Snowy Christmas holiday no skiing!

[SnowyHolidayHunt]

Please help me... We are looking for a holiday for Christmas this year. I know it's a bit late to be looking but we had other plans that aren't going to happen now.

I've Googled until my mind has turned to mush and I still haven't found any actual resorts, so I'm actually beginning to doubt they exist, so thought I'd turn to the ladies who know! 😂(I've changed my name to something appropriate just for this thread, been around since 2007 and know how good you guys are at suggestions for just about everything!).

We are two adults and a 17 year old daughter. So this is my list of things I'd really like, can anyone suggest an actual resort, not just an area of somewhere that might be suitable!

-Really have no preference to location, I'm thinking maybe Lapland or similar or even the States, I guess, although never been to the States for a winter holiday,
-at least 10 - 14 days,
-Guaranteed lots of snow is an absolute must,
-No need for skiing, we are all very uncoordinated but would like dog sledding / snow mobiling / sledging / reindeer sleigh rides / snow shoeing / snowman making / any other snowy activity,
-Chalets rather than a hotel (we stayed in one in Lapland a couple of years ago and even had a sauna and a log fire which was gorgeous!) in the middle of nowhere would be a bonus,
-Full board (all-iclusive would be even better, but that doesn't seem available at all) with a decent variety of food, (the food at the place we stayed at in Lapland was awful, they apparently used to have fab food but decided to cater more for the "British" tourists and it was dire!),
-Lovely Christmas atmosphere but although daughter is young for her age, and loves all the Santa stuff (as do I, ahem!😊), she still doesn't want to be clumped in with the little ones like she was last time! 😂

So, I know I'm asking for a frozen unicorn, but has anyone been somewhere with at least some of the above? I'd be ever so, ever so grateful! Thank you!

You can't guarantee lots of snow below 2,500 metres anywhere in Europe in December nowadays. It's "likely" that you'll have "some" snow from about 1,800 metres, but not "guaranteed" or "lots".

Here's a hotel at 3,100 metres in Switzerland. Five nights half-board for three adults from 23–28 December is coming out at about £5,800, but that's with the 17yo in her own adult room — I couldn't get it to give me any child options over 14yo.

Or you could chance it and stay somewhere lower, like one of these.

The log cabins at Venabu https://venabu.no/en/cabins/

@samarrange Thanks for that info, brilliant, I'll have a look. We previously stayed in Kittilä, which is pretty much guaranteed (90% anyway, which is good enough odds for me) to have snow. I know of course that nothing is guaranteed really, but I'll take 90% as a good risk. 😊

@Forgottenmyphone Thank you so much for that, what a beautiful place! 😍

Anymore ideas anyone, please?

You could contact Magnetic North Travel. We used them to go to Wilderness Camp Nellim in Finland at February half-term. It's full board (food was great) chalet style accommodation, dog sledding, snow mobiling etc goes direct from the camp, and great place for the northern lights as well. Would recommend but if they don't have space then Magnetic North would have lots of other suggestions I'm sure. Used them twice now for trips to Lapland and can't fault them.

@OneOfTheThree
Thank you so much for that information, looks very similar to the place we stayed at, so will have a good look into that!

Norway or Sweden will have snow and log cabins. Look at the SkiStar website for locations (Hemsedal, Trysil, Åre etc) and ideas. You don't have to ski (but why not give it a go anyway?) and you don't have to use SkiStar - you could DIY by flying to Oslo and booking a log cabin online.

Last time I was in Hemsedal it was actually too cold to ski (down to minus 25 C on some days) so we had to find other things to do - dog sledding, sleighride, snow shoe walking, walking through a magical frozen forest.

I have no ideas but it sounds like a fab holiday to me. I’m normally against being away for Christmas too.

I’ve always fancied this resort for northern lights - https://www.kakslauttanen.fi

Banff in Canada i highly recommend though check snow likelihood for Christmas, think it will be fine but Christmas is early in the ski season. Whistler I love but not high altitude and with global warming snow guarantee isn’t there at village level. If you don’t want skiing, Finland is a great option, south of Lapland is much more reasonable

Banff Canada?

@Havanananana (honestly, skiing is NOT advisable for us!! 😂) , @Harassedevictee, @minnienono , @AllTheWatersTurnedToClouds

Thank you all so much, given me lots to look at! 😍

@Tulipvase We have complicated family dynamics between us, everyone wants us to be seeing them. We also used to live overseas and my lovely husband currently still works overseas, so we try to go away most Christmas's to avoid the push and pull of family drama. Self preservation and quality time for us really! 😆

@SnowyHolidayHunt In Scandinavia (and also in the Alps to a lesser extent) you could try cross-country skiing rather than downhill skiing.

We actually have tried a bit of that and it isn't too bad, unfortunately, daughter has dyspraxia (and I suspect I have too but being born in the 70's means I was just a clumsy, disorganised child! 😂), so really, anything that requires balance and coordination on something thin like skis, is a nightmare hilarious for others to watch. We did snowshoeing and that was better, not good, but better and quite fun! Tobogganing on the other hand, is whhheeeeeee!!😊

Finland or Norway seem like the obvious options. We did the Santa trip to Saariselka (sp?) a few years ago and that would seem to fit the bill. It’s above the Artic Circle so snow is pretty much guaranteed from mid-December.

@SnowyHolidayHunt this is exactly what I’m after!! Did you manage to find anything that suited?

You sound so bloody lovely ! I have no advice but I hope you find something perfect

Sadly no, not long after I started this thread and had spent hours and hours (and hours!) searching, our plans had to change... sigh. Maybe next year. Good luck finding your perfect snowy holiday!