How to do an affordable weekend ski journey – what I’ve learnt from 20 years of escaping to the mountains

Europe’s mountains can be a cruel blessing for British skiers and snowboarders.

Tantalising close, yet just too far to get to for a day, the Alps and their cousins tease those of us for whom one week a year on the mountain is never enough.

If you’ve arrived back home from a ski or snowboard holiday feeling a bittersweet combination of satisfied bliss and sadness that you don’t live somewhere within striking distance of the slopes, then you’ll know what I mean.

And right now, the Winter Olympics have put fresh snow, blue skies and towering peaks on our television screens to ramp up those feelings of missing out.

In the absence of unlimited time off from my job over winter, I long ago decided the way to remedy this mountain malaise was to embrace the joy of a long weekend skiing – or in my case snowboarding.

To the uninitiated, going skiing for the weekend may sound like a frivolously expensive indulgence, but for those who know how to do it, escaping to the mountains can be made surprisingly affordable.

I’m not going to pretend that skiing and snowboarding is cheap. It’s an inherently more expensive hobby than most. But by adopting the tricks of the committed frugal skier’s trade, you can get the cost down to levels that compare favourably with a city break.

I’ve done snowboard weekends each year since I started work in my early 20s – dating back to a time when I had a much lower disposable income. Even now with more money in my pocket, I still try to keep the budget to a minimum where possible.

Often that’s to bag a trip cheap enough to justify another weekend away. But my wife and I also do an annual trip when getting the cost of flights, car hire and other elements down means I can invest the money saved into treating us to a few nights in a nice hotel.

Over the past few decades, I’ve done ski trips by planes, trains and automobiles, staying in resorts, valley towns and even cities, in European countries ranging from France, to Italy, Austria, and Slovenia.

So, with the Winter Olympics inevitably sparking more interest in a trip to the mountains, I thought I’d distil some of the things I’ve learned over nearly 30 years.

These are my tips to make a ski weekend, or short trip to the mountains, as affordable as possible, or make the most of the money you’re spending.

And remember, if you can bag three days on the mountain, that’s half the total time most people spent skiing in a week away. If you can squeeze in two of those trips a year, it’s the equivalent of a whole extra week away.

Carpe skiem.

Time your ski trip right

The bad news is that the best month for a great value ski break has finished, although it’s never too early to think about next year.

Once new year is out of the way, January is an ideal time to get away for a long weekend, taking advantage of this quiet and cheap period to bag good deals on hotels, flights, apartments etc. In some cases, hotels and apartments that would usually require a week’s stay, will accept a short break. The cold month of January also usually delivers great snow – often with plenty of fresh powder – and relatively empty slopes.

The lull continues into the first week of February and then it all kicks off, as the Alps, Pyrenees and Dolomites are thrust into the full-on madness of Europe’s February half-terms. This is the most expensive and busiest time to go skiing. It’s not a good month for a weekend away and certainly not a great value one.

But the good news is that March and April are around the corner and both fantastic months for a skiing.

March often has some of the winter’s best snow conditions, with the base well established and some big dumps of fresh powder highly likely. The first few weeks of March offer relatively empty pistes, keen accommodation prices, and cheap flights.

As March moves towards April, temperatures warm up slightly and the evenings get longer. While there may be some slush around, spring skiing can be some of the most enjoyable you will have.

Don’t dismiss going late in the season. Wait until the Easter crowds are gone, and it can be phenomenally good value. This is a month that often brings big dumps of fresh snow. 

Depending on altitude, most resorts close in mid to late April and this can be a lovely time to be in the mountains. Last lifts and final runs on a mountain aglow on a late sunny afternoon are one of life’s great pleasures.

Best value countries for skiing

In terms of countries and value for money in the Alps, Italy is the cheapest place to be – it’s a real pleasure not worrying about the cost of lunch or dinner. 

Austria is also great value and if you feel like splashing out does affordable luxury very well. 

France is great for cheap self-catering and hotels but more expensive for eating out, particularly on the mountain. 

Switzerland is lovely but painfully expensive and I don’t think could ever be described as good value for Britons.

Don’t dismiss the Pyrenees, Spain’s Sierra Nevada, the Italian Dolomites, or Eastern Europe, such as Poland, Bulgaria and Slovenia – all can be fantastic and potentially cheaper than the Alps.

Norway and Scandinavia are an interesting option and achievable. Prices are equivalent to the French Alps, or a bit higher, but you seem to get better quality for your money – just close your eyes at the price tag if you buy a bottle of wine.

I’ve made the trip to Scotland before, but the past decade of climate change hasn’t been kind to it having any form of consistent ski season. Albeit this year is the best they’ve had in ages. If you are in the North it’s driveable, but I live in the South and getting to Europe works out easier and cheaper.

DIY ski weekend tips

I’ve always found the best value snowboard weekends come from taking a DIY approach. You need to do the legwork, putting together flights, car hire or transfers, tracking down somewhere to stay and organising everything else, but you can ensure you are getting everything at the keenest price possible.

Flights

To bag the best value flights, use a flight comparison engine, such as Skyscanner, to help you run the rule over all your options but check the airline’s sites themselves too.

Consider flying with different airlines for the outward and return legs and check for flights to major airports, rather than those popular for ski destinations. Flights to Munich, Zurich or Milan, for example, can be far cheaper and more plentiful than those to Innsbruck, Grenoble or even Geneva.

Make sure you include the cost of ski or snowboard carriage if needed. Some airlines charge hefty fees for this, such as easyJet and Ryanair, while others such as BA, Swiss and Lufthansa may fly it for free or count it as a normal 23kg checked bag, depending on your fare. It can be swings and roundabouts on which option works out cheapest, be open-minded and do the maths.

You may need less luggage than you think – if you’re on the slopes all day, there’s not that much opportunity for wearing other outfits. I’ve got Cabin Max soft rucksack bags that are the exact size for easyJet and Ryanair’s free hand baggage and you can fit a surprising amount in them.

Car hire and transfers

Hiring a car and driving yourself is more hassle than a transfer by minibus or taxi but usually much cheaper. Flying to a major airport can make car hire much cheaper, due to plentiful supply. Use car hire comparison sites, such as Holiday Autos, Rental Cars and Discover Cars (which I have recently found very competitive).

For organised transfers, make sure you compare prices, which will usually require some work on a search engine and then some online forms or emails. Check potential pick-up and drop-off timings carefully. If you need help finding a transfer firm, local hotels or independent chalets can often point you in the right direction.

If you’ve got the time, consider the train too. Going by rail all the way from the UK to the mountains is a great way to travel, especially if you can do an overnight sleeper service, but the Eurostar element often makes it expensive. You can do a train for some transfers though. I’ve done St Anton, in Austria, to Zurich before, and train travel out of Geneva, Munich and Innsbruck to the mountains is also cheap and easy.

Hotels and apartments

The cheapest accommodation option is likely to be a self-catering apartment, which can also save on meals and evening drinks, but you can get some great hotel deals too.

For apartments, Airbnb is many people’s go-to place, but places can be cheaper on Vrbo or other rivals due to lower fees. Booking.com is good for researching apartments and hotels – and sometimes pricing is cheaper if you book on mobile or app rather than desktop.

Consider going direct to hotels if you can, as they may be able to match prices or offer some form of improved deal.

You could also check local estate agencies that offer holiday rentals, as this can remove an entire layer of platform booking fees. Just make sure you are dealing with a reputable and genuine firm – and book by credit card for Section 75 protection if you can.

Individual local tourist office websites can be a great source of apartments and hotels – and some offer their own booking platforms. Austrian local area websites are often very good for this and can have excellent independent B&B options.

Don’t dismiss a ski package trip

Long weekend trips are now offered by a selection of ski package holiday companies.

The best that I’ve found is fast-growing ski package firm Heidi. Customisable holidays are a cornerstone of its offering – and it has lots of ski weekend options. Founded by two skiing-mad brothers, Alexander and Marcus Blunt, Heidi’s technology can build a package trip to 360 destinations to your specifications, changing durations, accommodation, airports and flight times.

Heidi has flexible weekend date filters, lets you pick resorts with short airport transfer times, and has a live snow score – which can sift out the places with the best conditions, showing snow depth, lift and run status and how suitable slopes are for beginner, intermediate and advanced skiers and snowboarders.

Heidi is also strong on trips to Norway and Scandinavia, which are entirely possible for a long weekend.

A package holiday comes with the bonus of ATOL protection and other sites that stand out for weekend ski breaks are Sunweb, Erna Low, Crystal and Ski Weekends.

Pick a lesser-known ski resort

Obviously the glitzier and more celebrated a resort, the more expensive your trip is likely to be.

There’s no denying the allure of somewhere like the Three Valleys (home to Meribel, Courchevel and Val Thorens) or the Arlberg (home to St Anton, Lech and Zurs), but in the era of the European mega-resort you can sometimes feel like you spend most of your day trying to get somewhere rather than savouring great runs.

Picking a more compact or less well-known resort can save on accommodation and ski pass prices – and get you emptier slopes.

Smaller resorts can be immense fun and even for experienced skiers and snowboarders there’s a real joy in finding a good run and lapping it on empty slopes and queue-free lifts. Meanwhile, they can be a better option for beginners and intermediates than a sprawling mega-resort.

Norway can be a good option for this. Ski areas are smaller, but the skiing is still high quality, the atmosphere is great and it is very family friendly. I enjoyed a good trip to Norefjell with my daughter last February.

If you do want a big area, it’s possible to pick those that aren’t considered top tier and so offer much better value.

For example, France’s Serre Chevalier has 250km of slopes spread across four seamlessly linked resort areas, while Austria’s SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser in the Tyrol has 275 kilometres of run. Both offer fantastic piste and off-piste skiing and plentiful places to stay.

Possibly the best value in terms of area vs cost is Italy’s Via Lattea, aka the Milky Way, where Sauze D’Oulx, Sestriere, Claviere and Sansicario combine for more than 400km of slopes.

Stay in the valley or the city

Stay down the valley a bit and drive or get a bus up to a resort each day and you can make things far more affordable. And many of these towns and villages have a real charm to them.

We did this recently as a family in the French town of Thones, between Annecy and La Clusaz. By staying there in a £500 rented apartment, we could afford to do a four-day new year ski trip that would have been prohibitively expensive in resort. We drove up to La Clusaz, Manigod and Grand Bornand in about 20 minutes for our days on the mountain.

I’ve also stayed a number of times in the Aosta valley, where there are lots of resorts to pick from to drive to each day. You can stay in one of the small towns or villages in the valley, or an enjoyable place to spend a weekend is in Aosta itself.

It’s considered a city, but Aosta is compact with just under 35,000 residents. Dating back to 25 BC, it has a beautiful central old town, Roman ruins, and a buzzy atmosphere thanks to its university. The trump card though is the cable car that whizzes you from Aosta’s 570m elevation to an underrated gem of a resort, Pila, at 1,800m. Pila combines flowing tree-lined slopes with wide, open runs higher up and has spent the past couple of years upgrading its lifts. 

A three-day weekend trip to Aosta with friends, flying into Milan and hiring a car, came in at under £400 all-in, including ski pass and spending money a couple of years ago.

Over the border in France, Briancon offers a similar opportunity, with its lifts into the Serre Chevalier area, and you can ski back to the bottom station.

An unusual option for a ski weekend is to stay in a city. This is a best of both worlds option to combine skiing with a city break, particularly for couples, families or groups where there is an uneven appetite for time spent on the mountain.

One interesting choice is Slovenia’s Ljubljana, getting the bus out to the small nearby resort of Kravec and the larger Kranjska Gora, an hour away. You can also stay in Austria’s Salzburg and use its SuperSkiCard to pick from an astonishing 88 ski resorts, ranging from local small areas to huge ones further away.

But the king of the city ski break is Austria’s Innsbruck. This charming capital of the Tirol region is steeped in history, has a beautiful old town and is surrounded by a selection of resorts. These include the small area of Nordkette, overlooking the city and reached on a funicular from the centre. Innsbruck’s Ski plus City pass gives access to 12 ski resorts, with easy bus travel to them, plus a wide range of attractions. Read my review of a ski and city break in Innbsruck.

Final thoughts on best value ski trips

The tips above are aimed at those wanting to escape for a ski weekend and get the best value for money, whether that’s doing it on a shoestring, or spending more and getting the most bang for your buck.

Obviously, this works best if you can avoid the school holidays – particularly February half-term – so I’ve written this for those not needing to take school-age children with them.

However, it is possible to do these breaks with kids – and I have done some of them with mine. The key to making that work is booking early – or last minute – and picking cheaper holiday times, for example, earlier in the Christmas break, or going in the Easter holidays.

School inset days either side of a weekend – especially if you are lucky enough to get one in January or March – can provide a golden opportunity. Meanwhile, flying on unpopular days is often a real money saver, such as Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve and Day, plus avoiding Saturday and Sunday end of holiday return flights.

This is an article aimed at ski weekends, but most of the tips will also work for securing a good value week away in the mountains.

And finally, share your thoughts and give us your recommendations in reader comments below.