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Cheap Ski Holidays In France 2024
Price comparison of a skiing holiday in Val d'Isere with Inghams, Crystal, Club Med and Neilson
Skiing or snowboarding can be an expensive holiday but the range in prices of different ski companies can be hundreds or even thousands of pounds.
We looked at the cost of a family skiing holiday in mid-January 2024 for two adults and two children in Val d’Isere with Crystal, Inghams, Neilson and Club Med. Those four companies will let you book the whole holiday including ski lessons, equipment and lift passes rather than having to faff around on your first day.
We picked Val d’Isere in the French Alps as it’s a hugely popular winter holiday resort which a lot of the big-name skiing holiday companies travel to.
Our search was for the cheapest skiing holiday available – with the essentials that you need but none of the upgrades that you don’t need.
Our criteria was:
We looked at the cost of a family skiing holiday in mid-January 2024 for two adults and two children in Val d’Isere with Crystal, Inghams, Neilson and Club Med. Those four companies will let you book the whole holiday including ski lessons, equipment and lift passes rather than having to faff around on your first day.
We picked Val d’Isere in the French Alps as it’s a hugely popular winter holiday resort which a lot of the big-name skiing holiday companies travel to.
Our search was for the cheapest skiing holiday available – with the essentials that you need but none of the upgrades that you don’t need.
Our criteria was:
- accommodation for two adults and two children aged 8 and 10
- a week in mid-January 2024
- a hotel with at least bed and breakfast
- flights from a London airport and transfers to Val d'Isere
- ski passes for the duration of the holiday (usually six days)
- half a day skiing lessons for beginners for five or six days
- equipment hire of skis, boots and helmets (trust me, you want to wear a helmet...)
The view from Neilson's hotel in Val d'Isere
Cheapest: Neilson Ski – total of £6997 for a family of four
Wow! I must admit, I was not expecting Neilson to be cheaper than Inghams, Club Med and Crystal Ski - again! When we did this price comparison for holidays in 2022, Neilson was the most expensive option. Then, for 2023 holidays it was cheapest and it's the winner again in 2024.
The hotel with Neilson is one of their own hotels - Neilson Hotel La Tovière – which has the advantage of being run by Neilson’s own team.
It gets terrific reviews (4.7/5 on Google reviews, 4.5/5 on TripAdvisor at the time of writing) and is described as being four-star.
Neilson Hotel La Tovière has got a swimming pool, sauna, steam room and a hot tub which are luxuries you might actually get around to using.
The distance to the nearest slope is only 120m. Those few metres will make quite a difference when you are carrying your skis back at the end of the day. However, the distance to the ski tuition is much further away (2km) so you’ll need to get the ski bus.
Perhaps most importantly, you get breakfast, afternoon tea and seven evening meals. That will save you a good chunk of money over a week compared to venturing out every evening. Of course, you might prefer the variety of eating out.
You can choose from Gatwick or Stansted, but Gatwick was slightly cheaper when we checked.
The majority of the cost was the hotel and flights, but we did get a modest saving from buying a lift pass, tuition and equipment bundle. They worked out as about £517 per person, compared to £755 if they were bought separately.
The hotel with Neilson is one of their own hotels - Neilson Hotel La Tovière – which has the advantage of being run by Neilson’s own team.
It gets terrific reviews (4.7/5 on Google reviews, 4.5/5 on TripAdvisor at the time of writing) and is described as being four-star.
Neilson Hotel La Tovière has got a swimming pool, sauna, steam room and a hot tub which are luxuries you might actually get around to using.
The distance to the nearest slope is only 120m. Those few metres will make quite a difference when you are carrying your skis back at the end of the day. However, the distance to the ski tuition is much further away (2km) so you’ll need to get the ski bus.
Perhaps most importantly, you get breakfast, afternoon tea and seven evening meals. That will save you a good chunk of money over a week compared to venturing out every evening. Of course, you might prefer the variety of eating out.
You can choose from Gatwick or Stansted, but Gatwick was slightly cheaper when we checked.
The majority of the cost was the hotel and flights, but we did get a modest saving from buying a lift pass, tuition and equipment bundle. They worked out as about £517 per person, compared to £755 if they were bought separately.
Neilson's hotel in Val d'Isere is very highly rated by customers...
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...and it has facilities including a swimming pool
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Price breakdown per person
- Accommodation, flights and transfers - £1232
- Ski equipment hire, lift passes and lessons bundle - £517.25
Total: £6997 for a family of four
Note: this price includes breakfast, afternoon tea and seven evening meals. Assuming that you spend £80 on an evening meal for a family of four then that would save you £560, which makes the comparable cost £6437.
Second cheapest: Crystal Ski Holidays – total of £7345 for a family of four
Crystal Ski came second in our price comparison - however, you don't get as many meals as you get with Neilson or Club Med.
The cheapest hotel in Val d’Isere with Crystal Ski was the same one which appeared in our search with Inghams (Hotel Le Val d'Isere). That’s rather convenient for us as it makes a like for like comparison easier.
The cost of the flights and the hotel was about £240 cheaper for a family of four but the cost of the extras such as lift passes, lessons and equipment hire was significantly higher.
Overall then, you’d make a good saving if you have your own equipment and won’t want lessons.
The cheapest hotel in Val d’Isere with Crystal Ski was the same one which appeared in our search with Inghams (Hotel Le Val d'Isere). That’s rather convenient for us as it makes a like for like comparison easier.
The cost of the flights and the hotel was about £240 cheaper for a family of four but the cost of the extras such as lift passes, lessons and equipment hire was significantly higher.
Overall then, you’d make a good saving if you have your own equipment and won’t want lessons.
Price breakdown per person
- Accommodation, flights and transfer - £985.75 per person
- Ski hire for adults - £269 (boots, skis and helmet)
- Lift pass for adults - £349
- Ski lessons for adults - £308
- Lift pass for children - £296
- Ski hire for children - £188 (boots, skis and helmet)
- Ski lessons for children - £352
Discounts:
Ski pass and hire bundle - £30.50pp
Notes: only includes bed and breakfast, no lunch or evening meals
Total: £7345 for a family of four
Crystal Ski Holidays works with Hotel Le Val d'Isère
Third cheapest: Inghams Ski Holidays – total cost of £7352.80 for a family of four
Inghams came third in our comparison, at around £355 more than Neilson but only £7 more than Inghams.
As with Crystal Ski Holidays, you don't get as many meals as you get with Neilson or Club Med.
The cheapest skiing holiday with Inghams was self-catering but we upgraded to a hotel with bed and breakfast to fit our criteria. The cheapest hotel was Hotel Le Val d'Isere which scores a very impressive 4.5/5 on Google Reviews. I wouldn’t say it is a posh hotel, as it only has 3 stars on Inghams rating system, but it is well located as it’s only 200m from the ski lifts and the ski school and easiest slopes. The hotel also has a swimming pool and spa for relaxing in at the end of the day.
The accommodation worked out as £1227.50 per person. Flights were from London Gatwick.
As with Crystal Ski Holidays, you don't get as many meals as you get with Neilson or Club Med.
The cheapest skiing holiday with Inghams was self-catering but we upgraded to a hotel with bed and breakfast to fit our criteria. The cheapest hotel was Hotel Le Val d'Isere which scores a very impressive 4.5/5 on Google Reviews. I wouldn’t say it is a posh hotel, as it only has 3 stars on Inghams rating system, but it is well located as it’s only 200m from the ski lifts and the ski school and easiest slopes. The hotel also has a swimming pool and spa for relaxing in at the end of the day.
The accommodation worked out as £1227.50 per person. Flights were from London Gatwick.
Price breakdown per person
- Accommodation, flights and transfers- £1009 per person
- Ski hire for adults - £123
- Ski hire for children - £97
- Ski lessons for adults - £278
- Ski lessons for children - £326
- Lift passes for adults - £333
- Lift passes for children - £281
Discounts:
- Early booking discount - £30pp
- Flight supplement discount for children - £13 per child
- 50% off Equipment hire with a lift pass - £123 and £97 = £220
- Buy one get one half price with the lift passes - £166.50 and £140.50 = £307
Notes: only includes bed and breakfast, does not include evening meals
Total: £6303 for a family of four
Ingham's cheapest hotel accommodation in Val d'Isere is Hotel Le Val d'Isère
Fourth cheapest: Club Med - total of £11,749 for a family of four
There was a definite leap up in price between Crystal/Inghams/Neilson and Club Med. However, that doesn't tell the full story as Club Med include more in their holidays than Crystal and Inghams. Their hotels are also a fair bit posher than Inghams and Crystal.
With Club Med, you get three meals a day included plus you get access to an open bar.
Club Med has its own hotel in Val d'Isere which is known as (you guessed it) Club Med Val d'Isere. It scores 4.1/5 on Google reviews and 4/5 on TripAdvisor.
It's a large and plush hotel with more than 250 rooms. There's a swimming pool, two restaurants, a bar, 'wellness activities' such as massages and the option to upgrade to their 'exclusive collection' accommodation which is a private wing with your own hot tub, champagne and other fancy add-ons.
For the purposes of our price comparison, we looked at the price of the cheapest accommodation available which was a 'deluxe room'. The price is bundled in with the cost of ski passes, adult lessons, flights from London Gatwick and transfers and came to £10,770. We had to add on equipment which took the price up to £11,374.
With Club Med, you get three meals a day included plus you get access to an open bar.
Club Med has its own hotel in Val d'Isere which is known as (you guessed it) Club Med Val d'Isere. It scores 4.1/5 on Google reviews and 4/5 on TripAdvisor.
It's a large and plush hotel with more than 250 rooms. There's a swimming pool, two restaurants, a bar, 'wellness activities' such as massages and the option to upgrade to their 'exclusive collection' accommodation which is a private wing with your own hot tub, champagne and other fancy add-ons.
For the purposes of our price comparison, we looked at the price of the cheapest accommodation available which was a 'deluxe room'. The price is bundled in with the cost of ski passes, adult lessons, flights from London Gatwick and transfers and came to £10,770. We had to add on equipment which took the price up to £11,374.
Price breakdown
- Accommodation, flights from London, transfers, adult ski lessons, lift passes - £2692.50 per person
- Ski equipment - £151pp
Total: £11,374 for a family of four
...modern decor...
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Club Med Val d'Isere has more than 250 rooms...
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...and an indoor swimming pool
Images are from Neilson, Club Med, Crystal and Inghams
