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Half Term’s one of the most popular weeks to ski: February snow’s usually the best in the season, and there’s one week to make the most of it.
For parents with tots in tow and teachers after an escape to the mountains, these are our favourite resorts of all time for a cracking half term on the hill.
Top 10 Half Term Ski Resorts
The atmosphere’s electric in Meribel at half term - and when you’re in a resort that was Brit founded, is largely Brit run and gets a lot of visits from our side of the channel, it feels a bit like coming home. If only all homes had this kind of neighbourhood: Meri’s in the middle of the 3 Valleys ski area, which is actually the world’s biggest at a whopping 600km. You’ll struggle to find anyone who’s left out here, with awesome terrain for skiers, snowboarders, freestylers and freeriders… Most importantly families will have a ball, with all kinds of things to ski, see and do together. On the slopes, pistes with animal, yeti and dragon themes will drive their imaginations wild, while the indoor picnic area at the Saulire Express station is spot on for lunches. Look out for special events during the school holidays, like kid’s evenings, torchlight descents, ski shows, fireworks and face painting. Teens and adults will love it here too – not least the feel-good après at Ronnie and Folie.
Under an hour and a half from Turin Airport, trips to Sestriere let you really make the most of the precious week off. With Italian schools not having a February half term holiday, this corner of the Alps tends to be quieter than other parts – meaning less time queuing and more time skiing. Which is handy when there’s such a fine collection of slopes to explore, whether you’re sticking to the local (and most snow sure) area, or venturing across the 400km of the ginormous Milky Way. But time isn’t the only thing you’re saving over here… Even if this isn’t your first week of skiing, it’s well worth booking lessons as prices are so reasonable (we’re talking half what you’d pay in France). Bargains extend to food too (€6 a pizza in Stagioni), so high season skiing doesn’t have to cost mountains.
The thing about Flaine is that it’s so darn convenient: The journey here’s a breeze whether you’re flying or driving (a canny option if flights sell like hotcakes in high season). And getting around resort is just as nifty, with most of the place having doorstep skiing. There’s no catch when it comes to the ski area – it gets oodles of snow thanks to the nearness of Mt Blanc, and the Grand Massif makes up France’s 5th largest collection of slopes (long ones, cruisey ones, steep ones, powdery ones…). Tots will go wild for the fun zones – Ze Balaken and Ze Forest – which cram in exciting themes and obstacles along the way. While the Cascades run is another brilliant one to do together, totalling 14km of beautiful blue-run skiing. Look out for special events in resort: They often hold a Carnival at this time of year with performance artists and light shows bringing a real buzz to the place.
Soll achieves a brilliant balance between incredible offerings for sprogs and good old Austrian après – making it work for school holiday skiing whether you’re a young family or group of grownups. As well as being a short drive from Innsbruck airport, it’s slap bang in the centre of the mighty SkiWelt – Austria’s biggest linked ski area with 280km of pistes and three snow parks. You’ll find all manner of runs, forming more than a weeks’ worth of skiing and boarding for both newbies and seasoned snow lovers. Later on, take your pick from the country’s most extensive night skiing and tobogganing area, the wild parties in Whisky Mühle – or just exploring the gorgeous old village which feels worlds away from the classroom.
Toddlers, teens, teachers – Morzine’s a winner for all sorts of half term trips. The provisions for its youngest visitors are terrific: A lot of chalets and hotels have in-house childcare, and there’s also L'Outa Nursery if they need looking after while you’re on the mountain. You’ll find a massive range of group and private lessons (BASS and TSI are two brilliant British ski schools), and the beginner slopes are terrific. Teens aren’t forgotten, with things like discos, paintballing and yoonering put on especially for the school holidays. And there’s no end of things to enjoy together, like scavenger hunts on the slopes and Tipi evenings, where you sledge to your supper. Adults will have just as much fun as the youngsters – with the socking great 650km of the Paradiski area to explore, then cracking après ski along Taille de Mas du Pléney.
There’s nothing like a long haul flight to get to the homework done and dusted – and resorts like Breck are more than worth the extra flight time. The level of schooling is smashing, and with the added bonus of English being the first language, learners tend to progress quickly in these parts. With 187 slopes altogether, you’ll find no end of runs to enjoy: Peaks 8 and 9 are crammed with Breck’s signature wide groomers or at the other end of the spectrum, Peak 10 is riddled with sheer black diamonds. Though freestylers could spend all week in the snowparks, of which there are FOUR (including some of the best features in the world). Off the slopes, activities are the kind you’d find in a big town rather than a ski resort, with our favourites being the hands on Mountain Top Museum, and the awesome Alpine Coaster. Leaving you more than enough to talk about for the whole journey home…
Half term has a reputation for soaring prices, but that needn’t be the case in Livigno. Being duty-free, this place manages to keep costs low - you’ll find fabulous value when it comes to accommodation, eating out and most importantly the skiing. Italian schools don’t take time off in Feb, keeping lift queues and piste traffic to a happy minimum. And with 115km of slopes, a socking great snowpark and awesome freeride terrain, there’s something whatever your age or ability - whether you’re spending the week on one plank or two. They seem to add something new for families every season, with favourite features being the Livin ice park (a playground of snow with all sorts of slides), Boarder Zoo (an animal themed ski course for sprogs) and the picnic areas (we love their strategically placed bouncy castles).
La Ros is one of the sunniest, snowiest resorts around – plus it’s often quieter than other French resorts in February. This is one of our favourites for families, and we’re not the only ones – the tourist board have given it the Famille Plus stamp of approval for its child-friendly nature. From restaurants (they’ll love the teddies and waffles at Aux Trois Ours), to activities (sledging, bowling, skating…) and accommodation (there are some fab chalets with on-site childcare) – everything’s marvellously tailored to a half term with the nippers. Besides having fantastic learning facilities, there’s acres of terrain for more experienced skiers – 160km of slopes make up the area, which is shared with Italian La Thuile for scrumptious mid-ski pizzas. You can let the week pan out as you want it: Cosying up in your chalet or getting stuck into the après, which isn’t wild, but Le Pub and Petit Danois should more than suffice for a drink or three…
Andorra’s fast catching up with the rest of the world when it comes to ski areas. The glorious Grandvalira now has a whopping 210km of runs with a super-fast lift system carrying 100,000 skiers an hour – soon fizzling out any school holiday crowds. Soldeu and El Tarter make cracking bases to explore it all from, handily posted in the middle of the area, with a fine mix of family facilities and après ski (check out L’Abarset). The local slopes feature a bit of everything: The 500m Bababoom Circus that’s tailor made for under twelves, Snowpark El Tarter (one of the longest in Europe) and World Cup slopes like Àliga and Avet. In spite of its ever growing reputation, prices are still smaller than you’ll find in the big ski nations: From lodging, to ski school to shopping (Andorra’s deliciously duty free).
Who said half terms were purely for learners and little u’ns? For families with older children or teachers looking to escape, places like St Anton work a treat. As a world-class resort there are still superb offerings when it comes to ski schools and childcare, but it’s the more challenging terrain and après ski that really makes St Anton shine. This is the mighty Arlberg, where the 350km of pistes and 200km of powder ramp up the difficulty – most red runs are more like blacks, and the freeride terrain is easily some of the most fine and fearsome you’ll ever ski. The mountains rock as lifts start to close, with Mooserwirt and Krazy Kanguruh taking the gongs for best après bar year after year.
February is the most popular time of year to ski because of the confluence of the best snowfall with the slightly longer days of pre-spring. The school holiday right in the middle of this snow v’s sun sweet-spot means that the school half term holiday is the “most peak” date of the whole winter. We think that the best places to go skiing at half term are the real mega-resorts where the lift infrastructure handles extra numbers with minimal queuing and the greater range of accommodation means a wider variety of half term ski deals to choose from.
The European destinations touted as “best” below will be buzzing, but there’s no doubt that you can still “get away from it all” at February half term, if you pick a resort which is not known by the UK skiing public, or visit North America where they don’t have the same week off and have fewer British skiers due to the longer flights. Because this is literally the most popular week of the year to ski, the prices in European ski resorts are elevated, so you may be able to book a special trip to Canada or the USA for similar prices to Europe, as they’re less busy.
Best Half Term Ski Resorts
| Resort | Country | Half term highlights |
|---|---|---|
| Meribel | France | Enormous ski area, super for families & beginners, après ski |
| Sestriere | Italy | High and often quieter slopes, big ski area, cheap half term holidays |
| Flaine | France | Short transfer, lots of snow sure skiing, ski in/out resort |
| Soll | Austria | Great for families and groups, big linked ski area, pretty Austrian town |
| Morzine | France | Excellent family resort, 2 country ski area, top notch ski schools, short transfers |
| Breckenridge | USA | Awesome ski school, world class terrain, great with kids |
| Livigno | Italy | Snowy, often quieter ski slopes, cheap half term holidays, super family facilities |
| La Rosiere | France | Quieter than big name French resorts, great snow record, brilliant family chalets |
| Soldeu & El Tarter | Andorra | Big linked ski area, low cost ski schools, lots for families |
| St Anton | Austria | Snow sure, huge ski area, famous après ski |
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