A family ski holiday has never been cheap, but ever-rising costs have had a significant impact on families wanting to hit the slopes in recent years.
According to research from the Mountain Trade Network (MTN) in Oct 2025, increased accommodation prices and airfares, not to mention the cost of living crisis at home, have dramatically affected family ski trips.
“What we’re seeing is families who used to take two or more ski holidays a year now only taking one,” says James Gambrill, the founder of MTN. “So while families are still the largest cohort of the market at 60 per cent, this number has decreased from 68 per cent over the last two years.”
There’s no denying that ski holidays come with some unavoidable cost – lift passes are essential once you’ve mastered snowplough – but there are ways you can save money, whether that’s driving to the mountains instead of flying or renting kit rather than buying new.
If you’re planning for the season ahead, here are our top tips to save money, including alternative resorts to consider and why it pays to book early.
1. Pick the right resort
If you’re still finding your ski legs, forget big-name Alpine resorts and head somewhere less well-known.
France’s Haute Maurienne-Vanoise offers six-day ski passes from €181/€148 per adult/child, which gives you access to six resorts and 350km of slopes.
An equivalent pass in a mega ski area like Les Portes du Soleil (including resorts such as Morzine, Avoriaz and Les Gets) costs from €345/€259 per adult/child.
If you do want to tackle a big resort, you can save money by staying in a satellite village.
For example, La Tania, with a car-free centre and dedicated nursery skiing area, provides an affordable back door into Les 3 Vallées while the Austrian resort of Stuben provides easy access to the vast Ski Arlberg domain (covering St Anton and Lech) and has a dedicated beginner’s slope in the resort.
With over 200 ski days a year, Ruka in Finland is good for beginner families with the added benefit of reindeer safaris to enjoy after a day on the slopes. Crystal Ski Holidays offers seven nights in a self-catering apartment from £561pp.
2. Choose Easter over February half term
All skiers know that New Year and February half term can be eye-wateringly expensive. Choose Easter instead and enjoy cheaper flights, accommodation and lift passes, as well as shorter lift queues.
“Easter is a great time to ski as a young family,” says Phil Wright, Iglu’s head of sales and service. “The air temperature is a bit warmer so no biting cold, and resorts tend to get lots of fresh snow around this time too.”
3. Rent your kit
If you don’t have friends to lend you salopettes, consider renting instead, especially when children are still growing. Sustainable skiwear rental service EcoSki offers junior bundles from £75 per week. Peer-to-peer marketplace WhoSki is another good option.
Booking your skis and boots in advance via Intersport or Skiset can save you up to 50 per cent.
4. Forget flying
Not only is driving greener than flying, but it’s typically cheaper – and you don’t have to navigate airports with kids in tow.
Go electric and you can save even more: we drove from London to Morzine as a family for £72 after signing up with Ionity. Ski packages booked with Peak Retreats include a return EuroTunnel crossing.
If you don’t feel comfortable navigating winter mountain roads, then go by train, which is an easy and fun way to travel with children.
Daniel Elkan of SnowCarbon recommends using a rail-booking expert such as Railtrail or Trainseurope to find the best options at the best prices.
Train travel can save you money in resorts too; the Morzine-based chalet company Alikats offers discounts of up to 20 per cent for guests who travel by train. Saint-Gervais-les-Bains also rewards train travellers, offering 10 per cent discounts on one-day ski passes.
5. Consider child care options
If you can’t persuade grandparents to babysit, look at operators such as the Family Ski Company, who offer fully catered chalet holidays with qualified British childcare staff.
VIP Ski has a range of childcare options, including their Bear Cubs and Polar Bears, with a five-day package starting at around £300 for kids aged four months to 12 years old.
In Vaujany, France parents can take advantage of the local daycare centre that accepts children from six months to four years. A six-day package costs €214.15.
6. Find family-friendly après-ski
In France, the Famille Plus label marks resorts including Arc 1950 and Les Menuires as particularly good for kids.
Both deliver free family activities during the school holidays.
Family-friendly Swiss resorts such as Nendaz and Wengen offer free kids’ areas for children to learn the basics, and both Austria and Italy have plenty of family-approved resorts, including Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis in Austria and Alta Badia in Italy.
Further afield in Canada, Big White and Sun Peaks in British Columbia are known for their family activities, including tubing parks and giant ice rinks.
7. Pack a picnic
Buying lunch up the mountain can be extortionate, particularly with hungry kids in tow. Forget €25 slopeside burgers and pack a picnic instead.
Some resorts, such as Stöten in Sweden and Serre Chevalier in France, have outdoor grill areas for a lunchtime DIY barbecue.
8. Take advantage of free lift passes for kids
Lots of ski resorts offer free ski passes for younger children, which can save around £222 per child, according to research by Iglu Ski.
In France, kids ski free up to the age of eight and in Italy the cut off age is nine, but in the Stubai Glacier in Austria, the age limit is 10. Across the pond in Steamboat, Colorado, lift passes are free for children under 12.
During FamilySkiWeeks in the SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser – Brixental, kids can ski free until the age of 15 and in Switzerland’s Jungfrau region, up to three children (six to 15 years) can ski for free on Saturdays when accompanied by a full-paying adult.
And in Sainte Foy, in France’s Tarentaise Valley, dynamic pricing rewards those who book early and ski at non-peak times.
9. Don’t scrimp on ski lessons
Trying to save money by teaching your kids to ski is a recipe for disaster. Group lessons are cheaper than private ones, but if you are travelling with friends then it may be more economical to hire an instructor and split the cost.
10. Bring friends
“If you’re looking to keep the price per person down, think about holidaying with another family or friends, or your extended family,” said Chris Thompson, the director of chalet rental specialist OVO Network.
The Chalet Lydie in Manigod, part of the OVO Network of chalets, has seven nights rental in Jan 2026 at €1,990 for up to eight guests and it comes with child-friendly facilities.
11. Save money on accommodation
Data from MTN shows that the number of families staying in four-star hotels has dropped dramatically from 39 per cent in 2023/2024 to 28 per cent last season.
Self-catering is one option, but if you don’t want to cook, the good news is that catered chalets are back. Ski Weekends have new catered chalets in Val d’Isère with prices starting from £565pp for three nights, including transfers from Geneva Airport.
If you prefer a hotel experience, save money by going all-inclusive. Research by Iglu Ski suggests you can save £500pp by booking all-inclusive over half-board.
12. Look for deals
Early bird discounts and instalment plans can help to spread the cost of the trip; Heidi allows customers to pay as little as £99pp as a deposit.
Peak Retreats also has a range of early booking offers that could save a family up to £650 on their holiday. Most resorts offer discounts on ski passes if booked before a certain date.
13. Use technology
The Heidi app uses clever technology to help families find good deals in more than 350 resorts across Europe.
It matches accommodation choices with the best flight options and airport transfers for your chosen dates, and allows families to filter by criteria like price and proximity to the slopes.
About the expert
Katja Gaskell learned to ski soon after she learned to walk and has been lucky enough to ski in resorts around the world. A mum of three, she loves nothing better than a family ski holiday.