Cheap Ski holiday for family of 5

A snowHead

Help please, My children (14, 12 and 8 years old) have learnt to ski this year at Sunderland dry slope and we went to Glenshee for 4 days in Feb half term and had a great time, (although I thought the runs were really steep and the kids had to wait for me all the time to catch up!). I am absolutely desperate to take them somewhere next year as cheaply as possible and it will probably have to be in school holidays, because my eldest will be in yr 10 and starting his GCSE's.

I have only skied abroad twice and that was 14 years ago in France and Andorra (I was a late starter and then we had children, so the cost stopped us going). I have read loads of threads on here and the choice of where to go is overwhelming that I am now really confused. I would be quite happy to do DIY. I was initially looking at Andorra purely because I have been before and I feel a bit more confident booking DIY there for that reason, but Italy and Austria sound and look good but I wouldn't know where to go.

So any specific advice on when to go, where to go and how to get there on a budget would be really great. I am aiming for cost to be below £2500, is that too optimistic. Unfortunately, my husband now has bad knees and doesn't think that he will be able to ski anymore but he will come with us.

A snowHead

Have a look at the ski mojo. That is my plan for when my knees get worse. Thankfully for the moment my Mueller hg80 brace is enough

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I'd suggest looking at snowtrex website, we've used them a few times, and usually end up paying around £1200 for a week in the school holidays, apartment for 4 with lift passes and ski hire.

We factor in £600 for travelling costs (say £150 on eurotunnel, £150 on tolls, £150 on fuel plus overnight accommodation on the way down)

Last year's ski lessons were £140 for 6 mornings per child.

Stock up the car with food, (we take a slow cooker too for the convenience of chucking a load of ingredients in to the pot in the morning and coming home to a nice dinner at night waiting for us) sledges, DVDs etc.
Including the odd lunch and coffee break on the slopes plus eating out a couple of nights, a few euros for souvenirs and you'll be well under your £3k budget Very Happy

I can recommend Valfrejus as a beautiful little resort suitable for beginners, with decent accommodation on the snowtrex website.

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Thanks for the reply. Which school holidays do you go in? I've looked at the map and Valfrejus is quite far south (we are travelling from the north east so it would probably mean o/n at Dover or o/n on the ferry to Ijmuden, as well as o/n on way down, I could also check out flights c.f. driving.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

If you are based near Sunderland look at ferries from Newcastle - Amsterdam or Hull to Zeebrugge or Rotterdam. We have done both. On balance we prefer Hull over Newcastle because of the arrival time on the continent. The Amsterdam ferry gets in a bit later (or it used to - maybe worth checking) so you have a but of a head start from Zeebrugge or Rotterdam.
Self drive plus self catering is most likely to be cheapest if you are planning ahead and going school holidays.
Get a Roof Box to make the journey more comfortable even though this has a fuel penalty. With 5 in the car it is worth it.
My own preference is for Austria / Tirol (Tirol includes the South Tirol in Northern Italy) but I would suggest a french resort at Easter would best suit you. More likely to be high and snow sure if you go at the start of April. But don't rule out Austria and Italy. Check how long the resort expects to be open for. Go in early April to a resort that expects to be open until the end of April. This is generalising enormously but France will probably have plenty of self catering accommodation in a purpose built apartment block. Austria will probably have less choice but be prettier.
Our local school holidays (Cumbria) next year are early April, well before the actual Easter dates. This is likely NOT to be peak season in french resorts. There are resorts in Austria which either have glaciers or long seasons and which should provide skiing in April.
If you go at Easter then you can afford to break the journey there and back. It makes it more of a holiday if you can stop and see something on the way.
Don't rule out smaller less well known resorts (very often excellent value) such as Valloire in France, Madesimo in Italy or Turracher Höhe in Austria.
There is a section in Snowheads for reports on resorts. Look at it. Try the resort reports section on www.skiclub.co.uk (yes, I know, sacrilege to mention it).
Don't even think about driving without proper Winter Tyres (with a mountain and snowflake symbol on the sidewall).

And enjoy it

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We are in Northumberland (not too far from Cumbrian border!). I have just checked and our Easter holidays start 07/04 next year which I think is same as Cumbria (Easter Sunday w/e is 16/04). Can you recommend any resorts for this time of year?

I really wanted to take the kids abroad this year, but it would have been a risk taking them on my own so we went to Glenshee for a few days to see how they would get on. Considering Easter is second week of April next year where ever we go will have to be snow sure. I want to book now then we have it to look forward to.

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After all it is free

I have Maxxis AP2 all-season tyres on the car - cost £70 each including delivery. But yes I agree they are an additional cost if you don't normally need them.

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Don't discount Christmas, which will be cheaper and much less busy than New Year. But it's not obvious how the changeover days will work and there will probably be different answers.

Good advice above about using one of the companies like Snowtrex with accommodation including lift passes and sometimes lessons too. Would strongly advise lessons for all, preferably starting and ending at the same time and place. Drinks and snacks on the mountain can soon blow a tight budget. An apartment near the slopes where you can cook your own simple lunch will save you a fortune.

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We have done St Anton mid April. Lower runs were starting to suffer in the late afternoon but other than that was good.

You know it makes sense.

Obergurgl should also be good at that time of year.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Some good tips here. Just to re-iterate a few. Roof Box, invaluable if self catering. Winter tyres-not essential if you have chains or better yet Spikes Spiders. Almost all roads are kept clear and if traveling later in the season Easter?, highly unlikely to be snow on the roads. Most resorts either in the French Alps or Austrian Tyrol can be reached in about 9-10 hours from Calais, add 1-2 hours from Rotterdam. Look at a site called SUNWEB. This is a Dutch company but also have a UK web page. They do fantastic offer's including lift passes and sometimes ski hire. Without doubt Austria would be my first choice for a ski break but it is true France has more options. Don't think Val D'Isere is a good choice for newbies. Think about Mayerhofen in Austria. Great little village, good ski variety and great friendly Austrian people.

A snowHead

thank you for the replies, I have more to go on now and more direction on where to look.

A snowHead

Have a look at Montgenevre. good high resort at 1800. Excellent for newbies with green runs from the top of each side of the valley - 120 k of slopes. You are able to have lunch in your apartment each day as its the centre of the resort.Not expensive by French standards.

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Don't rule out the tour ops either, we're off to Serre Chevalier on 27th Dec for around £550 each (3 Adults, 1 child), self-catering (Crystal). I've just checked and you'd be a bit less flying from NE England. Now of course you'll need to add ski hire, lift passes etc on so it all depend on what you want in your £2500 budget. Did New Years week this year for around £800 each (2 adults, 1 child) in St.Anton, in a fully catered chalet, which I didn't think was too bad. 'Free' child places can really knock down the cost on some options.

Ignore the tour ops ski hire etc as even on a current 2-for-1 deal I reckon it's just as cheap, if not cheaper, to book online direct with a shop in the resort. Same for lift passes, the tour ops rarely include any type of 'family' offering even if the resort provides one which can work out much cheaper (2 yrs ago our 16 yr old son still counted as a 'child' in La Plagne, this year our 21yr old daughter should do the same in Serre).

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Bulgaria is unbeatable on price.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Went to Borovets twice in the eighties with Balkan Tours. Cheapest ski holidays I ever had. Limited skiing but cheap. Not really got anything else going for it.

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Cheap Ski holiday for family of 5

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