To be so confused about how to book a ski holiday

@sideeyes where did you go? Would you go back to the same place?

Organising a ski holiday yourself is easy enough - if you know what you're doing.

The OP has never been skiing, the title of the thread staes that she is confused about how to book a ski holiday and in her first post she explains that she has no idea about what she needs and therefore doesn't know how to go about booking the various elements of a ski holiday.

The most sensible and least stressful solution for a very first ski holiday is to let a tour operator (Nielsen, Crystal, Inghams, Heidi etc.) take care of all of the practical tasks so that all she has to do is to turn up at the airport with her family and the tour operator's reps will take care of everything else.

Sorry, just seen it's a revived thread! You must already have gone on your holiday.

This, but if you are driving from the airport stop and do a big shop along the way in a supermarket that is not in the mountains. Will be cheaper and a better selection.

When renting, focus enormously on distance to the place where you will be starting your lessons - as beginners a place that is on the slopes or ski in/ski out may not work at all, as the slope you'd have to ski on may be too hard for you.

If you end up in a place that is a bit further, some resorts have ski lockers next to the lifts. You can rent one and leave your heavy ski stuff there, so you don't have to lug it to your apartment. Very much worth doing.

I think it’s super easy to book it all yourself and cheaper too.

Get an easyJet flight to X place. Geneva is good for access to loads of the French places. Choose a resort within an hour or two of Geneva. Hire a car at the airport and drive there.

Arrive, park your car in parking you’ve already booked. Stick your bags in hotel/ apartment and go and pick up your skis, boots, helmets & poles- hire them from a place near to your aprtment.

Then buy lift passes from tourist information. Do this when you get there. You’ll need whole day passes for however many days your there.

Next you’ll all need lessons all day- this is not a sport you can just pick up after 2 lessons. This will cost a lot. We used to hire one instructor and have whole family lessons - 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon. This will likely be around £400
a day (£100 ph). I’d honestly say if your fit and sporty you’d need a week of lessons plus one or two days each year for a few years. kids will find it much easier.

You say you want to self cater- harder, because you now need a supermarket near your apartment- but this is possible, so get your shopping in. You cannot ski with shopping so you’ll need snow boots perhaps to walk for your shopping. Either make sandwiches and wear a backpack to ski or buy lunch on the slopes and have the rest self catered. There’s always absolutely loads of restaurants on the slopes.

enjoy!

I also recommend Ski Solutions - they can sort it all out for you https://www.skisolutions.com/

Personally i wouldn’t self cater on a skiing holiday. Skiing and snowboarding is exhausting. Especially when learning. You are basically exercising all day. And you might also be covered in bruises (especially if learning to snowboard!). In the mornings, you will probably be needing to get up and out for lessons, and getting all your gear together and trouping about in it is time consuming so it takes a lot longer to get up and out.

You often feel like you need another holiday to get over your ski holiday when you get back! The last thing I’d want to add in to that is buying in and making meals tbh. Or even having to go out every night for dinner. Also factor in that in many resorts eating out can be super expensive, so if you’re intending to do this check out the costs. This includes eating during the day while on the slopes - you won’t generally want to come back to the accommodation to eat lunch, you really stay out forgery, and just lunch can add up - we used to take stuff from breakfast out with us to keep the costs down 😳

That’s why fully catered accommodation is very popular on ski holidays and widely available.

@Jane958 While the area where the Seitenalm is located is great for beginners and intermediates, there is not much for good and advanced skiers and Radstadt is too low for April skiing. Last season the ski resort (Radstadt-Altenmark) closed on 26th March 2025.

Hi, I just found this thread and hoping you could answer a few questions 🙏🏼The hotel you recommended looks really good, what is the skiing like? Is it at high altitude so there will be snow in April? Which area is best for intermediate and advanced skiers? I can’t see a piste map near the hotel.
Thank you 🙂

It will depend on the resort. Packages make it much easier as the rep will steer you through the hire shop, lift pass, lessons etc and you can prebook and pay. There is more likelihood of English speaking instruction and group through them. You either need central accommodation to the skischool meeting point/nursery slopes or a shuttle bus. Accommodation usually has a ski room for equipment and some may have storage space nearer the slopes rather than you walk there in skiboots. If you are all beginners is worth considering other facilities in resort such as a pool or ice rink in case skiing is not for everyone, weather is nasty or you fancy time off.

You can book individual components (tourist office, lift company and skischool usually have websites to suggest outlets) but you may find you can get a local lift pass for beginners, or use a specific hire shop for example, which is better value as rep can get at bulk discount.

I agree with others that it all feels a bit overwhelming when you start so a tour operator like Crystal or Neilsen will make everything so much easier.

I also cannot overstate how knackering it is when you are first learning - honestly wobbling down the nursery slopes is more exhausting than skiing black runs! I normally self-cater on holidays but I LOVE having half board on ski trips because at the end of the day you are shattered and it’s very appealing to be able to put your feet up!

Chalets are great if you don’t mind being a bit social - either you will be with other beginners or more experienced skiers who can share tips - it’s really helpful to chat in the evenings to other people who can tell you what runs in the resort are like if you are ready to venture out on your own.

Be prepared for how quickly kids progress - my fearless 10 year old was on black runs on their first full week skiing!

The smaller resorts are much better for beginners and kids. If you’re looking at France, we really enjoyed Val Cenis, Pras de Lys and Alpe D’Huez when my kids were little. My top tip is to rent a locker (unless your accommodation is right on the slope). Trudging through the snow to a bus stop after a days skiing with tired kids and all their gear is truly awful. Be aware, skiing with kids is an endurance test, not a holiday!

Second this!

I know you said self catering OP but ski resorts usually lack a big supermarket so the reality is an overpriced spar shop and dragging your shopping up an icy hill. Or dining out at expensive mountain restaurants. Club Med is really good value for money, they’re amazing for kids and they sort everything from the moment you step off the plane. I’d definitely take a look!

As others have said - as first timers you don't need a big resort (you'll be paying for it but not using 75% of it), go for a small family resort (somewhere like Val Cenis, Praloup etc).
And as beginners you need lessons - all day ideally (I have no idea how a beginner adult could manage skiing alone with a beginner child) and for the kids, put them in the beginners kids lessons (adults and kids learn and progress totally differently).

I've been skiing for years and I always booked a package when the DC were young. It's possible to self organise but it's a headache and the tour operators often have wrap around clubs and that sort of thing which just makes life a lot easier (assuming you want to ski).
Self organised means you'll.have to do lots of research and book kids into ski school etc yourself. Many big resorts will have free shuttles so you don't need to work out how to get around, but if you go to smaller less popular ones then you'll likely need to drive to the ski Base station and then drive home again. Again this is all doable but hassle with kids.

I would definitely go with a package if it’s your first time.

But otherwise:
Pick resort and find suitable accommodation. If you have young kids choose somewhere that is a short walk (not ski since you can’t yet) to the ski school meeting point so you’re not dragging all the stuff too far. To get there you could drive and book parking or else book flights and transfers- there are lots of companies that do the transfers, once you know your route you can research this. There will be loads of ski rental shops and they’re much of a much. Look on google to find one close to your accommodation and pre book online to collect the afternoon you arrive so you’re set for the first morning. The package should be skis, boots, helmets and poles although young beginners won’t have the poles. Book lessons for everyone, kids normally do ski school where they’re in a group with kids of roughly their age and ability and in France at least there’s always a choice of ski schools so you can look up reviews once you’ve picked your resort to find a good one with timings that suit you. You will also need lift passes- you’ll buy these in person when you arrive in resort unless your accommodation can sort for you ahead of time.

I agree with going with a package if it’s your first time.

Ski Solutions is an agency that can access packages from various companies, they can also put together a bespoke package for you.

If you’re tied to school holidays, I recommend the first week of the Easter holidays. Much less crowded and expensive than half term and the snow has been surprisingly good at that time in recent years. If going at Easter choose a high altitude resort (1800m+) for good snow. Or Scandinavia could be good at Easter as a pp says.

Also agree with a pp that smaller resorts are fine for beginners and avoid the prices and crowds of the big resorts.

I also recommend accommodation very close to the slopes / ski school meeting point, as walking in ski gear is horrible especially with little uns. But be warned that “ski in ski out” accommodation is often not ski in ski out for beginners.

Look at Neilsons too. If it's your first time I'd definitely book a package rather than trying to do everything separately. Ski Holidays 2024/25| Ski & Snowboarding Holidays | Neilson

Scandinavia is actually a good option of families with small kids - but not at Christmas and New Year because it is far too cold, and maybe not in February as the resorts can get very crowded at Scandinavian half-term. Easter would be an ideal time to go to Hemsedal, Trysil or Are, with far better snow conditions there than in most of the Alps.

Scandinavian resorts are very child-friendly, and all of the staff and instructors speak excellent English.

How old are the kids? You want a resort with lots of easy (green) runs for the kids and if you can get ski in ski out onto an easy run that is great - have only done that once but when the kids were tiny it was amazing as they could only really manage a short time and then we needed to come in for a hot chocolate and snacks. We have been to Scandinavia skiing and that was good for families and several resorts are well connected by train

As first-timers with the family, I agree with the others that you should book with an established Tour Operator. Crystal, Heidi, Nielsen, Inghams are probably the largest and they organise everything for you. There are also numerous smaller, niche operators such as Ski Famile. Most offer hotel accommodation with half-board or B&B, although some have self-catering options. Some hotels are "apartment hotels" which give you the option of self-catering or using the hotel restaurant.

To get from the airport to your accommodation - if you're with a TO, a transfer coach will be provided. If you have organised the trip yourselves, there are usually shared taxi services or holiday shuttles from the local airports to the major resorts. E.g. Salzburg Airport has a page on the website listing all of the transfer services, and Lyon, Geneva have something similar.

Getting to the slopes - walk if you live close enough, or use a ski bus (some hotels offer their own minibuses) or use a taxi. Beware of ski-in/ski-out as this often requires you to actually be able to ski a steep run to get to or from the hotel - which as beginners you obviously can't (yet).

Lessons are a must - group lessons are fun and the children should also have group lessons with their peers. You'll probably learn faster in private lessons, but these can be expensive. All instructors in Austria will speak English. France and Italy can be less certain, but most schools will be able to provide an English-speaking instructor, and the TOs will have a contract with one of the schools (usually the one with the most English-speaking instructors).

You'll be able to hire skis, boots, poles and a helmet from any one of the numerous hire shops in the resort. The TO will have a recommended provider, and will also organise the lift passes for you. Unless you're staying close to the slopes, if possible, find a shop that lets you store your skis and boots overnight at the shop, so you don't have to carry them to and from the accommodation every day.

You need to provide everything else (jacket, trousers, fleece, neck warmer, ski thermals, ski gloves, ski socks, goggles, sunglasses etc.) which you can beg or borrow from friends, other families, work colleagues etc. or look on Vinted, ebay, charity shops etc.

You don't need the big, expensive resorts like St Anton, Courchevel, and other mega-resorts as you'll be paying for a lift pass that you'll hardly use. The TOs will indicate which resorts are beginner-friendly.

There is actually a separate skiing forum here on MN - and a helpful forum for skiers over at Snowheads.com

Go with club med if it's your first time. Everything will be sorted from the time you arrive at the airport.

Have a look on the Snowheads forums. It’s possibly going a bit quieter on there for the summer but it’s regular skiers and will cover most resorts.

Ecen as a staunch avoider of the tour op package holiday when it comes to skiing myself due to being experienced, own kit, no need for lessons, enough competence in the major ‘alpine languages of German and French I will save money or have more flexibility at the expense of object convenience. For the first time, with kids, you probably could do much worse than seeing what people like Crystal or Sunweb have got as a package, as you’ll need kit hire and lessons and getting that bundled in. A designated coach from your flight into the resort etc rather than navigating the ‘public’ transfer system will make it easier too

If you want to get the family into skiing, spend as much as you can afford on convenience in the early years, and make your economies 5 years down the line when you don’t necessarily need full weeks of ski school, possibly own a bit more kit, have a resort you’ve been to before and know the best supermarket/bus timetable etc.

Its a long game but fresh mountain air and the views get addictive.

Have a look at sunweb.they do really reasonable packages with lift passes, transfers and ski hire included