Our Family Travel Tips for Ski Holidays
Family ski holidays are the best; you get to hang out with your entire family without having to think about work or school, have fun skiing and snowboarding, and enjoy the cultural delights of wherever you chose to visit. If only it weren’t for all that stressful travelling! Luckily, if you’re visiting Morzine, Avoriaz or Les Gets, you’ve already picked a great area to holiday in with kids; you can enjoy short transfer times from Geneva Airport, family friendly skiing and relatively low resort altitudes, which are much better for younger kids. And being a team of expert drivers we’ve got some handy tips to make sure your flights and transfers with the family are as stress-free as possible.
Leave lots of Time
It might sound like a bit of an obvious one, but timing is key when travelling with kids. Not only will everything take about twice as long as it would when you’re travelling alone, it’s also a good idea to be prepared for flight delays, busy airports and long waits at baggage claim – especially for ski gear. Make sure you save our office number in your phone so you can call us if your bags or your flight are delayed, and bring some fun stuff to keep your kids occupied if you have to wait.
The airport can be a busy place at the weekend, so be prepared to wait at passport control and baggage claim. Image: Grant Smith / Geneva Airport
Bring Snacks
Never underestimate the importance of snacks. Kids get hungry at the strangest of times, and a hungry child is a grumpy child. A strong snack game will keep their energy levels up and their excitement levels strong. Make sure you check with your airline which foods you can take on the plane, too. Don’t forget the change in altitude between Geneva Airport and Morzine, Avoriaz and Les Gets can cause little ears to pop, so make sure you have some sucking sweets to hand to give to your kids to equalise the pressure. Plus they’re also great for when the same thing happens on the plane.
Explain the Trip
If it’s your first winter holiday with your kids, explain to them where you’re going and let them know what to expect from the travel day, as well as how you expect them to behave. That way, you’ve set some boundaries for the trip and set your little ones up as well as possible for a day of travel.
Pack Light
It can be very tempting to overpack for a winter holiday with the family, but try and keep your bag weight down by only bringing essentials. Remember, everything you pack you’ll have to carry, and you may well end up carrying a child as well.
Make sure you have all your essentials to hand, even in the transfer van.
Keep your essentials on you at all times
Keep passports, snacks and medications within easy reach, even once you’re in the transfer van; if you’re flying to Geneva to travel to ski resort in France you’ll be crossing the border and you don’t want to be digging around in the back of the van trying to find your family’s passports on the off chance the border police want to check your identity. Likewise, if you need to grab some medicine or food for your kids out the back of the van, there might not always be an appropriate place to stop. Another thing to think about for your airport transfers is travel sickness medication, travel sickness bands or even sick bags. Those mountain roads can get very windy, very quickly, and the last thing you want is for someone to be feeling travel sick when the holiday’s about to start!
Be prepared for windy roads!
Go to the toilet before leaving the airport
There aren’t too many public toilets between Geneva Airport and Avoriaz, so best to take your kids to the bathroom before getting in the transfer van. It may take under two hours to get to Morzine, Les Gets and Avoriaz, but be prepared for traffic, or snow, or both.
Fun luggage
If you don’t want to be carting your kids’ luggage around the airport, why not get them to pack some of their own things in a fun, easy to transport piece of luggage? It will teach them good travel habits and how to be responsible for their own things. Trunkis are the perfect travel accessory for young kids as they’re fun to look at, easy to pull around and you can sit on them.
Chateau de Beauregard in Saint Joire de Faucigny – one of the beautiful landmarks between Geneva and Morzine
In-Transfer Entertainment
If you’re looking for something to entertain your kids during the transfer, try not to give them books or screens as they’re likely to encourage travel sickness. Instead try downloading them some audio books, or think of some games to play during the journey. You could even ask your driver to point out some interesting landmarks along the way, of which there are loads; Mont Blanc, the Mole, le Chateau de Beauregard to name but a few.
Car Seats and Push Chairs
If you’re travelling with babies and toddlers, we’ll provide you with a car seat and booster seats for the journey, but of course you’re also welcome to bring your own. We’re also happy to transport your pushchairs and buggies. If you have one designed for running or off-roading, make sure you bring that as it’ll be easier to push around in the snow.
We hope that’s given you some insights into a smooth journey with your kids! If you’re visiting Morzine, Les Gets or Avoriaz this February we’ll see you very soon, and if you’re thinking about booking a spring ski trip, now’s the time! We run shared and private airport transfers between Geneva and Morzine, Avoriaz and Les Gets until mid-April so get in touch to get booked in – you can even book online.