Christmas and New Year ski holidays
Christmas Day 2026 is a Friday, so the peak fortnight splits cleanly: 19 to 26 December with Christmas Day as your last full day on snow, and 26 December to 2 January with New Year's Eve midweek. Which resorts are safe bets on December snow, and which week suits which trip.
Checked and updated 5 September 2026
Christmas Day 2026 falls on a Friday, and that single fact sorts the whole fortnight out. The Saturday to Saturday weeks run 19 to 26 December and 26 December to 2 January, which puts Christmas Day on the last full day of week one and New Year's Eve midweek in week two. Neither marquee day touches a travel day. As Christmas draws go, this is a tidy year.
The pinch point is Boxing Day. Saturday 26 December is the changeover for both weeks: everyone leaving Christmas week and everyone arriving for New Year travels on the same morning, and UK public transport to the airport is at its thinnest of the year that day. Book transfers early and treat it as the slowest travel day of the fortnight.
The two weeks in 2026
Both weeks are peak weeks. But they are not the same week, and the differences start with the calendar.
| Week | Dates | The big day | Travel days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christmas week | Sat 19 to Sat 26 Dec 2026 | Christmas Day, Friday 25 December, your last full day on snow | Out on 19 December, the Saturday England, Wales, France and the Netherlands all break up. Home on Boxing Day |
| New Year week | Sat 26 Dec 2026 to Sat 2 Jan 2027 | New Year's Eve, Thursday 31 December, midweek with no travel the next morning | Out on Boxing Day. Home on 2 January with a clear Sunday before England's schools return on Monday 4 January |
Who is off when
Every market in Europe is on holiday across this fortnight, which is exactly why New Year is the price peak of the winter. The useful detail is that the break-ups stagger. England, Wales, France and the Netherlands are all free from Saturday 19 December, and Edinburgh's term ends the same Friday as England's. But Italian schools run to Tuesday 22 December, the German states to the 22nd or 23rd, and parts of Scotland, the Borders and Argyll among them, run into that week too. Those families cannot arrive until midweek, and the slopes show it.
| Market | Break | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| England | Mon 21 Dec to Fri 1 Jan | Dominant council pattern: term ends Friday 18 December, so families are free from Saturday 19. Back Monday 4 January |
| Scotland | 21 or 23 Dec to 5 Jan | Edinburgh closed 21 December to 4 January, pupils back Wednesday 6 January. Borders 23 December to 5 January. Argyll and Bute closes Tuesday 22 December |
| Wales | From Fri 18 Dec to Mon 4 Jan | Autumn term ends 18 December in every authority except Powys, which runs to Tuesday 22 December |
| Northern Ireland | Mon 21 Dec to Fri 1 Jan | Dates are set per school; from a secondary source, the official page was not loadable |
| France, all zones | Sat 19 Dec to Mon 4 Jan | Uniform nationwide this year across zones A, B and C |
| Netherlands, all regions | Sat 19 Dec to Sun 3 Jan | Official national advisory dates |
| Belgium, Wallonia and Brussels | Mon 21 Dec to Fri 1 Jan | Official FWB calendar |
| Germany | Bavaria 24 Dec to 8 Jan; NRW 23 Dec to 6 Jan; Baden-Württemberg 23 Dec to 9 Jan | The latest break-ups and the latest returns of any market |
| Italy | Wed 23 Dec to Wed 6 Jan | Trento's official calendar, the loadable one; other regions follow a similar shape |
Two things fall out of that table. First, the front of Christmas week, 19 to 22 December, is the quietest skiing of the fortnight: the British, French and Dutch have arrived but the Germans and Italians have not. Second, if your dates can slide, the week from 2 January is the sleeper. England, France and the Netherlands are all back at school on Monday 4 January, Scotland, Italy and NRW follow by the 7th, and only Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, off until 8 and 9 January, last the whole week. That is peak winter snow at post-peak crowds, and it prices accordingly.
December snow: buy altitude
December is the least dependable snow month of the season, and what protects you is not luck, it is altitude and run-in. A resort that opened in November has had four weeks of base building and snowmaking by the time you arrive on 19 December. A resort that opens on 19 December has had none, because its season starts the same Saturday you do. Megève, Les Gets and Châtel all open fully on exactly that day.
So for these two weeks we would book high and glacier-backed, and save the pretty lower villages for February and March. Val Thorens and Tignes open on 21 November, Val d'Isère joins the linked Tignes area from 28 November, and Les Arcs and La Plagne open on 12 December, a week before the changeover.
| Resort | Opens for 2026/27 | Run-in before Christmas week | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Val Thorens | 21 November | Four weeks | Confirmed opening, on the official 3 Vallées site |
| Tignes | 21 November | Four weeks | Confirmed, official; glacier sectors open first, season to 2 May |
| Val d'Isère | 28 November | Three weeks | Confirmed via the official Tignes site for the linked area |
| Courchevel | 4 December | Two weeks | Projected: provisional 3 Vallées calendar; the area-wide 5 December opening is official |
| Méribel | 5 December | Two weeks | Projected: same provisional calendar, though the 5 December area opening itself is official |
| Les Arcs | 12 December | One week | Confirmed, official |
| La Plagne | 12 December | One week | Confirmed, official; season to 24 April |
| Megève | 19 December | None, opens the day you arrive | Confirmed, official; some sectors run earlier |
| Les Gets | 19 December | None, opens the day you arrive | Confirmed, official; partial opening from 12 December snow permitting |
| Châtel | 19 December | None, opens the day you arrive | Confirmed, official; the whole Portes du Soleil runs 19 December to 18 April |
The same logic holds across the wider Alps if your plans stretch beyond France: Cervinia opens on 24 October, Zermatt on 1 November, Sölden on 12 November and Obertauern on 20 November, all confirmed by their operators. By the changeover almost everywhere is open on paper. The question to ask is how long it has been open by then.
Race weeks and the Spengler Cup
Three fixtures land inside the peak fortnight, all with confirmed dates. None of them is a reason to avoid a resort. All three are reasons to book that resort earlier, and in Davos's case much earlier.
| Event | Resort | Dates | What it means for your week |
|---|---|---|---|
| World Cup on the Gran Risa | Alta Badia | Giant slalom Sun 20 Dec, night slalom Mon 21 Dec | The Gran Risa piste above La Villa closes for racing on the first two days of Christmas week and that corner of the valley is busy; the rest of the large area skis normally |
| 3Tre World Cup night slalom | Madonna di Campiglio | Wed 23 Dec | A single floodlit evening race two days before Christmas: the Canalone Miramonti closes around it and the village centre is packed that night |
| 98th Spengler Cup | Davos | 26 to 31 Dec, final on New Year's Eve | No effect on the pistes, but two ice hockey games a day fill the town every evening and beds over an already premium week are the tightest of the winter |
The Spengler Cup is the one to plan around rather than merely note. It runs through the entire New Year week with the final on 31 December itself, so a Davos stay that week is a brilliant trip for a hockey fan and a hard place to find a bed for anyone else. If Davos at New Year is the plan, accommodation comes before flights.
Christmas week or New Year week
New Year week is traditionally the single most expensive week on the Alpine chalet calendar: every market is off at once and the calendars above show why. Christmas week is premium too, but softer, and in 2026 the late continental break-ups genuinely thin out its first half. That price and crowd read is our own analysis of the published dates, and we stand by it.
Pick it for younger families and anyone who wants the calmer half of the fortnight. German and Italian schools run to 22 and 23 December so the front of the week skis quietly, Christmas Day itself is your last full day on snow, and it is the cheaper of the two weeks. It is also the earlier roll of the December snow dice, so spend the saving on altitude.
Pick it for groups, teenagers and anyone going for the occasion. Every market in Europe is on holiday at once, New Year's Eve falls midweek so nobody travels the next morning, and resort atmosphere peaks for the winter. Expect the year's top prices, book the table for the 31st before you fly, and remember England's schools give you a clear Sunday on the way home.
Planning a week in Davos?
Chalets, apartments and hotels in Davos, priced for the whole week.