Travel to USA with 2 pre-school children

[verykiasu2010]

Busymom:

verykiasu2010:

for NY u need to travel out and is definitely a loooong journey frm SG

for Chamonix, you can get in from Zurich, and if car to Chamonix, along the way got so many snowy \"playground\" liao...or from Paris - faster to take a domestic flight (AF)

FYI, first day of play is 4 Dec (Swiss side)

But how long is the journey from Zurich to Chamonix by car? Someone was suggesting taking TGV from Paris to Chamonix.

Thank, but we will be going after 4 Dec in any case.

most resorts in Chamonix only open for biz from 16 Dec for the winter season

from Zurich self drive to Chamonix is 3 hour 20 min (293km) if you want to chiong all the way, along the way will pass Luzern and Geneva.

alternative is take a connecting flight from Zurich to Geneva and get a car from Geneva airport to Chamonix, under 1 hour


From Paris by TGV & Ter is about 8 hours because for that route, TGV ends at Lyon and change train there

http://www.voyages-sncf.com/billet-train/resultats?hid=N9J

[Busymom]

verykiasu2010:

From Paris by TGV & Ter is about 8 hours because for that route, TGV ends at Lyon and change train there

http://www.voyages-sncf.com/billet-train/resultats?hid=N9J

Is it that long at 8 hours? :shock: I was told it is just 2.5 hours from Paris on the high speed train.

[verykiasu2010]

Busymom:

verykiasu2010:

From Paris by TGV & Ter is about 8 hours because for that route, TGV ends at Lyon and change train there

http://www.voyages-sncf.com/billet-train/resultats?hid=N9J

Is it that long at 8 hours? :shock: I was told it is just 2.5 hours from Paris on the high speed train.

probably not 2.5 hours

may be 2.5 hours to Lyon only. you should check out the SNCF site for ticketing to confirm it

and TGV has reached the south (Marseilles) but not the east (Chamonix)

[2ppaamm]

Busymom:

Would anyone have any advice for me, is NY or some French alps like Chamonix more suitable for pre-schoolers? We are planning to go in early Dec and hoping to see some snow.

To see snow for younger kids, I like to go to Bear Mountains. Visit Disney Land (Anaheim) and then head up to Bear Mountains for skiing. My kids like that place. We stay for a week and head back down for other 'sunny' attractions like the usual theme parks and all.

[Busymom]

verykiasu2010:

probably not 2.5 hours

may be 2.5 hours to Lyon only. you should check out the SNCF site for ticketing to confirm it

and TGV has reached the south (Marseilles) but not the east (Chamonix)

The one who told me this is a French, and he actually checked the ticketing website. Can't be wrong, right?

Anyway, thanks for your info. Will check up again.

[Busymom]

2ppaamm:

Busymom:

Would anyone have any advice for me, is NY or some French alps like Chamonix more suitable for pre-schoolers? We are planning to go in early Dec and hoping to see some snow.

To see snow for younger kids, I like to go to Bear Mountains. Visit Disney Land (Anaheim) and then head up to Bear Mountains for skiing. My kids like that place. We stay for a week and head back down for other 'sunny' attractions like the usual theme parks and all.

Thanks 2ppaamm for the suggestion. Will study that option, although we are also planning to visit some friends in NY.

[verykiasu2010]

Busymom:

verykiasu2010:

probably not 2.5 hours

may be 2.5 hours to Lyon only. you should check out the SNCF site for ticketing to confirm it

and TGV has reached the south (Marseilles) but not the east (Chamonix)

The one who told me this is a French, and he actually checked the ticketing website. Can't be wrong, right?

Anyway, thanks for your info. Will check up again.

I rechecked the SNCF website, TGV service to Lyon is slight above 2 hours, from Lyon to Chamonix you need to transfer to Ter train, the journey takes another 5 hours plus including waiting time (slow train)

Leaving CDG2 at 9.25am arriving Chamonix at 18:00 hours, second class tickets clost about EUR70+

I done booking at SNCF.fr before. You can try it
map :
http://www.voyages-sncf.com/var/vsc/storage/fckeditor/Flash/espaceTgv/lignes_tgv/page_map_search.swf?rfrr=HomeTGV_body_Le%20r%C3%A9seau

it is actually faster to drive from Lyon to Chamonix

[minnie2004]

Busymom:

Would anyone have any advice for me, is NY or some French alps like Chamonix more suitable for pre-schoolers? We are planning to go in early Dec and hoping to see some snow.

Are you planning to take the kids for skiing in Chamonix? If you're traveling from Lyon, you may want to visit Annecy on the way, which is a very pretty lake town with mainly local tourists. I was there during summer almost 10 years ago and used it as a base to go to Chamonix. Had a great time riding a bike along the lake :love:

[Busymom]

minnie2004:

Busymom:

Would anyone have any advice for me, is NY or some French alps like Chamonix more suitable for pre-schoolers? We are planning to go in early Dec and hoping to see some snow.

Are you planning to take the kids for skiing in Chamonix? If you're traveling from Lyon, you may want to visit Annecy on the way, which is a very pretty lake town with mainly local tourists. I was there during summer almost 10 years ago and used it as a base to go to Chamonix. Had a great time riding a bike along the lake :love:

Hi minnie2004

Haven't \"spoken\" to you for quite a while. No, we are not skiing, planning to wait another year as DS is still young. One of our friends' kid at 3+ was not able to handle the lesson well; don't want to make the same mistake and one of us ends up baby sitting DS.

We haven't really done our research yet, so thanks a lot for your suggestion. If you have any itinerary, please share with me too. My friend suggested Chamonix as an alternative to NY or Switzerland/Sweden (my original idea). He also strongly recommended Villard le Lans which is not too far from Chamonix. Have you been to this place before?

Of course, another way is to follow verykiasu2010's suggestion by flying to Zurich and make the way to Chamonix from there. But Paris is probably very pretty during that time with Christmas decoration and not to mention, I can do a bit of shopping too :rubhands:

[minnie2004]

Hi Busymom,

Indeed I haven't been a frequent visitor of KSP a lot lately as I'm too busy farming (on Farmville and Farm Story :oops: ). How have you been btw? Your DD doing well in JXC?

Back to your holiday plans. I think if you're not skiing, it's better to visit Chamonix in the June school holiday as it won't be freezing cold and the kids still get to see the snow on the mountain. Also, the luge d'ete will be open in summer and i think the kids will find it more fun. If you guys are really keen to see snow and experience a snowy winter, then Japan maybe an easier option at this age.

When I was there 9 years ago, I flew from London to Nimes in the south of France on Ryanair (i booked online and only paid like GBP40 for taxes!). Then went to Avignon and Annecy on TGV. Charmonix was a day trip from Annecy. The mountain train was slow but quite interesting and an experience itself. Finally to Paris from Annecy. It was a great trip and the best thing was Euro was like 90cents vs USD back then