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After getting our Sportignes cards (described in my previous post), we started exploring the free activities included with them one by one. What everyone liked most:

The lifts
They take you to very good 2,000m+ starting points for trips in the mountains. Tignes Alps have a number of mountain lakes scattered here and there, as well as small waterfalls, and they all make awesome destinations for a leisure walk and a picnic. If the kids are reluctant to walk down to the resort – just take the lift downwards. Riding the lift you can also enjoy amazing views over the resort, and the Alps.

The mini golf
A game very appropriate for kids, even small ones (I’ve seen 2 year olds playing it, and they did quite well). Mini (lighter and shorter) sticks are available for kids, so they really get in the game! Some mini golfs have lovely surroundings, with small rivers, caves and waterfalls set up around, so it’s quite a pleasure playing the game!

The tennis
The tennis courts had to be booked in advance, usually the day before. However, most of them are free after 7 pm (there are 10+ courts). So, if you have your own rackets with you (some hotels provide such for free, read my next post) – you can actually enjoy quite a lot of tennis in the evenings of your stay, without booking.

Family tennis in Tignes, great view of the Alps

The swimming pool
The swimming pool area had 3 big pools,1 baby pool, a water slide and some other small extras. Great place to relax with kids – they choose the pool most comfortable for them, bigger ones get ‘stuck’ on the water slide, or do water jumps (one of the pools was good for jumping). You have direct access to a meadow just in front of the pool, and can do some sun bathing in between the swimming. That’s also a good place to have lunch, coffee, etc. (kids seem to get hungry every hour or so!)

The green areas everywhere around
They are just the perfect place to relax, talk, play soccer and eat an ice-cream! Around the lake there were even free barbecues which in the evenings got quite crowded and smelled really nice..

Tignes Lake, with view of the Alps, the swimming pool, the kids area, table tennis

Of course we also tried the lake activities (the pedal boat, and the catamaran, some of us), the high jump, but the more active sports seemed much more liked by the kids.

Sailing a catamaran in Tignes lake, pity it was only for 2 people, so we couldn’t get on it all

BTW we also wanted to give mountain biking a try, but they didn’t offer child seats [sigh]. In all, our days were full of emotions and fun, we saw beautiful places, and had a chance to practice so many sports together. And – this didn’t break the bank!

The question is – does the accommodation cost (that secures your free sports cards) break the bank? It might..but check my next post for tips on finding good/inexpensive family-friendly accommodation in Tignes.

Enjoy the pics from Tignes below.

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