By Eleanor Pickering

• A weekend ski break with flight and transfer times of under four hours will cost on average £344
• The cheapest destination for a long weekend skiing is Sauze d’Oulx in Italy where flights cost £53 and three days of skiing is £201
• With the Swiss franc at sky-high levels, a long weekend skiing in Switzerland costs an average of £392, with the Villars the most expensive destination on the list, at £428

Hitting the slopes this winter needn’t involve using up all your annual leave before the year has really begun. A weekend break on the slopes can be maximised by choosing resorts with short flight and transfer times, and it needn’t break the bank either.

No.1 Currency compared the cost of a basket of ski essentials across the 12 resorts with door-to-door travel time from the UK of less than four hours. The basket includes flights, ski boot hire for three days, ski pass for three days, a bottle of beer, a bottle of wine, a bottle of coke and a meal for two on the slopes. It reveals that, on average, a long weekend of skiing costs an average of £321.

A trip to Sauze d’Oulx in Italy will make the smallest dent in your wallet, costing just £201 for three days skiing and return flights – £120 less than average. Flight and transfer times total just three hours, with return flights costing as little as £53. The bargains continue once at the resort, with ski boot hire for three days costing only £45, and a quick lunch for two with a bottle of wine totalling only £19.50 – making this by far the best place to make your money go further.

By contrast, with Switzerland abandoning the euro cap, we’ve seen the Swiss franc soar as much as 30% against the euro, so it’s unsurprising that a weekend in Switzerland will cost considerably more at £392. Villars tops the list as the most expensive resort on our list, costing £428 in total. Ski boot hire for three days and a three-day ski pass alone will set you back a whopping £280. Meanwhile, Verbier is hugely popular, but for the Swiss resort’s royal connections – Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie are regulars on the slopes – there’s a royal premium for a ski pass which, for three days at £154, is the most expensive on the list.

Up with the Swiss resorts, the second most expensive resort for a weekend on the slopes is St Anton in Austria. This is owing to sky-high flight costs (£183) with the journey to St Anton costing more than twice the amount of flights to Schladmig in Austria (£86), and more than triple the cost of flying to Sauze d’Oulx.

For wining and dining on the slopes, a trip to Megeve in France is high up the list, with a bottle of wine and lunch for two costing £46, more than double that of a similar meal at the Italian resort of Sauze d’Oulx.

Those wishing to maximise time on the slopes, and wanting the shortest journey time possible, should head for a break in Innsbruck. Although more of a city than a resort, it’s the most convenient location in the Alps, with its own international airport just a 15-minute drive from the city centre and surrounded by some of Austria’s best ski areas.

Simon Phillips, Head of Retail for No.1 Currency, comments: “People are increasingly favouring a quick weekend getaway on the slopes and, with short-haul flights for as little as £53 return, and some of the best destinations less than two hours away, it’s a viable option.

“Holidaymakers heading to resorts in the Eurozone will enjoy the benefits of a stronger pound compared to last year. Exchange £300 for spending money this year and you’ll get €391.93, compared to €361.08 last year – more vin chaud for your money.

“The same, unfortunately, can’t be said for Swiss resorts. Resorts such as Verbier have always boasted royal price-tags to match their clientele but, with the franc soaring, holidaymakers will have to fork out even more than they would have done earlier this month.

“To make your pounds go further, and enjoy the most favourable exchange rates order and collect your currency before you leave the UK, which also means no worries about running out of cash while you’re on the pistes.”

*No.1 Currency has recently launched a new Click & Sell service. Customers can organise the sale of their unused foreign currency online and exchange it at the nearest No.1 Currency outlet, or at one of more than 160 affiliated agents across the UK.

The table below shows the cost of a basket of holiday essentials at some of the best destinations for weekend skiing this winter:

Resort	Country	Flight Time	Transfer Time	Flight Cost	Ski & Boot Hire (3 days)	Ski Pass (3 days)	Bottle of Beer	Bottle of Wine	Bottle of Coke	Lunch on slopes for x2	Total
Villars	S’land	1 hr 40	1 hr	£104.00	£138.00	£142.50	£2.99	£14.95	£2.99	£22.41	£427.84
St Anton	Austria	2 hrs	1 hr	£183.00	£76.43	£108.34	£2.57	£14.04	£2.42	£15.60	£402.40
Verbier	S’land	1 hr 40	2 hrs	£104.00	£86.89	£154.46	£4.67	£14.95	£3.74	£22.41	£391.12
Engelberg	S’land	1hr 40	1hr 30	£98.00	£133.76	£85.82	£3.74	£14.03	£3.36	£20.92	£359.63
Mayrhofen	Austria	2 hrs	1 hr	£183.00	£42.69	£103.27	£2.34	£11.70	£1.95	£13.26	£358.21
Innsbruck	Austria	2 hrs	15 min	£183.00	£47.33	£83.40	£2.34	£19.50	£1.95	£12.48	£350.00
Megeve	France	1hr 40	1 hr	£104.00	£65.40	£94.32	£5.30	£20.67	£2.87	£25.51	£318.07
Chamonix	France	1 hr 40	1 hr	£104.00	£62.99	£103.64	£7.01	£13.26	£3.90	£18.73	£313.53
Warth	Austria	1 hr 40	2 hrs	£98.00	£64.84	£107.55	£2.49	£17.16	£3.12	£14.83	£307.99
Courmayeur	Italy	1 hr 40	1 hr 30	£104.00	£57.87	£99.76	£2.34	£10.92	£2.73	£18.72	£296.34
Morzine	France	1 hr 45	1 hr 30	£104.00	£61.16	£102.88	£2.34	£9.36	£1.95	£12.48	£294.10
Schladming	Austria	1hr 55	1 hr	£86.00	£45.93	£108.74	£1.95	£14.04	£1.95	£14.04	£270.31
Sauze d’Oulx	Italy	2 hrs	1 hr	£53.00	£45.19	£77.94	£2.73	£7.02	£2.34	£12.48	£200.70