Europe’s best-value skiing revealed – with a surprise entry climbing up the ranks

Italy is the best value place for adults and families to ski this winter, according to a new report. However, Norway has made a surprise entry as one of the most affordable ski destinations in Europe.

Italy dominates the top 10 for adult skiers in the Post Office Travel Money Ski Resort report for 2024/25, with six resorts ranked. For the second year running, Bardonecchia – a resort close to the French border – has held on to the top spot in the 18th annual cost comparison. For families, the Italian resort of Passo Tonale came top of the table, with Bardonecchia coming third and three more Italian destinations making the top 10.

Post Office Travel Money scrutinised costs across 36 European resorts, provided by Tui-owned operator Crystal Ski Holidays for the report.

The research covered nine European destinations: Andorra, Austria, Bulgaria, Finland, France, Italy, Norway, Spain and Switzerland using a shopping basket-style barometer to provide a snapshot of the average cost for an adult skier on a one-week holiday.

Using local prices provided by Crystal Ski Holidays, and converted to sterling by Post Office Travel Money, the Ski Resort Report took into account the cost of lift passes, ski and boot hire and tuition as well as lunch and drinks on the slopes.

While the research revealed that prices have risen in most destinations since last winter, the growing strength of sterling means that increases have been relatively moderate – and in some resorts prices have fallen.

Where is the best-value skiing this winter?

The report found that a week’s lift pass, equipment hire, ski school, lunches and drinks at Bardonecchia cost, on average, just under £544 per adult, nearly £20 less than the second placed resort of Borovets in Bulgaria. The prices do not include travel and accommodation costs.

Bansko in Bulgaria took third place, while the Italian hubs of Livigno, Sauze, Sestriere and La Thuile ranked fourth to seventh.

Completing the top ten are Baqueira Beret in Spain, Norefjell in Norway and Cervinia in Italy.

Italian resorts also dominate the top of the report’s family chart, due largely to a common money-saving offer of free children’s ski kit hire when purchased with adult equipment. As well as Passo Tonale and Bardonecchia, La Thuile, Sestriere and Cervinia take places seven, nine and 10.

There are no top 10 places for French or Austrian ski resorts in either the adults or children’s tables due to rising resort costs and, perhaps unsurprisingly, resorts in Switzerland were found to be the most expensive options.

Resorts in the Alpine nation took up three out of four of the most expensive destinations, with the average cost for a week’s holiday for an adult coming in at £1,345.76 in Zermatt.

Where can we ski in Norway?

Norway isn’t a classic destination for British skiers, but its inclusion in the top 10 for value could help sway opinion. As well as the resort of Norefjell taking ninth place in the adult list, the hubs of Beitostolen and Geilo came fifth and sixth in the family value list.

While the cost of eating and drinking out is usually considerably higher in Norway and other Nordic countries than in western Europe, its competitive pricing for ski passes, equipment hire and tuition help bring overall costs down.

Norefjell, in the Scandes Mountain range, was the only new entry to the adult ski top 10 this winter. It rose from 14th place last year on the back of a 2.6 per cent fall in barometer costs to £739.

In the family value top 10, Beitostolen and Geilo were found to offer great value, with a week’s break for a family of four costing £2,026 and £2,245 respectively.

However, Post Office Travel Money cautions that visitors should choose restaurants and bars carefully, since the cost of meals and drinks can sometimes be much steeper than in many other European resorts.

There is another factor to consider for a Norwegian ski trip – shorter winter days. In late December, sunrise is at around 10am and sunset at around 3pm.

Norway’s unique perks

In more northerly Nordic resorts, temperatures can also be a lot colder than in the Alps, which can make them more snow-sure (and there’s usually no shortage of saunas in which to thaw out in).

In Geilo, five of the resort’s 22 lifts aerw currently open, and six of the 46 runs. Snow depth is 15cm base with 80cm at the summit. In Norefjell, there is a 20cm base depth and 40cm at the summit with four of 14 lifts open and three of 30 runs.

At the beginning of last year, 37 Austrian resorts were shut, while France, Switzerland and Italy all saw upwards of 11 forced to cease operations due to poor snow conditions.

However, the altitude of Nordic ski stations tends to be lower than in classic Alpine resorts, and pistes – while pretty and sometimes through trees – less varied.

Self-catering can mitigate some of the higher costs of eating and drinking in Norway. Crystal Ski Holidays has a one-week self-catering trip at Bergo Apartments in Beitostolen for £393pp on 26 January 2025, with return flights from Manchester and transfers included. This package comes with a buy-one-get-one free offer on lift passes.

For those less worried about the cost of eating out, Crystal also has a week’s package departing 23 February 2025 for the Vestlia Resort in Geilo on a bed and breakfast basis. It’s £1,224pp with return flights from Gatwick. The four-star hotel has several pools, a spa as well as a restaurant serving typically hearty Norwegian cuisine.