Les Gets

...families then can I suggest Les Gets in France

Les Gets is quite low in itself, village level is at 1175m but at the top it is 2350m and as it is part of the Portes du Soleil area there is plenty of high level skiing available should conditions be bad.

Travel to resort:

If you arrive by air at Geneva it is about a one-hour coach transfer, however it is an easy resort to drive to being only 870km or ...
...Accommodation:

Les Gets is a small attractive village which has a variety of accommodation from small cheap hotels to larger more expensive one plus the usual range of self-catering accommodation varying from small apartments up to chalets catering for 20 or more.
It is possible to book accommodation through the tourist office at www.lesgets.com and they do have some good deals which include lift passes as part of the package. ... more

This was one of my first opinions and very much lacking in detail, so I have totally rewrote it. Hope it is a least a bit better

Les Gets is quite low in itself, village level is at 1175m but at the top it is 2350m and as it is part of the Portes du Soleil area there is plenty of high level skiing available should conditions be bad.

If you arrive by air at Geneva it is about a one-hour coach transfer, however it is an easy resort to drive to being only 870km or 550 miles from Calais all of which apart from the last 20 miles is on French motorways. When we drive there we usually cross late on a Friday, stop in a Formula 1 just south of Calais and then the complete the journey the next day arriving at about 5.00pm. On the return we have often driven all the way without stopping over, usually arriving in Leicester late in the evening.

Les Gets is a small attractive village which has a variety of accommodation from small cheap hotels to larger more expensive one plus the usual range of self-catering accommodation varying from small apartments up to chalets catering for 20 or more.
It is possible to book accommodation through the tourist office at www.lesgets.com and they do have some good deals which include lift passes as part of the package.

As I said Les Gets is not a purpose built ski resort but there are a reasonable number of bars, restaurants and discos. It doesn’t have that lively a night life but there is enough to keep most people happy.

The area is best suited for Intermediates and Beginners although there a few challenging black runs for the experts and as I mentioned earlier it is linked to Avoriaz and the rest of the Portes du Soleil system if you need more thrills. The Les Gets system itself consists of 120km of piste with 53 ski-lifts, including 2 gondolas, 3 cable cars, 22 chairlifts and 26 draglifts and the cost of a lift pass is approx £80 for a week. The skiing area spreads both sides of les Gets with the smaller but less crowded Mont Chery offering the more challenging skiing while Les Chavannes area is much more suitable for families and beginners/intermediates.
Generally speaking it is not too crowded, however it is sometimes more so when the weather is bad and locals from Geneva can’t get up to Avoriaz. To look at a piste map again try looking at www.lesgets.com.

For us this is one of the big plus points of Les Gets, for here operates BASS or the British Alpine Ski School, which is one of the very few ski schools in France that use only British instructors. Their costs are slightly higher but their level of instruction is excellent with class sizes never higher than 8 but often much lower. They are especially good with kids and our two children have been with them 4 or 5 times and have thoroughly enjoyed every minute.

Although it is relatively low the snow is usually quite good from December through to April, the main Les Chavannes side being north facing. We have nearly always gone at Christmas and have always had respectable snow, usually being able to ski to the village for at least part of the week. They also have fairly extensive snow making facilities to supplement the pistes when conditions are bad.

In term of self-catering I believe that both Erna Low? And Ski Independence operate in the resort, but as we have young children , now 12 and 9 we have always gone with one of two companies, “Ski Hillwood” and “Ski Famille” both of which are small independent companies which offer supervised child care as part of their package. Ski Hillwood usually use hotels, while Ski Famille specialise in catered chalets. If any body wants more details on either of these companies please contact me and I will send you the details.
We are now at the stage where we will probably be looking for self-catering packages in the future, however Les Gets will still remain one of our favourite resorts

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