Family of 6 ski trip for under 8K February half term

[Skelligski]

We haven't gone on a ski trip as a family before and I'm just starting to research.

First quote from all inclusive provider came back at £20k which is not doable.

I think we need to go for a less fashionable, less busy location. Ideas? We could also drive instead of fly but I'm wary about doing this if we only have a week in the half term.

Children are aged 8, 10, 13 and 14. The eldest 3 can ski at a basic level, ie: they have been skiing once before each.

Cheapest way is to find areas you like, then book an apartment or house privately ie via air B and B/ booking/ own website. Then add flights and car hire.
You can eat out in the mountains for lunch whilst skiing, and just cook something simple/ bread in evenings or go to a restaurant.

Booking.COM is a good start point to find areas and appropriate prices

My suggestion would be Andorra - cheap and great English speaking ski school.

Thank you, please keep suggestions coming. Amazed that prices practically double for February half term. May be worth skipping a few days' school to save £6k+

Wengen was affordable when I last went. Accommodation was basic though.

All inclusive is always going to cost loads.

Echo a few of the above points. Taking kids out of school, even with the £60 each fine will save you loads. Also slopes will be much quieter which is so much nicer. Consider not doing a whole week. I recently took my daughter (11) for 3 days skiing. She only missed 3 days of school. 3 days skiing was enough for her as she was learning so found it all very tiring.
We booked an apartment for 6 on booking.com for £350. We went to a very small French resort which was accessible by train from Geneva airport meaning our transfer cost was only around £150 for 4 rather than the taxi quotes of £600-£800.
The resort was small but life pass was only about €20 per day for an adult and €10 for kids. There wasn’t really enough skiing for advanced skiers but for beginners/intermediate it was fine.
If you want luxury and a vast ski area then this kind of place wouldn’t suit, but we had a lovely low key self catering ski holiday for about £2k for 4 including hire and lessons, flights, accommodation, transfers, insurance sat-wed.

Another option would be to look at somewhere like Boverets in Bulgaria.

Only a family of 5 but we ski in January to save on inflated half term prices. It's about £6k. Easy jet flights. 3 bed apartment with balconies. Ski school & passes. Hire. We ear on mountain and then simple meal in evening. Usually Austria.

We have stayed a few miles from the slopes in cheap apartments or logos de France type family hotel and driven up each day to the slopes.If not in the resort itself prices are much lower and it has worked very well to give us affordable skiing.

@bluebeach that's an idea. Would you mind sharing the name of the small French resort?

YABU

DIY in an apartment is the way to go, flying to somewhere like Salzburg and then a minibus transfer to resort. Eating on the mountain can cost €15 per person - a sandwich or two and bottle of water in a rucksack costs less than €5, which is a big saving when there are 6 of you. Mountain/apres ski beers and drinks cost €4-€5, supermarket beers or colas cost 60 cents.

Andorra is a good option. Bulgaria and Slovenia in my experience not so good - £500 wasted rather than £500 saved.

And maybe ask for this thread to be moved to the dedicated "Skiing" board on MN

February half term ?

Do you mean next year ?

We went cheap and cheerful to Borovets.

Bansko in Bulgaria. Great skiiing and so cheap.

There’s 4 of us, I think half-term skiing cost us about £2000 this year. We went to Slovenia. Ryanair flights, hired a car, got an Airbnb. Hired ski equipment, some lessons for the kids. We cooked for ourselves but had lunch on the slopes. You can pay £8000 if you want but you don’t have to. Another place we have been that has reasonable prices is Garmisch in Germany.

I used to ski every year with a Christian company called Oakhall and they did some family trips. It is pretty budget in that the breakfast was basic, you made a packed lunch and then the hotel provides a bit meal in the evening. You can go by coach or fly and everything is included. They had evening meetings but not compulsory and some people just found a local bar or sauna or sat and played cards / chatted. I went every year for years and still have good friends I met on those trips.
www.oakhall.co.uk/winter/molltal

Does it have to be catered?

winter.thollonlesmemises-tourisme.com/

We went to Thollen-les-memises. I’d never heard of it Prior to going there so was a bit apprehensive but everyone was very friendly and despite us going at the very end of the season, the pistes were well kept. Again, it’s a small ski area, but for kids gaining confidence it was great. It is a low resort so the ski season is shorter than others, but we went in the last week of their season and slopes were still skiable.

Sorry, I’m repeating myself!

www.whitebeamchalets.co.uk/chalet-prices-paradiski/

This is a lovely chalet, I've been twice and the food was lovely. It's reasonably priced for the quality because it's in a lower village. But the chalet hosts drop and collect you at the slopes each day.

Les arcs is a good resort for beginners as well, lots of nice blue runs.

Avoid Switzerland. Nothing is reasonably priced there.

Most obvious option is to avoid big name resorts. For example, instead of Obergurgl go to Oetz, down the same valley and smaller ski area (Hochoetz) but still fine for learners. You can also drive /bus from there to Soelden and Obergurgl for more runs, and Kuhtai is nearby as well. Everything is cheaper a little down the valley - ski hire, lift passes and eating out for example.

Consider driving to the Alps and/or staying in an apartment rather than a hotel. Flights to Innsbruck in Feb half term for your family would be at least £3k. An apartment gives you better options re food as well.

Look for resorts that have free parking for day visitors if you do drive and other freebies eg heavily discounted or free lift passes for under 12s.

Thanks @bluebeach and thank you all. This is a really helpful start.

Look at the Balkans.

There’s Kapaonik, it’s the largest ski resort in Serbia. Good for beginners and novices. Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro also have ski resorts.

If your dc miss 4.5 days or less you won’t be fined. More than that with 4 dc it would be £480 still a good saving,