Châtel – the family village on the border, with Super-Châtel as its children's slope

Châtel is a real village, not a purpose-built ski station designed on a drawing board. It lies at the head of the Vallée d’Abondance, a few kilometres from the Swiss border, with old farmhouses and the church in the middle of the village. From here the lifts go in several directions: up to sunny Super-Châtel, towards Linga and Pré-la-Joux and on to Avoriaz, and across the border to Morgins and Torgon.

For families, that means two things. Small children have easy, sunny slopes close to the village. And when they get better, the whole of the Portes du Soleil awaits – the same big area as in Morzine and Les Gets, just from the other side.

Five sectors – choose by your children's age

Châtel's own area is made up of five linked sectors, and they are very different.

Sector	Suits	Getting there
Super-Châtel	Beginners and small children – sun all day, green and blue slopes	The gondola from the village
Pré-la-Joux	Mixed levels, the link towards Avoriaz	Free bus, line 1
Linga	Good skiers – north-facing, steep and cold snow	Free bus, line 1, 2 or 3
Torgon	Quieter, often steeper slopes on the Swiss side	On skis from Super-Châtel
La Chapelle d’Abondance	Quiet days without queues	A separate sector further down the valley

Super-Châtel is home turf for families with children. This is where you find the beginner slopes, the view towards Lake Geneva and Mont Blanc, and one of the two fun pistes. Linga is the opposite – that's where the parents ski while the children are at ski school.

Fun pistes and sledging hills

Two themed runs make children who would otherwise get bored want to go one more time:

• Piste ludique Belette on Plaine-Dranse – a 3.7-kilometre green piste with 20 play features, where the mascot Rivari tells the story of Abondance cheese.
• Flocon Vert on Super-Châtel – a piste with figures and signs about mountain animals and plants.

Both are included in the lift pass. Sledging doesn't need a lift pass at all: at Pré-la-Joux, opposite the chairlift, there is a free sledging hill for children aged 2 to 6, with a play trail next to it. Up by the gondola on Super-Châtel there is another one, a fifteen-minute walk from the top station.

Ski school – the ESF and the Piou Piou club

The ESF's children's club is called Club Piou Piou – Village des Marmottons and takes children aged 3 to 6 years. The children are split into small groups by age and learn through games in a fenced-off area with a 40-metre magic carpet and a button lift. There is also a chalet with a playroom, a rest corner and space to eat – you can leave the children all day and ski off towards Avoriaz yourselves.

• Times: during the school holidays you drop off between 8.30 and 9.30 am and pick up by 12.30 pm at the latest; the afternoon session ends at 5 pm. Outside the holidays it starts at 9 am.
• Bus: line 2 stops at the Loy stop, right in front of the club.
• The finale: on the last day the children take the ESF's official test and get a medal.

During the Christmas and February holidays there is also Club des Petits Montagnards: the children go to ski school in the morning and are then collected by their own bus and taken to an activity centre for lunch and crafts in the afternoon. All children should ski with a helmet. We go through how to plan the week in ski trips with children, and if it's your first time there is the guide to the first ski trip with kids.

Free ski bus – how it works

Châtel is spread out, and most apartments are not next to a lift. That is why the buses matter. All the lines are free, run from around 8 am to 6 pm and have a colour and number on the sign:

• Line 1 (red): centre – Linga – Pré-la-Joux, every fifteen minutes.
• Line 2 (blue): Petit-Châtel – Freinets – Linga, every twenty minutes.
• Line 3 (green): centre – Béchigne – Jardy – Linga.
• Line 4 (pink): Grandes Mouilles – centre – Vonnes, with some services to the Pas de Morgins.
• Lines 5 and 6: fixed times to Le Boude and Le Roitet.

Download the Pysae app – it shows where the bus is right now, and there is a QR code at every stop. With toddlers, ski boots and skis, it is worth choosing accommodation near a stop on line 1 or 2.

Châtel's own area or the whole of the Portes du Soleil?

For the first few days, Châtel's own area is enough, and the pass is cheaper. Children under five ski free in the Portes du Soleil but need a pass from the ticket office, and all age discounts require a passport or ID card. The child pass costs less than the adult pass. From the end of March there is usually a spring offer where one child under twelve gets a free pass when an adult buys at least five days.

The pass for the whole of the Portes du Soleil becomes worth the money when the children ski confidently on red slopes. Then the trip via Linga and Pré-la-Joux to Avoriaz makes a proper day out – set off early and keep an eye on the last lift home, because it is a long way back by road. How the area fits together and what Avoriaz has that Châtel lacks is covered in our guide to Avoriaz.

Getting to Châtel from Geneva

• By car: about an hour and forty minutes. Take the motorway towards Annemasse and Thonon and follow the signs for the Vallée d’Abondance. Winter equipment is compulsory in the mountains.
• Train via Switzerland: the train from the airport to Aigle runs about every half hour. From there it is half an hour by taxi or transfer up over Morgins.
• Train via France: the Léman Express from Geneva to Thonon-les-Bains and then a bus up through the valley – Thonon is about 45 minutes from Châtel. There are fewer bus services at weekends, so check the times beforehand.

The whole journey from Sweden by train is in train to the Alps, and car, train and plane are compared in getting to the ski resort.

Châtel or its neighbours?

Choose Châtel if you want a lively village, a more relaxed price level and easy, sunny children's slopes. Avoriaz has the skiing right outside the door and more reliable snow, Les Gets is the other family village in the area and Morzine has the most town life. On the Swiss side, Villars is a short drive from Aigle. If you have your own kitchen, our weekly menu for the ski trip comes in handy, and there are more ways to save in the budget guide.