We plan to be in Europe over the winter holidays - mid to late December. We are looking for a quaint family friendly village where some of us can ski but that also has plenty activity for the non skiers. Our two children, who will be accompanying us, are 20 and 9 years old. We are planning for about a four to five day stay in this area and leaning toward France, Switzerland or Austria. Any suggestions or hidden gems?
Thanks!
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
If you're looking for an area that will please both skiers and non-skiers, you probably need to go with an established resort, forget about the small villages or "hidden gems". Most of the Rick Steves flock will by default point you towards the Berner Oberland, in Switzerland... but I have to admit, in this case for the conditions you layed out, it would be a good choice. The reason is because for the non-skiers, there's plenty of winter walking and sledging trails, far more than I've seen in any other Alpine resort area. Grindelwald or Wengen would be a better choice than Mürren in this case, because the options for all activities (skiing, winter walking, sledding) are better on this side. If you're not a skier, there's much less to do in Mürren. Although I haven't visited yet, St. Moritz also has many activities for non-skiers, like ice skating, curling and you can watch some equestrian sports... adapted for snowy conditions. Finally, you could consider Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Oberstdorf, Ehrwald or Lermoos. These are all close to popular attractions like Neuschwanstein, Linderhof, Mittenwald, Oberamergau, or daytrips like Munich or Chiemsee.
Posted by
Gig Harbor, Washington, USA
1854 posts
Its been many years since we took our "Christmas in the Alps" trip, but do some research on Badgastein as a possibility. Badgastein is in the mountains in southwest Austria. It was a beautiful destination - the steam from the hot springs there has a strange effect on the snow and sometimes you see four-inch perfectly crystallized snowflakes stuck to the edge of bridges. We stayed at the Gruener-Baum which is up above the town. There was a perfectly-groomed footpath from there down to the village. Christmas day we took a sleigh ride (which the hotel arranged for us)several miles back into the woods where there was an ancient pub.....We also enjoyed two other destinations on that trip which might work for you: St. Moritz and Innsbruck.
Posted by
OP
Woodland
3 posts
Thank you Tom and Cynthia! Your suggestions are very helpful as we move forward with vacation planning! Thanks again,
Posted by
OP
Woodland
3 posts
Thank you Cynthia! We will defintely get something booked soon. We have heard from friends that Zermatt is also a very nice place to visit with a lot of activities for the family and spectacular scenery. Thanks for your suggestions and assistance!
Posted by
Gig Harbor, Washington, USA
1854 posts
If you are interested in the Gruener Baum hotel I mentioned or some other traditional winter hotel in the Alps, you might want to book it soon. Many of the traditional hotels have a loyal clientele who return every year for the holidays - so not a lot of vacancies.
Posted by
Medford, OR, USA
5837 posts
Look into PillerseeTal, Austria. PillerseeTal will be the site of the 2014 Cross Country Masters World Cup races in January. http://www.pillerseetal.at/en/winter/
PillerseeTal's 5 villages are roughly between Salzburg and Innsbruck.