Off to the alps for a bit next summer, wife wants to do some summer snowboarding and also give the kids (3 and 6) a go at skiing / sledging / messing around in snow. This limits the choice (in France) to Tignes or les 2 alpes as they are the only ones with summer skiing.

6 yr old is keen on biking, so do either of these places have runs suitable for a 6 yr old? And is either generally more young family frinedly?

Camping in Bourg d’oisans looks better than Tignes as theres a pool on the site.

Thanks

Tignes – No contest.

You need to camp at Bourg St Maurice though. Cracking campsite for kids and you’ll have the option of Les Arcs straight from the campsite, but I’m not sure if I’d take a 6 year old on stuff at Les Arcs. Tons of other stuff for a 6 year old there though – go ape, slacklines, bouncy castles etc at Arc 1600 (or one of them).

Bourg Campsite

Hth
Marko

Tignes/val d’isere will beat deux alpes hands down for other activities. There is so much more to do, biking is all free. You’ll get a lot of free activities with your accommodation too usually.

I will say the campsite is a bit basic in tignes, can be colder in the evenings too as it’s quite high. You do have a big common room with games and things though if it’s a bit wet. Bourg is not a bad option as above but it’s 40 minutes each way drive.

Don’t think if the skiing as skiing though.. it’s a bit naff and you’ll need to be up early.

yeah i’ve heard skiing is generally just on easy slopes and gets a bit slushy later in the morning.

Wife just fancies a few mornings as she hasnt been on snow for years, and would be good to see how kids liked it before we book a winter hol which costs loads more!

We’ll be in a van and got heating so cold shouldnt matter. Will check out the Bourg st maurice campsite as well.

Of the two Tignes would win for me. They seemed to be geared up for families in ways that I’d not seen in france before.

Have you considered an extra 125miles and heading to Austria? We regularly ski in Mayrhofen but went there for 5 days this summer. Hintertux glacier will fulfil the snow bit, but then there’s also: Mountain biking on the Penken and above Zell Am Ziller, numerous forest play parks, family-friendly valley cycle trails, public outdoor pools & water parks, the steam train and loads more further down the valley. We’ll definitely be back next year.

^^^ Hmmm yeah Mayrhofen looks good. Did you camp there and is it easy access to the lifts for the biking?

any recommended stop off places on the journey from Calais?

thanks

I’ve been to Tignes and 2 Alp and I would suggest Tignes. You get an activity card with your accommodation which gives free access to loads of stuff. I was amazed how much there is to do. The bouncy castle area by itself would keep a 6yo busy for days.

We stayed in a hotel (we know the owners and feel like part of the furniture). There are good capsites in the village though, such as this one

From calais you’ll probably head past stuttgart (great city, merc and porsche museums are cool), or you could detour through the schwartzwald to the south. We come down from ijmuiden using the ferry from newcastle, so our usual stop-overs are Speyer on the way out (Technical museum is mind-blowing) and bad soden on the way home to see friends.

Tignes is ace for families.
We spent 2 weeks there with my then 6 and 8 year olds last summer.

The only thing I would check is that you get the Tignes sport card thing if you camp.
I would also price up a chalet vs camping (We loved Chalet Chardons) you might find it actually reasonably priced (and warmer/drier).

I would also price up a chalet vs camping

^^yep, this^^ particularly through airBNB in the alps. Some stunning deals to be had.

We went to Tignes camping this summer and can confirm you get the card which gives access to activities. There is also a shuttle bus from the campsite to the lake where the activities are. We were there in August and it was cold, like 2-4 degrees cold, think we got unlucky.

like 2-4 degrees cold, think we got unlucky.

was that night time, or during the day as well?!

Go to tignes. We were also there in August and it was great. The rest of france was way too hot but tignes was comfortably warm. Skiing looked shit though at that point.

In terms of biking, assuming your 6yo is a competent 6 yo then they should be able to enjoy loads of the green downhill trail.
Tignes campsite is great. If you learn to ignore the endless semi stroppy notices everywhere.