Yulia, one of the Peak Retreats team, picked La Rosière as the destination for her family and friends annual ski trip! Find out more about the trip below....
La Rosière has always been high on the list of places that we wanted to visit. It ticks all the boxes for a perfect Easter family holiday: high, sunny, good ski school, wide open and long slopes, good restaurants and plenty of activities besides skiing. We had a small but very mixed ability group of 2 families, with young children, skiers and snowboarders, as well as a non skier - we couldn't have chosen a better resort for us all!
This year we chose to go to the Alps by Train. With very short taxi transfers from Bourg Saint Maurice Station, train is one of the easiest ways to get to La Rosière.
En-route stopover in Paris
We took the Eurostar to Paris on the Friday and had a overnight stopover. It was so nice to be able to go out for a walk and a drink along the Seine whilst en-route to the Alps. From there we took an early morning TGV to Bourg St Maurice; a 30 minute taxi ride up the mountain and we were in La Rosière in time for lunch on Saturday.
We stayed at Les Cimes Blanches which was perfect for our group. The pool is a big hit with the kids, and us the parents loved the saunas and the spa!
Les Cimes Blanches is very well located, only a couple of minutes walk to where you can put your skis on and ski down to the chairlift and ski school meeting point. The supermarket in Les Eucherts (the side of La Rosière that Les Cimes Blanches is located in) was just a 3-4 minute walk away; a much larger and better stocked supermarket can be found in the centre of La Rosière itself, about a 10 minute walk from the accommodation. The closest restaurants are also 3-4 minutes away, making this such a convenient and well-placed residence!
View from our apartment in Les Cimes Blanches
It was such a treat getting croissants, pastries and bread delivered to our apartment every morning - they were already on the doorstep so no need to walk anywhere to grab breakfast!
We had pre-booked our ski hire and ski passes in advance with Peak Retreats meaning all we had to do on arrival day was quickly pick up our equipment from the ski hire shop. The kids had private lessons for two hours before lunch time, which gave us some time to explore the area on our own. We booked their instructors with ESF (French Ski School) and they were absolutely fantastic at getting the nervous skiers to feel confident and make good progress throughout the week!
We loved the ski area. Due to the ages of our children (7) and their 2 hour ski lessons, we could only stay on the French side of the Espace San Bernando. Even so, the area was perfect - the lifts were fast and the runs were wide, steep and long, which is perfect for us snowboarders. We were so surprised how much we could do in two hours!
Les Eucherts
Marmottes slope
My 7 year old son loved the Petit San Bernard fun cross run and fun park area, such incredible fun for the kids! He said that he wanted to do a red run on this holiday (his second time properly skiing!) and was so pleased to do quite a few! All the slopes were so wide and uncrowded in La Rosière, it's the perfect place for novices to find their feet and experiment on harder terrain.
Marmottes slope
At the top of the Eucherts chairlift
Between Les Eucherts and La Rosière centre there are so many restaurants to choose from. Le Flocon and Via Ferrata in Les Eucherts were within a few minutes walk of Les Cimes Blanches, where we were staying. Some tables in Le Flocon have a view of the local ice rink below and, if you're lucky with timing, you can watch an ice hockey match whilst having your dinner! We also went out for dinner and drinks in the centre of La Rosière. There's a lot more choice there and bars can get quite lively in the evenings! Sunset views from the restaurants at the far end of the resort are spectacular and the walk back along the path that connects the resorts was magical - it was lit with neon lights, the kids said that it looked like Narnia.
Path between La Rosière and Les Eucherts
Après ski
Having two resort centres connected by a wonderful tree-lined path, was great, especially the endless sledging possibilities along the way! We rented a sledge from the nearby ski hire shop and took the kids sledging along the path every day.
Path between La Rosière and Les Eucherts - sledging!
We had a fantastic holiday in La Rosière. We loved the snow, the village, the slopes and the food - we'll definitely be coming back one year!
Where's next for Yulia, her family and friends?
We're still unsure on where to next, La Rosière is going to be a very hard resort to beat!