We are now taking new bookings for autumn 2020, winter 2020/21 and summer 2021, so let us inspire you with some holiday ideas:
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Take a winter break in Europe away from the crowds. Featuring high-quality hotels of character, our winter holidays cater for both skiers and non-skiers – go winter walking, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing or dog-sledding, embark on a great winter journey, or seek out the Northern Lights…
Aimed at non-skiers as much as skiers – anyone who loves the beauty of winter – Dtravco’s snow holidays are that little bit different. In keeping with our Slow holiday philosophy, the focus is on staying at charming, carefully selected hotels in villages such as Pertisau and Guarda on the quiet side of the mountain and appreciating the snow-clad scenery in a way that suits you – winter walking, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, dog-sledding, downhill skiing, or even from the seat of a train.
We take great pride in providing comprehensive information about each village and its activities, and we update it constantly. As well as practicalities such as the best hire shop and the ice rink’s opening hours, it includes information about places of interest and local culture, so that you have a rich holiday experience – however you enjoy the snow.
It’s your holiday, so tailor it to your needs by pre-booking equipment hire and/or lessons, upgrading to a superior room, adding on a city break before or after your snow holiday, or flying from your local airport. The choice is yours…
We’ve been offering snow holidays for years and have a wealth of experience. Whenever you contact our office, you’ll deal with friendly experts who are passionate about travel and who have stayed in our featured hotels, sampled the activities, and visited the rental shops. They’ll be delighted to answer your questions and help you plan your holiday.
Many activities cater for all levels – including beginners – and as such are not graded; for winter walking and snowshoeing, it’s usually a case of choosing routes of an appropriate length for your level of fitness. Alpine pistes and cross-country trails are graded, however; below are the terms we use to describe who the skiing is best suited to:
No previous experience; requires lessons. Should stick to green trails for cross-country skiing or nursery slopes for downhill skiing.
Has skied before and technique is now sufficiently honed to tackle red routes with confidence.
Highly experienced. Able to cope with the most difficult of trails/pistes (those graded black).
We offer winter holidays in the Alps – Austria, Switzerland, Germany and Italy – and in Norway and Finland. Whichever country you choose for your winter break, rest assured that our chosen villages are far removed from the hectic whirl of a modern ski resort, and offer a wide range of winter holiday activities. In addition to week-long winter holidays in the snow (including stays during the Christmas holidays), we offer short snow holidays, including Northern Lights breaks.
If you’d like more information about a specific hotel or village, or advice on choosing the holiday that is right for you, please get in touch – our friendly experts will be happy to help.
It varies. Some villages are tiny, secluded places where you can escape the everyday world; others are larger, with various shops and cafés, but all remain charmingly unspoiled – and tranquil.
Very definitely! Our chosen villages offer a variety of non-skiing activities (take a look at Moso, Pertisau, Weidach, Ramsau, Kandersteg and Sils, for example), and an increasing number of our customers choose not to ski at all during their time away.
No, but you’ll find a list of activities available locally (such as winter walking, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing etc) on each holiday page. If you’re interested in a specific activity, you can use the advanced options on the search facility to find suitable holidays.
For activities such as curling, ice-fishing or dog-sledding, you can usually join sessions organised by a guide from the local tourist office, who will show you how it’s done before inviting you to try it for yourself.
Bear in mind that activities do not necessarily operate during every week of the season, and may be weather dependent or require a minimum number of participants to proceed. A charge is payable locally for most activities.
If you want to try a range of snow activities, take a look at our winter activity weeks.
Yes. Winter walking, because it’s along specially flattened trails, is exactly like normal walking – you can even wear your normal waterproof walking boots. Snowshoeing doesn’t require any special technique either – you just need to walk with your feet slightly further apart than usual.
We don’t generally include ski hire or tuition in our holiday prices, unless specifically stated (and nor do we include cross-country trail passes in the standard holiday price, though many villages offer free access to the local domain).
However, we can pre-book a wide variety of ski-hire packages, lift passes and lessons in most of our chosen villages, so please let us know your requirements.
Yes, but most airlines require that these are pre-booked and levy a charge for carrying them – please let us know at the time of booking how many ski bags you intend to carry.
We are happy to book your flight arrangements with choice of airlines for you. Our travel experts will discuss this with you when you book.
Your hosts will be happy to help with the vast majority of problems – we feature family-run hotels offering high standards of service. Our strong relationship with the owners (we have worked with most of the hotels in our collection for many years) means they look after Inntravel customers particularly well (which is why we don’t employ ‘reps’). We also provide a 24-hour emergency phone line for added peace of mind.
It depends on your chosen holiday. For some, you can start on any day of the week; for others, there is a fixed start day, or a choice between Saturday or Sunday (in which case we recommend Sunday, as Monday is then your first day of activity, when the trails are quieter). Over Christmas and New Year, arrival days and holiday durations may vary. We clearly indicate such variations in the price panel where relevant.
We offer special Try-It-Out Weeks for complete beginners at the quietest times of the season, with lessons and equipment hire included. You join other like-minded Inntravel guests for the lessons themselves, but are free the rest of the time. Alternatively, we recommend Ylläs, Geilo, Sjusjøen, Pertisau, Weidach, Ramsau, Kandersteg or Blitzingen, all of which have good ski schools with English-speaking instructors and easy access to the beginners’ trails.
No special clothing is needed for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and winter walking – we recommend the following for all three of these winter activities:
Specialist clothing is necessary for downhill skiing, though you needn’t spend a large amount. You’ll need:
We recommend the use of ski helmets for everyone when downhill skiing. For children, these are provided free in Finland and Norway.
Children are welcome on the DTravco snow holidays, although some hotels/villages are much better suited for families than others. Visit our family snow holidays page for a list of the best places, including our most popular snow holiday for families, the Hotel Wiesenhof in Pertisau, Austria.
