Best time of year to go on a European ski holiday?

[turtledovelove]

Just that really. What time of year do people prefer when booking a family ski holiday? And more specifically when do you consider the 'cheapest' time of year to go?

I appreciate that the cheapest and the best snow conditions may not coincide. Interested to hear others experience.

Instead of a summer holiday next year we are tentatively considering forgoing that for a ski holiday end of 2023/into 2024 season.

Cheapest is early/mid January. Just before Easter often works well , if term allows, although you need to go high and glacial to be snowsure.

We tend to go at Christmas (although we actually return Christmas Eve this year). You need to go high/glacier though. February tend to be too expensive. Easter can be variable.

Depends on age of children and whether they would cope with cold/dark well. Our kids are primary aged so we go at Easter to get the sun and not be freezing on the higher slopes.

Cheapest week at the end of 2023 will be w/c 16th December (but this might not work for most families with school aged children). W/c 23rd December will be more expensive than the previous week, but Europeans tend to stay at home for Christmas so there may be some good deals around for that week as well (but it means spending Christmas away from home). The most expensive week will be w/c 30th December.

After that, early January and from mid-March onwards are the least expensive weeks. Easter 2024 falls at the end of March, which is relatively early and still a good time to ski in most of the bigger resorts in France or Austria.

Thank you for your responses - they are very much appreciated.

Once upon a time in a former life (my younger years) I spent a few seasons living and working in the French Alps! So I felt a bit silly asking. However it's a whole different ballgame booking a family holiday with kids of varying ages. Not to mention the expense of such a holiday.

We always go to the alps Feb HT as it’s the most snow sure mid season. That’s the most expensive week of the season though. Cheapest will probably be January but obviously that’s no good if you need school holidays. We often do Colorado during the Christmas holidays too but I wouldn’t consider Europe at that time.