A touch of magic and a lifetime of memories: our favourite family ski holidays

Uplifting mountain resorts, addictive food and activities galore – Mike MacEacheran shares why his annual family ski holidays have become much more than trips to the Alps

The first time I skied, in the early 1980s, I was five years old and mollycoddled by a landscape nourished by spring snow in Glen Coe, Scotland. A poorly focused photograph from the time shows me grinning while dressed in secondhand salopettes and oversized sunglasses. I loved every second of it, apparently.

Forty years later, I could recognise the same toothy smiles on my children’s faces the first time skiing really clicked for them. We were in Ischgl, Austria, and as the sun came and went and the Haribo vanished from my jacket pocket, I could tell my son and daughter – then aged six and four – liked the feeling of what was happening.

Cries of “Pizza!” (skis in a V-shape to slow down) and “Chips!” (skis straight for speed) from me and my wife chimed on the slopes, and what started as fall, laugh, repeat on Monday ended with our mini downhillers trying to outdo each other on Friday. The sounds that drifted out of our hotel room that night were giggles, then deep zzzs.

However, it wasn’t all plain sailing up until we arrived at that eureka moment. The previous year in Zell am See-Kaprun, Austria, our first proper family ski holiday, I recall sitting with my wife on a terrace below scudding clouds, waiting to see how our two kids settled into their first morning of nursery ski school. Their inconsolable wails echoed across the piste. Their snotty, tear-stained cheeks showed all we needed to know: we were the worst parents in the history of ski school.

“We’ve tried everything we can,” the ski nanny said, clearly irked. And before my wife had a chance to reply, she continued: “You’ll have to take them back. Right now, with a full refund.” We learned several lessons that day, but I guess the main one was: don’t push your children into any sport against their will. Our kids haven’t been back to ski lessons since.

What didn’t help is that my wife and I had given little thought to choosing the right resort for our children in the first place. I’d been a ski guide in Val d’Isère; my wife had been taught in Davos Klosters by her Swiss ski instructor mother. So a resort with a family-first reputation came second to high-altitude skiing and a snow-sure guarantee. What a mistake. What fools. Now we do what smart parents do: we make a ski holiday work for every one of us.

Skiing isn’t the most user-friendly or affordable of sports, but travel hacks can certainly help. Having learned from our blunders, we now pick our dates wisely, avoiding peak seasons such as Christmas, half-term and Easter, and book last-minute for mid-March to early April, when hefty discounts on accommodation are available. It’s risky travelling later these days, but all young kids, I believe, prefer sunnier skies, swapping deep powder for more forgiving spring snows.

What also helps is choosing an accommodation provider that offers lots of perks. Lift pass prices can be criminally high, in my experience, so deciding on an operator such as Sunweb is a wise move – lift passes are always included – and its fuss-free packages often include ski hire (don’t take my word for it, either: Sunweb was voted world’s best ski tour operator 2025). The reward here is not having to lug multiple sets of heavy equipment from house to taxi to train station or airport terminal. No one wants that.

Talking to a friend, I was reminded that family winter holidays offer far more than slope days: they are all-around adventures wrapped up with sheer childhood fantasy. Last year, the four of us tackled a soul-lifting rodelbahn (alpine coaster) in Austria’s Ski Juwel Alpbachtal Wildschönau, zooming through Narnia-like pine glades heavy with snow. We drove 18 miles to the Zillertal, but if you take the train, it’s like The Polar Express. And we still talk about the après-ski rave in the town of Mayrhofen, which involved a DJ playing energetic kid’s show Hey Duggee-type earworms on a scissor-lift stage overlooking the village down below. It’s about creating memories for life.

Most recently, in Arosa, Switzerland, we substituted skis for sledges one afternoon, while an off-piste itinerary, for the first time, in Verbier felt like the start of something greater for our nine- and six-year-olds. And the clincher? All of this is fuelled by sugar-dusted crepes, jam-topped schnitzels and cream-slathered kaiserschmarrn (fluffy shredded pancakes) – the holy trinity of mountain foods for under-10s. Trust me, you can’t get away with that for lunch anywhere else.

But where to go with so much choice? With can’t-fail resorts such as La Plagne, Tignes, Avoriaz and Les Deux Alpes, France is an easy sell. I’ve experienced each on solo ski trips, and they are also perfect for a family holiday. And Austria? Saalbach or St Anton top our list for this coming winter. The only other inevitability is that our kids will enjoy their ski holiday as much as their parents will.

For a ski holiday with children that will please all, visit Sunweb