Swap the Alps for Slovakia’s Tatras mountains – with €24 lift passes and a champagne lunch for €15

It’s usually the ultra-rich who touch down at 10am to be on the slopes by 11am. But skiing in Slovakia is so affordable that the rest of us can feel part of the jet set too.

True, the new, twice-weekly flights from London Stansted to Poprad-Tatry are on Ryanair, not Learjets. But this is hardly mass tourism – the new route has doubled the number of flights to the tiny airport (the only others being the long-standing twice-weekly Wizz Air flights from Luton).

In just 15 minutes my husband and I were in Slovakia’s second biggest resort, Tatranska Lomnica. It has just nine lifts and 12km of pistes, but is high, stretching up to 2,200m. The rides are mostly fast, and modern lifts cost from €24 a day, not the usual €50 starting price in the Alps. So, with snowcapped peaks behind us and a dramatic view of the vast plain below, we swooshed down the blue and red runs that were so flattering of our technique.

The view from the top of the Lomnica cable car, at 2,634m

(Marek Hajkovsky)

Sadly the winds were so strong that the highest slopes were closed (as in the Alps, wind is often more of a problem than lack of snow). Fortunately, Slovakia’s Tatras mountains have the most diverse range of non-skiing alternatives I know of. And all at a reasonable price.

At Lomnica you can ride a snowcat to the old cable car station for a four-course, fireside, candlelit dinner for €52 at the Retro Station. Then there are the spas, often set in half-timbered, Art Nouveau hotels, with their steep roofs and fairytale-like conical turrets. The opulent Grand Hotel Praha, with doubles from €162 a night including ski passes and breakfast, is definitely worth a look.

More affordable lodging is in Poprad itself, reachable by tram (€1.50) or bus. Many B&Bs (doubles at around €50) are not far from the old town, with its 12th-century church and clock tower, restaurants, theatre and museums lining a cobbled boulevard.

Tourists relax at the Horizont, one of Lomnica’s many spas

(High Tatras)

Otherwise, Poprad is a fairly industrial city, producing many freight wagons. Its rail connections mean it can be reached by train within 23 hours from London with just three or four changes.

There are two other ski resorts reachable by tram from Poprad. Starý Smokovec, sitting among more Hapsburg-era spa hotels, has just three lifts and 4km of pistes, so is for beginners only. But a must-see is the ice palace at the top of the funicular railway. Built every November, this season’s is an 11.5m recreation of Westminster Abbey to mark the late Queen’s visit to the High Tatras 15 years ago. After the visit you can sledge the 2.5km down.

Read more on European snow destinations:

Getting about in this part of the world relatively easy, as everyone seems to understand English, even if they don’t speak it. So take the tram (€2) to Slovakia’s third largest resort, Štrbské Pleso. Set on a high, snowy plateau, this is more of a traditional ski resort than Lomnica, so spend a night or two here, whether at the luxurious Kempinski (doubles from €243 a night with breakfast), or Penzión Pleso (doubles from €58 a night, room only). Keeping with the Communist ideal, the High Tatras mountains are still for everyone (and you’ll find vestiges of the Communist era everywhere, in fact, from the elegant 1970s triangular hotels to the fearsome concierges demanding 50 cents for the loos).

This year’s Tatra Ice Temple is recreation of Westminster Abbey

(High Tatras)

The wind was by now so strong that all Štrbské Pleso’s eight lifts and 8km of pistes were closed, but all was not lost for our trip. The resort is known for its cross-country skiing, having been developed by the Czechoslovak government to showcase Nordic skiing events. We glided along on skinny skis beside winter walkers circling the frozen lake, before climbing to reach spectacular views of craggy peaks, then winding down round forest trails, past snowtubing youngsters, back into the resort.

Here, wooden stalls offer light lunches – goats cheese salads for €6, burgers for €5 or a wrap for €4.50. But we tried the stylish, Soviet-era Hotel FIS, in whose elegant restaurant delicious main courses cost just €12.50, and where the €7.50 poppy seed dessert was a work of art to rival the architecture. A pint costs €3.90, or for something soft, try Kofola – the drink was developed as the Communist rival to capitalist Coke, and is less sweet and more subtle.

The Grand Hotel Kempinski High Tatras, Štrbské Pleso, Slovakia

(Kempinski)

Although Štrbské Pleso is lovely, Slovakia has just one resort that will keep most advanced downhill skiers entertained for the best part of a week, and that is Jasná, with 50km of pistes and 20 lifts. It is 45 minutes from Poprad airport and boasts a long season – handy for the Easter holidays. Last spring it closed on 5 May.

When we were there in early February, the resort had just hosted a World Cup competition and, after warming up on the gentler blue runs, we sped down this heart-in-stomach 3km-long race track, dropping an ear-popping 900m.

It was time to head straight to the hotel spa to unwind. We were staying at the luxurious slopeside Hotel Pošta – where guests swan around in white dressing gowns – but Jasná has ski-in, ski-out hotels for all budgets (the two-star Hotel Ski, for example, has doubles from €92 a night including lift passes and breakfast).

Being slopeside was handy, as the next morning we gathered at 6.45am for tea and coffee – or prosecco for some – around a flamepit at the Crystal Bar for the Fresh Track experience (€69). After taking the 7am gondola up, we had the slopes to ourselves and did run after run, carving wide, care-free, S-shapes from side to side on the tree-lined corduroy runs.

Plentiful cross country pistes mean Štrbské Pleso is skiable even in bad weather

(Štrbské Pleso)

It was only when the slopes started to fill up with regular punters that we went for breakfast, included in the package, served at the Rotunda panoramic restaurant at 2,024m. You can also enjoy a six-course sunset dinner here for €86 a head. But more remarkable still is Jasná’s lunch experience, where you are served charcuterie and prosecco inside a cabin on the A2 gondola for just €15.

Also unique to Jasná is its accessible freeride skiing, with off-piste areas shown on the piste map that start above the treeline and pass between evenly spaced trees. But with the weather against us, my husband headed to the Tatralandia spa, which he raved about, while I skidded inelegantly down all the heart-pounding black runs.

We left with so much still to do, from exploring the ice caves near Jasná, to swimming in Lipovský Ján’s thermal springs and waterfall, to visiting wooden churches and reconstructed villages. There’s even skydiving – albeit in a wind tunnel (€99 for two) – at Tatralandia’s Hurricane Factory.

I fastened my seatbelt at exclusive little Poprad airport securely. Skydiving would have to wait until next time.

Jasná will keep most advanced downhill skiers entertained for the best part of a week

(Marek Hajkovsky)

Travel essentials

How to get there

Ryanair flies to Slovakia Poprad-Tatry from London Stansted twice weekly from £33 return. Wizz Air flies from Luton twice weekly from £36 return.

How to get around

Regular trams connect Tatranska Lomnica, Stary Smokovec and Strbske Pleso to Poprad. Transfers to Jasna from Poprad cost €80 for four people, taking 45 minutes.

Where to stay

AquaCity, Poprad: Doubles start at €99, including breakfast and pool and spa access. For young families, this is a uniquely enticing Slovak combination of a giant, lively waterpark and a genuinely relaxing adult-only spa – all heated by thermal water.

Hotel Pošta, Jasna: Doubles from€129 a night, B&B. As with the other resort-owned TMR hotels, the price also includes lift passes.

Ski essentials

In the High Tatras resorts of Tatranska Lomnica, Stary Smokovec and Strbske Pleso ski passes start at €24 a day and include access to AquaCity.

A lift pass for Jasná starts at €30 a day. It also gives entry to the Tatralandia and Besenova water parks.