Booking a ski holiday with children

We recently decided that we would book a ski holiday for the February half term week seeing as we live so close to the mountains then we thought we should take advantage of it! It wasn't an easy decision though as it can be so expensive, especially during this week and working out what to do with two young ones makes it quite a bit more complex to organise as well.

There are quite a few components that you need to think about when booking a ski holiday. Accommodation, ski lessons and child care. 

Firstly, accommodation. In previous years we've stayed in catered chalets which are really nice as all the cooking and cleaning gets done for you so it's a nice break. The downside is that they are expensive and in holiday weeks the prices double. I started searching for some places and was amazed to find nearly everything booked up. I knew people booked in early but I didn't think this early! A few more calls and I find out that all the English speaking ski schools are booked up for lessons and that all but one of the nanny agencies didn't have availability either. 

So, my key piece of advice is BOOK EARLY! A lady at a ski school told me all the enquiries started happening in September this year so I'm guessing this is a good time to book if you want your pick of the accommodation and ski schools.

A really helpful company I found was Family Friendly Ski. They have catered chalets and provide nannies at a very reasonable price, around £200 for full time care for the week which is great value. Unfortunately their catered chalet prices are more expensive so this is a trade off I guess. There are quite a few self catered apartments to choose from but again you need to get in early. On the official website for one of the ski resorts they had a link to apartments for rent in the area, about 50 or so and only 1 was available. We eventually found a self catering apartment on HomeAway that should work out well so we decided to try out this option. 

Your childcare options are either a nanny or a creche. A nanny is great in that you have lots of flexibility and they come to you rather than having to get the kids all ready and get them to the creche. Nearly all ski resorts have creches which is a good option but they only go up to a certain age, usually to 5 years old. Some of them can pick up your child from ski school and take them back to the creche for the afternoon.

In summary, when booking a ski holiday you need to book early and make sure that there is availability in all the things you want eg, childcare and lessons before confirming your accommodation. Last year we made the mistake of booking accommodation first and then realising that all the child care was fully booked and that you couldn't do group ski lessons for part weeks. But I'm glad we're all booked and looking forward to getting up into the mountains!

MP

Holiday Rental Essentials - Rubbish & Recycling

We both seem to be rather busy lately, already caught up with pre-Christmas, end of year activities and the blog posts have been rather patchy as a result. I still have two posts on Santorini and Mykonos in draft form and I will aim to get those out next week. Today, I am just briefly going to mention one other aspect of Greece you may not be familiar with and continue our series on holiday rental essentials.

If you have ever been to Greece you may recall that they don't flush toilet paper down their toilets. From hotels to restaurants to rental properties you will find a small bin next to each toilet for putting the paper in. This takes a bit of getting used to, but soon becomes second nature and really is not too much of a problem as the bins are usually emptied frequently. There are signs displayed in every bathroom explaining what the bins are for. When we rented a property a few years ago in Lefkada we were instructed to just empty the smaller bins in the property to a larger bin outside and the owner then removed this rubbish.

Rubbish can attract flies, wasps and other pests. A friend once rented out their property in Australia and had to deal with a lot of maggots when they returned after guests left. When I was younger and we rented a property in Canada we were told off by neighbours for leaving rubbish bags outside the door as it could attract bears!

So, our holiday rental essential advice for this week is to ensure that you have sufficient bins around your property and clear information about where to deposit rubbish and recycling. It could also be worth stating in the contract that disposal of rubbish is the guests' responsibility.

AD

Image: 1

48 hours in Strasbourg

A few weeks ago we took a drive to check out Strasbourg. Strasbourg sits right on the border of France / Germany and it really is a beautiful quaint little town. It's small enough that you can walk everywhere and perfect for a weekend trip. I will definitely try and come back for the Christmas markets for which it is famed for as I can imagine it would be stunning.

We stayed at the Hotel Suisse which I can not recommend enough. It was a cute hotel in an amazing location right next to the cathedral. The room was big with two double beds and enough room for a cot and was only 107 euros per night including a great breakfast.

The most obvious landmark here is the mesmerising Notre Dame. 

You can walk up to the top (330 steps!) for a great view.

The old town is based around the cathedral and I loved roaming the little alleys with their picturesque timber houses

A wander over to Petite France is a must. This little area is set along the river and looks straight out of a fairy tale.

Image via Wikipedia

There is good shopping here including a big Galleries Lafayette and Printemps. Food wise, a winstub is a traditional Alsation restaurant / pub. One night we tried out Chez Yvonne which served all the specialties such as sausage, ham hocks and I tried out the Coq au Riesling which was served in a delicious creamy sauce. Our last lunch was at Au Brasseur which we really enjoyed. It's a micro brewery which served food all day and has a relaxed atmosphere. This was my "salad" which was basically ham taken off the bone which was hiding a mass of fried potatoes and then a few leaves. Yum!

One morning we droved out to the city's big park called the Parc de L'Orangerie which is right next to the European Parliament. It was a great place for the kids with lots of play areas and a free mini zoo.

On the way home we took a quick detour on the Alsace wine route but we weren't very prepared for this so unfortunately I had no research on any good vineyards to visit but it was a very scenic drive and definitely warrants another trip

All in all, a very fun weekend in a great little atmospheric city!

MP