December Ski Holidays 2026

High-altitude ski resorts like Val Thorens, Tignes, and Cervinia bring reliable snow in the early season, while lower-altitude resorts rely more on snow-making systems. Nonetheless, across the board, the skiing is generally fantastic in December and when you factor in the atmosphere, it makes for an unbeatable holiday.

While not all ski resorts follow the tradition of having Christmas markets, plenty do! As you may have expected, resorts in Austria and Germany, such as Kitzbühel, Innsbruck, and Garmisch-Partenkirchen are known for hosting beautiful markets, filled with lights, food and mulled wine, while Chamonix in France, Zermatt in Switzerland and more aren’t strangers to the tradition.

For reliable snow in Europe, you can’t go much wrong with the likes of Val Thorens, Saas-Fee, Zermatt, Ischgl and more high-altitude resorts across the continent. Within North America, Aspen in Colorado, Snowbird in Utah, Whistler in British Columbia and Jackson Hole in Wyoming are all safe bets.

As for atmosphere, in North America, Aspen and Whistler transform into seriously festive winter wonderlands. If you want to avoid too much of a Christmassy vibe though, you might feel more comfortable somewhere like Snowbird, where people are mostly there for the thrill of the slopes alone.

Here in Europe, along with the aforementioned Austrian and German resorts, Zell am See, Cortina, Megève and Val d’Isère get very festive and picturesque around December time. On the other hand, while it’s generally hard to avoid a festive atmosphere in skiing resorts in December, the likes of St Anton, Livigno and Tignes are more about partying than festive fun.

That depends when in December you’re looking at going. While schools are still open and most people are still at work in earlier December, then you’re looking at quieter slopes, ski schools, hotels, restaurants and bars.

Once the festive season properly kicks off and kids break up from school, one of the busiest times in the whole skiing season begins. Through the Christmas and New Year’s period, ski resorts become very busy so you need to book early!

As skiing resorts tend to be relatively quiet in Early December before the school holidays, prices are lower than some other, busier times in the ski season. This is a great time to get your skis on as some great deals can be found in some of the world’s most prestigious resorts.

Later in the month however, with the festivities kicking off and schools being closed, more people flock to the slopes which is reflected in the price of skiing trips. It’s an amazing time to go skiing though as the atmosphere really is second-to-none.

December is an amazing time to take the family skiing. Whether you’re going early or late in the month, the atmosphere is incredible in these picturesque and beautiful resorts. There’s plenty to do aside from skiing, as Christmas markets, torchlit descents, family-friendly shows, dog-sledding and much more are all available to you in most resorts. December is a genuinely magical time to go on a family skiing trip.