New to skiing family recomendation

gazzaman22

1 Adult 40-

3 kids 8,10,11

I've a recovery cert from covid, Kids nor myself are Vaxed

Where can we go? None of us with any experience.

I dont mind putting a package together i.e flights, ski lessons, passes

or should i go all in?

Very appreciative of any advice or experiences people have had on here.

a148pro

double post

a148pro

God Boards is so ****

I did a long post, it posted twice, I edited the second one to delete and it editted both and now I can't recover

What a pain in the hole I'll post again later

FFS

a148pro

Roughly what I said was

So as a first timer bear in mind that skiing can be a bit of hassle - carrying around skis and poles for you and possibly your kids in rigid unfamiliar ski boots. So if possible its great to take the hassle out of it. For me that would involve getting your accommodation right beside the beginners ski area, or somewhere convenient in any event. Getting on and off buses with tired kids and four sets of skis may not be what you need.

Given its your first time it might be no harm to get a package. Kids might also make friends with others. You could ask for recommendations for convenient location for your needs, travel agent will sort out all the hassle and advise re covid requirements.

You can also do it DIY. Its very easy to rent your own skis, buy lift passes and arrange ski school. I would book the latter in advance to make sure you have it as I went once straddling two weeks and couldn't really get it for the kids. Then you just try and find accommodation that's handy for the beginner slopes. If you have a recommendation from someone who's been somewhere handy all the better.

In general if going DIY the best airports are Munich (for Austria), the three Milan airports and Zurich or Geneva. Barcelona and Toulouse are also viable options for the Pyrennees. I did a thread with tips for putting a DIY holiday together which might be of use if you go down that road (https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058032684/the-idiots-guide-to-diy-short-breaks-and-last-minute-powder-chasing/p1)

I've only been on one or two family holidays (going on another one next week so if I have more tips from that trip I'll let you know). I've heard that Flaine in France, one hour from Geneva, is good for family. Also the SkiWelt in Austria.

Re Covid, if the recovery pass is within the last 6 months I would think its as good as a booster, but you will obv need to check that. Some countries may limit that to 3 months. Dept of Foreign Affairs is a good source of info and if you google "arriving in XXX from Ireland" their up to date info on what you need usually comes up.

Re kids I don't know of any EU country requiring under 12s to be vaxxed, and hopefully given the low uptake it would be commercial suicide and will never happen. You may need a test to get into Italy, possibly Austria. I'm not sure. In general those two and France have the strictest conditions. There's something called a ninja pass in Austria where kids can get tested in order to get into indoor areas but not sure what age that's a requirement at.

If COVID red tape proves a stumbling block consider Switzerland (no entry requirements at all and skiing was always open to unvaccinated on a test, but expensive), Spain (despite misinformation in the media you do not a booster to get in and could always travel on an antigen regardless of vax status, Catalonia where a few of the ski resorts are based has abandoned covid passes for bars etc), Andorra probably the same and the Eastern European countries where COVID doesn't exist (;)). The latter 3 are also very cheap.

Another thing to bear in mind is that you don't need the fanciest resort on your first trip. A strip of snow with a lift will be great fun for all. So be happy with any old place, if they take to it you can go fancy in years to come.

That's really it - hope none of above turns you off, it is great craic and great fun learning with kids, its a great thing to be able to give them a chance to experience. If you can get a tip for a handy resort or afford to throw money at a travel agent to get it for you all the better.

a148pro

I may be wrong on Switzerland not having any entry restrictions btw

gazzaman22

Thank you, Very much,

Skyfloater

Will you even be able to get on any plane as an adult, if you're not vaccinated?

a148pro

Sure, covid cert gets you on. I got an antigen to get in somewhere and the pharmacy gave me an actual covid cert which I scanned a few times that weekend and it worked, then lapsed and had to use my vax covid cert.

Its a myth that you can't travel unvaccinated, you just have to get a test, covid cert also covers tests.

Billy Mays

Have never done a family trip so can't offer any real advice but you should have a look on the Snowheads forum. You'll get loads of info on there. It's much more user friendly if you create an account

https://snowheads.com/mx/index.php