Snow and winter markets

[CrunchySnow]

We (myself, DP, DS5 and DD3) will be travelling from Australia for Christmas in the UK with family. We want to take a side trip for 4 nights or so the week before Christmas so the kids can play in snow. DS is beyond excited as he has only ever seen it on TV/books etc (although likely to complain incessantly about the cold after 2 minutes).

Can anyone recommend somewhere in Europe we can get to snow easily? Bonus points if it is near a pretty Christmas market/other child friendly activities. It will need to be somewhere that is one flight from Manchester (or at a push Liverpool). Snow resorts are totally foreign to me as I'm not a skier so I don't really know where to even start. We aren't opposed to hiring a car when we get there but given the distance we will have travelled so far, we want the easiest trip possible.

We have extensively looked at Lapland but EasyJet flights are astronomical and we cant get the Ryanair schedule to work for our dates. DP and I have already done Christmas in Copenhagan/Paris/Krakow.

Any help is gratefully received!

Have a look at Innsbruck or Salzburg in Austria. Innsbruck has lots of ski resorts on the perimeter of the city, and markets within the city. Salzburg if you wanted a more beautiful city with markets, but ski resorts would be further out.

If you want to be sure of snow for your ds in December then you need to be looking at the reality high altitude ski resorts. If you wanted lively Christmas markets then you need the nice, pretty cities. Unfortunately they are not one and the same. Snow might be on all the Christmas cards but it is more of a Jan/Feb thing than a December thing for most.

Innsbruck is a good call. You can get to the ski areas very quickly if no snow down in town. Also look was dates the ski areas open, as some cable cars start around 4th Dec, others not until 10th or even later

Salzburg unlikely to have snow in Mid December. Most snow falls Christmas week onwards in towns.

Snow in December is not guaranteed even in the Alps nowadays. If the snow is a dealbreaker you may have to go to Scandinavia.

Worth having a look at Riga as we had snow there last year and the Christmas market was lovely. Also saw a Santa fun run there!

Salzburg is the obvious flight destination. There are flights from Manchester (Saturdays from 14/12) or there are daily flights to/from the south-east of England (Luton and Stansted are easy to get to by train from the North West). There are also usually winter flights from Liverpool. Use Skyscanner and Jet2 to search. You might need to fly out of one airport (e.g. Manchester) and then in to another if you only want 4 days or so, as most flights from the regional airports are at weekends.

Salzburg has a huge Christmas Market and is generally very "Christmassy." Snow in the city can be hit and miss in December - last year there was snow there when we went on 7th December - but you don't actually want too much snow in a city as it makes it slippery and difficult to get around, which is why it gets cleared away quickly.

For seeing snow and playing in it you need to go to one of the nearby ski resorts. The best option is probably Zell am See and the surrounding area, as there is a glacier so even if there is not much snow on the Zell mountain, you can take a short bus trip to Kitzsteinhorn where there is snow all year round. Stay for 2-3 days in Zell am See so you can choose the sunniest day to go up on the Kitzsteinhorn - unless there is plenty of snow on the Schmittenhohe mountain in Zell.

It is easily reached by public transport from Salzburg - either by the #260 Postbus (from the main station or from the airport) or by train. Journey time is about 90 mins. Alternatively a private taxi will cost around €200. Before Christmas is low-season, so you'll easily find accommodation - look at the tourist office website.