Cheap(er) Skiing in Feb Half Term?

Dusty_Moth

I suspect that the answer to my question here is probably a big fat “no” but I thought I’d pick your brains here in case anyone has any bright ideas!

My other half has said to the kids (12 and 13, so counting as adults, eek!) that we will take them skiing in February half term. I’ve done a bit of searching and my goodness, it’s expensive. I have been saving my pennies away for this holiday like a good MSEr but the best I’ve managed to find for the week, including ski hire/lift passes/lessons (they are newbies) etc. is about £5500; though this does include our food and drink (a catered chalet). This is more than I can conscience, I think, for a not particularly swanky weeks holiday.

To add to the complexity I’ve got a bit of a mobility issue and some other health problems, so I’d quite like to be near some things rather than somewhere far away from everything as otherwise it’s going to be a very dull, very lonely holiday for me!

If I could switch weeks away from the 19th Feb I’d be away as I can find some good deals off peak, but there’s no flexibility there.

Has anyone got any bright ideas at all – is it even possible to do this, or am I going to have to get my other half to swallow his pride and disappoint the kids, who are very excited?

CountryGoose

Don't know where live, but consider flying into Munich on the 20th (quieter) and out on the 27th. kayak.co.uk for flight prices.

The look for hotels in Austria - only an hour or so from Munich.

Arrange your own transfers or hire a car.

Flights should be had for around £700.

Hotel for around £150/night = £1000

Lessons/Passes/Etc = £500

Transfers/Car = £300

Should be around £2500 on a DIY basis. Need to add food, etc.

poe.tuesday

you can go to lapland for 4 of you for about £2500 each self catering (look at the inghams website) you can also book the learn to ski package with them which is under £200 each (this will give them everything they need) and if your OH already skiies then the lift passes are reasonable etc - the added advantage to lapland is that there are loads of other things you can do including husky and reindeer trips, of which you can go on too I hope?

if you don't fancy self catering then you can have full board options at the hotels etc

if you do a dummy booking on the inghams site including all the trips, lessons etc I am sure that you will find that it is cheaper than the £5500 you have been quoted plus you get all the trips too

given your situation I thing you should look at resorts such as ruka, levi and saariselka

hazelrichardson

I'm going to Austria at Christmas so the costs should be fairly similar.

My flights were £115 each, rented house is £150 each, transfers £50 each. We are self catering (which will be the cheapest option but I know doesn't suit everyone) so food will be about £50 each for the week.

Lift passes are around £180 and ski lessons for my daughter are £200 but this also includes lunch. Ski hire will be about £50.

This would give a total cost for your party of about £4000. Our house is expensive though as it sleeps 10.

I could recommend that you try Bulgaria. Lift passes are only about £90, lessons for a week are around £50. I went a couple of years ago at Christmas and got half board for £199 each. That would make the cost for all of you around £2000. I would suggest that Bansko is the best resort for your needs.

Andorra is also quite cheap to go to but I'm not sure what other activities are available.

You just need to play around with the options but remember that as beginners you won't need a large ski area as you will mainly be on the nursery slopes.

Don't forget to add in the cost of all the clothing you are going to need. I would suggest borrowing or getting second hand in case you all hate it.

Are you unable to ski? Most lessons will be around 9.30-3 with a break for lunch so you might be spending each day without the family.

Good luck, there are plenty of cheaper options around. Let me know if you want any help.

poe.tuesday

if you go to levi in lapland for the feb half term for 4 of you

for £4168 you will get
Levilehto self catering cabin
flights
transfers
2 x learn to ski packages (5 days with lift pass, boots, skies and lessons)
1 x lift pass for your OH for the week
1 x boot and ski hire for your OH for the week
4 x super reindeer safari
4 x super husky safari
4 x snowmobile trip

for £5544 you can get
Polar Star catered challet
flights
transfers
2 x learn to ski packages (5 days with lift pass, boots, skies and lessons)
1 x lift pass for your OH for the week
1 x boot and ski hire for your OH for the week
4 x super reindeer safari
4 x super husky safari
4 x snowmobile trip

for your info - the lift pass and boot/ski hire for your OH works out at £5 more than the learn to ski package which maybe a better option

for the money that you have been quoted before you can see how much more you will get for your money and if you don't want to spend that amount then you can get the self catering cabin with flights and transfers for £2725 for the week and the learn to ski packages are £199 each

hope this helps

poe.tuesday

another thought - we did a ski holiday last feb half term and it was about £1000 for the 4 of us, but this does mean you have to drive

we stayed one night in calais on the way there and on the way back so to break up the journey, we drove all the way to the alps and stayed here http://www.chalet-montagne.com/frame_site_perso.php?url=http://www.greniers-mont-blanc.com&IDLOU=55 which is in a small town - the ski resort we used is called passy and it is very small - we did go to other resorts but they were jammed packed full of people - no fun at all - if you fancy this place then you will need to book your ski lessons for the children in advance

with the boat, the petrol, accommodation enroute, the cabin and toll roads it cost us about £1000 - it was a great holiday and cheap but you do have to have a car - we did look at flights and they were all over £250 each plus we would have to get transfers so it ment our cheap holiday turned into an expensive one even though what we were getting was not chic etc

Dusty_Moth

Thank you all for your really helpful responses - I've been investigating all sorts of places but hadn't tried lapland - I shall give it all another go. My OH can ski really well and on a good day I can master beginners slopes, but there's no telling if it will be a week of good days, bad days or a mixture!

Thanks again x

leanne-bansko

Dusty...come to Bansko Bulgaria to ski...its not expensive...i could get the 4 of you ski passes,lessons,apartment,ski hire,transfer for 1 week for less than £2000...no problem...all you would need to do is book your flights is book your flights well in advance to get the best price....also remember its very cheap to eat & drink in restaurants in Bansko aswell....