Skiing for beginners- your recommendations please!

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We'd like to do a family ski holiday next Feb half term for DH, me and DD (10). All beginners so no need for black runs! We are not fussy about where, but would like to have lifts that we can walk to rather then get a ski bus. We'd all need lessons - can we do this as a family? To give me an idea of prices I've been looking to see what it costs this half term but to be honest I'm finding it all confusing! Any advice is welcome, who you book through, where's good, how lessons work etc! Thank you

Lessons can also be booked through them.

Thanks for that Shockers, it looks a lovely resort. I know it's half term that's pushing up the cost!

To give you an idea - we booked independently and are paying £4500 for 2 adults 2 kids. This includes ferry/petrol/hotel stops there and back. We are staying in a large suite in a 4+ star hotel with full board (food is incredible) - private shuttle to slopes, swimming pool and spa, lessons for all 4 of us, lift passes and ski hire. Going to stay in a resort in the Dolomites that isn't popular with Brits.

And that is at half term!!

We're going at Easter. I know it's a risk snow-wise, but Puy St Vincent has a good record for late snow.

Were off to zakopane in poland. Its our first family ski trip so with flights, ski hire, lessons, transfers and apartments its come to £2500. Booked apartment via booking.com and flights to krakow jet2. Everything else is via an english company out there. Its supposed to be an excellent resort for beginners. Will let you know how we found it.

Langerhans -that sounds lovely!
Claire - yes, please do let me know how you get on, I was talking to a Polish friend who told me how great the skiing is there.

Hope you both have a great time

Yes, for half-term the prices can be hideous - we go at Easter for that reason (although you have to high, so the choice of resorts is a lot less).

From my own research (and I've done spreadsheets in the past ), you can save a lot of money by: avoiding Feb half-term and New Year, driving, renting a SC apartment, doing a supermarket shop either before you go, or in the hypermarket in the nearest big town (resort supermarkets are notoriously expensive), borrowing ski gear, and shopping around for the best price for hire equipment in resort.

A notoriously canny friend of mine always goes with her three kids in Feb half-term, but she saves up Tesco clubcard vouchers for the Eurotunnel (I think - maybe it's ferry?), takes a big shop from cash and carry and loads it all into their Volvo estate. They drive down, avoid restaurants and take a picnic onto the mountain each day and they manage to keep it under about £3k I think.

Islets that sounds fantastic, any chance you'd share the name of the resort and hotel please? I'm looking for somewhere for next year, can't afford it this year

Please share Islets.. we love the Dolomites.

OP you'll pay a premium for a package. We spend under £4K at Feb half term by going DIY and that's catered chalet or half board in hotel. Most chalets are happy to help out with arrangements for ski hire and ski school etc.

Happy to oblige! We stay at Hotel Pfoesl In Obereggen. Lots of other lovely hotels in the area too! We drive down from Rotterdam (overnight stop each way). Half a day shopping on way back in Bolzano to stock up with lots of lovely Italian food and wine to take home too :)

I should add, the resort is in the German-speaking region of the Dolomites (I think a lot of the Dolomite resorts used by package companies are in the Italian bit). So there can be a language barrier as the locals are generally bilingual German-Italian, with English lower down on the list. We can get by fine with a mixture of all three languages and gesticulations, but don't expect fluent English in most places. The kids said their ski instructor's English was mixed, but they came on brilliantly regardless!

We're Italian speakers so not a problem although they can be a bit funny about speaking Italian in those parts!

Pamporovo, Bulgaria. Crystal go there, great snow and very affordable. Ski school is included with Crystal :-)

Oh and ditch ski's, pick up a board :-D

Haha Booble, that looks even more tricky than skiiing!!

I really liked Soldeu. Nice gentle runs and you can ski from the top of the mountains down on them. Pas De La Casa (the village next to Soldeu but at slightly lower altitude) looked ok too.

Massistar - we visit there a lot too, summer and winter. We've noticed a correlation between altitude and whether they speak Italian! Can completely understand the attitude given the history of the area...

If you have to travel in school holidays you may want to avoid the larger French resorts. There are small resorts linked to bigger areas such as La Tania, Chantel, St Foy, La Rosiere etc , . Chalet companies we can recommend with kids are Le Ski, Total Ski, Family Ski Company, Premier Neige and Ski Familie. I personally avoid large companies like Esprit etc as their accommodation is very basic plus lessons tend to be with native ski schools i.e. ESF with large groups and possibly mixed nationalities. Research the ski schools of your preferred resorts and take it from there. If you book everything independently the issue you may have is transfers from airport which can be expensive for some resorts that are 2-3 hrs away. The other option is to wait last minute , there are always good deals even at half term but you may struggle to get ski lessons that suit you in peak holiday weeks.

I went to Chamonix (alps) about 5 years ago. £570 for the week for coach travel, 5 days lift pass and ski hire, 3 days of lessons and half board meals. Hotel was basic (3*) but to be honest we were so tired after being out 8-4 skiing we didn't care. Can't remember the name of the hotel but for a first time skier, Chamonix was perfect. Spent the first 2 days having lessons and in the 'baby bowl', then 3 more on the real hills and they're amazing!

Agree with choosing a smaller resort - quieter slopes better for beginners and also you're not then paying for an expensive lift pass covering a massive area that you mostly won't be skiing on. EasyJet flights for Feb are released in June - be ready to book when they are released and you will save a lot.

Also at age 10, I don't think you really need to pay the premium for a family tour operator as you won't need childcare. My 10yo picked up skiing a lot quicker than all of us and was far fitter too so we were tired first!

OP - I have PM'd you too.

Avoid the big French resorts as someone else has said - you will be paying a massive premium for a lift pass. The ski amade in Austria has small resorts that are good for beginners - Flachau, Wagrain & Zauchensee. The only thing with Austria next half term is I think their half term clashes with ours so could be busy.