Skiing.. quiet at half term. Great tuition for teen beginners

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Just that really! We (DH and I) have skied before and are intermediate I would say but kids will be 12 and 16 and never skied.

Budget £7-8k ideally somewhere that's the least busy it's possible to be during Feb half term

Happy to self cater and would love ideas for ski lessons where the teens won't be with tiny tots beginners as that won't go down well!

Not bothered about it being fancy in anyway but would like to not trek for ages to slopes , when I say ages, at all!

Any suggestions for resorts and/or specific accommodations that meets the criteria 🙏🏻

Isola 2000 was deserted during Easter holidays. It's also really cheap; fly to Nice, time your flights to coincide with the 100% Neige bus to resort. Stay anywhere in the Front De Neige and you are ski in - ski out so can self cater for lunch. Both ESF and ESI ski schools operate from there, we paid 50€ per hour for private lessons for our two, or group lessons are cheaper. Resort is small, and lots of blues so ideal for beginners.

ooh thank you i will have a google and look at this more - sounds like could be a good option!

France will be busy during Feb half term as it coincides with their holidays. The smaller resorts withe relatively few runs would be quieter and would be fine for beginners but then you and DH might get bored.

Italy is probably your best bet for quieter mid to large resorts, although it can be harder to find English speaking group lessons, would you consider a private instructor if need be?

In Italy I would look at Cervinia first but there are various other options https://www.skisolutions.com/blog/best-italian-ski-resorts-for-beginners www.skisolutions.com/blog/best-italian-ski-resorts-for-beginners]]]]

Note that many French ski resorts are quiet in the Easter hols - as the French are not on school holidays then - half term is a different story. If you’re flexible on dates then I’d recommend skiing at Easter (first week of the hols) but guess you may have GSCEs to consider.

Scandanavia! Trysil in Norway specifically. Although busier now than when we first started going 6/7 years ago with our kids, it's nothing like the busy of the Alps.

You can book everything (except flights) through skistar.com which operates most resorts across Norway. They are a well oiled machine and helpful. Book accommodation, ski passes, rental etc through their website.

Resorts are smaller than the Alps but much less crowded, ski school is excellent and is done by age - so 5-7yrs beginners/intermediate/expert, 8-10yrs beginners/intermediate/expert and 10-15yrs beginner/intermediate/expert. You may find you'll need to book private though as your oldest is 16. Either way, reasonable prices and great instructors who all speak fluent English (obviously!).

Flights easy with SAS or Norwegian. To Oslo and then car hire or public transport. If booking with an agent you'll likely be offered private transfer. Driving to resorts is easy, pretty much one road there and back (look at Trysil to Oslo on Google Maps). Roads are clear of snow, winter tyres standard. Self catering, lots of choices, suggest Staying in Turistsenteret (the centre of the resort) in Trysil so you're walking distance to ski school and the main lifts. SkiStar website shows exact distance in metres from slopes. If there is a downside then it's the complete lack of apres-ski atmosphere but as our kids were small, we were all in bed early! There are some bars and restaurants but nothing as quaint as a traditional alpine village. But if that's not a priority then I cannot recommend Trysil enough for beginner skiers, quiet slopes, easy transfers. We're off to Are, Sweden next half term as our kids are much faster and more experienced skiers and need a bigger resort!

I haven’t been at half term but its a small resort and Carole who runs Pilaski can let you know how best to set up lessons https://www.pilaski.co.uk/

Most places you can get family lessons or 2:1 tuition in English.

half term in France depends on when the half terms across Europe are.

france is split into three areas which all take their Feb half term at different dates.

it’s if one of these is the same as English and German half term that the alps gets super busy.

we’ve been to Andorra which was much quieter and loved it.

Thanks for this.. I hadn't realised about Feb half term being busier than Easter I was just thinking it would be more likely there would be snow in February.. we have GCSE this year in this house so next year it would be fine to do either really!

Either way will.look at those Italian options thank you. So is Italy generally quieter In our hols vs France?

Would never have thought of Scandinavia! It sounds like it could be just what we are looking for.. we are not bothered at all by apres ski . Love the idea of the ease of one company to sort everything through as well.

Right, off to research!

Ooh I was looking at El Tarter in Andorra as that also seems to tick all the boxes so good to know you loved it!

Honestly I would avoid France in February half term, it is heaving. We went to Austria this year (Scheffau), it was busy as there were lots of German and Dutch on holiday but not unreasonably so. And no problems with lift queues at all. We have also done Italy (Champoluc) and it was very quiet, especially in the afternoons. I might avoid the Milky Way resorts though, given we got the train from Paris to Turin when going skiing and it felt like 90% of the train got off at Oulx station!

We went to Sauze d'olux last Feb. One busy day as it was 'Carnival' (Pancake day) on the Monday and Italian holiday. Rest of time quiet. Very cheap to eat on slopes - loads of ski schools. We went with Crystal just under £6k for 4 of us half board. Another £1k for lift passes, ski hire.

I loved Sauze and the milky way

Ha - cross post with Mrssquidink. Somehow Milky Way absorbed all those train people 😀

Pila in Italy, above the Aosta valley. You can stay right on the slopes, it's not particularly pretty but it's nice enough, very cheap. We went when DD was about 8 in Feb half term and it was perfect, virtually empty and the whole holiday cost less than our ski hire/lift pass in Switzerland the year before!

We booked it all ourselves but this company are great apparently and you can get a week all in half board incl 6 day ski pass, airport transfer, ski insurance, some ski guiding and après ski for under £1k each!

PilaSki Holiday Prices

Let me know if you want any more info

WRT lessons you could get them private ones to start. There is a 6k blue run from top to bottom which is very easy and they would be fine on after a few lessons, you learn much faster in a private lesson

Oh that’s good to know! I’d been thinking about Sauze or Sestriere but was worried about how busy it would get. Honestly, our train carriage was full and after Oulx station we were the only ones left in it. I’ll add it back to the list for next year.

We ski in the southern French Alps. Not made it to Isola, but do check out Vars/Risoul, Les Orres, Puy St Vincent. Also for something different look at the Qyeyras resorts… Molines, St Veran, Ceillac, Arvieux and Abriès. All on same pass. It’s never busy!

lequeyras.com/en/according-to-my-nature/sports-addict/downhill-skiing/the-molines-st-veran-area/

Another one for the southern French alps here. We went there for around 10 years at Feb half term as the flights to Marseilles were a fraction of the cost to Geneva etc. Expect some queues for lifts but you can organise your day to avoid the worst of them (first thing in the morning and straight after lunch).
If you go anywhere at Easter (or New Year), fgs go high!! Nothing worse than melting snow and slush.

Definitely Italy. My call would be cortina d’ampezzo, specifically staying right next to the Pocol area. It’s not that popular with brits and lots of the Italians go mostly to hang out and only ski a bit (!). Pocol has some of the very best beginner slopes I’ve ever encountered. Def self cater though or try hotel Argentina because it’s an expensive resort really.

And hire a car for getting around.saves on beginner tantrums and provides more options.

You’ll have the Olympics to contend with next Feb!

Oh bugger! Scratch that!

La Thuile?

Sorry everyone I haven't been getting alerts so didn't see the new messages. Will go through properly now and note down the recommendations to my list and research.

Sounds like Southern French alps might buck the idea that France is to be avoided if avoiding crowds in Feb half term?

and Italy (but not Olympics area.. which I don't know where it is off the top of my head but will research!) could be a good one to look at.. will defo check out Pila , Sauze d'olux