Winter holiday tips
Aurora travel tips
Ali McLean, from our supplier, Activities Abroad, shares his Aurora travel tips:“A couple of years ago I was at a place called Lake Inari, standing on a frozen lake waiting for the Northern Lights it was -27°C and the kids were sitting inside a hut under blankets and next to a fire. About midnight the lights came out and I ran in asking them to come and see the display. My daughter looked at me and said, ‘nah dad, we’ve already seen them.’ Kids have to be a certain age to appreciate them; I’d say anyone below their teenage years doesn’t have enough of a grasp of what they are and gets too tired and too cold for the hunt. It tends to be a trip for the older generation while the kids get stuck in to all the great winter sports.”
Our Winter Holidays
Finland Northern Lights holiday, Wilderness Auroras
Winter activities & Aurora hunting in Finland
Husky safari in Finland
Sled with huskies through spectacular Finnish scenery
Northern Lights family holiday, tailor made
A mix of Lapland family activities and a relaxing spa hotel
Cross country skiing holiday in the Dolomites, Italy
A famously beautiful range of jagged peaks
Winter activity holiday in the French Alps
A flexible winter multi activity holiday in the French Alps
Transylvania winter walking and snowshoeing holiday
Wander through the mountains and forests of wintery Transylvania
Lapland holiday, husky safari & log cottage
Luxurious log suite,northern lights & overnight husky safari
Alternative family winter holiday in Chamonix, France
Easter family ski, yoga & circus holiday
Finland winter activity holiday & Northern Lights
Discover this Finnish winter activity wilderness week
Transylvania winter holiday accommodation
B&B in Transylvania
Tailor made holiday in Lapland
Tailor-made week in Finnish Lapland
Cross-country skiing holiday in Finland, Russian border
Guided hut-to-hut cross-country skiing holiday in Finland
Winter cottage holiday in Finnish Lapland
Log fires, lakeside trails and a range of winter activities
Winter family holiday in Slovakia, High Tatras
An action-packed family winter holiday in the High Tatras.
France gite accommodation, Mercantour, sleeps 5
Comfortable gite, Mercantour, France, an hour north of Nice.
Yukon dog sledding holiday, Canada
Husky adventure in the Yukon
Family skiing holiday in Pyrenees
Ski in beautiful Benasque in the Spanish Pyrenees
Winter holiday in Finnish Lapland, tailor made
Combine unbeatable comfort with winter adventure
Winter tailor-made holiday in Finland
Adventure in Finnish Lapland, huskies, northern lights & more
Northern Lights Family Christmas in Lapland
Winter 'Santa free' Lapland adventure for families
Scotland winter walking holidays
Scotland winter snow and sunshine
Venabu cross country skiing holiday in Norway
Independent cross-country skiing in dramatic landscape
Snowshoeing holiday in Finland
A great snowshoe tour in the new Hossa National Park.
Italian Alps self catering accommodation
Mountain hideaway in the Italian Alps
Winter adventure in Finland
Experiences which stay with you
Family winter adventure in Finland
Great range of activities in Lapland's winter wilderness.
Mongolia winter holiday
Authentic culture, warm hospitality & wild winter landscapes
Snowshoeing in the French Alps
Snowshoeing in the Alps with a high mountain guide
Lapland Autumn Northern Lights holiday
Few better ways to witness an autumn Aurora
Snowshoeing holiday in the Dolomites
Michelin recommended cuisine & inspiring walks
Packing tips
Chloe Knott is Mont Blanc and all round alpine expert at Exodus, one of our leading winter activity holiday suppliers: “On all trips, you need to take comfortable shoes for the evening , when you will really want to just put on some jogging bottoms and comfortable shoes. Take a good book. If you have a metal water bottle, at the end of the season when it is getting colder, you can fill it with hot water at night, put it in a sock and use it as a hot water bottle in.”Tom Wilkinson, Exodus: “Pack a drinks bottle/flask. Just because it’s cold doesn’t mean you don’t get thirsty. Also I’m also a mega snacker, so need things to eat to keep me going.”
Training & preparation
Chloe Knott at Exodus:“Always read the trip notes that accompany your trip, as they will give good guidance on how fit you need to be. We find that women tend to underestimate and men overestimate their abilities”
Cross country skiing advice
“Don’t compare cross country skiing to downhill! It’s smooth, often peaceful, and a wonderful way of experiencing the landscape. Also, if you are a downhiller you often forget your heel is not attached particularly when doing a snowplough. It’s not about going 100 miles an hour. It is however more of a full cardio workout.”
Snowshoeing
Xania, co-founder of our relaxingly active holidays partner, WearActive:“If you can hike, you can showshoe. Obviously the length of the hike and the ascents involved matter. But do some cardio in the gym before you come, get on a stairclimber or anything that takes you uphill, and you’ll be fine. Because we can tailor our walks to groups’ abilities, we can either take you on four-hour, 1,000m ascent trek, or a flat riverbed trek that would be just a little more strenuous than a short walk at home.”
Highlands walking
Andy Bateman, co-founder of our Scottish Highlands walking holidays partner, Scot Mountain Holidays:“People often ask me what my favourite season is for walking in the Highlands and it would have to be winter, with the snow on the pine trees, and views that on clear days can go on forever. You can see Ben Nevis fifty miles away from the high Cairngorms. I know a lot of the other guides up here feel the same way.”
Sleeping in snowholes
“Snowholes are actually safer than a tent, as you’re in naturally sheltered areas. You could have a raging storm outside but the snow would muffle it completely. It’s about zero degrees but because there’s no wind chill factor, you’re actually warmer than you might be in a tent on an exposed hillside in summer.”
Wolf-tracking
Sally Guillaume, founder and director of our activity holiday partner Undiscovered Mountains:“My husband and I run wolf-tracking holidays in the French Alps just two or three times each year. Timing is important in winter, when their enormous territory has been reduced by snowfall so you’re more likely to find them, and tracking becomes easier, but it’s not such heavy snow that you can’t get around easily.”
Our top Winter Holiday
Finland Northern Lights holiday, Wilderness Auroras
Winter activities & Aurora hunting in Finland
2021: 28 Nov, 5 Dec, 12 Dec, 19 Dec, 26 Dec
2022: 2 Jan, 9 Jan, 16 Jan, 23 Jan, 30 Jan, 6 Feb, 13 Feb, 20 Feb, 27 Feb, 6 Mar, 13 Mar, 20 Mar
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Winter holiday tips from our travellers
We have selected some of the most useful winter holiday travel tips that our guests have provided over the years to help you make the very most of your holiday - and the space inside your suitcase.


"Get as fit as you can before you go. Take layers of clothes for skiing and lighter clothes to wear indoors - Austrian hotels are very warm!" – Amanda Ariss on a cross country skiing in Austria


"Take a tripod for your camera! An essential item" - Russell Needham on a Northern Lights holiday
"Don't be worried if you are going alone - I made some great friends on the trip that I'll keep in contact with and no doubt plan other trips together" - Sarah Daly on a Scotland winter walking holiday