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Where to Book Cheap Skiing Holidays in 2024
When it comes to booking a cheap skiing holiday from the UK, British holidaymakers have a ton of options to pick from. That said, following our in-depth research, we came to the realisation that many travel agents and tour operators charge more than others, for exactly the same holiday.
So, if you’re keen on saving a few hundreds of pounds on your next skiing adventure, read this article until the very end. Over the next 10-15 minutes, we’ll share with you:
- The best sites to use for booking package and non-package skiing holidays
- The best skiing destinations for cheap skiing holidays
- Tips for booking a cheap skiing holiday
But before we do that, we want to answer a pretty common question when it comes to making your holiday as cheap as possible; should you book a package holiday or book everything separately?
Booking a Package Holiday vs Booking Everything Separately – Which One is Cheaper?
On one hand, package holidays are super convenient. You pay a set price, and within the price, you’ll get your flights, accommodation, transfer, and any other add-ons that you may have chosen (in-flight meals, private transfer, and so on).
The problem with package holidays is that there is little to no wiggle room with the price. You are pretty much forced to pay the price that the tour operator has set for the holiday parameters that you have chosen. As a result of that, you may be overpaying on flights, hotel, and transfer without knowing.
That’s where booking everything separately, and on your own comes in. You can compare the market as much as you want, do all the necessary calculations, and in the end, book the hotel, accommodation, and transfer that makes the most sense to you financially. In many cases, taking this route will take you quite a bit longer, but you are almost guaranteed to save money.
If saving money was your biggest priority and you don’t mind doing some extra digging on the internet, by all means, booking everything separately will be cheaper nine out of ten times. However, if convenience is important for you and you want everything taken care of even if this means paying a little extra, a package skiing holiday is something you should consider.
Where to Book Cheap Skiing Holidays
Before you start looking at cheap skiing holidays for beginners, you first need to decide whether you want to buy a package holiday or book flights, accommodation, transfer, and so on separately. If you want to browse through skiing package holidays, then we’d recommend that you check out the following sites:
- Expedia
- Skyscanner
- Crystal Ski Holidays
- Skiworld
- Balkan
- Inghams
- Ski Total
- Iglu Ski
On these, you’ll find holidays for virtually any skiing destination that is on the map, including skiing resorts outside of Europe (if you are interested in travelling further). However, if you’re not really a fan of package holidays and want to book your flights and accommodation, you should look at:
- EasyJet (For flights & hotels)
- com (for hotels)
- WizzAir (For flights & hotels)
- RyanAir (For flights & hotels)
Cheap Ski Resorts Worth Looking at & Visiting
Europe has thousands and thousands of miles of slopes. And while most of the high-quality destinations that are worth visiting are fairly pricey, there are some gems all over Europe that you can have a blast at without spending thousands and thousands of pounds. These include:
Bansko, Bulgaria
Nestled in the Pirin Mountains, Bansko is Bulgaria’s most popular skiing destination amongst beginners from Bulgaria and tourists from abroad, and for a good reason. First and foremost, it’s super inexpensive. This goes for accommodation, ski lifts, ski lessons, food, drinks, you name it.
As far as the actual slopes are concerned, there are a total of 75 kilometres (46 miles), 59% of which are beginner-friendly. What’s more is that the season is almost four months long, leaving you with plenty of time to decide when you want to come and have a blast on the snow.
Jasna, Slovakia
Located in the Low Tatras, Jasna is another popular European ski destination that provides its visitors with great slopes and great value for money across the board. The resort is modern, stunning (especially when you’re at the top of the slopes), and is home to a diverse set of slopes. In terms of the actual length of the slopes, there are a total of 44.5 kilometres (27.6 miles) of slopes, 43% of which are beginner-friendly.
Poiană Brașov România
Next up, we have Romania’s Poiană Brașov. Situated in the Carpathian Mountains, Poiană Brașov is one of Romania’s most impressive ski destinations. Like Bulgaria’s Bansko and Slovakia’s Jasna, Poiană Brașov also offers great value for money. The only difference with this resort is that it’s relatively small. There are a total of 13.7 kilometres (6.5 miles) of slopes, 43% of which are beginner-friendly.
Sierra Nevada, Spain
And last but not least, we have Spain’s Sierra Nevada. Sierra Nevada is a mountain range in the Andalucian province of Granada. It’s home to over 113 kilometres (70 miles) of slopes, 46% of which are for beginners. The winter sports area here is situated between the elevations of 2,100m and 3,282, making it amongst the highest ski resorts on this list.
As Sierra Nevada is in Spain, it is slightly more expensive than let’s say Bansko in Bulgaria. However, Spain itself isn’t known for its skiing destinations, so you can still get great value for money by coming here on your next ski adventure.
Tips for Booking a Cheap Skiing Holiday
Looking at deals alone will save you some money. However, there are a few additional steps that you should take to really squeeze the price that you pay for your skiing adventure, all while without making any major compromises that will affect your overall experience in the snow. These include:
Booking Your Skiing Holiday Outside of School Holiday Periods
If you’re travelling with children, you don’t really have much choice but to book during the public school holidays. However, if you are not, you should definitely avoid travelling during the public school holidays in the UK.
During this time, the demand for holidays sky-rockets, and as a result, so do the prices of flights and accommodation. Choosing to go on holiday when the kids are in school is a fantastic way to save a few hundred pounds on your skiing adventure.
Booking Your Skiing Holiday for Mid-Week
Another fantastic way to quickly and easily save money is to book your skiing holiday for mid-week. If you’re only travelling for a few days, Monday to Thursday is perfect. During this time, both flights and accommodation are cheaper (sometimes by 30-50%). If you plan on going skiing for a week, rather than flying on Saturday. Fly on Monday or Tuesday, as flight prices during those two days are almost guaranteed to be lower.
Consider Self-Catering
Going self-catering rather than half board or all inclusive is one of the easiest ways to save hundreds of pounds on your skiing holiday. The large majority of skiing resorts are home to dozens of restaurants, cafes, and bars, so don’t worry, you won’t go hungry. This way, you’ll not only get to try a variety of different restaurants and cuisines, but you’ll also save money as you’ll have total control over your food budget.
Research Local Transport Options
When booking a holiday through a tour operator such as TUI’s Crystal Ski, unless it’s included in the price, you’ll have an option to pay extra for a transfer. We strongly advise against doing that as tour operators profit massively from such addons. Instead, look at local transport options, which are often significantly cheaper.
Compare Prices Thoroughly
Don’t settle for the first skiing holiday that you come across. As we’ve mentioned already, there is a strong chance that you can find the exact same holiday from a different travel agent at a lower price. So, whatever you do, always compare prices thoroughly before you book your ski holiday.
Look for Last Minute Deals
One of the best ways to get your hands on affordable skiing holidays is to look for last minute deals. These are holidays that are due to happen within a few days or weeks and because they haven’t sold, the tour operator wants to sell them, even if that means making a little less money.
The only downside to last minute deals is that you’ll go on holiday on a short notice, which might not be ideal for families with children that like to plan their holidays a bit more in advance.
Conclusion
When looking for cheap skiing holidays, the internet is your best friend. Whether you’re after a package skiing holiday or you want to book everything separately, use the sites that we recommended above.
Through them, you can compare prices of hotels, accommodation, transfers, and other aspects of your holiday. That way, you can ensure that you pay as little as possible for your skiing adventure and be able to allocate even more spending money for the trip.
When you have a larger budget you can consider hitting the slopes in Italy or Switzerland both bucket list destinations for many skiers.