2 Alpes Family Activity Card Review

Families looking to pack in as much as possible over the next couple of weeks should consider the Carte Loisirs, an in-resort payment card thingy which gives you discounts on a range of activities. The card is available from any ticket office, and once you’ve charged it up with your initial 60€ you can use it to pay for biking, lift tickets, luge, Aventure Parc and probably several other things, though not having the guide in front of my beadies at this instant I can’t quite remember. No discount available on ski passes, unfortunately, but you can’t have everything.

If you’re here en famille and have kids who want to get involved with all sorts of stuff, the card can save you quite a wedge of cash – the discounts available on some activities may not look enormous, but by the time you’ve been here a few days, as a family of four (for example) it begins to mount up. If you run out of credit in your over enthusiasm at finally seeing the sun, you can charge the card up again with another 60€ or drop it to 30€ if it’s getting to the end of the week and the anklebiters are running out of steam.

A couple of things to watch out for though – first, your credit is only valid until the end of this summer season. Use it or lose it, because it won’t be refunded either. Second, you can’t use the credit on your card as part-payment and top up the rest with cash – if you don’t have enough credit left for your chosen activity you’ll have to stump up full price for it and find something cheaper on which to use up your card credit. Keep track of your balance by asking at the ticket window each time you use the card – the cashiers can read the balance off the chip and even print you out a statement if you like.

If you have particularly bijou offspring, remember that the under fives get a free lift ticket. Ask for one at the beginning of your stay and save the bother of having to spell junior’s name and remember his date of birth every time you fancy taking him up a chairlift to look at the marmots. You’ll need a photo for a multi-day free pass, but anything the cashier can scan will do – passport, holiday snap, even a picture on your mobile phone. I frequently have to clear my smartphone of dubious images of slightly alarmed-looking toddlers at the end of a working day because I’ve snapped endless pictures of them for lift passes. This is all very well at the external ticket offices where our working environment consists of a rather rudimentary hut, but it’s not a service you’re going to get at the main office, where things are a bit more formal and stick-in-the-mud.

Unfortunately we can’t help you out with discounts on those activities not directly run by the lift company, but havinng saved a wedge with your Carte Loisirs, you’ll have some extra budget for exciting stuff like white water rafting on the Veneon (or the Romanche at La Grave, though I’m told that one can get really quite excessively exciting), parapenting over Venosc or bungy jumping out of the big cablecar. Ask at the tourist office for details of any or all of these nutjob activities.

Finally, don’t miss out on a family trip down to Bourg d’Oisans in the valley between 2Alpes and Alpe d’Huez, preferably on a Saturday morning when the market is in full swing. Make a day of it with market followed by canoe trip down the Rive through the centre of town (staid but fun, and suitable for all sorts of children), an afternoon by the pool and a huge ice cream from the boulangerie on the pedestrian street.

Check out what to do around town once the lifts have closed with our Apres Ski Report - a weekly round up of what's hot and where to party in Les Deux Alpes!