This year I had to sacrifice my Alps trip and ended up on a longer family holiday – which I really enjoyed but I missed the riding.

While away I suggested to my better half that maybe next year we combine the two. So now I’m looking at getting some options together which she and the kids will like (two girls age 10 and 13)

My initial thinking is Finale, Deux Alps or Zell as there is the water angle for the kids to enjoy some “beach” life (The lake at L2A perhaps pushed the boundaries of this definition). It would give me the ability to get a few uplift days in but spend some quality time with the family too. Maybe even get some of the family out for a ride.

Has anyone else done this or got some suggestions on family friendly spots which include somewhere to sunbath near water, some family friendly options and uplifts?

Had 3 weeks in the Dolomites and Lake Garda my family loved it.
We where camping, Torbole was fantastic for riding and sunbathing better than I had expected!
[url=https://flic.kr/p/LZYnEZ]Untitled[/url] by Richard Munro, on Flickr
[url=https://flic.kr/p/MPbPhz]Untitled[/url] by Richard Munro, on Flickr
[url=https://flic.kr/p/MWEhe8]Untitled[/url] by Richard Munro, on Flickr

Finale , hands down.

Interesting Postierich – heard good things about that part of the world but hadn’t even crossed my mind. Where did you base yourself?

Finale is the one I’m leaning too but need to convince the grils there is enough to do.

What do the girls want to do?

10 days in Torbole Lake Garda
5 days in The Dolomites Santa Christina Val Gardena

Finale is great to stayed there about 6 yrs ago!

The girls are happy playing in the water – they loved the water park in France this year. Also some good restaurants and shows, plus crap shops to buy tat in, actually just shops.

Finale’s a relaxed family resort. It has a decent enough beach and the sea is nice. Fantastic food.

The old town (Finalborgo) is quaint and old. There are shops but all quite small, not at all like a UK high street. Took me a few days to find one that sold underpants (I cleverly didn’t pack any).

Has a nice prom. I’d take my kids there, if that helps.

Yep, that massively helps. Finale is top of my list TBH but need to convince the rest of the committee

Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria. No beach but a great water park. Everything is in Saalbach too so you can use the lifts and the family can stroll about town and to the water park.
If you book accommodation that includes the Joker card,lifts are free for all and it includes water park entry.
Leogang is a short drive. Plenty there for the kids too whilst you ride. Cycle track between Saalbach and Hinterglemm is family friendly.

Postierich- is that water pic lake garda? Looks stunning.

Also, you’ve got Zell just down the road for swimming in the lake and the grass “beaches” around it.
The massive high ropes course at the end of the Hinterglemm valley, they put in new massive jump slides this Summer where the kids launch off got knows how high then fall into air bags.
Easy bus ride to Salzburg for a day out, Zoo, Hangar 7, etc

It is Lake Garda! and this pic was not uplifted assisted!
[url=https://flic.kr/p/LZhm7v]Untitled[/url] by Richard Munro, on Flickr

I believe it’s lake Garda but no uplift…..pffftt, yeah right 😉

OP – what about Madeira? Seen a lot of good things about the riding there recently. Seems to be popular with the pros for filming at any rate.

Hmm Madeira…

My wife is happiest relaxing by the pool while the kids enjoy themselves in the pool

I’ll third Colp and Dkny’s suggestion of Saalbach. We went there this summer and had a great time.

The Joker card really is fantastic, free access to lots of things (lifts, water park, crazy golf) and discounts on lots of other things just for staying in certain accommodation (ropes course, go karting, quad bike, Segway). Lots of fun walks up the mountains with adventure trails and adventure playgrounds etc… Proper mountain walks if the girls like that too. Our apartment cost €600 for the week (price up how much a lift pass would be for most places), would accommodate four very comfortably, had secure bike storage, included Joker cards for each of us for the whole stay and was about 3 mins from the nearest lift/5 mins from town. Huts on the mountain do lovely food for a very reasonable price.

Zell is about 15 mins away by car or a bit longer for a very gentle ride.

Salzburg is about an hour away for a city day/sound of music tour.

The riding is excellent. You can make it easy or challenging by choosing different lines or routes. Plus you get an uplift per day for Leogang (although one of the trails linking Saalbach and Leogang is a rooty nightmare!).

One of the trails

[video]https://youtu.be/a46ndGbIkRg[/video]

This one has 1000m of descent (video is only the top section). I know my riding isn’t great!

[video]https://youtu.be/mfv7TvYKxys[/video]

Do you have a link to the place you stayed in Saalbach?

http://www.aussicht.net/de/home/

The balcony shown on the second photo on the website homepage is the one we had.

The owner, Herr Mullauer, comes across a bit aloof at first, but I think it’s a lost in translation thing. We had a lovely chat on our final day about biking and skiing (turns out he’s a bit handy at the latter judging by his trophy cabinet!). Lovely bloke.

Thanks. Looks great. Bookmarked 🙂