Les Saisies or Le Grand Bornard? Forums

504329lt

Hi

Thinking of taking our van over at Easter. We are looking at being in the Alps for four nights. I have never been away in the snow before so would prefer a campsite with hook up. Our van is a 1994 Hymer 544 (new style with combi boiler) so I presume this should be suitable.

Having looked through these forums, the campsites at Le Grand Bornard and Les Saisies both look OK. Has anyone been to both? My wife needs easy green slopes and we will be taking our 7 year old son who has been to ski school before and is probably better than either of us!

Any advice would be apprecieted.

Batch

Have a look at my website it may help with your choice

max123

We are off to Les Saisies in Feb half term never been there before but feel like a change from Grand Bornand even though we love it and you can get there in one day from Calais. If you remind me after Feb half term I will be able to give a comparison.
Max

504329lt

max123

What was Les Saisies like? In one word great.
Both sites have their pro's and cons but I think Les Saisies just about wins. Mainly because you can ski to and from your van via an easy green and you don't have to clump about to busses or lifts. You then have the benefit of going back to your van for lunch. You are high up at Les Saisies and therefore can more or less guarantee snow, I think it would be the better option over Easter because of this. The site at Les Saisies had smaller but I think slightly better facilities apart from having to use the disabled toilet. The temperature of the block wasn't overbearing and other alpine sites we have stayed on often stink because of this. At
Grand Bornand you can easily walk into the town of an evening and found the town very friendly and welcoming. Les Saisies was a long walk down and even longer back up and was more business like. We did use the sites taxi service to get back one night £10 one way and there are free busses until about 8pm. We will definitely use the aire at Les Saisies next time because it is in the town and we like our nights as much as the ski-ing. Oh and the ski-ing was good also. It is hard to compare the runs but I think Les Saisies reds were like the blue's at GB but both have stunning scenery when you are on them. Hope this helps give us a shout if you need more info.
Max

504329lt

ned

Hi 504329It

We always now go to Les Saises as it is High up and will be the last to loose its snow (1850metres). There are loads and loads of good runs for both the starter and the intermediate and it is not expensive 25 - 28 Euros a day for the lifts. If you haven't been snow motorhoming before read Batche's bit on his website. You won't learn everything at once but in the safety of the campsite ( Le Grand Tetras) you will get a good introduction. We were going at the half term feb break but the daughter in law fell pregnant and wasn't allowed to go so we went to Cardiff instead. No contest really with the wife and daughterinlaw touring the shops investigating baby bits. There you go, you have to give way sometimes. We usually go on the motorhome Aire, just beyond the coachpark on the top of the resort but we have done it quite often so we have everything sussed out with generators and the like and we quite like gossiping with the French just after breakie and in the evening. The guy at the campsite is Ok and will give you loads of information. My only hint for the day is get one of those oil fill rads from B&Q. You can plug it in and it will keep the van nice and warm at night and you don't have to use your precious gas up on the blown air truma. We hope to be there in the Easter Hols so look out for a Hymer 544, SN05 PXU and you can help us consume a jar or two.

Saises has just had a good dump today and they expect some more during the week. GB is a great place but the skiing is not good at this time of the year. One it is much lower. Two its a north facing slope so it will freeze overnight and become icey and then it turns to slush after lunch. It only has one green run which actually becomes a steep red at the end and you often can't use it for it's length because of patches of melting snow. It has not got the variety and extent of Les saises. Having said that the campsite is loads better with a good sized swimming pool and a skating rink 200 metres up the road and it is easier to get into the village- You can walk it in 10 mins.

It is a dickens of a choice as there are pluses and minuses for each resort. I have to admit that we started our motorhome skiing at GB and really enjoyed it

Ned

ruthiebabe

Hi

Have stayed at both, both on Aires.

Agree with all said

le G B - lovely spot, lovely village, but less snowsure, great campsite by all accounts, Aire limited to 48 hours and no actual facilities. good for short stay.
les S - better runs for beginners, plenty for intermediates, more snowsure, good Aire, haven't visited campsite and it's a bit further out.

btw both resorts good for x-country Les S again more snowsure

hth

Ruth

majvs

hi

we are looking at stopping on the aire at les saisies this easter does anybody know how many vans it takes and if it is likely to be really busy. we went to serre chevalier last year which was pretty quiet but when we went to les gets the previous year we were looking to get the last spot on the aire.