11 best ski resorts in Europe for families
Here’s our collections of favourites and best ski resorts in Europe for families. We have been skiing and apre skiing and indulging into some amazing restaurants for over 20 years around Europe; no wonder we get asked so often about !
1.Chamonix, France – if you are after a picturesque alpine town, lovely pedestrian area with exquisite French food, boutique shops and restaurants and lots of ski options including out of this world off piste and the challenging La Vallee Blanche.
At the base of Mont Blanc (the highest summit in the Alps), Chamonix has been a favourite of ours in the last 10 years. Once a year we love to spoil ourselves with fondues, tartiflettes, raclettes, foie gras, beef bourguignon, macaroons and so on and Chamonix is just the perfect place for it.
Best ski resorts in Europe: Chamonix
We tested lots of options including cute chalets with half board, graceful English hosts and hot tubs; hotels with outdoors / indoors pools perfect to re-energise dead legs after day trips like La Vallee Blanche and the cutest boutique flat right in the centre, perfect for families get-aways.
We wrote about Chamonix with a toddler in here, March is perfect for babies and small kids. Best for: world class skiing including off piste, exquisite French food and chalets options, 1 hour transfers to/from the airport (Geneva).
2.Val d’isere, France – pretty village vibes, lots of great restaurants and chic boutiques. Located in Savoie, Val d’Isere is one of the apres ski capitals of Alps. Skiing options are just fabulous and so is apres skiing and dining. We wrote about our favourites in here.
Best ski resorts in Europe, Val d’Isere
3.Courchevel, France. Our friends and us swear that’s not just a playground for rich and famous but also sensible luxury options for hotels and food. A dedicated article in here; in a nutshell, we raved about Courchevel 1650 ski for the beginners slopes but also intermediates and super experienced; non-skiers activities and Michelin star restaurants.
4.Tignes, France. If you are after world class skiing, Michelin restaurants on slopes and after, and La Folie crazy afternoons and apre-skiing.
Highly recommending Tignes le Lac and Esprit if you go with 2 tiny kids like ours (we tested when ours were 3 years old and 9 months respectively) and talked about in here.
5.St Moritz, Switzerland – If money is no object. Good skiing, chic & posh village vibes, good food options and legendary for bubbles and sun – apparently sun shines in here on average 322 days a year! We went few times with good friends, always had a fantastic time but also always end up spending an arm and a leg.
Best ski resorts in Europe St Moritz
There’s a leaning tower dating back to 12th century, 5 hotels 5 stars, the famous Heidi hut just above St Morritz and one of the most exclusive shopping streets in the world – Via Serlas.
Horse races on the lake are also stunning, great fun and attracting a cosmopolitan audience, VIPs included.
Best ski resorts in Europe: St Moritz
Best for: posh & glamour, VIP spotting, sunshine, uncontrollable spending, horse races on the lake.
6.Bormio, Italy. Beautiful medieval town surrounded by Stelvio National Park, with excellent ski slopes, hiking trails and thermal baths. Located in Valtellina (aka magnificent land), Bormio is best for guaranteed snow, bombardinos and Italian gourmandise on slopes.
Best ski resorts in Europe: Bormio
We’ve been twice with our friends, there will be an article coming soon from them on their recommendations with kids and why they reckon it’s one of the best ski resorts in Europe for families. We loved the termal baths in here, best bresaola and pizzocheri (local pasta with potatoes and savoy cabbage made fresh).
7.Salice d’Ulzio, Italy (or Sauze d’Oulx according to the French). For easy access from Torino and skiing in 2 countries in 1 day. On French / Italian border, charming and great food options – this has been historically a destination for Turin aristocracy.
Similarly we’ve been couple of times with Italian friends who got a pied a terre in there and on one occassion tested a hotel as well. This is where we tested as well snowboarding for a day and decided whilst fun, not for us.
8.Courmayeur, Italy. For skiing on the Italian side of Mont Blanc, aperol spritz and aperols at apres skiing and more Italian gourmandise. Worldwide skiing options aside, the thermal baths of Pre Saint Didier are popular year round in Valle d’Aosta, just 5 kilometres south.
Best ski resorts in Europe: Courmayeur
The cuisine of Courma remains legendary for us and our friends: suckling pig, polenta, exquisite fondues with cheese and truffles and of course pasta.
9.Poiana Brasov, Romania. For authentic experiences and afforable luxury – private ski instructors and boutique hotels included. Of course that makes a difference for families with 3 kids or Israeli based travellers – which are just within 2.5 hours of flying Bucharest – Tel Aviv. We wrote extensively about skiing in Romania, one of our main articles in here, Poiana is one of the best ski resorts in Europe for beginners and families.
Here’s our first little man in Poiana – what a difference 3 &5 years make! A little youtube taster from February 2017 with our 3.5 years old skiing in here, we still need to upload 2022!
10.Kitzbuhel, Austria. For great skiing and fun, cute village vibes and affordable Michelin star restaurants.
Best ski resorts in Europe: Kitzhbuhel
Kitzbuhel is one the largest ski regions in Austria, with 56 cableway and lift facilities, 168 kilometres of slopes and 40 kilometres of groomed cross country skiing tracks. Downside? Pancake soup, Viennese snitzhels and Austrian sausages on the slopes – and I’ll be frank, none are my cup of tea.
11. Val Thorens: the highest resort Europe at 2300m and highest point in 3 Vallees ski area spoiled us twice with impeccable April skiing and sunshine; Val Tho is also home of “snow bistronomy” and some serious après skiing, from warm and cosy Savoyarde cuisine to fine dining, slope gourmet lunches and sushi, to Michelin star treats. Read about our favourites and the best Val Thorens restaurants in here, 2 weeks are short to exhaust sampling them all, whilst spring skiing has been fantastic.
Have we missed your favourite from our list of best ski resorts in Europe for families? Give us a shout! And happy skiing & snow fun all!
31 comments on “11 best ski resorts in Europe for families”
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Good choices, though two of my favourite ski resorts are missing (Grindelwald-Wengen and Zermatt in Switzerland). #FarawayFiles
Good to hear you approve our choices, we had another friend complaining on our fb page Zermatt is not in – we may need expand this top 10 😉
We skied in Courchevel last month- and while some places are pricey staying in a catered chalet was pretty affordable. It’s a great place for a mixed ability group as the green/easy blue runs are readily accessible and there are lots of them as well as challenging blacks and off piste. #FarawayFiles
Great to hear Amanda that you are echoing impressions from our friends! There’s a dedicated Courchevel post coming shortly, do stay tuned!
Great list of ski resorts that I will bookmark for when we return to Europe. We went to Chamonix a few years ago on Christmas Day but there was no snow! Luckily we also stayed in Annecy on that trip and had a lovely time at La Clusaz. Thanks for joining #farawayfiles
Oh Annecy is so lovely! And how unlucky Kate not to have snow in Chamonix! Xmas time could be very tricky, this year I gues it’s been the exception to the past years!
I have only ever been skiing in Austria and Canada but would love to take the kids now they are older
We never tried Canada Kara but heard great things!
Some great resorts to try out, it’ great that you can even take toddlers with you too. Skiing as a family must such great fun, the kids must love getting up on the slopes with you. I’d love to go skiing but being a family of 8 it would be really costly.
Thanks for linking up with me on #CountryKids.
I know Fiona, it’s a very expensive sport but the mountains are so pretty and therapeutical! Perhaps a press trip for the 8 of you or a place like Romania, where things are so much more affordable? It’s still ok skiing, I promise!
Useful list with some great sounding places to visit on a ski trip #MondayEscapes
Great to hear, let us know about your favourites!
Great round-up! Quite happy to read that your top 4 resorts are in France 😉 even though I’ve never been to any of them. I am a long time fan of La Clusaz but then again, we’re onlyjust starting to take the kids skiing after a ski-less decade!
#CountryKids
Hehe, yes, we absolutely adore France, it’s my favourite country to go skiing and aside these 4 places there are so many other gems like La Clusaz, Megeve, Meribel and the list goes on!
Affordable Michilin Restaurants? That sounds great! #MondayEscapes
I know, that compensates well Austrian pancake soup on the slopes and my inflicted moral damages 😉
What a great list and amazing that you get to do what you love each year especially now with a family. It’s not something we cant afford to do unfortunately. I have however managed to do one skiing holiday and you’ve mentioned it in Romania what was probably 10 years ago now. We went as a group of us as family and it was a great experience. Maybe again one day! #countrykids
We used to go skiing so much, but haven’t been since the kids have come along. Desperate to get back and love the inspiration here! Next year maybe THE year…
Thanks for linking up to #fearlessfamtrav
I have actually never been to a ski resort and never even tried dry slope skiing, let alone skiing on real snow. You make it look really appealing though. Perhaps something to consider in the future. #CountryKids
It’s quite surprising how much the food varies between places – but after a day’s skiing, I’m happy even with those juicy Austrian sausages! Your little man looks as though he’s doing so well in learning to ski. You’ve had some fab ski trips, by the looks of things!
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Great choices, I love how you have plenty of information on taking babies and toddlers too. #MondayEscapes
I’ve never skied before but would like to try and definitely need to do it in luxury #fearlessfamtrav
Hey,
Great. I was planning to go on a long ski holiday with my wife and I just want to make her happy & surprised as it will be her bday week. And I must say this is perfect plan to make her bday special. Thanks for sharing your experience.
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