I don't know if this will be of any help at all (!) Hubby and I did our first ski holiday last year in St Wolfgang, Austria. We stayed at the Cortisen - the location was very very quiet (though we were blessed with about 6 ft of snow!) and the hotel fantastic and very very reasonable for Austria.

St Wolfgang is pretty new to skiing so still quite cheap really. Thompsons did a package called a Winter Wonderland and for about £32 each we got a day tuition cross country skiing, a day cross country skiing, a day snow shoe walking, an evening curling, a day nordic walking.

We paid extra for a sleigh ride (that was nice) and the ski bus went outside the hotel and went up to the ski area. There is a 'fun' ski area for families where there are snow activities like sledging, 'sledging on tyres' and all sorts! We also went down the lake and went up a mountain via cable car - an unforgettable experience. The shop that organises trips is quite literally outside the hotel so you can organise whatever you want with them - they are English speaking, very very friendly and very knowledgable. You can also do a trip into Salzburg if you want to.

We are both in education so have to go in school holidays - we go in February as it is much cheaper than at Christmas.

Though we have no children, for us it was a superb introduction to a ski holiday for beginners - we had a simply fabulous time as did people there with children. The hotel was 2nd to none and though there was little entertainment at night we were so worn out ( and well fed) that we slept most of the time!

Hope this is helpful ---- even if this isn't the location for you have a look at the Thomsons Winter Wonderland packages as they give you a real taste of lots of different snow activities.

Have a great time wherever you go

Thanks everso much Presto 2, that sounds perfect!!

Pam

Just another thought - if you want cheaper I think they do the Winter Wonderland stuff at Lake Bled as well - its a really cheap area.

Sorry, me again - have just thought - have you ever thought of going to Lapland? We're going to Yllas this February - there are opportunities for cross country and basic skiing, snow mobiles, husky dogs and reindeer rides. Magic. It is much cheaper in Feb than at Christmas. I think we have paid about £600 per person for half board in a log cabin with log fire and sauna and food and facilities at a nearby hotel - just a thought as your children seem the right age to lap it up (if you excuse the phrase!) We have no children but we simply can NOT wait - and the snow is guaranteed as you are in the Arctic Circle!

Thanks Presto 2. Who have you booked your Lapland trip through? I guess that fits into the half term holiday OK- where do you fly from? It does sound magical!!

Pam

Hi,

We've booked with Inghams and have been told that they are about the best for Lapland holidays. We aren't doing an sort of Santa package or anything - I think they still do things in February but we're not too bothered. Its basically a normal break where you can book trips when you get there and mix and match with your own thing! I spent ages looking last year and there is a good selection of cabins sc / hb in Crystal, Thomsons and Inghams. We booked direct over the internet and that's worked really well for us.

We are flying from Birmingham this time for the first time, but we usually go from Manchester. I think we've gone for Birmingham as the times getting back were better. Its a Sunday flight and we have to be back at work on the Monday ! If you're lucky your half term holiday may be at a different time to most folks and you could get a really cheap break then - we're not that lucky and the prices leap up for the half term week. You can spot it in the brochures just by looking at the price column!

The web site we check out quite often is called:

http://www.yllas.fi

There is also one called http://www.levi.fi

I think Levi is supposed to be alot busier than Yllas - as busy goes up there!

Hope this is useful