Bydalen with kids – a quiet mountain valley south of the Åre valley

Bydalen isn't a ski resort with pedestrian streets and nightclubs. It's a mountain valley in the Oviksfjällen range, south of the Åre valley, where the road from Hallen climbs up through Bydalen and Hovde to Höglekardalen. Together the villages make up Bydalsfjällen, one of Sweden's larger lift systems, but without the long queues. It's exactly that combination that appeals to parents of young children: plenty of space on the slopes, short distances between accommodation and lift, and a valley that goes to sleep early.

How Bydalsfjällen fits together

Bydalsfjällen is a partnership between several companies. The lifts are run by Bydalsfjällens Liftaktiebolag, and the villages have their own hosts: Bydalens Wärdshus in Bydalen, the holiday village and mountain guesthouse in Höglekardalen, the café at Fjällhalsen and Fjällgården in Gräftåvallen. One and the same ski pass is valid across the whole system.

The system has 17 lifts, 40 runs and a 420-metre vertical drop, and it's divided into a low zone and a high zone. The low zone covers Bydalen, Hovde and Drommen, with forest around the slopes. The high zone takes you up towards Hovdeshögen, where there's bare mountain in every direction. Up there, the lifts open half an hour later in the morning and close earlier in the afternoon.

Stay in Bydalen or by Drommen and let the first few days be all about the low zone. The high zone is at its best on a still, sunny day when the kids can already handle a longer lift.

The kids' slopes – three in the system and one in the neighbouring village

Bydalsfjällen has kids' areas in three places, and they differ more than you might think.

Bydalen is the hub. This is where the Barnliften lift runs by Barnbacken Bydalen, and the same village has Wärdshuset, the ski rental below Wärdshuset by the Trädgränsliftarna lifts and the ski school's meeting point. The snow park is above the warming hut.

Drommen in Höglekardalen has its own kids' slope by the Dromliften lift. Drombacken is floodlit, and the skicross course is here. That makes Drommen a good choice for siblings of different ages: the youngest practise on the kids' slope while the older ones do skicross a stone's throw away.

Up in the high zone you'll find The Lill-Arne kids' slope. It suits families who have made their way up to ski together and want a quiet spot for the youngest while the older ones carry on.

The fourth kids' slope is in Gräftåvallen, the closest mountain village to Östersund, twenty minutes away by car. Gräftåvallen is covered by the same ski pass, but the lifts there have varying opening hours, whereas Bydalen and Höglekardalen are open every day during the season.

Ski school – two meeting points

There are two ski schools in Bydalsfjällen, and it pays to book the one closest to where you're staying.

Bydalen ski school meets at the bottom by the Trädgränsliftarna lifts. Last season it ran four-day group courses with 75 minutes per session, and the groups were divided by both age and ability:

• Green, ages 3–5 and Green, ages 6–12 are for complete beginners. Your child just needs to be able to manage without Mum and Dad for a while.
• Blue, ages 5–12 requires your child to be able to brake, stop and ride a button lift on their own.
• Red, ages 5–12 is for kids who already ski blue slopes and want to head into the forest.

Private lessons are available from age three. Many of the kids' activities, such as the sweet shower and kids' après-ski with a disco, get a visit from Bydalen's mascot, Brante the beaver.

The ski school in Höglekardalen has its base by Drombacken, close to the kids' area. Group courses run in the morning, and private lessons from 13:00. During weeks 2–6, it has also run shorter three-day groups starting on Fridays.

Bear in mind that ski school kids aged eight or over need their own ski pass. Younger kids ski free, but only with a helmet – see below.

Ski passes for kids

In Bydalsfjällen, the lift pass costs nothing for kids up to and including age seven, on three conditions: your child must have a helmet, their own keycard, and a parent must buy the same type of lift pass. The keycard can be pre-booked online together with the parents' ski passes and collected in Bydalen or Höglekardalen, or you can top up a card you already have. Topping up online saves you a trip to the ticket office on the first morning. You'll find current prices and pass types in Bydalsfjällen's online shop.

Evening skiing on Drombacken

Evening skiing is included in day, multi-day and season passes. Last season, Drombacken was open 18:00–20:00 on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, but not on the eves of holidays such as Christmas Eve and Easter Eve. Gräftåvallen had evening skiing on Fridays and Saturdays. For kids who are still full of beans after dinner, an hour under the floodlights is often the highlight of the week.

The cross-country trails

The cross-country trails run through the valley between Höglekardalen, Hovde and Bydalen. The stretch between Bydalen and Höglekardalen, about three kilometres, is lit, and there's a floodlit trail around Dalsjön. The trail lengths and markings are posted at the trail centre.

If you want more distance, head to Gräftåvallen. There are 45 kilometres of groomed trails there, prepared by members of the ski club on a voluntary basis. The five-kilometre Jämtkraftspåret trail is floodlit, and at the Storgräftån summer farm there's a kids' trail of about 800 metres where little ones and parents can play their way along on cross-country skis. You can rent cross-country gear in Bydalen, by Drommen or at Fjällgården in Gräftåvallen.

Getting to Bydalen

• By car: Bydalen is about 100 kilometres from both Östersund and Åre, and the road up the valley starts in Hallen on Lake Storsjön. For day visitors, there's parking by Wärdshuset and below the ski shop.
• By train: the train goes to Östersund, and from there a car is the easiest way to carry on. The case for car, train or plane to get up here is in the overview of routes to the mountains, and night trains and connections further north are covered in taking the train to the mountains.
• By air: the nearest airport is Åre Östersund Airport, where you can pick up a hire car straight away.

Season dates and opening hours for 2026/27 hadn't been published by the end of October. They're posted in the lift status on Bydalsfjällen's website. Which weeks your kids are off school is in sportlov 2027 (Swedish February ski break) and easter break 2027.

Bydalen or its neighbours?

Bydalen suits families who want a big lift system without the crowds, kids' slopes in several of the villages and quiet evenings. If the teenagers want more going on and more slopes, you can compare with ski trip to Åre. South of Östersund, in Berg municipality, there's Klövsjö with children, another quiet village with long, wide slopes, and on the Norwegian border is Storlien with kids, where the train goes all the way.

The full list of Swedish resorts is in ski trips in Sweden. If the kids are going to be on skis for the first time, get help from first ski trip with kids, and don't forget the packing list.