It sounds almost too good to be true - three days' skiing, and just one day off work. Little wonder that the number of people taking ski weekends is booming, fuelled by the vast array of scheduled low-cost routes into the Alps. But arranging a ski weekend is actually surprisingly tricky - with the hour's time difference, you can find those clever after-work flights land well after the last bus or train to the resort. A taxi can easily cost £200 each way and when you get there, finding accommodation can be a nightmare since hotels and chalets in popular resorts often won't accept bookings for anything less than seven days. Without meticulous planning, a weekend can end up costing as much as a week - so try one of these itineraries for a successful short break.
To give an idea of real prices and timings, we've chosen one weekend, 3-4 March, and worked out schedules to give the most ski time with a maximum of one day off work, either the Friday or Monday. The prices quoted are as if booked on Wednesday last week.
Chamonix, France
The classic that's hard to beat
Of all the possible destinations for a short ski break, Chamonix is the obvious choice. There are towering peaks, a charming town, and terrain that ranges from beginner-friendly to arguably the most extreme in Europe. Despite its fame, because it's actually busier in summer, with hikers and climbers instead of skiers, weekend accommodation in winter is easier to find than in many other big name resorts. Oh, and it's only 53 miles from Geneva airport, which, with direct flights from at least 20 British cities, is by far the most important hub for ski weekenders.
In reality though, despite the number of routes, unless you can reach one of the London airports, there are few departures late enough to let you set off after work. This doesn't mean you can't do weekends from beyond the capital, just that you'll have to fly early morning instead, thus possibly losing half a day's skiing. From Leeds, for example, take the 7.30am Jet2 flight on Friday (£157 return), arriving Geneva at 10.30, and you can ski the afternoon. The flight back leaves at 8pm on Sunday, so you'll have two and a half days on the piste.
Those in London are spoilt for choice, but the pick of the crop are flights from London City airport, with its short check-in times, and no long waits on the tarmac for a take-off slot. Take Swiss flight LX449 at 8.15pm on Friday from City, and you'll land just before 11pm. You'll have three full days on the slopes before coming back on Monday night at 8.50pm. Because it is mainly a business airport, night flights can be cheap - these Swiss flights come in at £167, £10 less than taking Easyjet from Gatwick at the same times. For those with skis, Swiss is even better - it carries them free, while Easyjet charges £15 each way.
If you're organising a DIY break, contact the tourist office to find a hotel: 00 33 450 53 00 24; www.chamonix.com. Car hire is easy and cheap, but if you can't face the hour-long drive, Ski Weekend offers airport pick-ups, a shuttle service in resort, ski guiding and three nights in a two-star hotel from £349, or a three-star from £399. Flexiski offers an entire luxury chalet (the Pre Fleuri) sleeping eight, fully catered and with a minibus at your disposal, for £457 each, not including flights or transfer.
Grindelwald, Switzerland
Chocolate box perfection
Not a lot of people know this, but there is a little Swiss airline called Darwin which flies 50-seat planes direct from London City to Berne, the Swiss capital. From here, it's just 50 minutes in a hire car to Grindelwald, which sits under the epic mountain wall of the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau. The 6pm departure on Thursday arrives at 8.40pm, so by 10.30pm you should be pulling up at the five-star Grand Regina hotel, opposite the mountain railway station in the middle of town. This isn't really a resort for those whose priority is to ski as many miles as possible, but the picturesque trains, the fabulous mountain restaurants (try rosti at the Jungfrau hotel in the hamlet of Wengernalp) and the epic views at all times, create an atmosphere like few other places. You'll have two and a half days to explore the 132 miles of piste, before setting off after lunch on Sunday for the 4.55pm flight back, arriving at 5.30pm, leaving plenty of time to iron a shirt for Monday morning. White Roc can arrange the whole thing - flights, car hire and three nights half board at the Regina in a superior room, come in at £747, but they can also tailor make packages to cheaper hotels.
Granada, Spain
Snow and the city
Ok, so the skiing in the Sierra Nevada, the mountains just above Granada in southern Spain, doesn't rival Chamonix, St Anton or Verbier, but as a weekend destination it offers a unique package. First, there are bargain flights. You'll need to bunk the afternoon, but the 5.10pm Ryanair from Stansted to Granada on Friday 2 March, returning on Monday night at 9.20pm, was available for £74 last week; or fly from Liverpool at the same times for £128. The airport is a short taxi ride from the town, where you'll arrive just as Friday night's festivities are about to begin. The beauty of this break is that you stay in the centre of one of Europe's best cities: it's historic, beautiful, and, with so many students, has a party scene to rival any. The following day, the bus leaves at 9am for the resort 30 minutes away, and returns at 5pm. Alternatively you can hire a car from Hertz (book with your flights via the Ryanair website) for £45 for the three days. Stay at the Casa del Aljarife (00 34 958 222 425) in the Albaicin, doubles £65 a night, and drink at the riotous Bar Poe on Calle Jardines.
Champoluc, Italy
Europe's best kept secret?
Italy's Aosta valley is perfect for weekenders, and access could scarcely be easier. The southern end is an hour from Turin, the northern is 90 minutes from Geneva, thanks to the Mont Blanc Tunnel. Flights to either airport are easy to arrange and hire cars plentiful, making excellent resorts like Courmayeur and La Thuile a cinch for short breaks. We've picked Champoluc (a quiet, unspoilt village, linked to Alagna and Gressoney) as an example of what's possible. Fly at 7.20pm on Friday from Stansted to Turin on Ryanair (£55 return), where British operator Ski 2 will pick you up for the 90-minute drive. Three nights' half-board accommodation, transfers, lift pass, and snack lunches in mountain restaurants, costs £409. Ski 2 can also arrange bargain heliskiing, starting around £135 per day. After three days' skiing, there's plenty of time to get back to Turin for the 10.45pm flight home.
La Tania, France
Three Valleys on a budget
The Three Valleys resorts are among the most popular in the Alps, so it's almost unheard of for a hotel to accept short bookings. The xHotel Telemark (00 33 479 08 93 49) in La Tania is the exception, set up last season with weekenders in mind, and with excellent rates. To get there you can fly to Chambery, Grenoble, Lyon or Geneva. Chambery is closest (90 minutes by car) and has lots of regional flights (check Flybe and Jet2), but the timings aren't ideal for weekends. Grenoble has some real bargains with Ryanair. Those in the south should leave Stansted on the Friday 6.35pm Easyjet to Lyon (£98 return), arriving at 9.20pm, then hire a car for the two-hour drive (£51 for the weekend, via Easyjet). Alternatively, Easyjet flies Liverpool to Geneva at the same times (£155), and the drive is of similar length. Monday won't be too rushed - leave the resort around six for the 9.50pm return flight.
The hotel offers a three night package starting on Friday night, including breakfast and dinner, and a three-day lift pass, for £286.
Megeve, France
The civilised short break
With a charming medieval heart, in the 1920s Megeve was France's most glamorous resort. Today the billionaires have moved to Courchevel, but a quietly genteel feel remains, with smart restaurants and upmarket shops. After your Friday night flight to Geneva (as before) you'll be picked up by family company Stanford Skiing and whisked the 70 minutes to the Chalet Rond Point in the centre of Megeve, where there's time for a quick drink in front of the log fire before bed. You then have three full days exploring the pretty wooded slopes on Megeve's three mountains before Monday night's flight back. The sheltered runs can be fabulous in bad weather, when higher, treeless resorts endure high winds and white outs. Three nights at the Chalet Rond Point costs £410 including airport transfers, breakfasts, afternoon tea and dinners with wine.
La Clusaz, France
Two days skiing, zero days off
A few resorts can manage that magic formula - two full days' skiing, without losing a single day of work. The charming, very French, resort of La Clusaz is 50 minutes' drive from Geneva, and makes itself even more attractive by running 'full moon skiing' parties on certain Fridays throughout the season. As long as you have a flexible boss or a 'dentist appointment', leave work early, catch the 6.30pm Easyjet flight from Luton (£161 return) arriving in Geneva at 9.15, and you could be in La Clusaz before 11; just in time for the tropical-themed full moon party, which goes on until 1am. Save time by bringing your own skis and you can grab two hours of moonlight skiing and cocktails under the fake slopeside palm trees before bed. Spend Saturday cruising the wide tree runs, with a lunch stop on the sunny decks of the Telemark Cafe, apres ski in the Bar A Vin and clubbing at L'Ecluse which has a glass dance floor over the river. On Sunday head to nearby Grand Bornand, a tastier resort with some fantastic steep powder, then catch the 9.50pm flight home.
A weekend in the 40-person Karibuni (01202 661 865) chalet, half-board with afternoon tea and wine, costs £430pp, including transfers, guiding, equipment and lift passes. Full moon parties are on 2 February, 2 and 30 March (€11 per adult).
Engelberg, Switzerland
Hardcore heaven
Engelberg may have the air of a slightly faded Victorian town, but its 2,000m 'vertical' (the height difference from the top of the highest run to the bottom of the lowest) dwarfs even that of glitzy Aspen, which boasts the biggest in America. In fact, the resort's fabulous off-piste terrain is making it a mecca for expert skiers, and these days no ski magazine is complete without shots of the latest stunts from Engelberg. Fly to Zurich, leaving on Thursday night: Swiss has flights from Manchester at 6.40pm, Birmingham at 6.45pm, Heathrow at 7.40pm, or London City at 7.50pm, returning on Sunday between 6pm and 8pm. BA has a 7pm flight from Heathrow, returning at 7pm on Sunday. Last week, all of those flights worked out at around £160 return. The railway station is downstairs in the airport, but the train takes two and a half hours, so it's probably better to hire a car for the 90-minute drive. Stay at the three-star Hotel Terrace (00 41 41 639 66 66), which has a spa and nightclub and is connected to the village by its own mini-funicular (it takes three minutes). You'll have two and a half days' skiing before setting off back to Zurich. You can try the hotel direct, but tour operators often have better access to rooms for short stays. Momentum and White Roc both have three night packages including flights, car hire, accommodation and some meals for just over £400.
Lech, Austria
If money's no object
The charming village of Lech links into the vast St Anton ski area, and sits with Verbier and St Moritz as favourites for royalty and the seriously rich. It's a place to visit in style, and this is how to do it. Take Thursday's 3.15pm Swiss flight from London City to Zurich (business, natch); at Zurich you're met airside and taken to the helipad for the half hour flight to Zurs, a village along the valley from Lech. At 7.15pm the helicopter lands and is met by the Lech chief of police, who will welcome you to Austria (no messing around with customs). Then a Maybach limousine whisks you to the deluxe Hotel Kristiania, where a cocktail by the fire and a butler await before dinner is served at 9pm. After three full days you have hot chocolate and apple strudel before a 5.45pm helicopter take off. You end up back in London at 9pm, £2,900 poorer. Book it through White Roc.
