Each of the breaks listed had availability on the given dates at the time of posting
Great for kids, Galtur, Austria
This is one of the quieter high-altitude villages of the Tyrolean Paznaun region, home to Ischgl, See and Kappl. Children under-eight ski free (as do under-10s in Ischgl), the small ski area has fun features in the Bambiland kids’ zone, a kindergarten, snowparks, and night skiing, and Ischgl’s much larger ski area is a bus ride away. Good skiers can join a unique ski safari (£18 per adult, £11 child), which involves being pulled uphill by snowcat, a taxi through a mountain tunnel and a stop at the Piz Buin hotel for lunch. Don’t miss the zany sessions of skiing on wooden barrel staves which take place behind the Berghotel Rasis (£1,000 for apartment sleeping four, B&B, week from 2 April) with cafe and sauna, whose guests can freely use an adjoining sports centre with pool and waterslides.
Car-free gem, Bettmeralp, Switzerland
Easily reached by rail from Zurich, with a big cable car to take visitors directly up from the Betten Valley train station to the village base at 1,970 metres, beautiful Bettmeralp is a little-known gem that’s absolutely brilliant for families. Pristine and car-free, it’s part of the Aletsch Arena ski area which connects six other ski villages in the Bernese Alps. Scenic runs overlook Europe’s longest glacier – the spectacular Great Aletsch Glacier, there are toboggan runs many kilometres long, excellent resort childcare and ski schools. The tourist board website lists good value accommodation including Harmony EG, (£647 for week from 2 April, sleeping four) a small one-bedroom apartment in a chalet building.
Unusual après and fun skiing, Samoëns, France
The Grand Massif has everything going for it for families: a fun ski area linking five markedly different resorts home to tree runs, wide pistes high above the tree-line with views of Mont Blanc, plus unique rocky scenery and unusual après activities. Lovely villages Morillon and Sixt-Fer-à-Cheval, and the purpose-built, high mountain resort of Flaine are options, but in bustling Samoëns Ski Solutions offers seven nights in an apartment sleeping eight at Les Chalets de Layssia (from £415 per person, self-drive including Eurotunnel, week from 2 April), which has a pool, saunas and hammam.
Apartments with pool, Tignes, France
If you fancy hitting one of the bigger ski areas, Tignes is great – not too swanky, with amazing terrain for all levels, snowparks, links to Val d’Isere and reliable snow even at Easter due to its high altitude (3,456 metres at the top of the Grand Motte lift) and glacier skiing. In Tignes 1800, a quieter enclave beside Lac du Chevril and below the main resort village, Peak Retreats offers the new Altaviva apartments (£1,800 based on five sharing, including Eurotunnel crossing, week from 2 April), which have a shared indoor pool, hot tub, hammam and sauna, and a pastry and bread delivery service.
Pizza, pasta and powder, Champoluc, Italy
Few kids will snub the chance to gorge on pizza, pasta, cake and gelato, as is the norm in Champoluc, Aosta Valley, part of the sublime Monte Rosa area north of Turin. A fantastic family resort with a friendly ski school, excellent restaurants and steep powder-filled valleys, most of Champoluc’s pistes lie above 2,000 metres, helping snow retention, with the Matterhorn towering above. You can ski to Gressoney, and visit beautiful Alagna, renowned for its off-piste. The luxurious and traditional Breithorn Hotel (£1,013 B&B, sleeping four, week from 9 April) has a family suite, or try Ski Champoluc which tailor-makes trips to family hotels such as the Hotel Petit Tournalin (£1,281 adult, £692 child half-board in a family room for weeks between 26 March and 17 April), where the price includes a six-day lift pass, snack lunch in choice of mountain restaurants, free ski equipment for under-12s, and use of the resort minibus.
Childcare galore, Ardent, France
The Family Ski Company’s model is the same across several French destinations – mixed-group chalets in tiny villages that connect to large resorts, such as in Ardent in Portes du Soleil, where the lift whisks you into the best part of Avoriaz. The set-up makes things easy for parents who want some kid-free time, with the kids’ club taking them from the chalet to their ski lessons, and providing fun activities in a club house afterwards. Packages run Sunday to Sunday, so guests get to ski Saturday’s quieter slopes. At the 200-year old Chalet Plagnat (£828 per adult, £679 child half-board, week from 10 April) there’s an outdoor hot tub and wine, canapes and afternoon tea are included, plus one night of babysitting on the chalet chef’s night off and transfers from Geneva. Childcare is available from £599 per week (ski lessons extra).
Drama on the snow, Sölden, Austria
The story of one of the most famous Alpine crossings in history by Hannibal in 218BC is brought to life with an open-air, on-slope theatrical production in Sölden on 22 April. Reminiscent of the Oberammergau Passion Play or Northumberland’s Kynren, but set on snow, the show features base-jumpers, helicopters, piste bashers and extreme athletes among its 500-strong cast, who perform next to the glacier ski area (tickets €50 per adult, €27 per child). Stay above this lively resort in the Otztzal region at Appartement Fenderhof (£930 for a self-catering apartment sleeping four, week from 16 April), which is 300 metres from a ski run and is one of dozens of good-value apartment hotels on the tourist board website Soelden.com.
Verbier the back way, La Tzoumaz, Switzerland
Another secret satellite resort where a quiet village links to a mega ski area, La Tzoumaz is a less bougie backdoor to Verbier and the rest of the Four Valleys, with their 410km of runs and superb off-piste. Fun here includes a 7km toboggan route returning from Verbier’s Savoleyres cable car back to the village, an ice rink and snowshoe raclette evenings for over-14s. The new all-wood T Resort apartments (from £611 week, sleeping four, or £950 sleeping six) are opposite the La Tzoumaz-Savoleyres cable car station.
Sunshine in Val di Fassa, the Dolomites, Italy
It will feel sunny and spring-like in April in the gorgeous Dolomites, where Val di Fassa, a ski area of seven resorts in the Trentino region home to 200km of slopes is the place for fab food and local wines. Staying in family-friendly Moena, a magical village below the Pale Mountains, you will be well placed for enjoying a holiday on the cusp of two seasons, driving up to ski the highest runs in the resorts in the mornings, then chilling, feasting or hiking in the afternoons. The modern SportHotel San Vigilio (£1,334 for two adults and two children half-board sharing a family room, week from 11 April) has a games room, playground and spa.
Everything’s included in Les Deux Alpes, Vénosc, France
A few times a year during school holidays, ski specialist UCPA runs special family ski weeks suitable for kids over seven. Everything’s included, from equipment, accommodation, all meals and six-day lift-passes to four half-days of lessons. You just have to get there. Easter options include seven nights starting 16 April at the large, chalet-style UCPA centre in Les Deux Alpes (£574pp in family room sleeping 4-6, week from 16 April) a high-altitude resort with 220km of pistes and glacier skiing to 3,421 metres, on the edge of the Ecrins national park.
