Where to Ski And Snowboard - Family ski holidays cheaper in 2018

Family ski holidays cheaper in 2018

2nd January 2018, by Abi Butcher

The price of a family ski holiday has dropped in two-thirds of European ski resorts

The price of a family ski holiday has dropped in two-thirds of European ski resorts — good news for families booking their February half-term ski holidays as the snow continues to fall.

The good news was released at the end of last month in the annual Family Ski Resort Report compiled by Post Office Travel Money in conjunction with Crystal Ski Holidays. According the report, prices are lower in two-thirds of ski resorts across Europe, with the biggest fall being in Switzerland, where top resorts such as Saas-Fee are 10 per cent cheaper than last year.

The report compared prices across 16 different ski resorts across Europe that are particularly popular for families, including Morzine, Kitzbühel, Soldeu, Les Deux Alpes and Serre Chevalier. Researchers compared the cost of six days’ ski and boot hire, lift passes and ski school, together with a typical cost for lunch on the slopes with drink for two adults and two children with that of last year.

While the biggest fall in costs was in the Swiss resorts surveyed — Saas-Fee and Wengen — they were still the most expensive in the resort, with the total running at £2065 and £2298 respectively. But compare this to Eastern Europe and the results are very different — Bansko in Bulgaria took top slot for the cheapest family holiday with a total cost of £1065. France, meanwhile, sits in the middle — with prices having dropped by 8.4 per cent in Les Deux Alpes (to £1655), 7.1 per cent in Morzine (£1474) and 5.6 per cent in Serre Chevalier (£1652).

The best value ski resort in Western Europe in the 2017 report was Bardonecchia, new to the survey, boasting the cheapest family ski pass (£392) of all the 16 resorts surveyed — and almost half the price of Wengen at £1171 for all the items in the basket.

Chris Logan, managing director of Crystal Ski Holidays, said: “Bardonecchia is particularly suitable for families with younger children because there are kindergartens, play areas and ski school classes for the very young. It also boasts a snow tubing track that has been specially designed for families — when you combing these facilities to the great value for money in this year’s Family Ski Resort Report, it looks a real winner.”

Andrew Brown of Post Office Travel Money added: “Last year’s fall in the value of sterling resulted in far higher costs for families in many European resorts, so it is good to be able to report that the position has now stabilised — but how much better off families will be depends on the ski resort they choose and the costs they expect to incur.”