I WANT SKI TRIPS · THE WORLD BY SNOW
First chair, fresh snow, the whole mountain.
Reviews of the best ski trips and snow holidays on earth, mountain by mountain. Gudauri’s wide Caucasus bowls and Lapland’s husky-quiet trails, Zermatt under the Matterhorn and Whistler powder, plus Seoul day-trips, Tromso under the aurora and the resorts in between. We read the listings so you book the right day on the snow.
Worth the airfare
Three ski days you can only have in one place.
There are groomed pistes in every mountain range now. But the wide bowls above Gudauri, a ski day under the Tromso aurora, and the long fall-line beneath the Matterhorn happen on these mountains and nowhere else on earth.
The Caucasus
The Wide-Open Bowls of Gudauri
High on the old Georgian Military Road, Gudauri sits above the treeline with nothing but open, sun-facing bowls rolling down from the ridge. The lifts climb past 3,000 metres, the runs are long and uncrowded, and the snow stays light deep into spring. It is the most terrain you will ski for the money anywhere in Europe, an easy day trip from Tbilisi, and quite unlike the tight tree-lined pistes of the Alps.
See all 1 →Arctic Norway
Skiing Tromso Under the Northern Lights
Three hundred kilometres inside the Arctic Circle, Tromso skis in a light nowhere else has: a low gold sun by day, deep blue twilight by mid-afternoon, and the aurora overhead once the slopes close. Cross-country tracks thread the snowed-in forest, huskies pull sleds between the trees, and the sea ice glows pink at the edges. A ski day here is half sport, half pure polar theatre.
- 1 Tromsø: Cross Country Guided Skiing Course
- 2 Breivikeidet: Cross-Country Skiing & Husky Visit
- 3 Tromsø: Cross-Country Skiing Beginner Course + Transfer
The Swiss Alps
The Long Fall-Line at Zermatt
Every run at Zermatt is skied under the Matterhorn, the most photographed mountain on earth, and the resort climbs so high you can ski almost year-round on the glacier above the village. The pistes are long, the descents drop thousands of vertical metres to the town, and the car-free streets at the bottom still smell of woodsmoke. It is the Alps at full volume, and there is only one of it.
- 1 Snowscapes Zermatt-Elevate your Skiing Experience
- 2 Zermatt: Family Skiing – private ski lessons and guiding
- 3 Matterhorn Private Skiing Day Zermatt
Start here
If you only book one day on the snow.
More travellers reach for this one than anything else on the site. A safe first booking for a mountain you are still getting to know.
The classics
The World’s Most Popular Ski Trips
Gudauri, Tromso, Zermatt, Whistler, the Korean resorts. The lessons, lift days and backcountry tours travellers reach for first, on the mountains they most want to ski.
Where to ski
Pick your mountains.
The Caucasus for wide, cheap powder. Finnish Lapland for cross-country and the lights. Norway for Arctic days, the Swiss Alps for the big names, Western Canada for the deep snow, Korea for a quick weekend on the slopes. Each region, with the days it does best.
Which kind of skier
How do you want to spend the day?
Where you ski matters as much as how. Three ways to spend a day on the snow, from a first lesson to a guided line off the back of the mountain.
Lapland & the far north
Finland skis in a light of its own.
North of the Arctic Circle the days are short and gold, the forests sit deep under snow, and the trails run quiet for miles. Cross-country skis at Levi and Yllas, a downhill morning at Ruka, a husky team between the pines around Rovaniemi, and then the sky turning green once the lifts close. This is snow as a whole landscape, not just a slope, with the northern lights thrown in on a clear night.
See the best skiing in Finland →British Columbia & Alberta
Western Canada gets the deepest snow.
Whistler Blackcomb is the biggest resort in North America, with more vertical and more terrain than a week can cover, and the snow comes in dependable metres. Over in the Rockies, Banff skis between peaks straight off a postcard. Long fall-lines, tree runs in waist-deep powder, and rental packages that turn up at the door, this is big-mountain skiing with the lift infrastructure to match.
See the best skiing in Canada →The best part
The snow turns blue at the end of the day.
A good ski day is never only the runs. It is the quiet on the last chair, the snow going violet as the sun drops behind the ridge, the burn in your legs and the cold air in your lungs. You ski down through the blue hour, boots loud on the packed track to the bar, and you already know you will be back up there at first light.
Browse every ski trip →Skiing from Seoul
Korea skis on a weekend timetable.
An hour or two from the capital, resorts like Yongpyong, Jisan and the Elysian slopes run shuttle buses, floodlit night skiing and rental packages built for first-timers. You can leave Seoul after breakfast, get a lesson in, ski into the evening under the lights, and be back in the city for dinner. It is the most beginner-friendly, low-fuss skiing in this guide, and a brilliant way to try the sport.
- 1 Eobi Ice Valley / Elysian Ski Resort / Nami Island
- 2 Yongpyong Ski Resort from Seoul with Optional Lesson and Packages
- 3 Jisan Ski Resort from Seoul by Shuttle(Opt Winter Skiing Package)
By time on the snow
How much mountain do you want?
Some days you want a couple of hours and a first lesson. Some days you want a half-day pass and the groomers to yourself. And some days you want to be out from first chair to last light, high on the mountain. Pick the day, we will point you at the trip.
A few hours
Clip in for the first time.A beginner lesson on a quiet slope: a patient instructor, rental gear sorted, the snowplough and the first proper turns before your legs give out. Day-trip resorts an hour from Seoul make it easy.
Half a day
Lap the groomers all morning.A half-day pass and a rental package: warm up on the blues, find your rhythm on the reds, ride the lift back up while the snow is still fresh. The kind of morning that turns into a habit.
A full day on the mountain
Ride the high bowls until last lift.Wide-open Caucasus terrain from the top station down, a guide who knows where the snow holds, lunch at altitude and one more run before the light goes. The day you plan a whole trip around.
The big names
The Swiss Alps are where skiing grew up.
From Zermatt under the Matterhorn to Grindelwald and the Jungfrau peaks above Interlaken, this is the postcard the whole sport is sold on. Pistes drop thousands of vertical metres to car-free villages, the glaciers up top hold snow almost year-round, and the rack railways and cable cars are an attraction in themselves. Day trips run from Geneva and Zurich, so even a city break can end on the snow.
See all 6 Swiss ski trips →By resort
Pick a mountain and clip in.
Gudauri for wide Caucasus bowls. Zermatt for the fall-line under the Matterhorn. Rovaniemi for Lapland cross-country. Tromso for Arctic days under the aurora. Whistler for the deepest powder. Seoul for an easy weekend on the slopes.
By country
Every country worth a day on snow.
From the Caucasus to the Alps, Lapland to the Rockies, Korea to the Polish Tatras. Browse by the country whose mountains you want under your skis.
First chair to last light
A perfect day on the mountain.
First trip to the snow and want a full day on the hill? Here is how it flows, from the empty first chair to one last run as the light turns blue.
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