With countless tour operators seemingly offering you the perfect ski destination, how do you make an informed decision on where will be best for your needs?
Understanding resort size and terrain choices
It is important to pick a resort that will have enough terrain for everyone in your party to ski. Spending thousands of pounds visiting a backcountry paradise may not be the best use of your budget if all of your group are beginners. Larger ski resorts will have more skiable terrain and often have dedicated beginner areas where you can easily find your feet. Soll offers a great range of manageable blue runs despite not having many greens in the resort. Lech Zurs Am Arlberg offers an incredible range of varied expert terrain perfect for those who live for fresh tracks.
Convenience and Transfer times
Travelling to a resort can be one of the most stressful parts of your holiday. Picking a resort with good transport links will allow you to spend less time on your journey and give you more time to really enjoy the slopes. Choosing a destination close to a large airport can give you much more flexibility on dates and flight times. Flights to and from Geneva are generally easy on the wallet and during peak seasons there can be over 50 flights a day. Electing for an early flight on the way out can be a great way to ensure you have time to get your rental equipment, lift passes, and have time to get acquainted with your surroundings.
To apres or not to apres
Deciding whether to target an apres heavy resort is a key decision that your party needs to make. Looking at an unbiased ranking system such as Snomad’s best apres ski in Europe rankings can help you make an informed decision. You can see what other tourists have ranked as best and see the reasoning behind their decisions. St Anton Am Arlberg offers some of the best apres in the world. With great on-piste activities and a bustling town late into the night, you can have a wild night out here. You might decide to go somewhere like Ellmau if you’re more interested in amazing food than the party scene. Resorts with a strong history of apres or incredible food often tend to be more expensive than less known resorts so if you like a cheap resort then avoiding these could be a great way to save on the trip.
Accommodation
There’s a few things you need to bear in mind when picking accommodation in a resort. Depending on your budget there’s chalets, hotels, and apartments. All of these serve different purposes and it’s about picking what is best for you. Hotels and chalets offer the option of being catered, this can be great if you have a large group of friends where restaurant bookings might be trickier during peak season. Self-catered apartments can offer a great way of skiing on a budget and may give you more room as you’ll have a kitchen/living room to be able to relax in. Making sure you check proximity to both the slopes and amenities is another key part of booking accommodation. Some hotels and apartments may offer ski in ski out rooms where you can just hop out of the boot room straight onto the slopes. In other towns you may want to focus on being close to the gondola that takes you up to the ski area.