Winter skiing or snowboarding trips can be hard on your wallet – no matter how much fun they are. But in terms of price, there are sometimes clear differences between Europe’s ski areas. We give you an overview of where skiers have to dig particularly deep into their pockets for overnight stays and ski passes, where they can get away very cheaply in comparison and which areas promise the best price-performance ratio.
For its ski price index 2023/2024, the holiday home portal Holidu evaluated how high the daily prices for ski passes are on site, how much the accommodation offers cost per night and person and compared data from Google Maps.
In France in particular, winter vacationers can get away cheaply. The top places are all in areas in neighboring Germany. Second and third place in the comparison goes to Réallon and Lans-en-Vercors with an average of 43 euros per person per day.
The municipality of Lans-en-Vercors is around 30 to 40 minutes from Grenoble by car. The surrounding ski area has 23 kilometers of slopes to offer. The ski area around Réallon is around 30 kilometers long and offers, among other things, skiing experiences for the whole family. Only the French area of Roubion les Buisses, which also has around 30 kilometers of slopes, is even cheaper in a European comparison. You have to pay 1.32 euros per kilometer – the entire package and the gold medal in this category are available for an average of 40 euros per day.
According to the survey, the ten most expensive areas can only be found in Austria, Italy and Switzerland. Zermatt in the canton of Valais, for example, has the highest ski area in Europe with around 322 kilometers of slopes and, with an average daily price of 250 euros, ranks third among the most expensive offers.
It is even four euros more expensive in the Austrian region of Obergurgl-Hochgurgl. Ötztal Tourism promises “exclusive skiing fun” in one of “the most snow-sure ski areas in the Alps” for a luxury winter holiday. The fitting slogan is “Gurgl. Diamond of the Alps” – and a diamond costs a lot.
The most expensive ski resort in this year’s price index is Cortina d’Ampezzo in the Italian Dolomites. The day pass alone costs 67 to 74 euros per person and the overnight stay in the high season even costs an average of 278 euros. In the low season it is still 97 euros, which means an average of 258 euros per day.
In third place among the European ski resorts with the best price-performance ratio, we go back to France, to Le Grand Massif. The daily cost is around 93 euros. The entire area covers around 265 kilometers of slopes, which corresponds to a fabulous value of just 0.35 euros per kilometer of slopes.
All in all, the area secures a score of 6.14, putting it just behind the Stubai Glacier in Austria. This has 35 easy to demanding runs and can secure the silver medal with a score of 6.29. An average of 125 euros per day is due here. However, the price-performance winner comes from Spain. In comparison, the Sierra Nevada offers particularly good skiing for an average of 134 euros per day. With a score of 10, the ski area is well ahead of the competition.
And who wants to ski in Germany? Of course that’s right in Bavaria. The Brauneck-Wegscheid, Lenggries area is family-friendly. With regular daily prices of just under 50 euros for the ticket, together with the overnight stay, the average amount is 86 euros, which is enough for the title of the cheapest ski resort in Germany.
The most expensive area is the Fellhorn and Kanzelwand in the Allgäu. At a total of around 136 euros, it is still a long way from the prices of its more expensive European competitors. Meanwhile, the Zugspitze holds its own with a score of 3.0 as the ski area with the best price-performance ratio in Germany. Here the total is 128 euros that have to be paid on average per day.
