"to have been to" and "to have gone to". Which should I use?

Question

In the situation where you want to mention your experience of going to London, you use "been" instead of "gone", don't you? As in

• I have been to London three times.

and you don't say

• I have gone to London three times.

do you?

But how about "going doing" such as "going skiing" and "going fishing"?

If you want to show your experience, which would you choose?

• I have been skiing three times.

or

• I have gone skiing three times.

Is it also possible to say

• I have skied three times.

I wonder if you always use "been" instead of "gone" when you mention someone's experience.

Answer 1

"have been" and "have gone" in your context actually have the same meaning and are both perfectly fine.

"I have been skiing three times" is correct. Alternative (similar to your given context):

I have gone skiing for three times

But this sentence can only be used right after you skied and not anytime after, else the present perfect should not be used.

"I have skied three times" is also viable, considering that you say it e.g. a long time after you last skied, e.g.

I [have skied/skied] three times during my holiday

Answer 2

Both of

• I have been to London three times.
• I have gone to London three times.

are grammatically correct, ans both seem quite natural to me, although I believe that the version with "been" is significantly more common.

Thos Google Ngram supports that belief, although with the usual cautions about using Ngrams to determine usage frequencies.

Sentences such as:

I am going skiing next week.

are also perfectly proper and natural.

Both of::

• I have been skiing three times.
• I have gone skiing three times.

are grammatically valid and natural, and may be used whether the events are recent or long ago.

The sentence:

I have skied three times.

is valid and natural whether the events were this afternoon or five years ago. The form

I skied three times.

is more likely to be used of the recent past, but can be used for a specified defined occasion or period, such as:

• I skied three times last fall.
• I skied three times in my teens.

Constructions using both "been" and "gone" can be used to refer to the experiences of others in a similar way.

The construction suggested in another answer:

I have gone skiing for three times

strikes me as odd and unnatural, I would avoid it.