Child Friendly Winter Holidays
October 24, 2012| France | Chamonix| Tips
Kid Friendly Winter Holidays
Europe offers some fabulous opportunities during the winter for fun family holidays, whether you want city sights, theme parks or snowy slopes. Families of all ages can have fun together celebrating the winter season and after Christmas flights costs are down and crowds are generally thinner. So get your skates on and choose one of these kid-friendly winter holiday ideas!
Best Kid Friendly Holiday for Thermal Baths
Visiting Leukerbad in Switzerland offers skiing and snow sports in the morning and the Burgerbad, Europe’s largest thermal bath, in the afternoon. With ten pools of various temperatures, kids under seven have free admission and will love the 230-foot long slide into the swimming pool. Other family attractions are the two long sled runs, dog sledding and a children’s snowpark.
Best Kid Friendly Holiday at a Theme Park
Disneyland Paris is open year-round and is much quieter during the winter months, particularly mid-week. With five magic lands to visit, Disney characters to greet, and a busy schedule of parades and shows, it is still top of every child’s wish list for places to visit. Disneyland Paris is very easy to reach by Eurostar, which stops right outside the gate, and there are some excellent holiday rental apartments in Paris to comfortably accommodate families.
Best Kid Friendly Holiday for Skiing
Les Arcs in France has won awards as a top family ski resort with a family-orientated infrastructure and preferential rates for youngsters. There is a junior ski school, snowboarding and an ice cave with ice sculptures. Teams of huskies pull sleds along forest trails for a family ride with a thoroughly Nordic feel. Alternatively, spend the evening in a Yurt (alpine hut) tucking into a hearty dinner around the stove by torchlight, followed by a snowshoe hike beneath the stars. Les Arcs also has two skating areas which provide a wonderful activity for all the family to share.
Best Kid Friendly Holiday for Sledding
The thrill of riding down Europe’s longest sledding trail – all nine miles of it – can be enjoyed safely by all the family at Grindelwald, Switzerland. The ride starts in Faulhorn and ends two miles from Grindelwald and it involves a short bus ride and a long walk along groomed trails. The softer option without the hike for younger children is the five mile long Bussalp sled run offering superb snowscapes along the way. Other family activities in Grindelwald include snow tubing, horse-drawn sleigh rides, family programs and the usual skiing and snowboarding.
Best Kid Friendly Holiday for Fireworks
Valencia celebrates the end of winter and the birth of spring with its Fallas Week festivities from March 12-19, 2011. The Fallas are colourful figures made of papier-mâché on wooden frames and are caricatures of political figures and well-known celebrities. After a fiercely contested competition to see which neighbourhood has the best display, the fallas are burnt, along with a huge fireworks display. During the week there are excellent parades of “falleros” wearing ornate traditional costumes accompanied by lively Spanish music.
Whatever you choose to do on your family winter holiday, make sure you make treasured memories together. The highest accolade is when everyone agrees “Let’s do this again next year!”
