Winter short flight/no fly holiday to see snow & try skiing 11 & 2 yr old

[Tabblesnattles]

Help please!
Fly from Exeter or Bristol, ideally Dec/Jan/Feb, doesn’t have to be a week, decent food, would like to give skiing a go but just a taster, short flight or happy to drive if not too far? Really would love to see snow! And all with a fairly minimal budget? Is this even possible?

Hi OP, there are a couple of resorts in the very north of Germany, called Willingham and Winterburg. Also a couple in Belgium they are drivable if you go on the ferry. Next closest probably central France, Super Besse area.

All of these are suitable for trying skiing.

Skiing in Belgium? Come one. It is too low to have guaranteed snow. And the food in Belgium?

Italy will be the cheapest and best food as well. Switzerland and Andorra, the most expensive.
There is a skiing section https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/skiing

You know, a flight to Italy and France is not that long at all.

You can fly EasyJet Bristol to Geneva then loads of options available to you. If you need childcare these guys are good but wait for a late offer to get best deals https://www.skifamille.co.uk

Went to Aosta in northern Italy on a school trip (as a teacher) complete novice skier and thought it was a lovely town for a visit and the skiing was really accessible.

2 is too young to ski.
If you can get some dry slope lessons/snow dome sessions to get past the absolute basics
look at kinder hotels in Austria.
or France.
most few years winters have been warm. Higher up = more snow sure.
Bristol to Geneva or Zurich. Geneva gives access to France. Zurich there is a lot of choice and easy to go by train. But more expensive in resort

If you can avoid school holidays, it will be much cheaper. I don’t know if your 11 year old’s school has the same ridiculous holidays our borough has, where they go back on 9th Jan? If so, they would be a good week to go - there are some very cheap EasyJet flights to Innsbruck, but accommodation is ridiculously expensive as it is peak travel season.

If you can travel mid-Jan instead, Crystal has loads of week-long half-board packages in Austria and Italy for about £600-750pp. They usually include lift passes etc, though you usually have to pay for lessons and ski hire.

The other option is to fly into Munich and take the train out to a non-resort village. Places like Bergkirchen, Bayerischzell etc are significantly cheaper than more famous places like Kitzbuhel or St Anton. They won’t be quite as well set up for beginners (no idea if they have a ski school for example). But you’ll definitely see snow and be able to do stuff like tubing and sledging.

Remember most pushchairs don’t wheel well over snow (I used to have trouble even with my Babyjogger), so take a sling if you have one for your toddler. Also keeps them warmer against your body.

H&M toddler snow pants and gloves are actually really good - DS wore them when we lived in Canada. Put them in layers, and make sure their hat is warm and covers their ears.

Great thanks all! I literally have zero clue on any of this so good to have some starting points thank you. Definitely want to play in the snow and do a bit of sledging etc, 11 year old and DH keen to try skiing.
Are most resorts self catering? I’ve only ever done summer holidays and always prefer self catering, not a huge fan of busy places.

Perhaps a bit left field but if you’re prepared to wait, then Aviemore might be a possibility? Sleeper train from London to the slopes and back.

@ghislaine Whens the best time for Scotland? That sounds great fun actually!

Fly to Grenoble or Geneva and go to one of the nearest resorts. Or train to Bourg St Maurice (although not ideal for a toddler), For beginners and snow play it does not have to be a large resort but you probably need to go high or glacial to be snowsure and would appreciate non ski, indoor activities like a pool. Might be worth going to a snowdome in UK to see how they like it first.

If you could bring it forward to Nov / Dec , how about a trip to see Santa ?
Your oldest is at the age of ' Is he / isn't he real ' stage , so it might be the last chance you'd get , throw in a sleigh trip for added magic.

This site is useful for info about skiing in Scotland: https://www.findingtheuniverse.com/ski-resorts-scotland/#:~:text=Glenshee%20Ski%20Centre%20is%20the,the%20ticket%20office%20is%20open.

The season is officially from Dec to April but that would be very weather dependent. If you want guaranteed snow I’d try somewhere in the Arctic circle such as Norwegian or Finnish Lapland.

I would look at Lapland. Loads to do aside from skiing but also great learner slopes. Snow will be incredible. Just be prepared for the cold.

THIS!!!! We had an awesome time last February. The sleeper train was great and Aviemore/the Cairngorms were lovely and we got to ski on a budget ⛷️