“Cheap ski holiday tips” – is there such a thing, you ask.
Sometimes a cheap ski or snowboard holiday can seem an impossibility. Even just making a booking to stay in modest accommodation can feel like you’ll need a remortgage on your house.
Ski shop EllisBrigham found that a 1-week ski holiday in January for a family of 4 would cost approximately £3,512.
Sadly, there aren’t a huge number of ways to lower the booking cost of your trip. You can search for different options on the internet, explore different ski resorts and accommodation types, and if you’re willing to compromise on things then you can bring the cost down.
By the time you’ve made your booking, you’ll be at the point where you might be wondering about the whole thing financially spiraling out of control.
So, without further ado, we bring your our top 9 money-saving tips for a cheap ski holiday to make sure that you don’t return financially ruined.
1. You don’t need to spend a fortune on ski clothing and equipment
It’s not an exaggeration to say that there are people out on the slopes who will be wearing outfits that cost more than your holiday.
Aside from running the risk of falling into the category of “all the gear, no idea”, it’s simply not necessary to spend a fortune on ski clothes.
Yes, pay for quality, but know where to draw the line. After a certain minimum quality threshold has been passed, you’re just wasting money. It’s not going to make any difference to your holiday if you spend only £100 on a decent, functional ski-coat, than if you spend £1600 on a trendier ski coat with some extra zips and a bit of unnecessary fur on it.
No offense, Toni Sailer, but I’ve decided not to sell a kidney to buy your ludicrously overpriced ski jacket. Even with 25% off.
Unless you’re going to compete in the winter Olympics, you do not need to splash out on top end gear.
If you’re looking for bargains on ski stuff, buy at the end of the ski season, or if you’ve missed the window for that, try looking in TK Maxx, Decathlon or online discounter SportPursuit* which sometimes does some fantastic limited-time offers on quality ski equipment.
2. Take the essentials with you to minimise your spending in resort
If you’ve been before, you’ll have noticed that the shops in ski resorts (supermarkets are no exception) aren’t the cheapest places to shop.
So the less you have to buy once you’re in your resort, the better. Whatever you can take with you from home, do so.
Things that a lot of people either forget or just consciously don’t pack are: sun cream (don’t fall foul of hand luggage rules, though), snacks for the slopes and items of ski gear like goggles or sunglasses. All of these can be ludicrously expensive once you’re in resort.
75ml of factor-30 sun cream for nearly €20, or go home with a tan line where your ski mask is. Tough one…
3. Don’t skip buying travel insurance
You’re trying to save money, so it’s tempting to cut a corner here or there and not bother with getting travel insurance.
Don’t do that.
I had this illustrated to me nicely whilst skiing with an ex-girlfriend many years ago. She injured herself in an area of the mountain that wasn’t the easiest to get to. In fact, it was so difficult that they ended up sending a helicopter to come and take her to hospital. Yikes!
When we eventually got back to the UK, we received a bill of several thousand pounds for it! Had she not taken out travel insurance, it would have been a huge financial blow.
So, lesson learned, don’t take the risk of being uninsured (and if you are insured, double check it covers you for winter sports). It’s a risk that not even Eddie the Eagle would fancy taking.
If this is the first moment you think about travel insurance, you’re in a lot of trouble.
4. Eat packed lunches on the slopes
By lunchtime on the slopes you’ll have built up a well-earned appetite. So, why not ski into that pleasant-looking cafe you’ve seen half way up the mountain?
That’s where you’ll realise that a cheese toastie and a bottle of water costs what you’d expect to pay for a full restaurant meal back home. 5 days in a row of this sort of behaviour is going to have you making a hasty phonecall to the bank manager to increase your overdraft.
All of this can be avoided by simply taking a backpack with you onto the slopes and including a packed lunch and a bottle of water.
Much of the time, those cafes are packed to the rafters at lunch time, and we’re quite happy avoiding the chaos of it all anyway.
A simple snack lunch for two. How much?!
5. Cook evening meals yourself
In the evenings you may find yourself wanting to check out the local restaurants. But beware of relying too much on dining out. It’s generally going to have you spending at an even faster rate than you fell down that black run earlier on.
By all means, sample a local delicacy. Having a meal out is often part of the experience of the holiday. But do it every night and it’s going to be a very expensive trip.
Nevermind ‘soupe du jour’, at that price it’s going to have to last me all week.
Instead, look for hotel / chalet deals where your food is included for a reasonable price. Or, if you really want to save, cook your own food in a self catered chalet. On the downside that means you’ve got to do the washing up, but do you really want a cheap ski holiday or not?
6. Shop tactically when you’re in the supermarkets
At this point in proceedings, we stop to ask the crucial question: Holy crap – why does it cost so much to buy a cucumber in a supermarket in the Alps?!
As we’ve said above, nearly everything seems to be on the expensive side when you’re shopping on the side of a mountain. I guess it’s not easy to haul things up there.
But, whilst some things are merely priced a little in the high side, other items are a shambolic scandal of outrageous opportunism on the part of the seller. If you’ve ever shopped in a supermarket before and are capable of calculating exchange rates, you’ll have a fairly good idea of what the items in question are.
Always check the prices to make sure you’re not paying silly money.
These items should be avoided like a yodeler in an avalanche-risk area. Just because you buy those items at home, it doesn’t mean you should buy them at ten times the price when you’re on holiday. You can live without them for a week.
7. Get currency in advance or get a cheap credit card
If you’re skiing in a foreign country that has a different currency, you’ll want to make sure that you don’t get stung by the exchange rates.
That means either (or both of):
- Converting money before you go and taking it in cash.
- Making sure you use a card that gives you an excellent exchange rate and no commission on any spending you do. Check out moneysavingexpert.com for up-to-date best buys.
Yes folks, it’s as simple and boring as that.
8. Go easy on the Apres Ski
Do you really need to be out doing shots at the resort bar until 2am? If the answer is yes then fair enough. I’ll not persuade you otherwise.
But if you can find other forms of entertainment then your wallet will thank you. And so will your liver.
Why not enjoy watching a film, play a game of cards or two, read a good book, enjoy the company of others or some good old fashioned family arguments over a board game. All of that costs nothing.
And if your liver is feeling left out, you can always enjoy any of the above over a bottle of wine bought from the supermarket.
9. Do group instead of individual lessons
There’s a time and a place for 1-on-1 ski lessons. But sadly, it’s never when you’re on a tight budget, or when you’re at the very beginning of learning to ski.
Your first lessons on the slopes will generally involve a fair bit of sideways-stepping up slopes very slowly, complaining that it’s quite difficult, and of course falling over. You do not want to be doing all of this for the £40+ per hour 1-on-1 lesson cost.
Instead, group lessons are your friend. You can get many hours of practice in an organised group with a qualified teacher, who will be there for you when you need help.
Not only is it a hell of a lot cheaper, but you also get to build a bit of camaraderie, have a laugh and still learn virtually the same thing anyway.
One word of warning though: don’t compare yourself to others in the group. There’s always one who will just strap on a pair of skis and then look like they were born to do it. Don’t compare yourself with them. A good ski instructor will make sure that the group progresses along together.
After just one morning of skiing, there will be one person who just suddenly can do this. Don’t worry, the rest of the group will be united in annoyance…
So, there you have it. The pick of our tried-and-tested cheap ski holiday tips. We hope you enjoyed it and that you have a great holiday. If you’ve got any additional tips you would like to share (and we might even update the article to include them), please put them in the comments below!