Our rating of ski resorts
All the resorts in this list we made and enjoyed. Let’s start with the smallest:
15. Hermon in Israel.
A relatively small site, a total of 45 km (30 miles) ski trails, but if you are in Israel during the winter, it is definitely worth a day of skiing. Most of the tracks on this site are red and even two black. It is less suitable for beginners, because in one day, you cannot learn skiing anyway and to spend a week, each day in the same tracks it is a little bit boring. I would suggest not arriving in a weekend, and it is recommended to sleep in Neve Ativ village the night before.
14. Gudauri in Georgia.
We went skiing for the first time as a family of four. Our youngest son, who is ten, was trying skiing for the first time, so we chose a small resort with around 64 km of slopes at an altitude of 2000-3300 meters.
The Caucasus Mountains are very beautiful in winter. In 2023, we visited in early March, and there was a lot of snow, even too much.
Gudauri is located two and a half hours’ drive from Tbilisi airport. We booked an eight-person shuttle van for 1100 lari round trip.
We stayed for five nights at the excellent Gudauri Loft hotel, right next to the ski slope. The hotel is new and has a great spa with a pool. After five days in Gudauri, we realized that the hotel restaurant was one of the best in the city.
In my opinion, the resort is less adapted to heavy snowfall. Out of our four days of skiing, only 1.5 days were sunny, and on the other days, it snowed heavily, making visibility poor. During heavy snowfall, the staff could not clear the trails fast enough, so some lifts remained closed.
The connections between the slopes are also not always optimal and convenient. Therefore, at the end, I can say that the resort is less suitable for beginners but more suitable for snowboarders and freeriders off the trails.
The advantages of Gudauri are that the food is delicious everywhere, prices are cheaper than in Europe, including instructor prices. Despite all this, we enjoyed the resort, and the children were able to learn to ski.
Cost in March 2023:
13. Bansko in Bulgaria.
The site is not expensive and not so big, a total of 75 km (47 miles), but a high level of facilities, like in the major sites in the Alps. It is a great site for beginners because at the begining they do not need lots of tracks but easy routes and a good school. Besides the town itself is excellent, lots of ethnic restaurants (Mehana) with delicious food, lots of nightclubs and pubs with live music. Recommend to visit an authentic restaurant that we liked very much Mehana Obetzanova Kisha which is next to the clock tower in the town center (see photo). We stayed in Hotel Perun, a very good 4-star hotel with a pool, casino and spa. Very spacious rooms and a good location, a few minutes’ walk to the elevators. All the equipment can be left in the lockers near the elevators.
12. Borovets – Bulgaria.
The Borovets ski resort exceeded all my expectations, it is much bigger and more diverse than I thought. Especially thanks to its amazing forest. Officially it has 60 km of trails, but in practice it feels like it is bigger and more diverse than Bansko. Most of the trails go through a beautiful and magical forest. We stayed in the Yanakiev hotel which is a highly recommended ski-in-ski-out, it has a pool and various saunas. The resort is definitely suitable as well for beginners as well for advanced, there are no lines for the lifts and there was no congestion on the slopes on the dates we were in early March. We were 4 full days of skiing and the site is definitely suitable for that amount of days. The site is in the Rila Mountains south of Sofia, 1:20 drive from the airport. We took a package that included everything so we had shuttle from the airport to the hotel. The resort has a very rustic and homey atmosphere in the middle of a forest, the town itself is very small and picturesque without roads and large distances like in Bansko, there are many restaurants with delicious and varied food, the prices are very affordable. Most of the hotels are Ski-in-ski-out. The bigest and the most central and luxurious is the Rila Hotel.
11. Rosa Khutor – Krasnaya Polyana, Sochi, Russia.
After we visited many excellent ski resorts in Europe, we finally decided for the first time to take our nine years old daughter with us.
We were looking for a resort so that private lessons for beginners would be inexpensive, and that there will be enough tracks of different levels for advanced skiers and for beginners.
The choice was Rosa Khutor and after we returned, I can say for sure that we made a right choice.
The resort is completely new after the 2014 Winter Olympics, and the Caucasian mountains looks like the Alps. From Adler Airport, we ordered online a transfer to the hotel, a comfortable minibus for 10 people. Just 40 minutes on the excellent highway and we are at the four-star Mercure hotel in the Rosa Khutor valley at an altitude of 560 meters.
We arrived there in the middle of January, there was plenty of snow and the whole town along the river was covered with a white blanket.
Rosa Khutor is the newest town and the largest resort in Krasnaya Polyana (102 km. of pistes), besides it, you can visit 3 more ski areas, which are a short taxi ride away, using the same ski pass. In total in Krasnaya Polyana about 200 km. of pistes.
The town is very beautiful with many shops and different restaurants; we liked “Che Harcho” and “Follow me”. Two ski cabins take you to the Olympic Village, there are also ski schools, ski lifts, ski rental and restaurants.
We took private lessons for children and adults at Riders’ School and were pleased.
They could also order all ski equipment with a discount, but we ordered it online earlier on the Rosaski website.
For lovers of Ski-in-Ski-out, I would advise booking a hotel in the Olympic village, and not in a valley like us, but then in the evening you would have to go down to the valley by cable car or taxi.
At the resort itself, the entire infrastructure is new, the service is excellent, the tracks are very good, only when there was heavy snow, some of the lifts and tracks remain closed.
We did not even go to the neighboring towns and rode only on Rosa Khutor, but there are still plenty of entertainment for adults and children, such as Waterpark, shopping center, casino and much more.
For 4 days of skiing and 4 nights, it cost us:
Triple room with breakfast 37 thousand rubles.
Adult skipas 8907 rub. , child 5300 rub.
Skis, boots, helmet for an adult 5120 rubles. For a child 2560 rubles.
Locker for 3 pairs of skis 1400 rub.
Lessons for an adult – 17820 rub. for 8 hours.
Lessons in a group of 3 children – 18720 rub. for a child for 16 hours.
Transfer from the airport and back 6500 rubles. for the whole minibus for 10 people.
2 Sim cards with calls and internet data 500 rub.
10. Passo Tonale in Italy.
The site is located high in the mountains including the town itself, a total number of tracks is 120 km (75 miles), but you can purchase an extended ski pass that also includes the larger and more expensive Madonna Di Campiglio, which will be total 350 km (220 miles) of skiing trails at all levels. Also suitable for beginners.
9. Soldeu town in the Grandvalira ski area in Andorra.
The location of the Soldeu town is in the middle of the ski area and it is very convenient to access all the trails. However, for nightlife, the town is a bit sleepy, so if you are looking for more entertainment then Pas de la Casa is a town that is more suitable for you, even though it is at the end of the ski area. From all other aspects, Grandvalira has only advantages. Very large site with excellent tracks at all levels. In general, Andorra is a Tax-free country, so it is the place to do shopping especially for equipment and skiwear. Close to Soldeu there are some huge Outlet stores with good prices. The Himalaya Hotel was excellent, with huge rooms with living room and bedroom and very varied breakfast and dinner. 
8. Vialattea – “Milky Way” in the Italian Alps on border with France
A large ski area with 400 km of excellent pistes. The main town is Sestriere, where the 2006 Winter Olympics took place. We lived in a small and more authentic town, Sauze d’Oulx, in a very recommended family hotel Petit B&B, 5 minutes’ walk from the slopes. There are only three guest rooms and most importantly, this is the personal attitude of the hostess Mara. She was always willing to help, explain everything. It was a nice homey breakfast and everything was just perfect in the Petit B&B.
This year, unlike previous years, we decided not to take an all included package but to order it all separately, because we went only for four full days of skiing. Everything was very simple and comfortable so from now on I am going to order everything by myself every year. We finally learned to put chains on wheels of a car. It is very important to try to put them at car rental office, so they will show you how to do it right. On highways, you are not allowed to drive with chains, so you will need to put them only on mountain roads covered with snow or ice.
Here you can see the prices of the trip for one person:
B&B for 5 nights including breakfast (in a double room) 230 euros
Flight to Milan (we ordered one suitcase for two people) 115 euros
A small car rent including Excess Reimbursement insurance 68 euros
Fuel (driving 2.5 hours from Milan) 27 euros
Toll roads 34 euros
Intermediate ski equipment for 4 days excluding shoes 50 euros (with shoes 78 euros)
Ski pass 132 euros
Travel insurance 15 euros
Total of 671 euros
7. Cervinia – Zermatt on the border between Italy and Switzerland.
An excellent ski resort that includes 320 km of slopes on both sides of the border. We were a total of 3 full days of skiing. We stayed in the 4-star Hotel Europa in an excellent location, only about 50 meters from the lifts of the town of Cervinia on the Italian side. For two days we were on the Italian side and only on the third day we bought extended international skipass for the Swiss side as well. In Switzerland everything is more expensive so I recommend to take a hotel on the Italian side. The town of Cervinia is two hours away by car from Malpensa Airport in Milan. We were at the end of January, the slopes were not busy at all, there were no lines to the lifts. Very flowing and long pistes. The village itself is quite small compared to the more famous ski towns I have stayed in. The peak of the Matterhorn mountain is visible from everywhere in all its glory. On the third day we went to the Swiss side of the resort to Zermatt town. More dramatic views, the Matterhorn looks more beautiful from this side of the border. We went up to a glacier where you can ski all year round, the highest point is 3850 meters. At the end of the day on the way to the airport we went to Terme St. Vincent, a spa with many saunas and outdoor and indoor hot pools, it is highly recommended.
Here you can see the prices that we payed updated for january 2023:
6. Campitello village in Sella Ronda in Dolomites in Italy.
This is a very beautiful and huge site of 1200 km (745 miles) of pistes, which is spread over a large mountain in the shape of a star with lots of towns and villages. We stayed in the nearby town of Campitello, which is relatively small in a small family Ramon hotel near the cable cars. If you are looking for a nightlife, it is better to stay in Canazei town, which is also Ski In Ski Out, or already at the other part of the Sella Ronda at Selva Wolkenstein Val Gardena. 
5. Mayrhofen in Austria.
A very good ski resort with 489 km (304 miles) of tracks of Zillertal skipass, including a 3500m (11500 feet) high glacier area, you can get there on a free bus half an hour away. I loved the paraskiing you can do for 100 Euros but the price is worth it. The town itself is very beautiful with authentic Austrian houses. It is so low that there was hardly any snow in the town itself, and there are plenty of restaurants, Apre Ski clubs and the best nightlife in Austria. We stayed at the Post Hotel, which has excellent location in the town center in front of the supermarket on the main square, and also in terms of rooms and excellent sauna. One evening we went to a huge spa at the Sporthotel Manni in the center of town where there is an outdoor pool and a Jacuzzi on the roof of the hotel. 
4. Espace Killy area including Tignes and Val d’Isere in France.
A huge site with 300 km (186 miles) of very good routes. The Tignes Lavachet ski camp is not so special, it is very high so there is lot of snow even storms, and very industrial architecture, but apartments here are relatively cheap. I would recommend staying in Val d’Isere, which is much more beautiful and authentic, and it is ski in ski out.
3. Ischgl and the Silveretta Arena in Austria and Samnaun in Switzerland.
An excellent Austrian site with a link to a Swiss site in the same 240 km (150 miles) skipass. We lived in a good Caroline hotel in the center of the town so you can ski to the front door. In the town and up on the slopes there is an atmosphere of celebration, parties on the snow and Apre Ski clubs are opening after lunch. In addition, there is the best nightlife until morning. One evening we went to the five star Hotel Madlein to the spa. For 20 Euros you get all types of pools and saunas, including a heated outdoor pool and a log house that is a huge sauna. Just in case you do not know, the entrance to saunas in Austria is without swimsuits.
2. Chamonix Mont Blanc in the French Alps.
Maybe I liked this site, because this is the first site I went to do alpine skiing. Here I learned to ski properly with the best teachers at the UCPA club for students, even though I do cross-country skiing from early childhood.
Chamonix area has five separate sites around the town itself, with one ski pass covering all of them and a free shuttle between the sites. The big advantage is that every site is enough for a full day or more, all the sites are far apart so if there is bad weather on one site you simply go to another side of the valley within a 10-minute drive and there is excellent weather. The feeling is that every day you make ski in a completely different place, each site has tracks at different levels including Olympic tracks. We were in Chamonix in early January when the whole town is still decorated for Christmas!
1. Colfosco Village in Dolomiti Superski or Sella Ronda
This huge ski cluster came out on top after my second trip there. First of all, there are 80% of sunny days in a season, and secondly this time we chose an ideal location compared to the last time in Campitello (6th place in the ranking), where there were huge lines for the lift from the town to the mountains. In Colfosco, we rented an excellent BelaVal Apartments – Calfosch apartment with two bedrooms and a living room with kitchen for 4 people, 20 meters walk from the ski slope, ski rental, training school and 4 ski lifts in all directions, which never had queues. All week in mid-February there was sunny weather with perfect snow and all tracks (1200 km) were open. We managed to go around almost 1000 km of tracks in a week. Great Spa centers for only 20 euros per evening at the Mountain Hotel Mezdi and the Lüch de Costa.
5 great restaurants for the evening, some in the town itself, some in Corvara and one in the beautiful Ortisei town that is definitely worth a visit:
Ristorante Pizzeria Black Hill
Tabladel
Pizzeria Ristorante Salvan
Ristorante Mathiaskeller
Speckkeller
Excellent restaurants on the slops and for Apre Ski:
La Stua Aprés Ski
Fodom Hutte
