IMAGE: ALAMY
WINTER EXPERIENCES
7 ICE FISH IN ESTONIA
No winter activity is as meditative as ice fishing. Swaddled in winter clothing, participants plod onto frozen lakes, drill saucer-sized holes in the surface and spend still, silent hours with their eyes trained on the void below, minds wandering as they await a snag on the line. It’s especially popular in Estonia, where Sauga Fishing Village offers classes for beginners close to the town of Pärnu in the south. Expert fishermen guide you on a woodland walk, heaving along a sledful of supplies to a remote lake. Tea and soup are on hand while you await your catch; should your body need a thorough defrosting afterwards, there’s the chance to conclude your day in a sauna set inside an old fishing boat. Four hours of fishing instruction for two people from €425 (£372).
fishingvillage.ee
8 HIKE IN SLOVAKIA
Most people craving snowy landscapes instinctively head for Scandinavia or the Alps. Far fewer venture into the Tatras, the mountain range that arches along the Slovakia-Poland border. Much Better Adventures offers a four-day hiking trip on the Slovakian side of the range — groups spend days treading through forests shaggy with fresh snowfall, climbing to highland lakes ringed by frosty peaks. After sundown, you get to experience Slovakian apres — expect goulash instead of fondue — with thermal springs on hand to revive trail-weary limbs. Three nights from £512.
muchbetteradventures.com
9 CROSS-COUNTRY SKI IN FINLAND
Cross-country skiing is deeply ingrained in Finnish culture — it was the nimbleness and manoeuvrability of skis that saw the Finnish army outsmart Russian invaders during the Second World War. To this day, skis are deployed on missions as diverse as marathons, school runs and brief hops to the shops. To learn how to use them yourself, take a day- long cross-country ski trip out of Saariselkä, a resort set among the fells and forests of Finnish Lapland. Participants traverse an upland area crisscrossed with over 100 miles of trails, forging a deeper connection with the Arctic landscape as they swoosh along snowbound tracks. €82 (£72)..
laplandnorth.fi
10 FAT BIKE IN FRANCE
With the arrival of snow, the French Alps welcome hordes of skiers, crowds of snowboarders, a smattering of snowshoers and a sprinkling of ice climbers. Perhaps the rarest of these tribes are the fat bikers — the ‘fat’ in this case applies to the supersized, knobbly tyres adapted to get maximum purchase on snow and ice. Ride the Alps offers winter fat biking trips out of Samoens — a commune on the Swiss border, set in the shadows of the Chablais Alps. Here, fat bikers get to experience a different kind of Alpine descent — ski lifts are off limits, so riders hop in a support van to gain some elevation before carving their way through snowy forests and descending pistes once skiers have adjourned for their apres. Two days from £349 per person.
ridethealps.com
11 ICE CLIMB IN ITALY
Most of the year, the waterfalls of the Italian Dolomites form the backdrop to holiday photographs, but in winter they offer themselves as ice climbing routes for enthusiasts armed with axes and crampons who scale nooks of the mountain range normally out of bounds. Local operator Mapo Tapo has a three-day guided introduction to ice climbing in the region, during which you learn belaying techniques and how to use ice screws and, hopefully, take the occasional moment to glance away from the ice at your fingertips to admire the limestone mountains beyond. Two nights from £290 per person.
mapotapo.com
12 HORSE-RIDE IN ICELAND
Descended from steeds brought over on Viking longships, Icelandic horses are small but sturdy creatures. With their thick coats they’re accustomed to working year-round so it’s possible to take a horse-riding trip even in the thick of winter. Íslandshestar offers itineraries in southern Iceland. Short days might involve riders trotting beside the glacial Thjorsa River and passing under the brooding Hekla volcano, as well as learning about the horse’s unique gait, the tölt (somewhere between a canter and a gallop). There are also interludes where guests get to dismount and explore the sights of the Golden Circle via bus. Four days from €1,299 (£1,136) per person.
islandshestar.is
JAN/FEB 2024 163
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180
