davegtt

https://www.firstchoice-ski.co.uk/fi...dw**.wa02node2

Dunno if the link works. It doesnt come up with the hotel Im staying in anymore but some decent places to check out

Have fun wherever you may end up

hodgy0_2

in my opinion taking children any younger that 5/6 is, well i was going to say a waste of time, but thats not true (holidays are never a waste of time)

its just that younger than 5/6 they feel the cold quite a bit and do not have the stamina either to get the best out of it

lets face it however you skin it, its not cheap -- so I would wait

I have 5 kids -- and the older ones have been twice, and this year we are taking our 6 year together with the older 2 and leaving the twins at home

Personally I would go private (lesson wise) for the first week, then on subsequent trips you can do ESF which is much cheaper

Clarebabes

Hollie is 9/will be 10 at beginning of March, so not a little kid, but if she doesn't want to do something, then even earth moving equipment wouldn't help us! Club Med have holiday clubs etc. but then you pay for that.

I broke my leg in Slovenia - would be like a homecoming!

Clarebabes

Slovenia is in the Julian Alps....

hodgy0_2

i suppose thats why getting the right level of lessons is important -- to give them the initial confidence they need

i,ve only ever ski'd in France and Ecole Ski Francais (ESF) are cheap and not bad -- but are quite "institutional" if you know what I mean

thats why I would advocate private lessons (in a small group) for the first trip

initially quite an investment -- but thats what it is - an investment

Clarebabes

Just checked out first choice in Slovenia and it's not too bad price wise. Kids price includes equipment hire and 2 hours tuition and the accommodation is cheap. Might seem like a good deal - 3 of us for less than £1400!

51st state

i've been to borovets like said, i think its good, if you stay in the RILA or SAMOKOV hotels you get very good accomdation, the runs are good and go upto 2800m , they've now replaced the T-bars( if you snowboard) with chair lifts, like anywhere check the snow reports
the only issue with bulgaria is with the amount of piste, borovets has about 60km, which is similar to learner/family resorts in italy/france and austria
for me it was to small, but i was with family who were all learning ,there was good snow, good beer and good food
we stayed in some wooden cabins and they were absolute crap
stick to the main hotels , they have a huge swimming pool jacuzzi etc looking out onto the runs, enclosed and warm

last year i had 4 skiing holidays in the 1st 4 months , its been 2/3 per year for the last 4 years, no1 is in for this year already so have been to quite a few resorts

davyboy

I think we'll be staying at The Alpina Hotel, Kranjska Gora all in for about £1500. That flights, accomodation (half board) , lift passes, ski school, and ski hire for all of us. I'm not sure if I need ski school, but we may as well all have it.

Currently they have loads of snow.

davegtt

Im staying in the Alpina too Got great reviews, ski in and ski out too

When are you going Davy?

davyboy

Hopefuly the 21st Feb.

davyboy

Got back today and had a fantastic time....made better by the fact the world cup was in town (town had a buzz about it), and we had the Canadian ski team in our hotel including the current mens DH world champ.

Even after 21 years out of skis, lessons was worth it as I started carving on day 5.

Can't wait to ski again in 2010.

davyboy

..and I shared a ski lift with Didier Cuche

davegtt

Glad you all had fun out there. Cant believe you caught the World Cup too

GrantyBoy

I did a week in Slovakia at Jasna, dirt cheap and was good. Very family orientated.
I would take my family next time as they are beginners/intermediate.

I wouldn’t hurry to go there if your advanced as your cover the whole resort in a day and there isn’t that much challenging runs.

Clarebabes

Had a brill time, was enough for me seeing as this was my first proper skiing trip since breaking my leg in 1990. My confidence was rubbish! But I am going to go again. Found the runs out at Podkoren were much better for me, less busy and alot less dramatic inclines

Hotel was really nice, food was OK and plentiful, though I was hankering after a pizza or curry by the end of the week, they don't like much spice in their food! Met some lovely people and Inghams were really helpful even when there was a 2 hour delay in getting our minibus to the airport to take us to the resort. The people coming back from Kranjska Gora missed their flights!

One thing that did bug me was the amount of kids barging in at the drag lifts who weren't told off by anyone. I know us British are very good at queuing, obviously our European counterparts haven't learnt that art!

Nightlife wasn't particularly what we were after, so can't comment on that, though we did end up in the Legende Bar a few nights, finding the music so loud we couldn't talk! (Must be getting old... ) I was in bed by 10 most nights! Both Dave and I had horrific problems with our feet, so will be buying our own boots if we go again I think. Hollie (10 years old) took to skiing like a duck to water and was doing runs I didn't want to do by the end of the week. A couple of private lessons for her were worth their weight in gold - she was up the drag lift within 40 minutes of getting her skis on!

All-in-all, recommended for families and first time skiers, excellent value for money with our flights, accommodation, food, transfers and everything being very good value indeed. Thumbs up!

davyboy

Maybe we can post some pics which make us look gay? And post in a way that speak volumes about us?

Might get up to 5 or 6 pages then.

Clarebabes

Good idea, but I can't look "gay", can I?! LOL

davegtt

Im sure there are a few people on here who would be interested in any "gay" pics that you have to put up

Glad you both had a good time though, a very good ski friendly place for someone trying to get into the sport, or as yourself, trying to get back into it as a family unit

davyboy

davegtt

Makes me want to go back...