We went to Arinsal in Feb 2006 and stayed at the Princessa Parc Hotel which was fantastic. We were put in rooms in the new annexe which were very nice / hydrobath too which helps after a days skiing. The hotel has leisure facilities but under 16's cannot use them! The food was brilliant also.

Don't be nervous about your daughter - she will be fine and will have a great time. The kindergarten at the bottom of the learners area will be ideal for her and this gives you 3 hours to have your lessons also. All the instructors i met were very nice and all were English / South African etc so language is not a problem. I would say to you to try and have some lessons before you go though as the learners area is quite small and the magic carpet area gets very busy. Better if you can snowplough already and get in a group that goes up the mountain a bit to start with. We met a few beginners who were fed up with their lessons as they didn't seem to progress very quickly as it was so busy. The other good thing is the main resort is not too big so if your family gets split up in lessons then you will more than likely meet each other somewhere on the mountain.

The main bad point about Andorra however is the transfer time. It takes around 4 hours to get from Toulouse to Arinsal and about the same from Gerona so bear this in mind before booking - especially with children. The bus ride to and from Toulouse is not very pleasant and there is only 1 stop at what is basically a "truckers style" chip van with disgusting toilet facilities. If you are going then try and get decent flight times during the day or rent your own car which i would do if i went again.

Also just bear in mind that there was very little snow in Andorra this year at Christmas, even now they have very little real snow ( check ski club gb website which is very usefull ) and pistes are being artificailly maintained.

We are off to Mayrhofen in Austria this year as the transfer is only 1 hour !

Ally27368.

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated. We have booked to stay at the Crest Aparthotel and fly on 23rd December. Best make sure we go to the toilet before leaving the airport!! Thanks again

we just came back from Andorra we have two kids 6 and 9 they had a fantastic time and cant wait to go again, there isnt a great deal for kids in the evening we found but we were in a group so they played pool with each other, but i'm sure there are things for kids to do but they are usually so tired they dont need much. we had lessons too and if you have booked with Panorama they are great, they cant help you enough, we stayed in the popaire apartments and they were situated brilliantly two minutes from the main gondola to take you up the mountain, the transfer time is a pain but well worth it, there wasnt much snow but Andorra is one of the resorts in europe which have the most snow cannons so enables you to ski when many other resorts are closed, we found the skiing was much better in the morning as it got icy in the after noon although it was brilliant sunshine everyday! Andorra is a great place to learn to ski as it is more a beginners resort, All the instructors are fab, and you must see Elvis when he does his night in the bars WOW! he is an instructor during the day mad as a hatter and carries on in the bar usually does a wednesday night, I'm sure you'll have a fantastic time aslo the food is good and relaxed in the aspen bar! try out the attic room in there one evening if you cant relax in there then you havent lived! Good luck and happy skiing! sorry forgot to say we stayed in Soldeu, got so carried away with myself!

Thanks for the info. We are going with Panorama and staying at The Crest Aparthotel in Arinsal which has a kids Snowball Club. Did Panorama provide you with a coach with toilet facilties or did you just stop for a toilet break on the way? I may seem obsessed with toilets but you know what small kids and toilets are like. When they need to go, they need to go!!

there were no toilets on our coach so you do have to make sure you go at the stop as i didnt on the way home and boy did i suffer!! killed my bladder but i did make it without an accident on the coach!!
Have a fantastic time cant wait to go back again, say Hi to Lee if you see him he's from panorama and hes very helpfull. Good luck

Hi Deanonow

We ski with my son who started when he was 4 1/2. He loves it. He started out with ski school each morning followed by a 2hr private lesson each afternoon for the first couple of years, now he just has a couple of private lessons.

There is no stopping him now - straight down the middle of the piste - absolutely no fear. I think its me that is more worried.

The younger they are when the start, the better.