Ideas for a family ski trip in Europe?
 

We're planning a ski trip this winter for our family, when I realized it might be less espensive to Ski Europe over Presidents week than here in the US. Any ideas? Does anyone know of any sources for package information, or for locations with reasonable lift tickets/lodging? We'd be flying from NYC

Thank you!

When is Presidents week? Timing is important, since not all resorts have snow all of the time.

try www.ski-europe.com. Lots of good information, including profiles of many European ski resorts. They also have an online survey to help determine which resorts might be best for your family (i.e, what level of skiers are you? do you want to snowboard as well? take lessons? how much nightlife do you want? do you want a small village atmosphere or someplace larger?)
Also, go to the largest and/or best ski shops in your area and ask to speak to the managers. They usually have contacts with the local ski clubs, many of which run annual trips to Europe. These clubs would welcome your family. (I sold skis and ski equipment outside Philly for a few years and we always knew what the ski clubs were up to.)

Presdients weekend often falls during European school's ski break. Prices really jump then so it may not be cheaper.

Good luck,
Jan

Great idea - even with the currently anemic dollar European skiing can be cheaper than North America. Tulips is correct - choose your resort carefully because the end of March is getting iffy in the lower elevations. We ski Europe every year, usually the first or second week in March, and I never book a resort that isn't going to be snow-sure at that time.

There are three books that will help you pick the right country and resort for you. I think the best is the Reuters Guide, also called "Where to Ski and Snowboard Worldwide" by Gill and Watts. A close second is "The Good Skiing and Snowboarding Guide" by Peter and Felice Hardy. Finally, Charles Leocha's "Ski Europe" provides a different perspective on some areas. Get one or all of those and you'll be able to home in on a couple of areas that will have what you're looking for.

The Ski Club of Great Britain [www.skiclub.co.uk] maintains a great web site that has tons of useful information, including historical snow records by week for all the European resorts.

I live in Switzerland, and last year two friends came here from the US on a package with Adventures on Skis. I used their land-only package. They got great airfares and a good hotel price. I was very happy with them.

Adventure Sport Holidays/ Adventures on Skis
815 North Road Westfield, MA 01085
Tel.:1-800-628-9655 413-568-2855(local)
Fax: 413-562-3621
Email: [email protected] Web: www.advonskis.com

Not sure what FlyFish is referring to, with a weaker dollar, Europe is MORE expensive than it was a few years ago, esp with regard to the Euro and the Swiss Franc. Switzerland is fairly expensive to begin with, and the weak dollar only makes it more so. However, with a good airfare package, it might be competitive with other places. FYI, many Swiss people go to Austria to ski as it is a bit cheaper.

In my experience, European schools have holidays at all various 5times, depending on you?re the country, public versus private, etc. You are bound to run into somebody's vacation, but again, in my experience, the resorts are so large and lift and cable car system is so good that long lines are not really an issue. (Maybe very first thing in the morning when everyone is getting out to the slopes.)

Presidents week is February 19th. Thanks for all thereplies, I'm going to start checking the sources given.

Cicerone - Yes, of course Europe is more expensive these days for those of us starting in the US. What I said, though, is that a ski vacation in Europe can still be cheaper than an equivalent vacation in North America. This is especially true if you're starting from New York, as nina is, and even more so if you target one of the cheaper destinations, such as Austria (as you pointed out) or Italy.

February is when French shools have their skiing holiday (spread out over February), but the main European ski holiday is the week of Feb. 7 next year; the carnival break. You should be ok Feb. 19. And February is usually the best month. We like Megeve, in the French Alps, and have nearly always had good snow that month.