Where would go with this group? Norway?

[RugglesB]

I want easy. I want long fun blue runs. Lots for kids and I don't want to cook. Kids aged 20, 16, 11, 6. I'm guessing we need to go feb half term to guarantee snow? How much of a budget do you think I need? Sorry completely clueless and new to skiing in Europe.

If we are talking about Scandinavia:
Norway is lovely, but VERY expensive.
Sweden is cheaper, but most people would say that Norway has better mountains.

I'd recommend Flaine, in the French Alps. Fly in to Geneva, then ski transfer up the mountains!
‘Les Cascades’ is a blue run that goes from the top of the mountain (with a lovely view of mont blanc), and in good snow, heads all the way down to the pretty village of Sixt. (Worse snow, the shorter is becomes, obviously!). Really nice resort for beginner-intermediate stuff.
Whenever I’ve been out in half term, the snows always been excellent, although the resort itself can get hugely busy if the UK half term coincides with the French one!
Only thing would be accommodation, I think it’s mainly self-catered places, though there are a few hotels in the town.

In terms of costs, the transfer is about… 400 euro for an 8 seater mini bus, less on the big coach. Ski hire, anywhere between 130-300 euro, dependent on ski level.
Lift pass is, from memory, 350 euro per adult? To include Flaine, and the surrounding villages and towns (le Carroz, sixt etc).
Accommodation, honestly, I’m not sure. Movable feast I fear!

I head out here a lot, as I get older, heaving down terrifying runs loses it’s appeal, and it's got a good selection of blues and wide reds.

Feb half term I would do the alps not Scandinavia

I probably wouldn't say Norway for what you're looking for. Eating out is quite expensive so we usually cook in the accommodation. I have also found that there isn't a lot of intermediate stuff - the tops of the mountains are very steep and the bottoms are very gentle, so everything is basically either red or green (that's my experience anyway).

You could look at the 3 valleys. A lot of the towns/villages have really good facilities, Les Menuires, Val thorens and Courchevel all have good swimming pool complexes, Courchevel has an ice rink as does Meribel, Courchevel also has ten pin bowling alley. Val Thorens offers things like ice driving, so lots to do in the evening. As for the skiing, there's is such a huge ski area, with so much variety that should keep even the best skiiers entertained for a week. Feb half term is very busy and expensive, Easter in 2024 is really early, Easter Sunday is 31st March I think, so that might be worth considering. Val Thorens is high so late skiing wouldn't be a problem.

@SJW58 Val Thorens at Easter actually sounds like a great idea! Where would you or anyone else recommend we stay?

I haven’t been to Val Thorens since uni days when 4 of us crammed into a tiny apartment. From what I remember there is a good selection of hotel options there though. If you want more of a chalet experience you could look at Reberty and Les bruyeres down the valley a bit towards Les Menuires. I think Reberty sits at 2000m so still high enough for later skiing.

For a first skiing holiday in Europe go to Austria or Italy. Look at the package deals on offer from Crystal or Inghams - and come back here if you have any questions.

As for budget, I just looked at a holiday with Crystal to a reasonably big resort in Austria, staying half-board (breakfast and evening meal) including flights and with transfers to and from the airport included. I'm assuming that there are six of you - 2 parents, 1 adult (the 20-year-old) and 3 children. I've looked at w/c 10th Feb. as I assume that the children are tied to half-term - other weeks would be less expensive.

A perfectly acceptable 3* hotel was a total of £8,698 (£1,450 p.p on average).
A better, 4* hotel £10,260 (£1,710 p.p). A really good 4-star £12,140 (£2,024 p.p).

To this you need to add (approx prices):
Ski & boot rental - €100 pp
Lift passes - €350 for adults, €175 for children
Ski school - €250 p.p for group lessons for a week - €180 per lesson for private lessons.
Lunch & drink on the mountain - €20 pp per day
Beer, cola, gluhwein, prosecco etc in the afternoon after skiing - €5-€7 per drink.

Easter is early in 2024 - w/c 23/3 or 30/3 would both be good weeks to ski as most resorts will still have good snow conditions. Again, ask on here about specific resorts.

We had better snow in the Belleville valley first week of April last year than at half term. VT has loads of great apartments, Oxalys, Kashmir are two of the better ones. Think your teens would love the Folie Douce!