A week’s skiing in Europe costs about €1,100 per person if you go budget, about €2,050 for a standard trip and €4,600 or more for a premium one, flights included. Those figures come from our ski trip cost calculator, which starts from the real adult day pass price of every resort in our database and adds published bands for accommodation, flights, transfers, hire and food. The lift pass is only 12 to 28% of the bill in our three examples. Accommodation is the biggest line, from 31% of the budget trip to over half of the premium one, and the choice of resort moves the total more than the choice of country. This guide shows where the money goes, with three worked examples.
Key takeaways
- Per person, 7 nights and 6 ski days, flights included: about €1,100 budget (Bansko), €2,050 standard (Saalbach), €4,600 premium (Zermatt).
- In the three examples accommodation is 31 to 53% of the total, the lift pass 12 to 28%, food 15 to 17%, flights 10 to 13%, hire 5 to 7% and the transfer 4 to 6%.
- Six-day lift passes cost about €300 to €550 in the Alps at 2026/27 prices; the European median day pass is €71, Switzerland’s €87, France’s €58.
- January and late March cost 20 to 30% less than the peak holiday weeks for the same trip.
- An independent survey prices a six-day pack (pass, hire, lessons, lunches) at £601 in Bardonecchia and £1,372 in Wengen for 2025/26.
The three trips
| Line, per person | Budget: Bansko, Bulgaria | Standard: Saalbach, Austria | Premium: Zermatt, Switzerland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lift pass, 6 days | €319 (€59 a day, 10% multi-day saving) | €443 (€82 a day) | €549 (96 CHF, about €102 a day) |
| Accommodation, 7 nights | €350 (self-catered) | €770 (3-star or apartment) | €2,450 (hotel or catered chalet) |
| Flights, return | €146 | €250 | €466 |
| Resort transfer | €64 | €110 | €186 |
| Ski hire, 6 days | €80 | €130 | €230 |
| Food and drink, 7 days | €175 | €350 | €750 |
| Total | about €1,130 | about €2,050 | about €4,630 |
| Per ski day | €190 | €342 | €770 |
| Add group ski school, 6 days | +€240 | +€240 | +€500 |
Source: lift pass prices from the Intski lift pass index, checked 14 September 2026 (Bansko 2025/26). Other lines are the midpoint of the published bands the cost calculator uses: accommodation, flights, transfers, hire, food and lessons from Alpy’s ski holiday cost survey, converted at the ECB rate of 11 September 2026. Multi-day passes are assumed at 10% below six single days; the calculator’s low estimate uses 20%. Mid-season dates; add 20 to 30% for Christmas, New Year and February half term.
The ratios are the point. Change the resort from Bansko to Saalbach and the lift pass rises by €124, but the total rises by €920, because the accommodation, food and flight bands move with the country and the style of trip. Change Saalbach to Zermatt and the pass rises by another €100 while the total more than doubles. The pass is the one line with a real, published price; it is not the line that decides the bill.
Lift pass: 12 to 28% of the trip
The adult day pass is the only cost that every resort publishes, and our index holds it for 255 resorts. For 2026/27 the European median is €71, the Alpine median €73, and by country: France €58, Finland €58, Germany €59, Sweden €61, Norway €69, Italy and Andorra €72, Austria €80, Switzerland €87. Six days at those rates, with a typical multi-day discount, is €310 to €470. The cheapest passes in Europe are €39 in Poland and Slovakia; the most expensive Alpine passes are around €105 at St. Moritz and Andermatt. North America is another world: a median of €245 a day in the United States, though most big American resorts sell much cheaper multi-day tickets online in advance.
Two rules. Book multi-day passes, which cut the daily rate by 10 to 20%. And look at the price per kilometre, not just the price: Avoriaz’s €69 buys 600 km of the Portes du Soleil at €0.12 per km, while a €39 pass at Vrátna buys 14 km. Our guide to the cheapest ski resorts in Europe ranks both ways.
Accommodation: 31 to 53% of the trip
Accommodation is the biggest line and the widest band: €280 to €420 per person for a self-catered budget week, €560 to €980 for a three-star hotel or a decent apartment, €1,400 to €3,500 for a good hotel or a catered chalet. The country matters (Switzerland and the famous names at the top, Bulgaria, Poland and the smaller French resorts at the bottom), the dates matter more, and the distance from the lift matters most within a resort. Alpy puts accommodation at 35 to 45% of a typical trip, and its hotel prices show what being next to the lift costs: €80 to €150 per person a night in a 3-star, €300 to €600 or more in a 4- or 5-star ski-in ski-out hotel.
Flights and transfers: 14 to 19%
A return flight to the Alps from northern Europe runs from about €115 to €175 on a budget airline booked early, €210 to €290 mid-range and €350 to €580 at peak dates or on full-service carriers. The transfer from the airport is the line people forget: €47 to €82 for a shared shuttle, €82 to €140 for a mid-range option, €140 to €230 for a private car, per person. Airport choice changes both. Geneva has the Portes du Soleil 44 km away; Munich has nothing under 90 km. Our airport guides for Geneva, Innsbruck, Salzburg, Munich, Zurich and Milan list transfer times and train options for each.
Hire, lessons and food
Ski or board hire for six days is €60 to €100 for basic kit, €100 to €160 for mid-range and €180 to €280 for premium, and usually cheaper booked online before you travel. Group ski school for six days is €200 to €280 at most Alpine schools and €400 to €600 at premium resorts; private lessons are €60 to €90 an hour and outside these figures. Food and drink for seven days is €140 to €210 if you self-cater and eat on the mountain once or twice, €280 to €420 for a normal mix of restaurants and mountain lunches, €500 to €1,000 if every meal is out. Alpy puts a basic mountain lunch of soup, a main course and a drink at €25 to €45 per person.
What changes the total most
- Dates. January and late March cost 20 to 30% less than Christmas, New Year and the February school holidays for the same room and the same pass. Our guide to the best time to ski in the Alps sets out the calendar.
- Country. Switzerland is the most expensive on every line. France has the cheapest pass median of the big Alpine countries. Italy is cheapest at the table. Bulgaria and Poland are cheapest overall but small.
- Resort within the country. Val Thorens (€84.20) and Châtel (€55) are both French and both offer 600 km; the calculator’s “cheaper resorts with similar skiing” list finds these pairs for any resort you pick.
- Style. Self-catering with a supermarket run roughly halves the food line: €140 to €210 a week against €280 to €420 in Alpy’s bands.
- Group size. A four-person apartment costs little more than a two-person one, and transfers and hire cars divide.
A sanity check from an independent survey
The Post Office Travel Money and Crystal Ski Resort Report prices a six-day “ski pack”, meaning lift pass, hire, tuition and six lunches with drinks, across 32 European resorts. For 2025/26 the cheapest adult pack was Bardonecchia in Italy at £601 and Borovets in Bulgaria at £668; Wengen in Switzerland reached £1,372. Six-day lift passes rose 10.7% on the year. Our own index found a 3.5% median rise in the day pass for 2026/27 across the European resorts we could match like for like. If a quote for pass, hire and lessons lands far outside £600 to £1,400, something is unusual.
How to use the calculator
Pick the resort, the number of adults and children, nights and ski days, the style of trip and the season, and tick flights, hire and lessons as needed. The tool returns a low, typical and high figure, the share of each line, and a list of cheaper resorts in the same country with at least 80% as much piste. Children are counted at 70% of the adult figure for passes, hire and lessons. The lift pass line is the real published price with the date we last checked it; the rest are bands, shown as ranges rather than invented precision.
Want your own number? Open the ski trip cost calculator, pick three shortlisted resorts and compare the totals side by side.
Quick answers
How much does a week’s skiing cost per person?
About €1,100 for a budget week, €2,050 for a standard one and €4,600 for a premium one, including flights, a six-day pass, seven nights, hire and food, at mid-season dates. Ski school adds €240 to €500.
How much is a 6-day ski pass in Europe?
About €300 to €550 at 2026/27 prices with a typical multi-day discount. The European median day pass is €71; France’s median is €58, Austria’s €80 and Switzerland’s €87.
What is the biggest cost of a ski holiday?
Accommodation: 31 to 53% of the total in our three examples, and 35 to 45% of a typical trip by Alpy’s estimate. The lift pass is 12 to 28%, food 15 to 17%, flights 10 to 13%, hire 5 to 7% and the transfer 4 to 6%.
Which is the cheapest country to ski in Europe?
Poland and Bulgaria for the whole trip, with day passes of €39 to €59 and cheap accommodation. Among the big Alpine countries, France has the cheapest pass median at €58 and Italy the cheapest food; Switzerland is the most expensive on every line.
How much does a ski trip cost for a family of four?
Roughly three times the per-person adult figure, because the calculator counts children at 70% of the adult rate for passes, hire and lessons and at full rate for flights and food, and a family apartment costs little more than a couple’s. A standard Austrian week for two adults and two children comes to about €7,000 including flights; our ranking of the best family ski resorts in Austria picks the resort.
Is skiing cheaper in January?
Yes. January after the first week and late March cost 20 to 30% less than Christmas, New Year and February half term for the same resort and room, and many resorts sell lower early- and late-season lift passes.
