Falls Creek snow resort is a great ski holiday destination. Having visited here for over 25 years, throughout various life stages, the resort offers everything you could ask for, as ski destination in Australia.
From budget skiing breaks, mid-range ski weekend trips or family ski holidays, Falls Creek is a top choice for a skiing and snow holiday.
Falls Creek has the largest skiable terrain in Victoria and when fully open, the terrain is suitable for a range of skiers and riders. From long, green runs (by Australian standards) to plenty of Blues and a good selection of Blacks to keep it interesting.
Skiing & riding through the snow gums, and on a clear day, seeing the incredible Alpine mountains and valleys, offers visitors a uniquely Australian ski experience.
Our Falls Creek guide will highlight:
- How to get to Falls Creek,
- Quality on and off-mountain accommodation
- Where to ski/ride
- Lift Passes & Ski Hire options
- Restaurants and cafes
- Overall planning
Where Is Falls Creek Snow Resort and How to Get There
Falls Creek ski resort is located in the North East of Victoria, Australia.
Driving to Falls Creek Ski Resort
Driving up to Falls Creek is the most popular option. Whilst parking is free, there is a park entry fee during the winter season that is required. Also the day parking spots can get snapped up quickly, particularly on the weekends.
It is reachable by car with approximate distance times, listed from key hubs below:
- Melbourne – 4.5 hours
- Sydney – 7.5 Hours
- Canberra – 5.5 Hours
- Albury – 1.5-2 Hours
- Adelaide – 11 Hours
- Mt Beauty – 45 minutes
- Bright – 1 Hour 15 Minutes
Please note that if driving to Falls Creek during the winter season, it is required by law (Vic) to carry snow chains, for all vehicles. There are several hire locations in Mytrleford, Mt Beauty and Bright that you can hire chains.
Bus Service
There is a bus/coach service that departs from Melbourne, Adelaide and Albury, known as the FallsBus.
Melbourne to Falls Creek – Bus
Departing daily from the Southern Cross bus terminal in the city and from the Melbourne Airport (Tullamarine). Between Fri and Sun, there are two services departing.
Albury to Falls Creek – Bus
The Albury bus service departs daily form the Albury Airport and aligns with the selected daily Qantas services from Sydney and Brisbane. There are between 3-4 daily departures from Albury Airport.
Adelaide to Falls Creek – Bus
There is a weekly service that runs from Adelaide every Saturday (winter season), departing at 7:00pm from the central Bus station in Franklin St and arrives at Falls Creek on Sunday morning (7:50am).
The return journey departs on Friday (5:30pm) from Falls Creek and arrives back in Adelaide on Saturday morning.
Mt Beauty to Falls Creek – Park & Ride
Another good option is the ski shuttle from Mt Beauty, where you can park and ride by using the shuttle. Ideal for day-trippers or those not keen to drive the 45-minute journey from Mt Beauty to Falls Creek.
Flights to Falls Creek
The closest commercial (non-charter) airport to Falls Creek is Albury (ABX). Albury have several flights a day, via Qantas to and from Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. From the airport, expect the journey via car/bus to be about 1 hour and 45 minutes.
Baggage Allowance
Qantas allow 1 pair of skis/board and boots per passenger, and the ski//board baggage allowance is included in your checked baggage. For these Qantaslink flights, they use smaller aircraft, therefore the bag cannot be longer than 2.4m.
Falls Creek Accommodation: On-Mountain vs Off-Mountain (Mt Beauty)
There are various options to choose for accommodation near Falls Creek with both on and off-mountain options to weigh up and consider.
On offer in the village is a selection of different styles of accommodation, which include hotels, serviced apartments and lodges/ski clubs.
Falls Creek Lodges and Ski Clubs
This style is interesting and not sure if this is unique to Australia, of various membership style ski clubs.
Many of these were established many years ago and enable members and guests to enjoy discounted accommodation with shared facilities, similar to a hostel. Think communal kitchen, common areas and sometimes shared bathrooms.
If you can secure availability, this can be a very affordable way to get on-mountain, with a ski-in, ski-out experience.
Generally the clubs will open up booking to members first and then to the general public. If your dates are flexible or can go mid-week, there are some great accommodation options to be had.
For this type of Falls Creek accommodation, ski in ski out access is generally assured during the winter season.
Hotels at Falls Creek
While no big chain hotels, there are a handful of full service hotels in Falls Creek. The bulk of these hotels offer, as do many others in the village, offer ski in / ski out accommodation.
A number of these can be booked through portals such as Booking.com or through the Falls Creek accommodation booking service.
- Falls Creek Hotel
- Lakeside Falls Creek
Falls Creek Apartments
Apartment accommodation is plentiful at Falls Creek and makes up the bulk of offerings available. Some great options for groups and families, with many including kitchenettes for self-catering.
The apartments span the spectrum from premium properties through to more basic, but serviceable rooms.
Like the hotels, these can be booked through the central reservations team.
- Alpine View Apartments
- Snow Ski Apartments
- Altitude Apartments
- Cedarwood Apartments
- Huski Apartments
Off-Mountain Options at Mt Beauty
Staying off-mountain can significantly reduce your accommodation cost, however you have to weigh up the day tripping requirements (about 45 minutes from Mt Beauty) with the cost of staying on mountain.
Not only do you have the room cost, you are likely to require the transport service to get you luggage to the hotel and the increased resort cost of food and drink.
But you get a ski-in, ski-out experience and no daily hassle of driving up from Mt Beauty (or Bright) each day.
We have stayed in Mt Beauty for the last couple of trips and it has worked out very well. Tapping into holiday house rentals, to have a large place to relax, easy to prepare food for a large group or have affordable options to eat out in Mt Beauty.
If you book early via Stayz or AirBnB, you can usually lock away a solid and affordable off mountain option, during peak season.
Skiing at Falls Creek: Terrain and Ski Run Options
For many years, Falls Creek has been positioned as a family mountain. Although that does not mean basic beginner runs only, but rather a large area with terrain for all levels of skiers and riders. Something for the whole family.
Falls Creek Skiing – Resort
Beginners are well served by Wombats Ramble, Panorama & Drovers Dream and the Ski/board School at the top of Halley’s Comet chair. Long runs to get you ski legs ready and also wide options available to practice those turns.
Intermediate skiers and riders, as with most resorts, are well looked after with plenty of Blue runs across the mountain. The runs such as Scotty’s and Race Course and heading over to the Ruined Castle area or the Wishing Well going into the Last Tango runs, off the top of Summit, are good options to explore.
The link up, off the top of Scotts chair, taking ‘Dark Side’ and connecting with the newly named ‘Britt Cox’s Cut Through’ is a solid intermediate trail.
For advanced skiers and riders there are multiple Black runs off the top of Summit Chair and the International Poma, and the backside area, known as The Maze.
Falls Creek Backcountry Skiing and Riding
For Backcountry (and Side Country?) seekers, Falls Creek has for many years had good options to explore, with backcountry guides and tours available to take you out to Mt McKay or you can navigate some the areas to the left of Ruined Castle known as the Rocky Knolls.
An excellent resource has been put together by the Mountain Safety Collective (MSC) on Victorian Backcountry routes and ratings. This includes backcountry options to explore for Falls Creek.
Lift Tickets, Passes, and Ski School
Vail Resorts purchased Falls Creek in 2019 and as result we can see some standardization with lift ticket pricing across other Vail resort properties in Australia (Mt Hotham, Vic and Perisher, NSW).
Falls Creek Day Pass Price
The ticket pricing is on the premium end, for a 1-day ticket (Adult), purchased in advance (2024); you are looking at $237.
For a 3-day ticket, during the 2024 ski season, the pricing was as follows:
- Adult $565
- Children (5-17) $311
Obviously buying more days brings the day rate down to $188 for adults.
To make it more affordable, it is worth considering the Epic Pass, particularly with early bird pricing (e.g. Adult $999, Child $569), where a season is covered by the equivalent of 5 days of Adult ticket pricing.
When purchasing the ticket, first time visitors will also need to buy the Mountain Card ($6), which has the RFID chip to scan, to access the lifts. If you already have a card, you can reuse, season after season. The details of the card are listed in your account, when purchasing day passes and lessons, via the Falls Creek website.
Epic Pass Falls Creek
The Epic Pass also allows for entry into other Vail Resort properties like Whistler, Vail and Park City and partnerships with resorts in Europe and Japan
Something to consider, as the pricing is up there, and you need to determine how many days you are likely to go and the additional costs to factor (e.g. Transport, Accommodation, Food, Equip Hire etc.).
If you chase the winter for both Southern and Northern hemispheres, then the Epic Pass offers good coverage, across world-class resorts.
Falls Creek Ski Lessons
The Ski School provides a wide range of lesson options, with an excellent kids program and graded group Adults lessons. You can arrange all the lessons online and the details are loaded on your mountain card.
Another good option is the group private lesson, where if members of your party are of a similar level, it can end up being great value with the benefit of a more customized instruction. The private group lesson can be up to 6 people.
To give you an example of the Falls Creek private lesson pricing. For 2024, we booked an afternoon 1.5 hour session for $229 for 5 people. We were able to highlight what we wanted to focus on as a group and the instructor also gave specific instruction for each person to work on. Having previously done the group lessons, this private lesson approach was a much better way to get the most value. This is in terms of good, private instruction and price point.
Falls Creek Restaurants & Café’s
The food and drink situation at Falls Creek is pretty good. It ranges from cafeteria-style halls, pub-like eateries and quick snack vendors.
Food ranges from pub classics, pizzerias and burgers through to refined Italian, healthy bowls and ramen.
Locations are dotted around the ski area and several within the village.
As you can expect, particularly on weekends, lunch spots fill up quickly. The ski-in/ski-out option such as Cloud 9, near the ski school is large, but is heaving at lunch. So too are the restaurants and cafes at the base of the Falls Express chairlift.
A good option is the The Frying Pan Inn near the base of both the Summit and Eagle chairlifts. The outlying Dickey Knees near the Ruined castle and Scotty’s chair are good options, although food options are more limited.
While not quite Ski-Out, the Falls Creek hotel has a good restaurant for lunch. The restaurant is located a short walk on the village side of the Eagle chairlift.
Evening options are more plentiful, with restaurants in the village, being the pick. From the classic Man Hotel with a lively après-ski scene and live music, to more refined establishments such as Ory’s, Sorella, Huski Kitchen and The Little Chop.
Café’s & Restaurants Mt Beauty
If staying off-mountain in Mt Beauty and looking for dinner options – Grass Valley is a standout. A solid pizzeria with a couple of other Italian dishes and well curated drinks selection. Bookings essential, but definitely worth it.
A couple of pubs and breweries that offer food in evenings which include the new Mountain Monk Brewery, Crank Handle Brewery and longtime pub, The Settlers Tavern.
For coffee, Grass Valley serve up St Ali coffee, perfect for a takeaway on the way up the mountain.
The bakery in the main shopping street, serve up a reasonable brew using All Press beans. There is also a roaster at the northern end of the pondage – Honeybird Coffee, with a café onsite that is open from 7am (Mon-Fri), serving excellent coffee.
Final Thoughts: Planning Your Falls Creek Skiing Holiday
Skiing at Falls Creek and planning a holiday there is definitely worth the effort. It’s up there in cost, but beyond the direct cost component is the added value of a unique snow holiday experience, in the Australian Alps.
Coupled this with extended family and friends and you are making lifetime memories.
If you are looking to stretch the holiday budget, given the current economic environment, and are considering a snow holiday, have a look at our cost comparison between Falls Creek and Hakuba in Japan. This will give you an idea of a week in both locations, for a family of four.
We have always enjoyed our annual Falls Creek stay, and despite challenges with snowfall, we will continue to plan this trip out.
