Advice on cost effective ways to get a family on to the slopes

theCzar

Hi folks, I love to ski and usually go with a friend but my two boys will be 8 and 3 next season (2025) and I'm getting (a bit) guilty jetting off and leaving them so I'd like to get them started. I usually go through a package provider like Crystal or DirectSki and when you start talking about a family of 4 with all the extras (board, pass, gear, lessons) the prices go sailing past 5k for the week and into "spare kidney" territory.

Has anybody any tips on how to get the best value for a family? Are there reasonably priced operators who can help? Is DIY to a smaller resort the best option? I'd like to go to Austria because the connections are usually shorter (e.g. no 5 hour drives from Toulouse to Andorra).

Whenever I've explored DIY options for myself, it starts out cheaper with flights and hotel but by the time I've got my baggage paid and arrange transfers I'm usually back very close to the packages.

DoraDelite

I think DIY would be your best option. I had a trip booked in 2020 (had to cancel as it was for the end of March) to Garmisch-Partenkirchen with my sister and nephews. I chose there for these reasons:

Easy access, Munich has daily flights so can be cheaper and you don't need to do Saturday to Saturday. Easily accessible via car rental or train.

Smaller resort so better for the kids starting out and also cheaper for lessons etc for them (not sure you'd get a 3 year old onto a ski school though).

Cheaper accommodation and food/drink.

Bloody Nipples

Söll in Austria is far and away the most cost effective resort I've been to.

In terms of transfers, you can get a eurocity train from Munich heading toward northern Italy, one of the stations it stops at on the way is Wörgl.

Söll is a 20 min bus ride from Wörgl then or alternatively you can switch to an Austrian intercity train heading towards Graz.

This train stops at Westendorf, Brixen, Kirchberg, Kitzbuehel, St Johann, Fieberbrunn, Leogang and Zell am See so opens up a huge number of resorts for the price of a train ticket.

These are all within 2-3 hours of Munich airport.

If you want to go really cheap you've Romania, Bulgaria etc but you don't get the quality Austria offers then.

A1Son

Jasna in Slovakia is still very cost effective even after the increase in prices throughout the Euopean ski resorts.

You can fly Dub - London Stansted and then London Stansted - Poprad, which leaves just a 40min transfer to the resort. Ryanair were flying DUB - KOSICE which is only a 1.45hr transfer. I see they are starting to fly again from March31st 2024, but maybe that will only be for a summer schedule.

Lessons are (80 2hrs), rentals (adult 55, kids 50 - 6days) and ski passes at an average of 50/day.

The ski in - ski out can be a bit pricey but staying closer to the main town, for restaurants/bars, and using the free skibus can get you some great value RE B&B or self-catered options.

a148pro

I've done a couple of trips with a family of 5 for about 3 grand all in, ski in ski out with private lessons in morning. But for four days only. Don't think you need a week imo. Week wouldn't cost much more.

Consider Bergamo and Passo Tonale, Bergamo / Verona / Venice and Passo San Pellegrino, any Milan airport / Turin airport and Cervinia. All the above have great ski in ski out potential, very good value accommodation and lots of easy blues and reds for kids, good value lessons also.

Also Barcelona and La Molina but it's had 3 terrible snow years in a row

I also remember a thread on here with packages to lesser known french resort for less than 3k for a full week, can't remember name of website

mr spuckler

Yeah I've done this with young kids for the last 2 years and agree with the above. We were in Passo Tonale 2 years ago when my youngest was 3 and the setup for younger kids was quite good. There's a couple of longer blues then for kids as they progress, my 6yo was flying down those after 3 days. I would say restaurant options were limited but we managed fine. Between flights, car hire and hotel we did it much cheaper than we could have done with an agency and 3-4 days skiing is plenty for kids starting off. Finally, they do free ski passes for under 8s :)

La Thuile also looks like a good option near Turin, Planibel apartments are a great option for young families. I visited years ago (pre-kids!) and there are some lovely wide blues up above the first station. Ski & boot storage options below the gondola station as well make getting to & from the slopes really easy.

mr spuckler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121947335#Comment_121947335

What's Passo San Pellegrino like? Good accommodation/restaurant options etc? It's hard to find a whole lot of detail on the resort itself vs the broader ski area. On the face of it I think it might be ideal for us…

a148pro

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122478187#Comment_122478187

Sorry, I barely check here any more. The "resort" is basically a high mountain pass with maybe 8 hotels strung along the road. Its fine but hardly charming. Not unlike Tonale in that way but way smaller and more charming in that sense. But not the kind of place you'd really go walking around at night (again similar to Tonale but even less so - its literally one road).

However, as a location for beginners and for the value its pretty hard to beat (again, like Tonale). A lot less busy than other parts of the Dolomites because there is less accommodation right there. Your main competition is the other hotel occupants plus the small number of people who come up in cars from other areas of the Dolomites. There is a lift up from Falcade, a town in the valley but in any event it never felt crowded when I was there (in Easter last year).

One side of the valley is quite like Tonale - a bunch of blue and red slopes beside each other with a similar slope aspect so they kind of feel the same. This side is probably a bit smaller than the same Tonale offering, maybe half as wide but has a bit of variety too, with runs winding down their own little valley as well. There are quite a few obstacle course type runs / ski cross routes that kids enjoy.

The other side of the valley, accessed very easily in a 15 minute ski, offers a real gem for the escaping adult and progressing child. There is a good regular fast cable car up to a superb World Cup Black and a red or variant black off it. This was a class run that I hammered repeatedly with basically no one on it when I was there. You can also ski down to Falcade from here but I never managed it in my four days, it snowed very heavily so was harder to get the kids far from camp. There are quite a few red and blue runs over there but never managed to do them.

There's then another area about a ten minute drive which is on the same ski pass, but again, we never made it. You can also drive for maybe 25 minutes to access a part of the Dolomites which leads to the Sella Ronda if you get ambitious and have the broader area ski pass.

Not sure if there actually are restaurants as most hotels offer half board but presumably you can pay to eat in them. We stayed in the Hotel San Marco which was excellent - a ski lift with perfect beginners run and kiddie obstacle course one side of the hotel and another lift which accessed the whole area the other side, both a few steps away. Just so convenient with kids. No hassle in the morning or after lessons or if they get tired.

Hotel had a small cute pool area and also some reasonable wellness, plus a soft play room for young kids and some activities (pet farm visiting, face painting etc). The food was good without blowing your mind, buffet every night and you could order starters mains and desserts on top. If anything there was too much food, some excellent, some meh. Booked private lessons for an hour or two for the kids each day which were excellent and then just skied with them either side.

All in all I preferred it to Tonale. Fewer people, a bit more attractive and the black was nicer than the long glacier black there. Also the hotel was just as ski in ski out as you can get, and the resort in general felt slightly more upmarket. But both good options.

mr spuckler

Thanks for that really detailed reply and no worries on the delay, I had seen the cobwebs in this forum before I posted! I'll bear all of that in mind for next year as it sounds like it could work really well for us.

We ended up going for Pila as it seemed to tick a lot of boxes. I skied there for a day a good few years ago when in Cervinia for a week but the weather had pretty much shut Cervinia for the day and I remember it being a nice small resort, small relative to Cervinia anyway. All of the reviews I've read suggest it should be ideal for us and flights / accommodation worked out really well too.

a148pro

Yes I had the same experience unexpectedly visiting it 2 days when staying in Cervinia! I liked it and I think it would have a good vibe for family skiing, gentle slopes through trees. It seemed like there was some accommodation up the mountain. Did you get ski in ski out?

You could probably nip up to one of the other resorts if you get bored and one day is still included on lift pass, La Thuile would also be good for kids once you get up the Gondola, loads of gentle terrain, nice chilled atmosphere in the resort.

I also think Cervinia is good for kids.

mr spuckler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122579060#Comment_122579060

No, we went for accommodation down in Aosta due to price and convenience (takes 40 mins off the drive which will make a big difference when heading back to the airport). I know there'll be a 15 mins ride up and down each day in the gondola but we're used to that from elsewhere previously before and it's not much of an issue for us. We only have 4 days skiing so I can't see us straying too far but we'll see how things are once we're up and running. Only problem now is it feels so far away!

oinkely

Last two years I DIYed a trip for the family to Frabosa Soprana in the Cuneo Alps, 1 hour south of Turin airport. Ryanair fly direct. Baggage is a pain as it doubles the costs - but still under 400 for the 5 of us each time IIRC. Avoid mid term if you can - week before or after the flights are reasonably priced. Go thurdsay to monday (10 days) and you generally get much cheaper flights than the weekend ones. Hire a car and be prepared to cancel if/when a better offer comes up. i saved a good bit on the cost of the car doing this. Rent gear from Mario in M2 sport in the village (very reasonable). Small area (3 interlinked villages) so ski pass is not crazy and last year i scored a random (possibly online malfunction) of 6 day pass for 3 of us for about 80 quid each. Higher risk of poor snow in Frabosa but its only a 25 minute drive to Prato Nevoso where there was plenty. Prato was much better for beginners anyway so not an issue. We stayed in Frabosa as it had the type of accommodation we wanted, two bedrooms so nobody was sleeping in the sitting room. Air Bnb first trip and then direct with owner for second trip. Same apartment as it was lovely. Ski school is not cheap (cheaper than france though), but well worth the cost.

All in we did 7 days the first trip for 3750 IIRC for 5 people for everything, including food etc.

The second trip was 10 days for 3 of us and 7 days for 2, and that worked out at about 3500 for everything.

We don't eat out much, but do get takeaway paninis and focaccia for lunch a few days when the weather allows slope side picnicing. Other days we went back t the apartment for lunch and a break before heading back out for the afternoon with whoever felt so inclined. I ended up driving a good bit on both trips on roads with lots of snow and hairpin bends - so bear that in mind.

Also, you will need a car that can fit the skis inside, and prepare for everything to get a bit damp / mucky etc form melting snow. For 5 of us i would always try get an estate ideally. First trip was a Fiat Tipo estate, which gave space for the skis over the heads of the rear passengers - not the safest, but again - needs must! Second trip was an opel grandland which was supposed to be better but was actually trickier, big but deep (crappy) shaped boot meant i had to use a soft rack that i brought and a snow board bag to put some of the stuff on the roof every time.

Lidl in mondovi 30 minutes away for self catering requirements.

Haven't booked anything for 2025 as we are planning an extended summer holiday instead, so i'll be back planning for 2026 in March 2025.

gossamerfabric

German Youtuber who seems to know her stuff. German Audio.

Skipasspreise 2024: Die teuersten und günstigsten Skigebiete - YouTube

Geöffnete Skigebiete im Herbst: Hier startet jetzt der Skibetrieb 2024/25 - YouTube