Throughout my teens and early 20s I fell in love with skiing, but would skiing with kids in La Tzoumaz be a fun and memorable way to spend time together Or would there be instant regret?
Discovering Skiing with Kids in La Tzoumaz
We recently took our girls, 5 and 6 years old, to the resort of La Tzoumaz, Verbier in Switzerland. We booked our flights from London Luton to Geneva which cost from £72 with EasyJet. Rather than hiring a car or booking an expensive transfer, we took a train from Geneva Airport to Riddes via Martigny which only cost £37/45CHF for a return 2nd class ticket. It was a very scenic journey, as the route looped around Lake Geneva before heading into the mountains. We then took a taxi transfer with Espace Tourisme from Riddes Train Station to the T-Resort in La Tzoumaz which was £41/50CHF for four of us.
La Tzoumazou is a great place for a family skiing holiday. The ski schools are excellent, it’s easy to get around and there are plenty of areas dedicated to children. There are also lots of family-friendly hotels and even a swimming pool.
There is a great modern ski lift which will take you up to the top. At that point you can either drop into the Verbier bowl or cruise or go back into the resort.
Baby Slope in La Tzoumaz
We spent most of our time on the Baby lift aka the nursery slope which you can find on the outskirts of the village. It was a little bit of a walk to get there, but there’s a free bus.
This area allowed our girls to learn in a safe and secure environment on a gentle slope. To get to the top, there was a magic carpet (a bit like a conveyor at a supermarket). We also had Helene who was a fantastic and patient Ski instructor from ESS Ski. On Day 1 Lily made tremendous progress and in just 2 hours she was soon skiing all the way down the slope. Helene made sure that the girls had a lot of fun and by the end, they were ready to tackle the blue slopes.
After the nursery slope, children (and adults) can also have a great time on the Audi Quattro Funslope. It’s a great place for children to learn free-styling and have fun with all the obstacles like a 10m long ‘snail’!
Where did we stay in La Tzoumaz?
We spent 5 nights at T-Resort which is a self-catered apartment. It’s only a snowball throw from the main lift in La Tzoumazou, so it’s very convenient. Our apartment came with a flat-screen TV with satellite channels (which even included the BBC!) a couple of bathrooms (one of which had a much needed bath!) There’s also a dishwasher, a microwave oven and a hob, so we could easily prepare our own meals.
What we also loved about our apartment was the spacious, sage and convenient area to store all your ski kit. All of our Ski hire from Monnet Sports which was about a 2min walk away from the T Resort. Also Lift passes: start from £65/79CHFpp for adults and £32/40CHFpp for children under 15y/ per day for the four valleys area.
As first timers and as we were skiing with kids, it was also important for us that we had accommodation which was close to the slopes. Even after a morning’s session, we were all exhausted. So we wanted somewhere where we could easily pick up our kit and return them to our accommodation easily.
What other activities did we do in La Tzoumaz?
As it was our first skiing holiday with kids, it was really important that we didn’t over indulge in skiing. So half-way through our trip, we took a day off and ventured over to the Verbier side of the mountain, down to Village and then onto the Médran I gondola which links Verbier to Les Ruinettes.
They installed this new 10-seat gondola which has doubled its capacity in an attempt to ease the huge queues. We jumped in and were heading straight up the mountain. Our first stop was the Les Ruinettes – La Chaux walk where you walk for just over 2km via a 3D sculpture park. We concluded that if there was an award for museums with a view, this would be the one.
One more cable up and then it was time for lunch at the Black Tap which was a genuine American burger restaurant at 3000m. It had to be the best on-the-slopes restaurant I’ve been to! We finished it off by sharing one of their famous milkshakes.
At this point, we were very close to the Mont-Fort zipline This zip-line begins at 3,330 metres up, which makes it the highest in Europe. At nearly a mile in length, it means users can reach speeds of up to 100 kph (63mph) on the descent! I’d love to include a picture of myself doing it. But I came up with a pretty lame excuse (by blaming it on the burger)
Where did we eat in La Tzoumaz whilst skiing with kids?
For breakfast and lunch we mostly stayed in our apartment. However each evening we went out to try the great variety of local restaurants, which included;
Le Blanc where the food definitely exceeded our expectations. There was also a great atmosphere about the place, with a mix of locals and visitors. The bar next door also seemed the place to be for Apres Ski!
Papill’on Bistro was La Tzoumazou’s more unique and family-friendly dining experience. Set in the heart of the village, it doesn’t get much better than eating their amazing food with a glass of Vin Chaud.
L’Auberge was also another great restaurant to visit. It had a very traditional Swiss chalet feel with some incredible views which we enjoyed over a cheese fondue!
Restaurant de La Poste If I were to ask Lily or Bella what their favourite restaurant was… I know that this would be their answer! Why!? Well the owner had an incredibly cute and friendly puppy called Simba who was totally adorable! Beside that, the food was incredible and there was a very convenient playground just outside!
In conclusion, what was it like skiing with kids? I’d say it was probably our best (yet most challenging) family holiday to date! But our fate was sealed when Lily asked “are we going next year… I need to go down the bigger slopes!”
