The Best Christmas Ski Resorts for Families

The short answer

For a family Christmas, choose a resort where the nursery slope is close to the door, the village is safe to walk around, and the snow is reliable enough for ski school to run. Avoriaz, Saas-Fee, Méribel, La Plagne and Lech all carry our top family rating; Avoriaz and Saas-Fee are also car-free.

What matters with children at Christmas

With young children the week is decided by small distances and small comforts: the walk to ski school in boots, somewhere warm at lunch, and a plan for the afternoon when the four-year-old has had enough. At Christmas two more things come in. The nursery slopes are the first terrain to suffer in a thin December, and the evenings of the 24th and 25th need to feel like Christmas, not like a Tuesday in a ski resort.

Snow where the children ski

Children spend most of the week on the lowest, gentlest slopes, which are exactly the ones that go thin first. When you read a snow report before travelling, look at the lower depth rather than the upper. A resort with a high village or a nursery area up the mountain protects the week.

A village that works on foot

Car-free villages suit families. In Avoriaz the streets are snow, shared by skiers, pedestrians and horse-drawn sleighs, and you can ski to the bakery. Saas-Fee and Zermatt are also car-free, reached by bus or train with cars left at the edge of the valley.

Something to do when it snows sideways

There will be a day when nobody wants to ski. Sledging, a pool, a sleigh ride or a walk to a mountain restaurant matter more with children than piste kilometres.

Our top family resorts compared

Resort	Family rating	Snow Score	Village altitude	Worth noting
Avoriaz	5/5	62	1,800 m	Car-free, ski-in ski-out
Saas-Fee	5/5	87	1,798 m	Car-free, glacier terrain above
Méribel	5/5	60	1,450 m	Strong British chalet tradition
La Plagne	5/5	58	1,250 m	Several villages at different heights
Lech	5/5	45	1,444 m	Limits skier numbers on busy days
Obergurgl	5/5	67	1,930 m	Small, quiet and high
Morzine	5/5	46	1,000 m	Real town, low for Christmas snow
Val Gardena	5/5	50	1,563 m	Carved nativity scenes, markets

Two points stand out. Saas-Fee is the one resort with both a top family rating and a Snow Score above 70. And Morzine, which is a wonderful family town, has one of our lowest Snow Scores; for Christmas it works for families happy to take a lift up to higher terrain, or who see skiing as one part of the week.

The Christmas week with children

Arrival day

For Christmas 2026, Christmas Day is a Friday, so the Christmas week runs from Saturday 19 to Saturday 26 December. It usually coincides with the start of the French school holidays, so roads into the French Alps will be busy. With small children, an early start or a train is kinder than a long queue at the bottom of the valley road.

Ski school over Christmas

Group lessons usually run in blocks across the week. Before booking, ask whether the block includes Christmas Day or pauses for it; many ski schools still teach on the 25th, but timetables vary. Booking lessons early for Christmas week is sensible.

Christmas Eve

Many French resorts put on a torchlit descent by the ski school instructors on the evening of the 24th, often with fireworks. In Les 2 Alpes, for example, the Christmas Eve show starts at 6.30pm. Children love these, and they are free to watch. In Austria the evening centres on the tree, lit around four o'clock, and the Christkind bringing presents, so resort restaurants and hotels focus on a family dinner.

Christmas Day

Father Christmas tends to make an appearance: in Les 2 Alpes he parades through the resort on the 25th. The slopes are quiet on Christmas morning, which makes it a lovely time for a gentle family ski before lunch.

New Year

The following week is generally busier. If you have a choice of weeks and young children, Christmas week is usually calmer.

Practical notes

• Choose accommodation by its distance to the nursery slope and ski school meeting point, not the lift map.
• Pack for cold evenings: late December is close to the shortest day.
• Book restaurant tables for the 24th and 25th early if you are not in a catered chalet.
• If a grandparent is coming who will not ski, see our non-skiers' guide, and if a parent is learning too, the beginners' guide.

Sources

• avoriaz.com — Avoriaz is car-free with snow-covered streets shared by skiers, pedestrians and horse-drawn sleighs; you can ski to the bakery; 20 sleigh drivers and 100 horses
• snowmagazine.com — Lifts turn on Christmas Day and many ski schools still offer lessons; high-altitude resorts tend to have more early-season snow
• inghams.co.uk — Slopes are very quiet on Christmas Day
• timeanddate.com — Christmas Day 2026 falls on a Friday; Saturdays are 19 and 26 December 2026
• education.gouv.fr — French Christmas school holidays run from Saturday 19 December 2026 to Monday 4 January 2027, the same dates in all zones
• les2alpes.com — Les 2 Alpes Christmas Eve ski show with ESF torchlight descent and fireworks from 6.30pm; Father Christmas parade on the 25th at 4.30pm; repeat show on New Year's Eve
• whychristmas.com — Austrian Christmas starts around 4pm on Christmas Eve when the tree is lit; the Christkind brings presents on the 24th; the main meal is eaten on Christmas Eve, often fried carp
• alpineelements.co.uk — New Year week is very busy and becoming busier than Christmas week
• saas-fee.ch — Saas-Fee is reached by PostBus from Visp station; the village is car-free
• zermatt.swiss — Zermatt is car-free; shuttle trains from Täsch at 20-minute intervals taking 12 minutes; 2,100 covered spaces at Täsch; about three and a half hours from Zurich Airport and four from Geneva or Basel
• skierandsnowboarder.com — Upper-slope depth is usually the more encouraging number; lower-slope figure matters for families and beginners; depths not measured the same way in each resort; a high percentage of lifts open can hide a key closure; resort reports confirm operations but are not neutral on quality
• skiarlberg.at — Lech Zürs operates a limit on the number of skiers, after which passes are restricted to other Arlberg sectors