Can’t ski, won’t ski? 25 of Europe’s most exhilarating snowy breaks

• Explore our full guide to ski holidays

Which is all very well if that’s how you get your winter kicks, but there is another way. The market for non-skiing winter activity holidays is growing as the demand for experiential escapes, multigenerational trips, nature-friendly holidays, wellness retreats and fitness packages soars. Though not always more affordable than a traditional skiing holiday, the increasing range of activities means that someone somewhere probably offers the adventure you’re looking for. Better still, since many of these tours can be customised, it’s possible to tailor a single break with your partner, family or friends that lets everyone enjoy their ultimate cool (or very cold)-cation, even when the brief varies between you. Here are 25 suggestions to get you started, from northern lights photography in Sweden to slow food snowshoeing in France and a cold-water swimming trip in Slovenia.

This article contains affiliate links that will earn us revenue

1. A pick’n’mix mountain stay, Dalarna, Sweden

Try ice fishing or dog sledding in Hogfjallet

GETTY IMAGES

Snow globe scenery and gentle slopes make the Swedish ski resort of Hogfjallet popular among novice skiers and cross-country enthusiasts. If you’re not keen on hurtling down the slopes there are many other ways to enjoy them. Ice fishing, dog sledding, ice climbing, ice karting, Nordic walking, snowtubing, snowkiting, northern lights walks and horse-drawn sleigh rides can all be booked locally. The historic Anno 1649 Gammelgarden inn is one of the region’s most atmospheric places to try dishes such as rich game stew with puréed potatoes (£25) and authentic Swedish waffles (£7).
Details Seven nights’ B&B from £892pp, including flights and transfers (crystalski.co.uk)

2. A snowshoe adventure, southwest region, Bulgaria

The Vitosha Nature Park makes a great introduction to snowshoeing

Bulgaria is pretty ravishing once you leave the big ski resorts behind, as this group snowshoeing holiday does. After a day of sightseeing in the capital, Sofia, the tour heads about an hour’s drive south to Vitosha Nature Park for an introduction to (or a recap on) snowshoeing technique and a hike around the park’s forested slopes, before tackling the area round the lakes and waterfalls of Mount Malyovitsa and the Rila Mountains. With about five hours of snowshoeing a day, simple guesthouse accommodation and a menu of Bulgarian pastries, soups, stews and sausages, it’s an unpretentious recipe for a wholesome, affordable winter adventure.
Details Seven nights’ full board from £1,095pp, including transfers and guided activities (keadventure.com). Fly to Sofia

3. Winter swimming, Upper Carniola, Slovenia

If you’re acclimatised to cold water and looking for an incentive to keep going through the winter, signing up for this Slovenian swimming trip may help. A one-off tour, taking place from February 6-9, it promises a mix of swims, tips on technique and walks through pine-scented conifer forests. The water temperature is likely to be between 4C and 10C, so swims are sensibly restricted to dips rather than longer distances. Which should leave plenty of time to use the sleek sauna and spa facilities at the lakeside Hotel Bohinj.
Details Three nights’ half-board from £1,629pp, including guided activities, swim-stroke analysis session and transfers (swimquest.uk.com). Fly to Ljubljana

4. An Arctic adventure, Lapland, Finland

Pyha has an assortment of activities to try in the snow

PYHA TUNTURI

The small Finnish resort of Pyha offers downhill skiing, cross-country skiing and snowboarding, and it has one of the widest ranges of add-on winter activities too. It’s north of the Arctic Circle, so snow days are the custom. Whether your winter holiday fantasy involves husky sledding, snowshoeing, fat biking, joining a reindeer safari, heading out in search of the northern lights, visiting an amethyst mine or whisking yourself happy with birch twigs in a traditional Finnish sauna, it’s all possible. Accommodation is in Pyha Ski-Inn Apartments, a collection of slopeside properties with kitchenettes and private saunas.
Details Seven nights’ self-catering from £590pp, including flights, and transfers (inghams.co.uk)

• Explore our full guide to Finland

5. Cosy winter break, Dolomites, Italy

The Sensoria Dolomites is an adults-only wellness hotel

If “cosy” means something a little more indulgent to you than a hot chocolate at the end of a ski run, look to the Sensoria Dolomites in the South Tyrol. At the foot of the much-photographed Alpe di Siusi plateau, this adults-only wellness hotel has introduced a range of ski-less packages for winter including, in January, a dedicated Cosy Winter break. Think snow-dusted hikes, horse-drawn carriage rides, fireside ham and cheese tastings, access to its spa for swims in the indoor-outdoor pool, plus a treatment of choice and two massages.
Details Three nights’ full board for two from £1,750, including all food, drinks and activities (sensoriadolomites.com). Fly to Bolzano

6. Northern lights photography, Norrbotten, Sweden

Catching sight of the aurora borealis is one thing but photographing it is even more challenging. Guests booking a winter cabin break at Brandon Lodge can improve their chances by adding on a northern lights photography tour (from £80pp). Over two hours a photographer will take you out and share some essential skills. Sky-gazing aside, the three-night break includes a winter skills outing, a snowmobile tour and a sledding excursion. Husky sledding, cross-country skiing and fat biking can also be added on. Brandon Lodge’s self-contained 15 forest cabins overlook the frozen seas of Bothnian Bay and have en suite bathrooms and kitchenettes.
Details Three nights’ full board from £1,625pp, including flights, transfers, winter clothing and activities (best-served.co.uk)

7. Snowshoeing for foodies, Hautes-Alpes, France

The wonderful mountain views from La Grange des Ecrins

There are few better ways to work up an appetite than snowshoeing, and this new short break in the Champsaur Valley makes the most of the quieter landscapes of the southern French Alps, leading guests on guided walks around the surrounding ridges, woodlands and valleys before plying them with gourmet dinners at the trip’s stylish guesthouse base, La Grange des Ecrins. Blending her dual culinary expertise to delicious effect, Meg Liu, the Taiwanese co-owner and chef, offers home-style cooking that’s salopette-bustingly good: tasting your way around the local cheeseboard is a winter activity in its own right.
Details Three nights’ full board from £775pp, including equipment, guiding and transfers (undiscoveredmountains.com). Fly to Grenoble

8. Women-only dog sledding, Norrland, Sweden

The trip includes an overnight dog-sledding expedition

The adventure travel company Gutsy Girls aims to give women the confidence to try new outdoor challenges in a supportive, inclusive atmosphere and this small group trip warm-heartedly embraces that objective. Taking in snowshoeing, snowmobiling, ice baths and toasty saunas, plus the chance to try back-country skiing, it’s a bobble-hatted headlong dive into Arctic culture. The trip starts in Umea, from where you transfer to an eco-hotel in the forest for four nights, which is the preamble to an overnight dog-sledding expedition to a remote off-grid cabin for a stay in the snowy wilds. Then it’s back to Umea for a night in the city.
Details Six nights’ full board from £2,350pp, including transfers and activities (gutsygirls.co.uk). Fly to Umea

• Explore our full guide to Sweden

9. Wolf tracking, Abruzzo, Italy

Listen for the howls and spot wolves in Italy

MUCH BETTER ADVENTURES

Wolves have been making a comeback in a rewilded corner of Italy’s Abruzzo National Park and this short winter break gives visitors the chance to find out more about this keystone species. Based at a guesthouse in Pescasseroli, the trip includes talks on the wider project, a visit to the Apennine Wolf Museum and hikes, snowshoe expeditions and torchlight forays into the surrounding mountains in the hope of sightings and to listen to the howling. This being Italy, expect delicious homemade pasta, proper pizzas and cups of rich hot chocolate.
Details Three nights’ half-board from £794pp, including guided activities and transfers (muchbetteradventures.com). Fly to Rome

10. Accessible Arctic break, Tromso, Norway

Aurora Zone has accessible short break packages including northern lights hunts

Step-free access, roll-in showers, flat paths and assisted transfers aren’t at the top of every tour operator’s winter activity planner, but commendably Aurora Zone has prioritised them for its new accessible short-break packages to Tromso. Over three snow-spangled nights all the classic Arctic Norway experiences are covered, including northern lights hunts, a trip along the banks of local fjords, a journey into the Arctic night, an exploration of Norwegian food culture, and a chance to feed reindeer and ride a sled with Sami hosts. Basecamp for these tours is the Edge, a modern hotel by the waterside in the centre of Tromso that has accessible rooms.
Details Three nights half-board from £1,635pp, including transfers, activities, support assistance and some extra meals (theaurorazone.com). Fly to Tromso

11. Family activity holiday, Presov, Slovakia

Slovakia’s Tatras Mountains are perfect for families

A whole week of skiing can be a challenge for younger children so a multi-activity trip can be a great alternative way of instilling the magic of the mountains without exhausting their enthusiasm. And this one, in Slovakia’s Tatras Mountains, leaves no leeway for boredom. From mountain tram rides and ice sculpture tours to short hikes to frozen waterfalls, chamois-spotting, snow-scootering, dog sledding, snowshoeing, a visit to a thermal waterpark and an optional day of skiing or snowboarding, it’s a blizzard of winter fun and games. At night, return to a simple village hotel to replenish your energy for the following day’s adventures.
Details Seven nights’ half-board from £1,225 per adult and £1,125 per child, including activities and transfers (familiesworldwide.co.uk). Fly to Poprad

• Discover our guide to family travel

12. Winter fat biking weekend, Haute-Savoie, France

Follow snowy trails on a fat bike in the Alps

Doing what its name suggests, thefamily-run tour operator Ride the Alps runs all-levels mountain biking adventures in summer from its base in the French Alpine village of Morillon. In the winter it switches to fat biking, leading guests along snowy trails around the ski resort of Samoëns, close to the Swiss border, on bikes with wide tyres for added stability on snow and ice. Rides are tailored to experience, with enduro loops and adventurous descents available to experienced riders and pisted riverside trails for novice bikers. Return to your comfortable self-catering chalet each evening to cook yourselves a well-deserved, carb-loaded feast.
Details Three nights’ B&B from £352pp, including two days’ fat bike hire, guided riding and transfers (ridethealps.com). Fly or take the train to Geneva

13. Winter running, Uusimaa, Finland

The 19th-century manor house hotel Billnas Gard, an hour from Helsinki, has six bedrooms, and stays can be tailored to guests’ interests. For those who want the après-ski glow sans skiing, one option is a winter running break. After morning yoga, guests head out to run along snow-dusted riverside trails (guided or self-led; running maps are provided), returning to swim in the hotel’s saltwater pool, wallow in the candlelit spa and sauna, and refuel on the chef Sami Tallberg’s French-Finnish menus. Mindfulness workshops and sound baths can be arranged.
Details Three nights’ half-board for two from £1,994, including activities and spa (billnasgard.fi). Fly to Helsinki

14. Winter walking and snowshoeing, Transylvania, Romania

Explore Transylvania in the snow

GETTY IMAGES

While many hiking holidays focus on natural landscapes, this off-season journey around Transylvania brings culture into play too. Walking and snowshoeing, guests stride out each day from a guesthouse in Magura, exploring the architectural and cultural heritage of Kalibash and Saxon villages, sipping homemade plum brandy with local farmers and visiting Bran Castle, said to be the inspiration for the home of Dracula. Nature isn’t neglected; while the region’s bears are mostly dozing in winter you can take remote hikes in search of wolf or bear prints.
Details Seven nights’ full board from £1,299pp, including guided excursions and transfers (exodus.co.uk). Fly to Brasov

15. Crafts and yodelling, Gstaad, Switzerland

Le Grand Bellevue in the Swiss resort of Gstaad

RAPHAEL FAUX/GSTAADPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

No one could argue that yodelling is hip (although the spoof Yodel Boiz advertising campaign may have set the snowball rolling) but it’s a great way to get into the Alpine spirit. If you fancy giving it a go, an introductory yodelling workshop (from £85pp) is one of a new range of add-on cultural activities designed for non-skiing guests at Le Grand Bellevue in the Swiss resort of Gstaad. Other options include horse-drawn carriage rides (from £95pp), ice skating (£16pp) and folk decoupage (from £125pp), where guests snip and shape intricate silhouettes to craft their own Swiss keepsakes. You don’t even have to go skiing.
Details Half-board doubles from £640 (bellevue-gstaad.ch). Fly to Geneva or take the train to Gstaad

• Discover out guide to winter sun

16. Winter walking, Saxony, Germany

The dramatic landscape of the Saxon Switzerland National Park

GETTY IMAGES

How many of us look at a Christmas card amid the festive chaos and wish we could be transported to its peaceful snowy tableau? If it’s icing sugar mountains and pine forests you’re after, Walks Worldwide’s new self-guided holiday in the Saxon Switzerland National Park (in Germany, despite its name) neatly fulfils the brief. Taking in dramatic gorges, riverside villages and mind-stilling views, this hike through Germany’s southeast corner starts in the spa town of Bad Schandau. Highlights include the Kuhstall arch, Lichtenhain waterfall and an optional hike to the Bastei Bridge. Stay in traditional Saxon hotels with luggage transferred between each one.
Details Five nights’ half-board from £629pp, including luggage transfers, GPX and walking route maps (walksworldwide.com). Fly to Dresden

17. Yoga in the snow, Savoie, France

St Martin de Belleville hosts the Yogiski wellness festival

Every April for the past nine years the Savoyard ski resort of St Martin de Belleville has played host to the Yogiski wellness festival, a limbering-down, end-of-season week of yoga, tai chi, ayurveda and sound baths. It next takes place from April 10-16, 2026 — and because it’s the event’s tenth birthday many of the activities will be free (st-martin-belleville.com). Others, such as a snowshoe hike to a mountain refuge for a sunset hatha yoga class and dinner, can be booked through the website nearer the time (£30pp). If you want to balance yoga with skiing earlier in the season, the local teacher Axelle Dos Santos offers courses and private lessons year-round (yoga-axelle.com). To make the most of Yogiski’s programme base yourself in one of Self Catered St Martin’s local chalets; each comes with concierge service included.
Details Seven nights’ self-catering for four from £1,312 (selfcatered-saintmartin.com). Fly to Chambéry

18. Horse-riding adventure, south coast, Iceland

This horse riding trip has Viking vibes

Riding tours at Efri-Ulfsstaoir Farm, about two hours’ drive southeast of Reykjavik, use yoga and mindfulness practices to help to create a connection between horse and rider. Heading out on sturdy Icelandic steeds (while draped in a woollen cloak for ultimate Viking vibes), you’ll have views of four active volcanoes — Hekla, Eyjafjallajokull, Tindfjallajokull and Eldfell — from the saddle, and you may spot the northern lights on winter rides. Drawing on Norse mythology and the Icelandic sagas to bring the surroundings to life, the owner Hordur Bender tailors each tour to guests’ skill levels, from one-hour beginner rides to more challenging half-day adventures around the valleys and black sand beaches beyond the farm (two hours from £258pp; mriceland.is). It’s possible to stay overnight at the farm, in one of four simple but smart timber cabins, or at Jacob’s House, a 1923 cottage renovated in fire-and-ice style (concrete walls and stone sinks are cosied up with fairy lights and vintage furniture).
Details One night’s self-catering for two from £110 (mriceland.is). Fly to Reykjavik

19. Snowkiting, Catalonia, Spain

Snowkiting is a winter alternative to kitesurfing

If you’ve tried kitesurfing and fancy giving snowkiting, its winter counterpart, a go, head to Baqueira Beret in the Spanish Pyrenees. Experienced kitesurfers can sign up for a one-hour lesson with the specialist provider Kite Escape (from £53pp; kiteescape.com), while beginners are advised to start with a four-day course (from £424pp). Either way you’ll need to be a competent skier. The course involves two hours of instruction each day, leaving plenty of time to explore the area’s thermal spas and serious food culture. Every Tuesday is Pintxo Pote night in neighbouring Vielha, with most bars offering a tapas-like pintxo and a drink (baqueira.es). Stay at the Hotel Val de Ruda, a chalet-style hotel with cosy wood and stone bedrooms a five-minute walk from the ski lift.
Details B&B doubles from £150 (hotelvalderudabaqueira.com). Fly to Toulouse

20. Romantic igloo stay, Lapland, Finland

Explore Lapland by snowmobile

If you want to swerve the slopes completely, fly to Rovaniemi and head for Halo Igloos, which will open nearby this month, with a focus on nature immersion. The 26 private cabins look more like stylised ice cubes than traditional domed igloos. Designed with stargazing and aurora-spotting in mind, as well as with private kitchenettes, saunas, outdoor whirlpools and living areas, each one has a boxy glass bedroom tailor-made for bedtime sky-watching. Visit as part of Regent Holidays’ Romantic Escape package and stays include guided snowshoeing, a night-time sleigh ride and a walking-with-reindeer experience. Arctic ice floating, husky safaris and ice fishing are extras.
Details Three nights’ half-board from £2,255pp, including flights, private transfers and activities (regent-holidays.co.uk)

21. Canoeing in the cold, Soomaa, Estonia

When the snow melts at Soomaa National Park, it’s time to canoe

Although it’s possible to book snowshoeing, skating or kicksledding trips around Soomaa National Park through the winter, canoeists should wait until the tail-end of the season, when the snow melts and the park’s forests, meadows, bogs and roads flood for a few weeks. It’s dubbed the “fifth season” locally, and is an opportunity to immerse yourself in the reflective atmosphere of the flooded land, keeping an eye out for beavers, cranes and elk as you paddle through the misty chill. The local nature tour operator Viis Aastaaega runs guided canoe tours led by local nature guides (three hours from £70pp; soomaa.com). Although many people visit for the day it’s possible to stay over in cosy, timber-clad guest suites at Soomaa Holiday Village, outside Riisa, and warm up with a post-paddle sauna.
Details Room-only double rooms from £66; three nights’ half-board in a treehouse from £312 (soomaapuhkekyla.com). Fly to Tallinn

22. High-rise luxury, Tyrol, Austria

Low-tech comfort reigns at the Eriro hotel

ALEX MOLING

Perched at 1,550m and reachable only by cable car in winter, the Eriro hotel may be a bastion of high-rise Tyrolean luxury but low-tech comfort reigns. Its nine screen-free suites are stocked with slipper-like woolly socks, record players and sculptural wooden baths, and have wide-angle views of the mountains. Outdoor activities include full-moon treks, ice baths and snowshoeing along secluded, frosty trails. Inside, guests can paint, pot or wood-carve under the guidance of local artisans, or gently stew away their cares in the spa before sitting down to a fire-cooked feast.
Details All-inclusive doubles from £1,315 (suites.eriro.at). Fly to Innsbruck or take the train to Lermoos

23. Sleeper train from Stockholm to Lapland, Sweden

Travel by train to Sweden’s frozen north

Pairing a night in Stockholm (to where you’ll fly) with a journey by sleeper train to Sweden’s frozen north, this Lapland adventure rolls on to Abisko Turistation, a ruddy-faced mountain resort tailor-made for embracing the outdoors. Simple but comfortable hotel rooms here draw snowsport lovers looking for the post-exertion comforts of a restaurant, bar and sauna. It also has cheaper, hostel-style bedrooms for those on a budget. Guests spend three nights there, choosing from a long list of add-on outdoor activities. It’s really all about the northern lights though. A remote location almost 200km north of the Arctic Circle means the site is well placed for witnessing the aurora, and many activities are designed with that in mind, from aurora hikes (four hours from £70pp) to a cable car ride and tour of Abisko Sky Station viewing centre (4.5 hours from £86pp).
Details Five nights — four half-board in hotels and one room-only on a sleeper train — from £1,599pp, including flights and transfers (sunvil.co.uk)

24. Winter wildlife spotting, Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland

Bison in the forests of Bialowieza

GETTY IMAGES

Some start digging out the ski goggles as soon as the first snowflakes fall — others reach for their binoculars. Joining a guided group wildlife holiday is a great way of increasing your knowledge while having a good time, with experts on hand to share tips on tracking, identification and photography. On Naturetrek’s small-group holidays to northeast Poland’s Biebrza marshes and the forests of Bialowieza each January, participants’ lenses are focused on the elk, deer, bison, wolf and lynx that roam Europe’s more remote corners, as well as on smaller treasures such as beavers, foxes, eagles and mistle thrushes. The trip starts in Warsaw. 24 Accommodation is a mix of simple but comfortable lodges and guesthouses.
Details Seven nights’ full board from £2,795pp, including flights, transfers and guiding (naturetrek.co.uk)

25. Wild ice skating, Stockholm archipelago, Sweden

Try natural ice skating on frozen lakes

J_SAVELID

You may be a fully Dryrobed member of the wild swimming community, but have you tried wild skating? Nature Travels, which specialises in outdoor adventures across Scandinavia, runs natural ice-skating breaks every winter to the frozen lakes and archipelago waters around Stockholm. Very different from taking a few wobbly turns around a pop-up ice rink, this liberating, fluid experience is meditative and exhilarating in equal measure. You’ll be under the guidance of local experts who scout out the best locations for reliable ice, so it’s as close as you can get to a real-life cameo in Frozen. You need to have basic skating ability. Accommodation is confirmed a few days before each tour, when ice conditions determine the location of each trip, but is usually within two hours’ drive of Stockholm. Simple, hostel-style lodges are the norm but some trips offer a hotel option.
Details Three nights’ full board from £912pp, including transfers, guiding and equipment (naturetravels.co.uk). Fly to Stockholm