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It’s official: this is Europe’s best skiing destination

A new study looked at everything from the price of a ski pass to the length of the slopes to reveal Europe’s best ski resorts

Liv Kelly
Written by
Liv Kelly
Contributing Writer
People skiing in Bulgaria
Photograph: Shutterstock
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Some of us love the sun and the sand, but plenty of people are itching to grab their salopettes and head to the slopes in the winter months. And Europe is home to some of the world’s best slopes for skiing – some of them are even pretty affordable, believe it or not.

While the price of your ski pass and hotel make a big difference, there are plenty of other factors to consider when booking a ski trip, like the lengths of the slopes, the number of hotels and ski lifts, and more.

Well, a new study from SportsCover Direct has investigated all of those factors, using metrics from skiresort.info, to reveal the best-scoring ski resorts in Europe. As well as slope length and number of hotels, the study considered resorts with the highest elevation, elevation difference and general star rating.

Ranking the best with a score of 74.2 out of 80 was the Aleka resort in Bulgaria. There are 197 hotels nearby, and the average for an adult day lift pass is €26 (£22) – not bad value, eh?

In second place it was the Straja resort in Romania, which scored 72 out of 80, and Ravna Planina in Bosnia and Herzegovina came in third place with 71.8 out of 80. 

Surprisingly, France doesn’t make an appearance on this list until eighth place, and Swiss resorts aren’t included at all, even though Zermatt was recently named Europe’s best winter destination. Take a look at the list below for the rest of the top ten. 

These are the best skiing destinations in Europe

  1. Aleko, Bulgaria
  2. Straja, Romania
  3. Ravna Planina, Bosnia and Herzegovina
  4. Tornik – Zlatibor, Serbia
  5. Kolašin 1450 and Kolašin 1600, Montenegro
  6. Bankso, Bulgaria
  7. Malo Igman, Bosnia and Herzegovina
  8. Céüze 2000, France
  9. Mavrovo – Zare Lazareski, North Macedonia
  10. Alpe du Grand-Serre, France

In other exciting news, there’s a great project striving to make skiing more accessible – just take a look at this brilliant Afro-Caribbean festival which is set to launch this weekend

Did you see that one of Spain’s most popular sites will start charging tourists to visit?

Plus: This European city is set to be transformed by 50 new skyscrapers.

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