Is it possible to have a snowy break away over festive season that doesn't cost a fortune?

[jenthehen]

I'd really like to take dh, ds5 and dd 2.5 on a wintery log cabin style break sometime over the Christmas holidays. Everything seems incredibly expensive. I'm not really bothered about skiing as I think the children are too young but I would like snowy activities and pretty location. Has anyone done anything like this??

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cheaper places where one could ski but you just choose not to might be worth checking out - Romania, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Andorra?

Or somewhere with no skiing at all like the Czech Republic or Bavaria?

Scotland, Norway,Canada, Andorra, France, Italy,Balkans. Sorry no actual experience.

Christmas seems to be pretty expensive in general. Which is unfortunate as I like the idea of another holiday!

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You could try Sierra Nevada in S Spain? Or the Alpujarras which are the foothills of the Sierra Nevada - the main town is Orgiva, there are a few "rustic cottages" there here - one of them says it's £199 for a week Nov-Mar!

Malaga, Almeria or Granada airports would get you there and if you could fly just off the peak times it shouldn't be too expensive.

Saw something once on tv about Copenhagen being fab place to take kids at christmas lots of christmas activities and was said to be a fraction of the cost of Lapland etc. Not sure about the amount of snow (if any) might be worth a google tho?

Hi, I've been having a look and so far Bavaria seems quite good but I'm going to check out ~Copenhagen now. Thanks and keep them coming!!

Do you want to be away for Christmas day? What sort of budget are you looking at?

Hi Scribble, no it doesn't have to be Christmas day. A 3 or 4 day break would be enough if a week was too expensive. Budget of £1ooo - £1500 or less if possible. If there was some skiing nearby Dh would probably be happier but I don't think it's essential. Any suggestions gratefully received.

Oh we're in the midlands but would consider a flight from Stansted aswell.

Must admit that is on our to do list! Just waiting until dd is 3 because I don't think they let them play in the sledging area until they are older.

Have friends who have had a fab time at Crieff Hydro in Perthshire (last time they went it was VERY snowy although I suppose theres no guarantee they always stay in the s/c lodges - they want us to go along next time and the web site looks fab - might be worth a look?

We go to Cyprus over the new year usually (tho this year Centre Parcs). Cyprus is fab as you can be by the beach in the morning and up in the Troodos mountains and skiing during the afternoon.

I find its a good balance with my children ($ yrs and nearly 2).

(that is, 4 years and nearly 2)

some great ideas I'll look into these aswell. Otherwise if we don't go away we'll just potter round the house all holiday which seems a waste.

You can do the ski-and-swim thing in S Spain too (and flights are shorter, and generally a lot cheaper, than to Cyprus )

esprit is v cheap for week commencing 15 dec. £450 ish ppn, half board with flights.

Thanks noonar but we have to go over the school holidays. I'm still researching though so I'll take a look at esprit.

actually fri 15th is the last day of term for us, so we are thinking of doing this ourselves. when do you break up, are you sure this isnt your last day too?

Not sure if it will be snowy, but try www.totstofrance.co.uk - they have a bunch of very child friendly properties in France that are still free over Xmas and they're not exhorbitant for the time of year.

Sorry - just realised I should have hyperlinked that totstofrance