Christmas Ski Holiday with a Baby or Toddler

A Christmas ski week with a baby or toddler works best in a resort with a nursery that takes your child's age, a short transfer and snow in the village. Resort crèches start from 2½ months in Châtel, 4 months in Morzine and 5 months in La Plagne, while many ESF garderies start at 18 months. Places are limited, so book when you book the chalet.

UK travel-health guidance treats altitudes up to 2,500m as low risk for healthy children, and every village weather station behind our snow data is below that. The bigger risks for a baby are a cold before a gondola ride, the cold itself and a long transfer.

What to sort out first

Three things decide how a Christmas week with a baby or toddler goes: whether there is a place for them in a crèche or with a nanny, how long the journey is from the airport, and whether the village has snow on the doorstep for a small child who cannot ski yet. Crèche places are limited and most resort nurseries ask you to book ahead. Les Gets caps its day care at 12 children, Belle Plagne at 14 and Plagne Centre at 22.

Resort crèches and their minimum ages

These are the resort nurseries we found with published ages. Where a page gave winter opening dates, they are shown with the season they apply to.

Resort	Nursery	Ages	Winter days	Dates published
La Plagne (Plagne Centre)	Les P'tits Bonnets	5 months to 6 years	Sunday to Friday, 9:00–17:30	21 Dec 2025 to 24 Apr 2026
La Plagne (Belle Plagne)	Flocons et Petits Pas	5 months to 4 years	Monday to Friday, 9:00–17:30	21 Dec 2025 to 24 Apr 2026
Châtel	Les Mouflets	2½ months to 3 years	Not stated for winter	n/a
Châtel	Les Lutins des Neiges	18 months to 3 years	Sunday to Friday, 8:45–17:00	15 December to 31 March
Morzine	Halte-garderie L'Outa	4 months to 5 years	Monday to Friday 8:00–18:30, plus winter Saturdays	Year-round
Avoriaz	Avrizou (ESF)	6 months to 2 years	Sunday to Friday	Winter season
Les Gets	Les Fripouilles	12 months to 4 years	Half or full days	Winter 2026/27
Val d'Isère	Chalet des Aiglons	12 to 36 months in winter	Sunday to Friday, closed Saturday	14 Dec 2026 to 30 Apr 2027
Courchevel	Les Marmots (Moriond), La Tanière des Croès (La Tania)	6 months to 5 years	Not stated	n/a
Courchevel	ESF 1850 garderie	18 months to 3 years	Sunday to Friday in school holidays	n/a
Méribel	Les Saturnins (ESF)	18 months to under 3 years	Options up to seven days	n/a
St Anton	Skischule Arlberg kindergarten	From 2, toilet trained	Daily except Saturday	Peak season from 13 Dec 2026

Details that catch families out

Babies under a year. Only some nurseries take them. In Avoriaz, Avrizou takes children aged 6 to 15 months for half days only. Val d'Isère's Chalet des Aiglons takes 12 to 36 months in winter. Les Gets starts at 12 months.
Saturdays. Several nurseries close on Saturday, which is changeover day: Châtel's Lutins des Neiges, Val d'Isère's Chalet des Aiglons and the St Anton kindergarten all list no Saturday care. Morzine's L'Outa opens on winter Saturdays with 18 places.
Nappies. The Skischule Arlberg kindergarten in St Anton takes children from 2 who are toilet trained, and says changing is done only by parents by prior arrangement.
Health records. Val d'Isère and La Plagne both ask for the child's health record at registration. The ESF garderie in Courchevel 1850 asks for an up-to-date vaccination record or a doctor's certificate.
When booking opens. The La Plagne crèches open registration on 1 October each year.

Christmas week and Christmas Day

The dates above show the pattern. La Plagne's two municipal crèches opened on Sunday 21 December in 2025, the first day of that Christmas week, and Val d'Isère's Chalet des Aiglons opens on 14 December for 2026/27. None of the resort nursery pages we read gave hours for 24 or 25 December, so ask when you book. On 19–26 December 2026, a Saturday-to-Saturday week, a Sunday-to-Friday nursery covers 20–25 December, and Christmas Day falls on the Friday.

Childcare with chalet operators

Some UK operators run their own childcare in the chalet or chalet hotel. What they publish:

Mark Warner runs clubs at Chalet Hotel L'Ecrin in Tignes for children from 4 months to 12 years: a Baby Club for 4 to 11 months, a Toddler Club for 1 to 2 years, a Mini Club for 3 to 5 years and a Kidz Club for 6 to 12 years. Childcare must be booked before you arrive and costs extra, and Mark Warner says pre-booking at the time of booking is essential.
VIP SKI offers private nannies for children aged 12 weeks to 12 years in all its resorts, bookable for any seven-hour period between 8am and 8pm. Its Bear Cubs club takes children aged four months to seven years at Bear Lodge in Arc 1950 and Graciosa in La Plagne. Evening babysitting costs €20 an hour before midnight. VIP SKI says its childcare team does not work on Christmas Day.

If you are booking a chalet without operator childcare, see our family Christmas chalets and check which resort nursery is nearest.

Altitude and babies

UK travel-health guidance treats normal ski-resort heights as low risk for healthy children. NaTHNaC, the UK's National Travel Health Network and Centre, says altitude illness usually occurs above 2,500m and that travel up to 2,500m is considered low risk in healthy children. It adds that younger children, particularly those who cannot yet talk, may find it hard to communicate symptoms. The UIAA medical commission's advice on children at altitude says a sleeping altitude below 2,500m is preferred with a preschool child, that the risk is higher for babies with an existing cold or chest infection, and that sick children should not travel on cable cars because the pressure changes are too rapid.

Every village weather station behind our snow data is below 2,500m; the highest is Val Thorens at 2,283m. So the question for most families is less the altitude of the village than whether to take a baby up a gondola to a high lunch spot, and whether they are well enough on the day.

The UIAA also warns that young children do not regulate their temperature well and may go quiet and still rather than say they are cold. An NHS family health service advises feeding a baby or giving a dummy on take-off and landing to ease ear pain, taking regular breaks on long car journeys so the baby can lie flat, and keeping babies under six months out of the sun altogether.

Short transfers from the airport

With a baby the transfer can matter as much as the resort. Les Gets is 55km from Geneva airport, about an hour by car according to its tourist office. Val d'Isère's tourist office gives 220km and three hours. Our guide to ski resorts near Geneva compares the shorter transfers.

Which resorts suit toddlers?

Avoriaz

Avoriaz is fully pedestrian, with ski-in, ski-out accommodation, and its tourist office places the Avrizou nursery in the heart of the resort, a short walk from the ESF Children's Village. At 1,768m, the Avoriaz weather station had 30cm or more on Christmas morning in all 25 years on record since 1996.

La Plagne

La Plagne has municipal crèches taking babies from 5 months in both Plagne Centre and Belle Plagne, and VIP SKI's Bear Cubs club at Graciosa. The La Plagne station at 1,980m had 30cm or more in 26 of 30 Christmases.

Val d'Isère

Val d'Isère holds the French Famille Plus label, has the Chalet des Aiglons nursery from 12 months in winter, and its tourist office lists pushchair-to-sledge ski hire and baby-equipment rental (travel cots, carriers and pushchairs). The village station at 1,854m had 30cm or more in 25 of 30 Christmases.

Les Gets, Morzine and Châtel

These have the shortest transfers from Geneva and nurseries from a few months old, but the villages are low. The Les Gets village station at 1,172m had 30cm or more in 8 of 25 Christmases, and Châtel's at 1,155m in 10 of 26. Snow on the slopes is more reliable than in the village streets. See the Christmas Snow Report for each resort.

Zermatt

Zermatt is car-free, and its tourist office describes short walking distances and pushchair hire from sports shops. It lists childcare providers but notes that being listed does not mean a provider has formal childcare training, so check qualifications yourself.

Sources

Common questions

What is the youngest age for a ski resort crèche in the Alps?

It varies by nursery. Les Mouflets in Châtel takes babies from 2½ months, L'Outa in Morzine from 4 months and the La Plagne municipal crèches from 5 months. Many ESF garderies, such as Les Saturnins in Méribel, start at 18 months.

Is it safe to take a baby to a ski resort?

NaTHNaC says altitude illness usually occurs above 2,500m and that travel up to 2,500m is low risk in healthy children. The UIAA advises against taking sick children on cable cars because the pressure changes are too rapid.

Are resort crèches open on Christmas Day?

None of the resort nursery pages we read published hours for 25 December, so ask when you book. VIP SKI says its own childcare team does not work on Christmas Day.

Can I get childcare on changeover Saturday?

Often not. Châtel's Lutins des Neiges, Val d'Isère's Chalet des Aiglons and the Skischule Arlberg kindergarten in St Anton all list no Saturday care, while Morzine's L'Outa opens on winter Saturdays.

Which chalet operators have childcare for babies?

Mark Warner's Baby Club at Chalet Hotel L'Ecrin in Tignes takes babies from 4 months. VIP SKI offers private nannies from 12 weeks and a Bear Cubs club from four months in Arc 1950 and La Plagne.

How to Plan a Christmas Ski Holiday with a Baby or Toddler