eNewsWire

European ski destinations are favourites for families looking to go away for the half term break with activity holidays being particularly popular for the February half term, which is at the height of the ski season.

Winter activity holidays such as skiing and snowboarding are enjoyed by children and adults alike and finding a skiing holiday in Europe to suit both parties can be quite a challenge.

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Top US and Canadian Ski Resorts are suitable for all types of skier ability say Ski-Direct.co.uk.  Online ski travel specialists have revealed UK holidaymakers prefer to learn to ski in the USA and Canada due to the type of ski resort available.

Canada and United States ski destinations cater for families as well as couples and have plenty of non-ski activities ranging from visiting local attractions to nightlife.

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Ski-Direct.co.uk offers reassurance to customers concerned by reports of a rise in ski holiday prices for the 2009-10 winter ski season. As experts in booking family and group skiing holidays, the ski specialists have already put together a range of bargain ski holidays that offer significant savings to customers.

Jon Pearce of www.ski-direct.co.uk says: “We think recent reports of a possible rise in prices are irresponsible in an already sensitive market. No-one is pretending that the low rate of the pound to the euro is helping matters, but we are seeing that customers still want to have a special ski holiday and are putting a lot of effort into saving money wherever they can.”
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French ski accommodation specialist P&V is offering up to 30% off its Latitudes Hotels in the French Alps, leading to savings of over £500 on selected properties between 14th March – 11th April 2009.

The Latitudes Hotels are centrally located in some of France’s top ski resorts including Arc 1800, Val D’Isère and Courchevel. All offer ski-in, ski-out facilities and many feature swimming pools and spa facilities.

All prices quoted are for a double room, sleeping up to two adults, for seven nights and do not include flights or transfers. The offers are valid on bookings made up to seven days before arrival. For more information, please visit: http://www.pv-holidays.com or call 0870 026 7144. Read more…

Self-catering accommodation specialist PV-Holidays has announced savings of up to 20 percent on many of its ski apartments in the French Alps for those keen to take advantage of this year’s excellent ski conditions.

All of the deals below are valid for stays between now and 7th February 2009. All prices are per apartment, per week and are based on an exchange rate of £1 = €1.07 (as of 20th January 2009). All apartments come fully furnished and include a fully equipped kitchen area and living room. One-bedroom apartments include one double bedroom with a separate double sofa bed in the living room.

Pierre and Vacances Residence La Marelle, Les Coches
£402 (previously £502) for seven nights in a one-bedroom apartment sleeping four people
With panoramic views of Mont Blanc, La Marelle at Les Coches offers recently renovated apartments suitable for the whole family. Located just 250m from the slopes and close to the resort centre, the property also offers a special children’s area, bakery and hamper order service. For more information, please visit: Read more…

French holiday specialist PV-Holidays has announced a number of savings for those wanting to spend Christmas on the slopes this year, with up to 20% off accommodation at a number of ski properties throughout France from 20th – 27th December 2008.

The special offers are valid for a number of properties based all over France and include prominent resorts in the Alps such as Chamonix, Val d’Isère and Courchevel. The deals are available to suit any range of budgets, with a weeks stay starting from just £16 per person per night. All deals can be found on PV-Holiday’s website at:

http://www.pv-holidays.com/ski_accommodation_france.php

Below we have listed our top choices for spending Christmas in the snow, whatever your budget. Unless otherwise stated, prices are based per apartment for seven nights on an accommodation only basis: Read more…

If you’d rather swap the drizzle and Brussels sprouts for a festive family ski holiday adventure, why not take your brood to the beautiful French Alps? We’ve rounded up ten of the best family friendly ski resorts in France with some top deals for comfortable self-catering ski holiday apartments that won’t break the bank.

Most of the featured apartments in these resorts are also ski in ski out locations – perfect for little ones, and a White Christmas is guaranteed!

1. Avoriaz

One of the biggest, most beautiful and innovative ski areas in the world, the bustling resort of Avoriaz also boasts pristine eco credentials. This car-free ski heaven is home to ‘Le Stash’ – Europe’s first environmentally friendly snow park, and the fabulous Children’s Village, created by top skier Annie Famose, who is also a mum who understands the demands of kids on holiday. There is also a skating rink, a fully equipped sports centre, and sleigh rides to get you in the Christmas spirit! Read more…

European holiday specialist PV-Holidays, also known as Pierre et Vacances, has launched its 2008/2009 winter brochure. This season, it offers a total of 97 properties in 41 resorts throughout France including Les Trois Vallés, Flaine and Chamonix.

This winter, PV-Holidays has re-opened seven properties after extensive refurbishment including the largest alpine residence in France, Pierre Vacances Temples du Soleil in Val Thorens. Additionally six properties situated in La Plagne, Les Menuires Chamonix and Les Deux Alpes have been fully upgraded, renovated, refreshed and modernised. As a result 80% of PV-Holidays alpine residences are new or have been renovated in the past six years. Also new is the introduction of ‘Spas Latitudes’ by Thalgo the marine Spa specialist in the Courchevel, Val d’Isere and Les Arcs hotels.

There are some fantastic early birds booking discounts, such as a 20 per cent off for Valmorel-Les Chalets du Morel, Valmeinier-Le Thabor and Belle Plagne-Les Chalets des Arolles in Savoie.

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The dedicated ski enthusiasts at Flexiski, the European specialist operator for high quality flexible breaks, have been trawling the web for their favourite ski and snowboard sites. Here, they list their top 10 favourite Internet destinations.

1. Native tongues
Listen to and download useful basic ski phrases in French and German like “Sorry I’m still learning,” or “What a poseur!” from the BBC’s online languages area. http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/languages/quickfix/ski/index.shtml

2. The Art of Skiing
A lovable Disney classic featuring Goofy’s amusing attempts at ski perfection: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4nBVgFQfK8

3. Wipe out!
Rated as one of the TimesOnline’s top travel websites, WeLove2Ski.com offers a lively mixture of reviews, features and advice. We at Flexiski particularly enjoyed its selection of funniest wipeouts from YouTube. http://www.welove2ski.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=b01&featureid=693&desc=The%20funniest%20wipeouts%20on%20Youtube

4. Ski fit
Top UK female Ski champ Chemmy Alcott fronts Channel 4’s worldcupskiing ‘Fit to Ski’ exercise programme segment. Watch Chemmy’s guide, devised by British Ski team coach Mark Tilson, on her website: http://www.chemmyalcott.com. Further details of the regime can be found on: http://www.channel4.com/sport/microsites/S/skiing/fit_to_ski.html

5. Silly season
Europe’s biggest alpine festival rounds off the ski season from April 5-20, 2008. The Méribel event is awash with comic and musical talent from the UK, US, Canada and France. www.altitudefestival.com

6. SkiTV
The Ski Club of Great Brittan’s microsite SkiTV features videos on ski and snowboard technique as well as resort, safety and fitness guides: http://www.skiclub.co.uk/skiclub/skitv/default.asp

7. Game on
They’re silly but we like them anyway. Perfect your downhill ski technique with this online ski game: http://www.donutgames.com/play/downhill_skiing/. Or for the more competitive thrill seeker try your luck at Aggressive Alpine Skiing: http://www.mausland.de/228.maus. Finally get technical with the Ski stunt simulator, download from http://www.cs.ubc.ca/%7Evan/sssjava/javademo.html.

8. UK Ski
If you want to get in some practice sessions during the summer or before you hit the slopes, find a dry, or indoor ski slope near you at the www.snowsportengland.org.uk website. Click on the interactive map for venue details.

9. Ski Gear
Discounts of up to 50 per cent can be snapped up on a wide variety of brands at www.snowandrock.com towards the end of the season.

10. Flexiski
Ok, we admit it, we’re biased but our newly revamped site has a fantastic ski blog that our chalet staff write to keep you up-to-date with exactly what is going on in-resort. And a soon to be added live chat function means you will be able to organise tailor made bookings without picking up the phone, direct with one of our travel consultants. www.flexiski.com
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