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Our winter holidays are provided by specialist responsible operators & accommodations committed to mountain conservation.
These full and frank independent winter holidays reviews are from travellers who have booked directly through responsibletravel.com. They are not edited by us or any of the companies we work with. Find the real story, from real travellers below.
The most memorable part of our trip was most likely the scenery we loved the mountains and woodlands. The next was the food as Nick is no doubt an excellent chef and Dasha a specialist with deserts.
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The most memorable part was the sled trip with our own dogs - magical - out there in the wilderness with a dog team.
(more)The cross country ski in the Lapland forests, with nothing but ancient trees and animal tracks around us was the most memorable part. (more)
Well organized, interesting, hassle free and great fun- the ideal introduction to the activities. (more)
The most memorable part was stopping for lunch on top of hills with amazing views and the homegrown oranges... Top, really enjoyed, excellent value, very well organised, great fun and wonderful people. Also loved accommodation.
(more)Working with the huskies on our 2 day wilderness safari was amazing. A once in a lifetime experience and Raika, the husky guide was brilliant! (more)The best holiday we have ever been on and we would go on another tomorrow! With many thanks to the best guide in the business RAIMO. Thanks and we look forward to our next holiday.
(more)Superb. Wouldn't change anything at all (not even the outside loos in -25deg C, all part of the experience and gave us lots of laughs!).
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Matt and Caroline made arrangements for us to ride, snowshoe and ski. We had never skied before and had thought that we were too old to try. However we went and took a couple of lessons and we loved it. (more)
Very enjoyable stay, great accommodation, very friendly hosts. Would definitely recommend to anyone looking for a holiday in a beautiful location with loads to see and do (all of which is detailed in an up to date and meticulously prepared and researched information folder left in the room).
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Beautiful accommodation and right next to a lovely beach with great and unpretentious Spanish restaurants... Excellent. As good as we had hoped and will go back with our children next year who will also love it!
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The trip was 5 star born again, Liz and Mel were fantastically welcoming, extremely well informed on all aspects of the area and able to provide a very relaxing environment. (more)
Everything about this holiday was excellent, and exceeded expectations. The walking was varied, the guide/s were knowledgeable and supportive, the food was simply wonderful, and my walking companions were friends by the end of the week. (more)A great holiday experience. The tour operators, and tour guides, made a very hostile environment (Finland cross country skiing) feel safe and enjoyable. The tour guides were especially knowledgeable about the area, and worked tirelessly to make this an excellent holiday for the clients. (more)
Walking in glorious mountains with excellent guidance and hosting from the leaders....Excellent. (more)
Lovely apartment with pool in a spectacular location. Exceeded our expectations in every respect. (more)Most memorable? Stunning views from high up in the Parc National de Mercantour, well worth the effort of climbing 1000 metres. Also Liz's home cooking, delish!!!! Wonderful, would like do it all again and probably will before too long.
(more)Great weather even if cold. Great wilderness feel to the environment. Good sized group...Local use of hotel, cabins and information centre for food. (more)The husky sledging was amazing and we also got to see the northern lights we did something nearly everyday and enjoyed every minute, went to the ice hotel you can't really explain in words how pretty the scenery is you have to go and see it to believe it. (more)We traveled to northern Sweden in search of the Northern Lights. We stayed at Abisko which had the nicest group of people staying there that we could have wished for. Everything ran smoothly, the food was great and loved the whole trip. (more)We invite every traveller who books a holiday via us to send in a review. Because we don't run the holidays they're completely independent and unedited... remember to read between the lines though, as two people on the same holiday can have different views!
Committed but environmentally-aware skiers and snowboarders will be familiar with this conundrum: how can you continue to enjoy the thrill of the slopes, without jetting off around the world in search of fast-diminishing snow and thereby contributing further to global warming in the process? It's a tough one – but the choices you make are crucial. Get it right and there's a chance your kids might actually know what a pair of skis are for too. Get it wrong and the only snowboards they'll ever see will be in a museum. Lecture over – almost. There's a good reason why, environmentally speaking, the way you get to your destination is probably much more important than what you do when you get there. Aircraft emissions are the fastest-growing contributor to global warming, and a single return flight to the US can contribute the same to the world's climate change burden as everything else you do in the entire year. And with that much guilt hanging over you, how could you possibly enjoy your stay on the pistes? Enter the Alpine Snow Train. This isn't some kind of hair shirt-wearing eco-sacrifice: according to those in the know (and it's pretty much a word of mouth thing) it's a lot more entertaining than the alternatives. If you get to the Alps by Snow Train, you can ski or board with a pretty clear conscience: train travel is on average responsible for only a third of the pollution of air travel, and is also much cleaner than travelling by car (see Sidebar). And it's actually faster in a sense as well – if you let the Snow Train take the strain you can get eight days on the slopes out of one week. Mark Lynas suggests how you can do your bit to ensure that you can have your snow and ski on it too. Read more about winter in this winter holidays article.
With ski season becoming shorter and less predictable and glaciers in retreat, it seems that global warming has already begun to affect winter tourism. Mark Lynas reports on a shrinking industry. "That's it, the season's over." The two ski attendants from the Glencoe Ski Centre were sitting in front of a computer in a nearby village, watching a five-day forecast download from the internet. One of them shook his head glumly as the heavy rain-bearing depressions marched across the screen. "It's only March – we should have a month at least of winter to go yet." Scotland's snow is in retreat. According to a recent Scottish Executive report, there have been twelve days less snow cover per decade throughout the country since the late 1970s. And following the winter of 1987/88 there have been only three out of thirteen winters with an above-average snow cover duration. Those who venture into the mountains today are more likely to encounter mud and rain than frost and snow. Read more about winter holidays in this winter holidays article. 
