Family winter activity vacations
I can never usually persuade my son to go for a walk in the mountains. Give him a pair of cool, high tech snowshoes and a wonderful mountain guide to lead the way, and suddenly he's Chris Bonington![]()
Winter activity vacations are a big pull on the family budget, especially on the back of Christmas. Although, if you choose wisely, they can often be the most memorable escapes you will have together. Most importantly, frosty, family fun doesn’t have to mean downhill skiing. Try hiking through the snow dusted Grand Canyon, snowshoeing and jumping into thermal pools in Slovakia, or reindeer/husky sledding in Lapland. There are many carefully crafted and expertly guided winter vacations for families out there, which go way off piste and way off the tourist trail too. Leave the chair lifts queues behind and lift your snow angels’ spirits in a completely new and exciting way.
Winter activities for families
Meet the Sámi
Spending time with the Indigenous Sámi people will open your children’s eyes to life above the Arctic Circle. Reindeer herding, ice fishing, felt making, aurora camps, kota dinners, music and storytelling. Some experiences can feel a bit exploitative, so travel with our local experts who understand and support Indigenous culture in a sustainable and respectful way.
Snowshoeing
For families who like to hike, there are plenty of snowshoeing opportunities out there, often thrown into activity vacations that include other fun snowy stuff, such as tobogganing, sleigh rides, husky sledding and so on. But snowshoeing in Slovakia or Sweden, Lapland or the Pyrenees will show them what slow travel, in the snow travel, is all about.
Family Northern Lights break, Finland
Cozy log cabin and fascinating snow adventure for each day
From
€1603 to €2618
5 days
ex flights
Family winter activity vacation, Finland
Family multiactivity week in the middle of the nature
From
€1125 to €1175
8 days
ex flights
Northern lights family vacation, tailor made
An Aurora-cabin glass roofed experience in Finnish Lapland
From
£1465
4 days
inc UK flights
Family skiing vacation in Montenegro
Family ski vacation in the Durmitor National Park
From
€995
8 days
ex flights
Lapland Northern Lights adventure
7 Days Rovaniemi, Saariselkä & Äkäslompolo
From
US $2735
7 days
ex flights
Winter family vacation in Slovakia, High Tatras
An action-packed family winter vacation in the High Tatras.
From
€1359
8 days
ex flights
Winter wildlife
Children’s adrenaline will be pumping on a winter activities vacation, but nothing will stop them in their tracks, or have their heart beating quite as hard as when they see an elk standing proud in the Finnish wilderness. Or a chamois leaping from one icy rock to another in the Alps, an Arctic hare dashing across snow or a polar bear crossing the tundra.Transylvania
No lions or witches in Transylvania. But opportunities to break out your winter wardrobe, and take magical Narnia-like horse-and-cart rides through snowy forests. Low-key ski resorts, animal-tracking, ice caves and of course the obligatory vampire folklore make for magically alternative family winter vacations in Romania.
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Winter vacations for families tips
No-no to in/out Lapland vacations
Riitta Kiukas, founder of our specialist Lapland partner Skafur Tour, on 24-hour Lapland vacations:“I remember when Rovaniemi was little more than a couple of gas stations. Now it’s so commercialised, it’s pretty awful. Occasionally our groups will spend a day there, but for the most part it’s very inauthentic. We get them elsewhere as soon as we can. Experiences like that are not what winter in Lapland is about.”
High Tatras vacations
Petr Ivanek from our partner Slovakia Explorer on why the High Tatras is becoming such a popular family destination:
“The High Tatras region is a simply stunning place for family winter sports vacations. These are the highest mountains in Central-Eastern Europe, and vacations here offer a wide selection of activities for the whole family, not just skiing. In the mornings you play in the snow, in the afternoons you relax in outdoor thermal pools. It’s only a two-hour flight from London and very affordable too – you can find pretty much everything here that you’d get in the Alps, but for less.”
“The High Tatras region is a simply stunning place for family winter sports vacations. These are the highest mountains in Central-Eastern Europe, and vacations here offer a wide selection of activities for the whole family, not just skiing. In the mornings you play in the snow, in the afternoons you relax in outdoor thermal pools. It’s only a two-hour flight from London and very affordable too – you can find pretty much everything here that you’d get in the Alps, but for less.”
More Winter articles
You don't have to go far to find true winter wilderness, where reality matches the fantasy.
The long nights of winter are ideal for spotting the Northern Lights.
Be whisked off to Scandinavia and the Alps, and to the Canadian wilderness.
Escape busy ski resorts in favour of snowshoeing and cross country skiing that make the most of local guides.
You can head to Lapland and the Arctic Circle for a taste of spectacular wilderness or explore pristine national parks.
Track alpine wolves, trek on snowshoes between remote refuges and learn how to climb a frozen waterfall.
Look north towards the Dolomites in winter. These jagged peaks enclose a remote and beautiful wilderness.
Give Santa a swerve and head out into the pristine wilderness; exciting activities await.
On a mixed activity vacation, you can try your hand at mushing a team of huskies or cross country skiing.
Find winter fun by escaping to a frozen wonderland of bracing and exciting activities.
Advice on what to pack, whether you need to train, where to see the Northern Lights - and more from our expert partners.
As snowfall becomes more sporadic, Europe’s ski resorts rely on manufacturing artificial snow to keep their slopes open.
Look beyond skiing if you want to climate proof your next winter trip.
For those who don’t want to join the piste posse, the traditional ways of enjoying winter are becoming hugely popular again.
