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The Best Family Ski Resorts from the UK Midlands
Childcare, good ski schools, gentle terrain, and fair prices. The honest family ski guide for Midlands parents with young children.
I don’t have children, which means my family ski resort guide comes with a clear disclaimer: I’ve researched this carefully, spoken to Midlands skiers who do have children, and tried to write the guide I’d want to read if I were in their position. What I haven’t done is personally spent a week in a resort trying to keep two children in ski school while also getting my own skiing in.
That said: the criteria for a good family ski resort are knowable and mostly objective, and the resorts that score well on them are consistent across different sources. Here’s what I’ve weighted:
Ski school starting age. Many resorts offer ski school from age 3–4. This matters. ESF (École du Ski Français) is the standard provider in French resorts; quality varies by resort and instructor cohort.
Childcare and crèche facilities. For non-skiing toddlers or children under ski school age, access to reliable childcare at the resort matters enormously.
Nursery slopes separated from the main mountain. This is one of the most underrated factors. A beginner child who keeps getting run into by faster skiers is going to have a miserable time. Good resorts design their nursery areas properly.
Village layout. A compact, walkable village matters more with children than it does without. Somewhere where the accommodation, ski school meeting point, and lift station are within easy walking distance of each other makes the daily logistics manageable.
Enough terrain for the adults. The skiing parents in the group still need to be occupied. A resort that works for children but bores the adults by day three isn’t actually a family resort.
1. Les Gets, France
Best for: First family ski trip, children aged 4+, mixed ability groups
Les Gets is the resort I’d recommend most readily for a first family ski trip from the Midlands. The nursery slopes are well-positioned at the base of the main gondola, gently graded, and away from the main traffic, so children aren’t being overtaken by fast intermediates on their first green run. The ESF here is well-regarded for children’s lessons and the group sizes for young learners are kept sensibly small.
The village is compact and navigable with children. Everything is within a short walk. The main street has restaurants that cater properly for families, not just the pasta-and-pizza-only mountain resort experience. There’s a leisure centre with a swimming pool, which sounds trivial but matters considerably when your seven-year-old has had enough skiing by day four and needs something else to do.
Part of the Portes du Soleil, Les Gets gives adult skiers access to 600km of linked terrain, which is more than enough to keep intermediates and advanced skiers occupied while children are in lessons.
Getting there from the Midlands: Birmingham to Geneva, then around 75 minutes by transfer to Les Gets. Pre-book transfers, as this route fills up on peak Saturdays.
Best time: Late January to mid-February. February half-term is extremely busy and prices rise significantly; the week before is often the sweet spot.
2. La Plagne, France
Best for: Mixed ability groups with children at different levels, families wanting snow reliability
La Plagne is a large resort across several linked villages at altitude. For families, the appeal is partly the same as for any mixed group: the terrain genuinely accommodates every level, from a child on their first green run to an adult on the advanced reds above Belle Plagne.
The higher villages (Belle Plagne at 2,050m, Plagne Bellecôte at 1,930m) give good snow reliability, which matters if you’re taking children for the first time and have limited flexibility on dates. You don’t want to book a first family ski trip in early January and arrive to icy lower runs.
Ski school availability at La Plagne is good, with multiple providers and ESF across the linked villages. Book at least eight weeks in advance for peak weeks. I’ve said this before about La Plagne and it’s genuinely important. Morning slots fill first.
One consideration for families: La Plagne’s linked village structure means it can feel slightly spread out. Belle Plagne is compact and well-suited as a base, but make sure you’re staying in a village where the ski school meeting point is close to your accommodation.
Getting there: Birmingham to Chambéry (Jet2 in season), then around 90 minutes to Belle Plagne.
3. Les Arcs, France
Best for: Families where snow reliability is the priority, children who find busy mountains overwhelming
Les Arcs is purpose-built at altitude and designed with beginner progression in mind. The nursery slopes are genuinely separated from the main piste network, so children learn in their own area, away from through traffic. This sounds like a small thing and it isn’t; it makes learning considerably less stressful for a child who is already nervous.
Arc 1800 is the best base for families, as it’s the most developed village with the most facilities, including childcare, multiple restaurants, and a proper range of ski school options. Arc 2000 is higher and snowsurer but has fewer amenities and can feel isolated if the weather closes in.
The Vanoise Express cable car link to La Plagne is an attraction in its own right for older children: a double-decker gondola between two mountain valleys, which is as dramatic as it sounds.
Getting there: Chambéry, same route as La Plagne. Transfer to Arc 1800 is around 2 hours.
4. Alpe d’Huez, France
Best for: Families going in March, children who will enjoy the sunshine and longer days
Alpe d’Huez markets itself as the “Island in the Sun” and while it’s not without marketing exaggeration, the sunshine claim is real. It faces south and sits at altitude on a wide plateau, which means it catches sun throughout the season and is particularly good from mid-February onwards as the days lengthen.
For families with children who are progressing from beginner to intermediate, Alpe d’Huez has a well-designed progression sequence: the beginner areas are proper beginner areas, the lower blues are genuinely gentle, and the route into the wider ski area opens up as confidence develops.
The resort has a proper town feel, having been a ski resort long enough to have infrastructure, restaurants, and a range of accommodation that isn’t exclusively ski-in apartments. For a family who wants somewhere that feels less like a purpose-built resort and more like an actual place, Alpe d’Huez is worth considering.
Childcare: Le Village des Piou Piou is a dedicated children’s ski school area for ages 3–5, which is well-regarded and one of the more established children’s facilities in the French Alps.
Getting there: Birmingham to Grenoble (easyJet in season), then around 90 minutes by transfer. Alternatively Birmingham to Lyon.
5. Saalbach, Austria
Best for: Families who want a change from France, Austrian resort character, slightly different pricing
Austria is underrated for families from the Midlands, partly because the default Midlands conversation is about France (the flights are easier, the resorts are bigger, the infrastructure is more familiar). Saalbach-Hinterglemm in the Salzburg region is worth considering as an alternative.
The resort is large, linked with Leogang and Fieberbrunn to form the Skicircus covering around 270km of piste, but the village of Saalbach itself is genuinely charming in a way that purpose-built French resorts sometimes aren’t. It has a pedestrianised centre, a good range of restaurants, and a ski school infrastructure that’s been handling British families for decades.
Austrian ski lessons tend to be taught in English without any particular fuss, the food and drink culture is different from France (schnitzel and glühwein rather than raclette and vin chaud), and the overall feel is slightly more relaxed.
Getting there: Birmingham to Salzburg with Jet2 in season, then around 90 minutes by transfer to Saalbach.
Practical notes for families
Book ski school before you book accommodation. This is the single thing most families don’t do and then regret. Peak-week morning ski school sessions at popular French resorts such as La Plagne and Les Gets book out weeks in advance. If you’re going in February half-term, you’re booking ski school in November at the latest.
Childcare/crèche availability varies. French ski resorts typically offer crèche from 18 months or 2 years, but capacity is limited and hours vary. Confirm directly with the resort’s childcare provider before booking, not after.
Hire ski equipment at the resort. Children’s skis change every year as they grow. Hiring at the resort rather than buying is the right call until they’re at a stable size and committed to the sport. Pre-book hire online (Intersport, Ski Set, Skiworld) for 15–25% off walk-in prices. Include helmets in the hire, as children’s helmets are available at all reputable hire shops.
Build in a rest day. Children tire on skis faster than adults and a forced rest day partway through the week avoids the end-of-trip meltdown. Every family resort has alternatives: swimming pool, ice skating, sledging. Build one non-ski day into the plan from the start.
Travel insurance with winter sports cover. Non-negotiable with children. Include helicopter evacuation cover, which sounds dramatic until you need it.
The short version
First family trip: Les Gets. Snow reliable enough, ski school well-organised, village compact, Portes du Soleil gives the adults somewhere to ski.
Best snow reliability with children: Les Arcs or La Plagne (higher altitude, nursery slopes well-designed).
If you’re going in March: Alpe d’Huez for the sunshine. Children ski better in good light and warmer temperatures, and you’ll pay 20–30% less than peak February rates.