6 reasons to love Val d’Isère

1. The village

While a giant in the ski world, Val d’Isere feels small and intimate, with its one main street so easy to get around that it will make you and the kids feel at home. You really do walk in the footsteps of history. The baroque Church of St Bernard de Menthon was built in 1664, 106 years before Captain James Cook sailed into Botany Bay. The town’s first hotel opened its doors in 1888 and, in 1932, the first ski school began operating. You do get that sense of history as you walk around among the ski shops, trendy hotels and restaurants, with many buildings constructed in the traditional materials of stone and wood.

2. The skiing and snowboarding

Talk about wow. Since the first lift went in 1934, the resort has gone from strength to strength: it now has 75 lifts and together, with neighbouring Tignes, offers 300 kilometres of terrain to explore. The mix is perfect, with plenty of areas for skiers of all abilities and, even if you are an absolute beginner, never fear, they will be spreading their wings after just a few days of lessons in one of the excellent ski schools such as Oxygène. Head up the Solaise, ski down to the hamlets of Le Fornet, Le Daille or Le Laisinant and, to really test the chops of the experts in your family, there is the revered run that hosts a World Cup downhill event every year, La Face de Bellevarde. Even just looking at it going up the Bellevarde Express ski lift, you can see how steep it is.

3. The activities for kids

After the lifts close for the day, there are plenty of things to see and do. Centre Aquasportif has a series of heated indoor pools – do laps, float around in the leisure pool or let the massaging jets do their thing. Let the kids play with the water cannons and bubble baths. Alternatively, get your heartrate up on an aqua bike or by rock climbing one of seven different courses on a 12-metre wall. To make the most of the mountain scenery, go dog sledding, ice skating, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing or sledding. Val d’Isere has Famille Plus accreditation and Village des Enfants offers excellent childcare and ski lessons.

4. Family-friendly dining

There is so much choice at Val d’Isere you won’t have to eat at the same place twice – unless you love it. For lunch, ski down to Le Fornet (or take the shuttle bus) or L’Atelier d’Edmond, or dine on the mountain at La Fruitiere. Or, head to the Folie Douce on a Tuesday or Thursday night (depending on the date), where you’ll get to experience the Folie Douce Family Party, a bright, colourful dinner-and-cabaret show filled with plenty of music and dancing. This December, the Folie Douce will open a brand new restaurant as well, celebrating local French and Italian ingredients through authentic Italian cuisine, made by a 100% Italian team.

Also on the mountain is La Peau de Vache – with tables outside and hay bales for seats. In the village, there’s cheesy goodness at the Fondue Factory, and easy atmospheres at Le Garage, on Avenue Olympique.

5. Val Kids

Little kids love snow, and Val d’Isère loves little kids! The Val Kids program has been specifically put together to introduce little ones to the ski area in a gentle way. They’ll learn about the different jobs that the resort staff have, speed down their own special zone on toboggans, play snow games, and tackle a mini ski cross course that introduces them to the basics of skiing.

6. Great places to stay

Always making improvements, the team at Val d’Isère has opened up three new slopeside hotels in the last 12 months. On the luxe end of things, the newest, set to open its doors in December for its second ski season, is Mademoiselle. It boasts a spa, swimming pool, kids’ club, cinema, ski salon and four restaurants and bars – plenty to keep the whole family busy. And that’s before you head out onto the slopes (which have ski-in, ski-out access, of course). Another five-star property is set to open its doors in December of this year. When it opens, K2 Chogori offers just 21 rooms and suites, with cozy views out over the village and the valley.

On the slopes, if it’s edgy, contemporary-luxe design you’re after, take a look at Chalets Izia. The 51 spacious apartments feature up to four bedrooms – perfect for bigger families – while ski-in, ski-out access gets you close to the action. Alternatively, Hôtel Mont Blanc Val d’Isère has the perfect balance between access to ski runs and the village: it’s built on the slopes, but only a gentle 400-metre slope down into the village.

Finally, for views, it’s difficult to beat Le Refuge de Solaise. At 2,551 metres, with soaring vistas out over the ski runs, perhaps its biggest drawcard is the isolation. No hustle and bustle of the ski town below, just you, the kids, and the slopes. What more could you want?

Getting there

Fly into Lyon or Geneva, book a transfer to Val d’Isere or catch the fast train from Paris. You can view our complete family-friendly guide to France, with more useful travel information, here.

This article appeared in Holidays with Kids magazine. To subscribe to the latest issue, click here.

Images courtesy of Tourism Val d’Isere