My daughter stayed here last year and said it was superb. The Mum in the party that she went with didn't ski and I beleive still found plenty to do. The hotel has it's own luxury spa etc and did 6 course dinners, might be worth a look. I beleive they booked the hotel direct and sorted out their own flights.

http://www.hotel-auriga.com/en/index.html

I am sure plenty of people who don't ski go to ski resorts with skier's and the apres ski is open to everyone,
I loved the general ambience when I went years ago, the beautiful scenery, the style of the hotels, sitting round log fires drinking hot chocolate with cream - fantastic.

Thanks for the reply Doe, I'll take a look at that link later

Lots of people go to ski resorts and don't ski, though you might find cross country ski-ing to your liking. It's really just walking with skis on, it's on the flat and you can make it as easy/difficult as you want. I no longer ski but often have a holiday in the mountains in winter. When I worked as a ski instructor though I taught ladies older than you Shirley.
Doe recommended Lech, it's one of my favourite resorts, I've been there loads of times in fact it's where I learned to Ski some 40 years ago. It is a pretty pricey resort though, as is much of Austria these days. Lech is where Princess Diana often used to ski with the boys.

Non-skiers can ride the chair lifts and cable cars up to the top of the mountains (or halfway stations)and sit in the sun or in the cafés and watch the skiers/snowboarders flying past. Lots of resorts will have extra activities such as horse drawn sleigh rides on offer.. Many hotels will have some sort of entertainment at night.

If you aren't going to ski you will probably be best in a reasonable sized resort, many resorts have swimming pools, shops and walking trails. If you are lucky with the weather you could come back with a great suntan. If you do choose Austria, Seefeld, Kitzbühl, Zell am See, Ischgl, Sölden and Obergurgl come to mind. Though not one of my favourite ski-resorts St.Anton has been a popular destination with British winter sports fans for a long time now.

Sorry I can't be of any help with Bulgaria as I have never been there I believe though it's a cheaper option than Austria but I don't know what there is there for non-skiers.

Thanks Judith Just putting a few feelers out really as I'm not sure when I'd fit it in. Hubby was looking daft when he saw me asking for advice (first he's heard of it!)

As you know we're tied to school hols and have already sorted out this Christams/New Year so the next break we get will be in Feb. We've booked a week away in April so we wouldn't really consider this snow break unless it was a bargain which I suspect we won't get in Austria. I've seen a few good prices on package holidays, especially to Bulgaria. Also, I know the food and drink in Bulgaria is cheap.

Now that I know the sorts of things we could do, I will be keeping my eyes open on prices and also gaging what my hubby thinks of the idea.
Thanks again to both of you.

As you can imagine, ski resorts will be dearer during the ski season (they can be bargains in summer!!) but if you don't want to ski, just see the scenery and have an odd day amongst the ski crowd you might find value a little further away, even in Austria - but you won't find packages offering that. Your usual problem of local airports raises it's head again though, packages with charter flights from Cardiff will be hard enough to find but scheduled flights for DIY are hopeless. Helvetic will get you to Zurich but they aren't that cheap and you'd still be some distance from anywhere you'd call value, St Anton probably closest.

The main Austrian resorts in the Tirol have had poor snow falls so far this winter, if they don't get better and the serious skiers stay away you might find bargain packages on lastminute.com a couple of weeks before departure - Inghams unload leftovers there and are a fair sized operator in the market.

If you can find a flight to Basel this place in Germany might be of interest, it isn't a ski resort but is on the fringe and sugarbabe liked it when I suggested it to her http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/reviews/parkhotel-waldeck--golfhotel-titisee/ - it's good value but not cheap, maybe put it in the folder for next winter! I stayed there in December a few years ago and it's high enough to be above the winter murk - I had clear blue skies all week. I'd also look at Munich flights and places in Bavaria like Mittenwald or Bodenmais.

Thanks Steve, I'll check out your suggestions The place Doe and Lassi suggested looks lovely but way too expensive for a 'cheapie break'. Maybe I'm just bored as I've already researched and booked our usual Easter and Summer hols - I do fancy something a bit different but maybe my idea will come to nothing when hubby gets wind of it

Lassi ?
Are we interchangeable Shirley?

Another alternative might be to have a look at some of the ski resorts in Slovenia if you can find decent priced flights into Ljubliana? Very Austrian in scenary and general atmosphere but always used to be much better value. Places like Kranska Gora or Bohinj have good lift and chair networks, plenty of mountain huts and chalets with terraces you can watch the world ski by from. The snow cover in the Julian Alps isn't always that great because of the relatively low altitude compared to many of the French and Austrian resorts which can make them a bit of a gamble for skiers but not for someone looking for a non-sking holiday because there are lots of really interesting places to visit with good walking networks etc.

The public transport services always used to be great too - efficient and quite cheap. It used to be possible to buy very reasonable weekly passes can covered all the lifts and buses and made getting around very easy. However, this comes with the caveat that it is a while since I've visited and things could have got pricier since then.

SM

I've also been thinking about a non-skiing short break snow holiday - we're interested in husky sledding, skidoos and the Northern lights amongst other things but prices for Finland seem extortionate. Does anyone have any suggestions? (Sorry to nick your topic Shirley!)

Corinne

if you think Finland is extortionate don't look at Sweden and Norway!! Scandinavia is pricey and for other "northern lights" options you'd be looking at Canada - which would be dearer to reach and not a short break. The only simple option is a pre-Christmas Lapland trip which would involve the activities but is a bit early for the lights.

The Norwegian Hurtigruten shipping service do packages timed to see the lights (but never guaranteed to), the ones at the best dates are sold out for 2012 - the next best are around £500 for 5 nights EXCLUDING UK flight packages which are over £400 extra! Northbound there is chance to play in the snow from Tromso. See http://www.hurtigruten.co.uk/Northern-Lights/Northern-Lights-Cruises/Adventure-Breaks/A-Taste-of-the-Arctic/ for ideas of what to do when you win Lotto!

Lassi ?

Are we interchangeable Shirley?

Of course not Judith For some reason I had Germany in my mind when reading your post. My apologies for the mix up. Thanks for the suggestions Judith

Thanks to everybody for contributing. I can't say I've seen a thread for snow holidays here before (could be because I've never looked before lol)

Sorry I can't help with any specific resorts, but I would say that it's getting harder and harder to find guaranteed snow so you'll need to look for a high altitude resort ... and hope that the relatively thin air doesn't affect you ... (I get headaches over 2000 m).

Thanks for the info Steve - any other suggestions if we were to drop the Northern Lights but still wanted to do other activities?

personally my self as Its always cold in the uk I wouldn't want a snow holiday< I go abroad to get a way from the cold.

MrsAniekwe wrote:

personally my self as Its always cold in the uk I wouldn't want a snow holiday< I go abroad to get a way from the cold.

But as this topic is about researching a snow based holiday do you have any advice?