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How to find the best new year ski holidays 2023/2024

From how to find the best snow for new year skiing, booking cheap new year ski holidays and what to expect from après ski new year's eve. I've got it all for YOU.

Updated August 2023.

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New Year in Ski Resorts: What to expect

Ski holidays in December can be a great shout. And visiting a ski resort for new year can be a magical experience for your family trip. You get to celebrate the new year and party après ski style to welcome in the new year!

However, the new year ski holiday weeks are peak weeks and can be one of the more expensive weeks to head to a European ski resort. This is why quieter ski resorts can be a great option. They are often much more reasonably priced than the neighbouring ski resorts. Not only are ski accommodation prices better, but lift passes are cheaper, as well as ski hire, lessons and restaurants and bars.

Read on to find out more about how to find the best family ski holiday New Year deals for your next ski trip.

How to find snow sure new year ski resorts

A snow sure ski resort, is one that has reliably good snow conditions, year on year. Generally, they benefit from the best ski conditions across the Alps.

When looking for a “snow sure” ski resort, the higher the altitude of the ski resort, the more reliable the snow conditions will be for a new year ski holiday. This is simplifying the situation, but it is a good rule of thumb. To give you a guide, in La Plagne, where I live, 70% of the skiing and pistes are above 2000 meters, making it one of the highest and more snowsure ski resorts in the French Alps.

Whilst it's impossible to guarantee amazing snow conditions for the new year, looking at these higher resorts is a good idea. Of course, there will be lower snow seasons and some winters with heavy snowfall for December. However, it does seem to be a trend that we get some snowfall over the Christmas and New Year weeks.

When it comes to the weather and temperature, December is not as cold as January skiing. However, it is likely that it will snow during your New Year ski holiday – which is awesome! But it does mean you need to pack for a variety of weather conditions. Check out my packing guide for more tips on this.

You can also read this article to find out more about what to expect skiing in Europe, month by month.

How to save money skiing: cheap new year ski holidays

There is no way around it, skiing at New Year means heading to La Plagne, or another ski resort, during a peak ski week. However, there are some ways to try and reduce or limit your costs. Here are my tops tips from years of working and living in a ski resort:

Book your new year ski trip as early as possible to get early bird discounts. This is often a good idea for families that need specific accommodations, resorts or travel times.
Book last minute – if you didn't manage to book your ski holiday early, or if a specific resort or accommodation is less important to you, then last-minute deals can be very attractive.
Rebook your new year ski holiday whilst on holiday! Whilst on holiday, contact your holiday provider and tell them you'll book now for new year next year if they honour this year's price. You'd be amazed how often this works!

Look at self-catered ski holiday options. If you're open to planning a DIY ski holiday, then book self-catered ski accommodation. Booking.com is one of the best sites for pulling together all the best new year ski chalets' or appartments accross which ever resort you are interested in.
Use a flight comparison site. Use a site like Skyscanner to pulls flights crom across multiple flight providers. This is always where I start when I'm planning a new trip.
Book as many things in advance of arriving into your ski resort as possible: from travel to lessons, lift passes, après ski activities and restaurants.
Use a ski travel comparisson site like Ski Lifts to pull up ski transfer quotes across a wide variety of ski transfer companies.

Jens Top Tips: Check out my recent article for the ultimate guide on how to book a budget ski holiday.

Check Skyscanner to compare flights

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New Year family ski holidays

Booking a new year family ski holiday could mean it is more expensive, but it also means the atmosphere in the ski resorts is amazing!

The local ski resort team will go all out in planning après ski and new year events and parties for you to enjoy. Plus, you'll be pleased to know it's not all about adults and drinking for the new year.

Throughout most European ski resorts, you'll find New Year celebrations like:

Torchlight ski descents. Usually, from the local ski instructors and sometimes an extra organised one for kids to join in with.
Free hot chocolate and Vin Chaud stalls on the snow front
Free kids' activities and fun stalls set up, e.g., magic shows, balloon making, arts & crafts, and more

For the big official parties, check out the official websites for each ski resort.

NON-SKIING NEW YEAR FUN

New Year family ski trips aren't just about skiing – which seems silly to say! Holidays in the mountains are also about enjoying the alpine lifestyle. There are lots of non-skiing activities to enjoy:

Ski-doo and Moon Bikes. Moon Bikes are basically electric ski doos and are more environmentally friendly and quieter.
Parapenting – There are often various take-off points throughout the ski resorts, with the flyers landing in safe, designated spaces away from skiers.
Husky dog sledding – is an amazing activity to do with young children.
Ice skating – a lot of fun for all ages. Often outdoors, and they have carts and baby skates for little ones. I was able to take my 2 children from the age of 2.
Winter sauna and beauty spas. There will be adults-only and family-friendly options to cater to every occasion.
Swimming pools – taking the family swimming is not only fun but guaranteed to tire out your little ones!
Sledging and bum-boarding. Most ski resort villages will have safe spaces set up for little kids to enjoy bum boarding and sledding – until the pistes close, and then the snow front often turns into sledging heaven!

NEW YEAR SKI HOLIDAY TRAVEL TIPS

Most family ski package holidays run from either Saturday – Saturday or Sunday – Sunday. In fact, it is often impossible to book mid-week arrivals as most ski accommodation providers will want to max out their full-week sales. If you are looking for a new year ski weekend, check out booking.com, AirBnB or Ski Weekends.

If you have booked or planned a DIY ski holiday, here are are few ski holiday travel tips to be aware of:

Book ski holiday flights as early as possible. Flight prices will be expensive and only get more so. I alwaus use SkyScanner to compare prices across all airlines. Whilst EasyJet are often thought of as the cheapest airline, using SkyScanner often shows me that Air France or BA can be better value for my family ski trips.
Train tickets usually come on sale at the start of October if you want to book snow trains. Sites like Omio or RailEurope.com are excellent for pulling together your whole ski train journey, from the UK to your European ski resort.
If you need a transfer booking from the airport to the ski resort, book ASAP. Again, peak season prices apply and are in high demand. Look at Ski Lifts to compare ski transfer companies or head directly to a site like Alps2Alps who are renowned in the ski world for providing the cheapest but great quality pricate transfers.
Hiring a car might be the cheapest option for you. It provides flexibility to travel at the times that suit you and whilst it might seem expensive initially, when you factor in travel expenses of your other options, it might be the right options for your new year ski trip. Check out DiscoverCars.com to pull the cheapest ski car rental options from different airports.
On-the-road traffic will be heavy. So it will take longer than expected to get to the resort. This might mean you get to the resort much later than planned.
- Have food and drinks with you.
- Make sure tablets and phones are well charged
- Pre-book anything you can – ski hire, lift passes etc. before you travel
- If you have time to collect things on the evening you arrive, do it. Don't be tempted to leave until the next day. There is too much to organise on day 1 of skiing – especially if you have kids! Ski shops will stay open later on arrival days.
- Make sure you have contract details for all your suppliers – accommodation keys, ski hire etc.

JENS TOP TIP: How to travel to your new year ski holiday can be one of hte most difficult elements of your family ski trip to get organised. Check out this page with links to all my most used ski travel resources to help you make the best ski travel decision for your next ski holiday.

Après ski new year celebrations and parties

Accross all the European ski resorts, the staff will be pulling out all the stops to create a magical experience for your New Year ski holiday. Whether you're looking for new year après ski parties or for family fun new year activities.

If you are staying in a hotel or catered accommodation, then it is likely that your hosts will be organising a New Year gala dinner and evening entertainment, so do check with them what they are offering. You might find the celebration in the accommodation is more suitable for young children.

If you are staying in French accommodation, then check on the time of the evening meal. The French generally eat quite late, so a more formal dinner might be too late for smaller children, and you might want to head out for an earlier dinner with your family.

Jens Top Tip: If you're heading outdoors to watch the fireworks, wrap up warm. If you snowboard, wear your board boots, as your feet will get very cold standing on the snow front all night. Don't wear your ski boots though, they are not comfortable for socialising in!

AND THAT'S LA PLAGNE & NEW YEAR SKI HOLIDAYS!

I'd love to know what you think. Do you usually head to a ski resort for a new year trip? Or perhaps you're thinking about doing it for the first time?

What are you worried about? Or, what are you most excited about? Drop me a message below, and let's see if I can help or put your mind at ease!