keen to experience Folie Douce. It is famous for it’s apres ski and lunch there is great too! Afterwards, from about 15:00, Foile erupts into a DJ on balconies, revellers on tables, performers in crowds, smoke machines, fire machines etc. It is quite loud and busy for younger kids though. So if you don’t have someone in your party who would rather ski with the kids after lunch, a friend once had the idea to conveniently book a ski lesson so kids could ski while they partied. 

There are some great places to ski with kids in Avoriaz such as the lil stash. This is an eco friendly snowpark that looks like an Ewok village! 

Photo credit: Avoriaz Tourism Office