Going to Tahoe soon, never been, and would welcome any recommendations on food (moderately expensive ok) and fun activities (will have 7 yr. child). We're staying in S. Tahoe at Ceasar's for two nights than up to North Star for the remainder of our trip (if geographic helps you with a recommendation.

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If you want to have a nice dinner out, try Le Petit Pier in Tahoe Vista. Good French food with beautiful lake views away from the casinos. You get there by driving toward Tahoe City the northerly direction (from Stateline). If I recall, entrees are in the $20's.

If you don't ski, or want to take a break, try snowshoeing. I think you can rent equipment at Northstar and explore. Dn't know what conidtions wil be like, but we love to hike at DL Bliss park at Rubicon Bay. Have fun!

Every summer as a child my family went to Tahoe, though it was usually in Summer and that dictates what type of activities you will be able to do. In summer, you can rent a boat or swim, they have lovely beaches in Tahoe but that water is COLD..(glacier water and all). Also you can go horseback riding, if you are interested in History you can go up to Donner pass, they have a very interesting museum and you can see where the snow was then the poor, doomed Donner's went through the pass. Really interesting. If it is snowing then you can do all of your typical winter sports, they have ski lifts and all that. Or you can take a paddle wheel boat around Emerald bay.

The Broiler Room in Caesars is excellent. The Roman Feast is pretty good for brunch. If you enjoy being outside, I suggest going on a snowmobile trip. There is company at the Zephyr Cove area that does a great job.

We enjoy going to Sorenson's Resort. It is about 30-40 minutes from the casinos.They have rental euipment there for snowshoeing, x-country and a cute little cafe where you can get a reasonable meal. Yummy beef stew and Hot chocolate.They often have hikes and classes that look really fun.Check out their website.
Just past the casinos the sleigh
ride operation is fun, complete with singing. It is a family memory although we don't do it every winter.Of course we always pack a snowperson kit complete with face design stuff!

David,

Several people have asked about North Star and there hasn't been much of a response. It would be great if you could post your thoughts about it when you get back. We're staying there next month and would like to hear what you think of it.

Northstar is a very good family-oriented ski area. Mt. Pluto has terrain to challenge all, from the beginner to expert. More hardcore skiers might be bored after a couple days and want to head to Squaw or Alpine. The kids program is *great*. They combine indoor and outdoor play with a skiing experience so kids enjoy it best. You will probably be very satisfied with Northstar. Entertainment and dining choices are limited however without driving into Truckee (only 10 minutes or so) or North Shore (25-30 min.)over the Brockway Summit. Weather is a factor there as to if you actually want to drive. I grew up near South Shore but have traveled all over the world and the realization is how unfortunate it is the way California ski areas developed. When you compare the resort infrastructure of a place like Whistler or Vail with the Tahoe resorts they pale by comparison. Those places have an incredible array of lodging, restaurants, bars, shops and entertainment in dense resort core villages, where you can park your car and forget about it. The California experience is, drive to the ski resort-park-ski-get in your car-drive to your condo-park-drive to a restaurant-park-drive to a nightspot-park....etc. But all in all, the skiing is great if Mother Nature cooperates and facilities are pretty good. i should add that Northstar has one of the most sophisticated snow making systems in the world and it is amazing what they are able to do if MN is not cooperating!

Happy skiing.