Perisher vs Thredbo | compare two top ski resorts in Australia

Perisher vs Thredbo Comparison between two top ski resorts in Australia Thredbo vs Perisher #thredbo #perisher #snowymountains #snow #skiing #snowboarding
Thredbo and Perisher are both very popular ski resorts to ski in Australia. Choosing between Thredbo or Perisher can be a little confusing for beginners or someone who has never skied here. Following are some main reasons why selecting one ski resort over the other. These are just our personal opinions based on our own experiences and observations.
00:00 - Thredbo & Perisher
00:34 - Perisher
00:55 - Thredbo
01:10 - For families: Perisher
01:23 - For families, beginners: Smiggin Holes
01:45 - Toboggans & snow play at Perisher Valley
01:52 - Beautiful view of snow
02:10 - Free buses between Perisher Valley & Smiggin Holes
02:20 - Beginner & intermediate skiers: Perisher
02:55 - For advanced skiers: Thredbo
03:28 - For village and aprés-ski: Thredbo
04:55 - Getting there
05:29 - Car parks
05:49 - Affordability
06:02 - Crowd
Both ski resorts are located in the Snowy Mountains in Kosciuszko National Park.
Perisher is Australia’s biggest ski resort with four resort areas including Perisher Valley, Smiggin Holes, Guthega, and Blue Cow. There are plenty of runs to explore across those four areas. In Perisher, Perisher Valley is the most visited area of those four, especially for first-time visitors or beginners.
On the other hand, Thredbo is one ski resort area with Thredbo village at the base of the mountain. Thredbo is home to the country’s longest runs, almost double the amount of vertical than any other resort.

For families, Perisher is our pick. Perisher has more activities for kids including a dedicated toboggan park and snow play area at Perisher Valley. It also has easier terrain for young beginners. Among the four areas, Smiggin Holes is our best for young children or beginners to learn skiing as it’s less crowded than Perisher Valley and has more areas to practice.
For non-skiers, just visit the snow field
If you don’t ski and just want to visit and play with snow, Perisher is a good choice. You can toboggan and snow play at Perisher Valley. If you can, go up to the top of the toboggan area to enjoy the beautiful view up there. You can also catch free buses between Perisher Valley & Smiggin Holes to visit two areas on the same day.
For a beginner or intermediate level, Perisher is our choice too. Perisher has more space dedicated to beginners with more magic carpets. It is bigger with much shorter and more moderate runs. Smiggin Holes in Perisher is a great place to learn to ski for both children and adults. Learners can progress from beginner to intermediate levels a bit smoother here. Overall, for skiing, Perisher is better because it has more runs and skiable terrains than Thredbo. You can ski across all four resort areas which you don’t get at Thredbo.
For advanced skiers, Thredbo is the winner. Thredbo has longer & steeper runs. There are fewer crowds and beginners on the runs. Thredbo has higher drops for more experienced skiers.
For village and aprés-ski, Thredbo is our pick. Thredbo village has a great alpine atmosphere with nice shops, restaurants, bars, and even a supermarket. Thredbo has more non-skiing options such as a tennis court, skate park, and playground. Perisher doesn’t have the ski village atmosphere that you get from Thredbo.
Getting there
Thredbo and Perisher are both inside the Kosciuszko National Park. If you're driving there, you will have to pay an entry fee of $29 per day. They are both a 5 hours drive from Sydney. Roads are not so difficult to drive when it’s not snowing but can be slippery and icy. 2 WD vehicles need to carry snow chains.
Car park
Both resorts offer car parks. The car park at Perisher is bigger and closer to the snow field than Thredbo.
Affordability
Perisher is better in terms of affordability. Lift tickets and lessons are more expensive at Thredbo. If you’re traveling with your family or in a group, the difference can add up.
Crowd
Due to popularity, Perisher is more crowded than Thredbo.

[@lowexpectations6632]

Thredbo has had a few chairs fall off in the last few years from lack of maintenance 👏

[@damianmcwilliams2371]

Thredbo is awesome.

[@AngusRourke]

Thredbo is the better resort in my opinion, even though Thredbo is more for advanced skiers/snowboarders, it has also some areas for beginners such as Friday Flat and Merritts which also gives a strong family friendly experience

[@TraveleatChannel]

I love Thredbo Village & the atmosphere.

[@Letssavememories]

Thank you for clearing my confusion..Best review ever .. But I want to visit both places ,I guess I won’t get time to visit on one day ..

[@TraveleatChannel]

Thanks for your lovely feedback! Yes you can visit both of them in 1 day but I think it's a bit too rush. Thredbo is about 61km or 1 hour drive from Perisher (under normal condition, when snowing it will take longer and you will need to put on snow chains for 2WD). You can start early and go to Thredbo first, drive slowly around to view the beautiful village with great alpine atmosphere. Then you can park somewhere, there are 2P parking near the information center. Walk and check around, the Village Square, the skiing field, etc. Then you can go to Perisher Valley, where you can both skiing & snow playing & tobogganing. Please always drive with care.

[@VerabellaOparah]

Thank you so much for this I will be picking Perisher as a family of 4 with 2 little kids. Do you think we would find any much snow going in the middle of June?

[@TraveleatChannel]

Hi Verabella, we're going there next month too. Hope with this earlier cold weather, we will have enough snow to play with small kids. Fingers crossed!

[@ricachona4095]

Thank you so much. Do you have any idea how to hire the toboggans and tubes at the play area?

[@TraveleatChannel]

Hi Rica, you can hire toboggans at snow gear rental shops around Jindabyne. You can hire single day or multiple days. For example this one bossoutdoorsports.com.au/product/snow-accessories (no commercial ad here, just we used it twice and happy with the service), you can check the price online.

[@TraveleatChannel]

@Mtbandski Thank you, a good spot, I just fixed the spelling. I just checked the rhythm snowsports but the rental price is higher than the one I normally rent in Jindabyne. The store looks bigger, maybe better for buying skiing/snowboarding stuff there.

[@marcusfarris4531]

Thredbo is much better longer runs super nice atmosphere

[@TraveleatChannel]

I love Thredbo's atmosphere too, more vibrant than Perisher.

[@shazphilip]

Thank you. What about snowboarding for beginners ?

[@TraveleatChannel]

Hi Shazo, I think Perisher is better for snow boarding beginners, I saw many new beginners last week at Perisher (the Front Valley) learning their snowboarding.

[@anguscovoflyer95]

Perisher has got an excessive number of t bars!!

[@TraveleatChannel]

Thank you for your feedback

[@lowexpectations6632]

This is good , as when it’s windy you can still use the mountain unlike Thredbo .

[@anguscovoflyer95]

@@lowexpectations6632 true

[@ankititp]

thanks , so where is cable car ride in perisher valley or thredbo ?

[@TraveleatChannel]

Hi Ankit, do you mean the Merritt Gondola? It's in Thredbo.

[@ankititp]

@@TraveleatChannel yes this one , thanks

[@lowexpectations6632]

The gondola is closed most of time due to wind restrictions . They reprogrammed everything after chairs fell off with customers on them 👌

[@RobloxDude123]

When I enter Perisher why is there a road with no gate and one with a gate what one is they for?

[@TraveleatChannel]

Hi, do you mean the gate to go to Kosciuszko National Park? One with gate is to buy the ticket at the gate. The other one is if you already buy parking ticket in advance or if you already have an annual parking membership.

[@RobloxDude123]

@@TraveleatChannel oh ok thanks

[@marcusfarris4531]

For advanced skis Thredbo wrong Perisher has 2 double black runs and more blacks

[@TraveleatChannel]

Hi Marcus, thanks for your feedback. As mentioned in the video, Perisher has more runs than Thredbo and also the black runs. The black runs at Thredbo are steeper and longer. Both of them are good, it's just personal choices.

[@marcusfarris4531]

@@TraveleatChannel oh ok

[@fazedishwasher148]

clearly don't know enough about thredbo, one hike and your on Australia's steepest run 🤭🤭🤭🤭🤭🤭

[@TraveleatChannel]

Thanks for your feedback Keone! What is your recommendation? We're open for suggestions to improve our video quality.

[@rodgallagher5566]

Both are awesome!??????

[@TraveleatChannel]

Yes, depending on your need actually. They're not too far from each other by the way.