How much does a week’s skiing in Austria cost compared with Sweden?

How much does a week’s skiing in Austria cost compared with a week in the Swedish mountains? Short answer: the Austrian week has low variable costs but high fixed costs – flights, luggage and transfers are paid per person – whilst the Swedish week has the opposite profile, where the biggest expense is accommodation and this is shared amongst the whole group. This means that Austria is often the better value for two to four people, whilst Sweden almost always comes out on top as soon as there are more than six of you.

This article is not based on a ”starting price” but on the five items that actually make up the cost. All the amounts below are approximate ranges from the 2025/26 season and should be checked against current prices before you book – ski passes and flight prices change every season. Here’s a tip: anyone thinking of rent a whole mountain cottage instead of a hotel room should calculate the total cost for the whole group, not the price per bed, as that is where the two models differ the most.

Quick answer: how much a week’s skiing in Austria costs – the five factors that make the difference

A week’s skiing consists of five cost categories, and these vary between the two countries:

• The journey: Austria costs the price of a flight ticket, a baggage charge for skis and a transfer per person – Sweden costs the cost of fuel for a car, regardless of how many people are in it.
• Accommodation: In Austria, prices are usually quoted per person per week – in Sweden, they are quoted per house per week.
• The ski pass: a comparable level in both countries; Austrian maps normally cover a larger contiguous area.
• The food: Austria has cheaper restaurants and lower food prices – Sweden has simpler self-catering options in your own kitchen.
• Equipment: Hiring equipment on site costs about the same – but in Sweden you can bring your own equipment free of charge.

The journey: flights, transfers and baggage fees versus travelling by car

This item is the only one where the difference is structural and non-negotiable. A flight to Salzburg, Innsbruck or Munich costs per person, and the price rises sharply during the winter holidays and at Easter. On top of this comes the baggage charge for a ski bag – with most airlines, this is a separate charge in addition to standard checked-in baggage; for the 2025/26 season, this is typically in the region of a few hundred kronor per bag and one-way journey, according to the airlines’ own baggage price lists. Then there’s the transfer from the airport up to the village, which normally costs per person and takes one to three hours. For a family of four, transport alone often adds up to a five-figure sum before anyone has travelled a single metre. The car to Sälen incurs fuel costs and any road tolls, and that cost is the same for two people as it is for five – and the skis travel free of charge.

Accommodation: price per bed versus price per house

In Austria, accommodation is normally booked as a flat for a specific number of people or as a hotel room with half-board, and the price is based on the number of guests. This is a sensible option and often good value for four people. In Sweden, a house is rented as a single unit: the rent is the same whether there are eight or twelve of you, which means that the cost per person falls for every additional guest. That is the key difference, and it becomes significant for large groups. We’ll go through what a house actually costs during the high season in how much accommodation costs in Sälen during the winter, and prices vary considerably from week to week – you can save money by choosing the right week, as we explain in when it’s cheapest to book a week in the mountains.

Ski passes and ski hire – what the passes cover

The price of a weekly ski pass is roughly the same in Austria as in Sweden – during the 2025/26 season, a six-day adult pass in the larger Austrian ski areas cost, roughly speaking, the equivalent of a few thousand kronor, which is not far off the Swedish level. The difference lies in what you get: an Austrian regional pass often covers several valleys and hundreds of kilometres of slopes, whilst a Swedish pass covers a smaller but contiguous area. Calculated per kilometre of piste, Austria is cheaper; calculated per kilometre actually skied over a week with children in tow, the difference is smaller than the figures suggest, as no one has time to make full use of the entire regional pass. Current Swedish prices can be found in Ski pass prices in Sälen. Ski hire costs about the same in both countries, but if you’re travelling by car, you can bring your own equipment and save that expense entirely.

Food – eating out on the mountain versus self-catering

In this respect, Austria has a genuine advantage that should be acknowledged: eating out is cheaper, the mountain restaurants are of a high standard, and lunch on the mountain costs less than the equivalent in a Swedish ski resort. Food prices in Austrian valley villages are also generally lower than in Sweden. However, this advantage only applies if you actually eat out, and that’s where the accommodation model comes into play again. A house with a fully equipped kitchen means you can buy ingredients for seven breakfasts, seven dinners and a number of packed lunches from a regular shop – and a food hamper for twelve people in a Swedish shop is cheaper than twelve meals at a restaurant, regardless of the country. We describe where the nearest shops are in supermarkets near the accommodation. If you’re on a half-board basis at a hotel in Austria, dinner is already included, which makes for a more even comparison – but also offers less flexibility.

Two examples: a family of four and a group of twelve

Let’s take a family of four as an example. A trip to Austria costs four flight tickets, two to four baggage charges and four transfer tickets. Accommodation and ski passes are close to Swedish levels, whilst food is slightly cheaper. The net result is that a week in the Alps works out at roughly the same cost as a week in Sweden, sometimes slightly more, and that the difference is mainly down to the journey. Now take a group of twelve – two families or three generations. The journey to Austria is multiplied by twelve, whilst the journey to Sälen still involves two or three cars. Accommodation in Austria consists of three separate flats, each at full price, whilst accommodation in Sälen is a house whose rent is shared between twelve people. This is where it ceases to be a close contest: the difference grows to tens of thousands of kronor per week, and it is almost entirely due to the fact that travel and accommodation scale differently in the two models.

When Austria is the right choice

Head to Austria if there are two to four of you, as the difference in cost is small and you’ll get significantly more skiing for your money. Go there if you’re experienced skiers who really make the most of a regional ski pass – in that case, the cost per kilometre skied is significantly lower than in Sweden. Go there if you want to eat out every day, as restaurant prices are lower and the choice on the mountain is in a league of its own. Go there if you’re travelling late in the season and want guaranteed snow at high altitude, or if you can book outside the school holiday weeks when flight prices drop sharply. And go there if the experience itself – the alpine villages, the altitude, the views – is part of why you’re travelling. That’s a perfectly valid reason that no calculation can outweigh, and a cheaper week in Dalarna won’t satisfy anyone who actually wanted to go to Tyrol.

Summary – how to work out the cost of a week’s skiing holiday in Austria

It’s not possible to give a single price per person for a week’s skiing holiday in Austria, as the cost depends on how many of you there are. Try this instead: add up the cost of the trip for all travellers, including luggage and transfers; add accommodation for the whole group; add lift passes and a realistic food budget based on how often you actually plan to eat out – and do the same calculation for a week in Sweden. If there are four of you, the costs are roughly the same and the choice comes down to what sort of skiing you want. If there are eight or more of you, the Swedish week usually works out cheaper, and the difference lies in the fact that a house and a car cost the same regardless of how many people they can accommodate. If you need a basis for calculating the actual cost for your group, we’d be happy to help with a quote for a house that can accommodate everyone.