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
From
£1785 to £2345
5 days
inc UK flights
Cross country skiing holiday in the Dolomites, Italy
A famously beautiful range of jagged peaks
From
£1679 to £1999
8 days
inc UK flights
Winter holiday in Finnish Lapland
Log fires, lakeside trails and a range of winter activities
From
£2235 to £2895
8 days
inc UK flights
Finland winter activity holiday & Northern Lights
Discover this Finnish winter activity wilderness week
From
£2649 to £3249
8 days
inc UK flights
Husky safari in Finland
Sled with huskies through spectacular Finnish scenery
From
£2730 to £3235
8 days
inc UK flights
Northern Lights family holiday, tailor made
A mix of Lapland family activities and a relaxing spa hotel
From
£1675 to £2010
4 days
inc UK flights
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
Tom Wilkinson, cross country skiing expert from our supplier, Exodus:
“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.”
“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
Andy Bateman, co-founder of Scot Mountain Holidays, and expert guide:
“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.”
“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
From
£1785 to £2345
5 days
inc UK flights
Small group travel:
2022: 28 Nov, 5 Dec, 12 Dec, 19 Dec, 26 Dec
2023: 2 Jan, 9 Jan, 15 Jan, 23 Jan, 30 Jan, 6 Feb, 13 Feb, 20 Feb, 27 Feb, 6 Mar, 13 Mar, 20 Mar
2022: 28 Nov, 5 Dec, 12 Dec, 19 Dec, 26 Dec
2023: 2 Jan, 9 Jan, 15 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
At Responsible Travel, we think the best people to advise our travellers are often... other travellers. They always return from our tours with packing tips, weather reports, ideas about what to do - and opinions about what not to.
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.
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.
Go if you want to spend time in amazing nature with few distractions and get away from it all. If you want to hang out in cafes, walk out to shops etc, it is probably not for you!![]()
- Adrian Porter on a snowshoeing holiday in the Mercantour National Park, France
"It was easy to put too many layers of clothing on when doing sporting activities such as skiing. Take your own balaclava or two and glove liners. You can rinse out your clothes it you get too sweaty and dry them in electric dryers that each hotel has. So you don't need to go over the top with too many winter clothes. The warm winter clothes they supply are excellent and all you need are some thermals for a couple of days" - Thomas White on a Northern lights short break, Finland
"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
"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
Stay as long as you can, both on the holiday and in the wilderness cabin - it is amazing. Be interested in what the guides can teach you, if you are willing to ask they know so much about everything it is fascinating![]()
- Kathy Agashi on a Swedish Lapland winter activity & Northern Lights holiday
"I thought that "winter equipment provided" meant snowshoes, skis & boots etc but all clothing (plus thermos, head torch, rucksack) was also available to borrow, no need to pack anything other than a few baselayers & something comfortable for the evening. Having said that, it was nice to wear my own ski gear but don't buy things if you don't already have them....except maybe a balaclava/buff for the minus 30 days!" - Pauline Hawes on a snowshoeing holiday in Finland
"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
"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
More about Winter
You don't have to go far to find true winter wilderness, where reality matches the fantasy.
When to go on a winter snow holiday depends on where you're going and what you're doing.
Our winter holiday destinations take you to Scandinavia and the Alps, and beyond.
Winter holidays in Austria escape busy ski resorts and lift queues in favour of snowshoeing and cross country skiing.
Winter holidays in Finland take advantage of a long season and a smorgasbord of classic activities.
There’s much more to winter holidays in France than strapping into your bindings before plunging down the piste.
Always look north for winter holidays in Italy, especially toward the Dolomites.
The best Lapland winter holidays give Santa a swerve and head into the wilderness.
There's so much more to winter activity holidays than just downhill skiing.
Find winter fun by escaping to a frozen wonderland of bracing and unusual activities.
The best thing about winter holidays for families is that they can suit kids of any age.
Exploring issues around artificial snow production, and the future for downhill skiing.
Responsible winter holidays benefit local communities, wildlife and the environment.
Find all our Winter guides in one place from Lapland to Austria and everything in between.
