Font Romeu Ski Resort France

On arrival the first thing noticed was the lack of snow in the town, it was looking very thin on the ground. Also the usual problem was that we didn't actually know where anything was as this was our first trip to the resort. So here are a few tips:

• the telecabin up to the slopes is right behind the tourist information office, which is sign posted


• the ski passes can be bought from the building right next door to the tourist information office


• you cannot hire ski equipment up at the slopes, although the ski school is there


• you can drive up to the slopes, its up the hill past the tourist information office and turn left at the first roundabout


• Odeillo has nothing to do with the skiing, head for there and you are going away from the slopes


• There is a free multi-storey car park exactly opposite the tourist information office

So as you can see, a lot that is anything to do with getting started skiing is right next to the Font Romeu tourist information office. Add to that you can hire skis and ski equipment the other side of the tourist information office to the ticket office and you are pretty much set to park your car, get your ski pass, hire your ski equipment and get on the ski lift all within a 20 yard radius.

The reason I went to great pain to point all this out is because we arrived early afternoon with the intention to get our first skiing in that day. Unfortunately by the time we found the the ski station and realised we couldn't get our skis there and then had to go back to town to get kitted out, it was really a little bit late to start skiing. It did however give us the opportunity to have a good look around the town, find our hotel and check out the best ski hire deals. We ended up paying 11euros a day for ski hire and that was a nice set of fairly new carvers, so not bad at all really.

While we are on the subject of costs, we took a 3 day ski pass for 88euros each for adults, a single day would have been 31euros and a half day was 28,50euros. There were other deals available and the price reduced the more days you took, 6 days were 155 euros.

The town itself was very nice with plenty of hotels to choose from close to the telecabin. We stayed at the Hotel de la Poste, chosen because of its position. Which I have to say did not disappoint and neither did it's restaurant; very good food and lots of it. As for the room itself, well lets just say it was a good job it was only for sleeping in, very small, cramped and a little tired, shame really I really would have liked to been able to recommend the place. It was clean so I can say that for one of the less costly options and as long as you are not seeking luxury, then it was adequate.

We ate in a few restaurants in town and the hotel restaurant was very good, but our favourite was the Casino restaurant. The food was excellent and the service was also very good and it didn't cost any more than any of the others. It was a little quiet so all we could think was that people didn't realise how good it was, or perhaps went for the crowds as a recommendation. To be honest we didn't have a bad meal while we were there and the other place we ate that was pretty impressive was the Italian Pizzeria located down the street opposite the Casino called Le Cellier. We had pasta dishes and again they were both excellent.

Check the price of the beer in the bar before you buy it, we had 2 beers and they cost 12 euros which was a little bit of a surprise even though they were large. That was in the Sunshine Cafe, but it did have a very nice view and of course it got the evening sun.

In conclusion then, I would say overall Font Romeu gets a big thumbs up from us, a few little niggles but nothing life shattering and we are in the grumpy old (wo)man age bracket, so life wouldn't be worth living if we didn't have something to complain about. Can't ignore the fact either that the snow arrived in the bucket full the night we arrived which made the skiing while we were there very good indeed, there is nothing nicer than skiing on fresh snow in the sunshine.

For even more information on the town you can visit the Office de Tourisme

So what about the skiing? There were a lot of green and blue runs with a smattering of reds and blacks. There was also a pretty good snow park that would suit the snow borders and a few more advanced skiers. It is hard to see how an advanced skier would be challenged or entertained for more than a few hours, possibly a day, unless they were easy to satisfy.

But for a family skiing holiday, beginners and intermediates Font Romeu seemed like the perfect place. The highest peak was Roc de la Calme at 2213m, then Gallinera at 2127m. The longest run you can get is to start at Roc de la Calme and ski down to Pyrenees 2000 (at 1777m) via Gallinera and Col del Pam with a little bit of an interruption at Col del Pam for a quick drag lift to get you on route to Pyrenees 2000, you could try and ski that bit but most everyone we saw try this ended up with a little walk to get to the top of the next slope.

Most of the blacks are towards Col del Pam as well and they were quite steep in places with some short narrow sections, but not overly challenging and hence my statement that advanced levels may not find enough here to keep them occupied for any serious length of time.

The lift system is pretty good, lots of chairs compared to drag lifts, so for the older generation that gives you the opportunity to take a breather without actually stopping. When you do want to stop there are loads of cafe's and restaurants available strategically positioned close to the main lifts. The food we had at Col del Pam was brilliant, although it was extremely popular and during the main lunch period between 12.00 and 2.00p.m. it could be a struggle to get a table there. That was pretty much the same everywhere though thinking about it, so it might be better taking an early brunch or a later lunch to avoid the rush.

We didn't use the ski school but there were plenty of groups, individuals and children being led by their ski instructors, so clearly plenty of ski school options if you want them.

We loved Font Romeu, for us at intermediate there was plenty to do and we covered the whole range of pistes fairly comfortably and I don't remember any seriously long queues either. A very nice short skiing break and 3 days skiing was just about enough for these tired old legs.

Take a look at Font Romeu via WEBCAM, look here for a Font Romeu Snow Report and you can find a Piste Plan for Font Romeu here.