Cheap ski holiday!

[Newmum738]

I’m hoping to find a way to get a cheap ski holiday. I did have it all planned out and then I realised I had the wrong half term dates!! So then I’ve looked at taking DS out of school for a long weekend in January but still can’t find the same deal. Any tips for finding a cheap, short ski break that would be good for a 7 year old would be great. Ideally in the school hols but with as little time off as possible if not. TIA

January can be a bit grim for skiing (lots of white out days in my experience) which is why some of it can be really cheap.
I find if you’re looking at a package the short deals are few and far between so might be best to DIY it.
Cheap you’re looking at Bulgaria (but not as cheap as it used to be and I think is quite bad value these days) but Borovets would be slightly nicer than Bankso.
Andorra but generally quite long transfers so maybe not the best for a short break
La Plagne is cheaper than most French resorts if you can stomach Chambrey airport.

We used to find that Easter was better than the depths of winter for smaller children if they can’t already ski (you don’t say whether or not your son can ski). It’s a bit risky in terms of snow so you have to look for somewhere highish and with scope to travel higher eg Avoriaz.

Cheap often means limited snow and amenities, neither of which are worth the compromise. Try sunweb igluski or Heidi for deals. Selfcatering is often cheaper but you may be limited to booking a full week.

Bansko is awful, would go near it ever again. Skiing is not a cheap holiday.

DS is intermediate I would say! Cheap is less about my budget (which is probably unrealistic!) and more about what is actually good value.

Are you happy to diy or do you want a package?

My recommendation would be to get cheap flights to Marseilles, and then drive to a resort such as Les Orres. 100km of pistes. You could easily find budget accomm out of season (just avoid les vacances de février). It’s not an expensive resort, but you’ll easily spend €15+ each on lunches, so take sandwiches.

Just done a search on booking.com for 3 nights over a weekend in January and you’ll get something for between 200 and 400. I know the area well so please DM me if you think that sort of thing could work and you’d like more info.

@Radiatorvalvesthis does look like a great suggestion! It looks like the ski lessons are 5 day packages - can you get shorter do you know?

I've booked 2 or 3 days/mornings of lessons in French and Italian resorts many times.

I dont think cheap ski holidays exist but we found value could be found by driving, not flying (for a big party, maybe not if just 2 or 3 of you) and we go before or after Christmas which is cheaper than Feb/Easter. Cheaper holidays have been self catering (sunweb) with driving so can stock up at cheaper off mountain supermarkets on way in. Or self-catering with some pizza/pasta nights instead of eating out all the time, which is eye watering in France, food is better value in Italian resorts.

January is too cold for me.

Why don’t you contact them and see? ESF and Ozone are the ski schools and I would hope that out of season they might be flexible. They will def have private lessons. I just booked a private lesson for 3 at Christmas and it’s all on line booking. Good luck!

@thecalmseawhere we went last year was -28 so that has toughened us up! 🥶