Making life a holiday with interesting vacation and adventure ideas.

Well the nights are drawing in for the northern latitudes and many of us are beginning to think about an affordable winter break. In recent years Bulgaria has come to the fore as a winter destination and snow junkies will love a High Peaks Snowshoeing holiday in Bulgaria, a winter trekking holiday on snowshoes! This week-long adventure explores the dramatic snow-clad forests, peaks and valleys of the Rila Mountains. There are daily hikes of four to five hours that take walkers to sights such as the 70m Skakavitza waterfall, which is often frozen solid in the winter. Other hikes take in the historic Rila monastery; Mount Maliovitza; and the celebrated Seven Lakes area.

For full trip details from the Adventure Company, see High Peaks Snowshoeing in Bulgaria.

Anyone wanting a winter adventure suitable for the whole family, should head to the Rhodope Mountains on the Bulgarian Winter Experience. This trip combines cross country skiing, snowshoeing, animal tracking and the wonder of star gazing.

For full trip details from the Adventure Company, see Bulgarian Winter Experience.

Labels: Bargain Breaks, Bulgaria, holidays, skiing, vacations, winter

It is not too soon to be planning your trip to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. 2010 Destination Planner has been set up to provide comprehensive travel planning information on British Columbia's Olympic Host Cities: Vancouver, Whistler and Richmond, together with nearby communities.

The site offers up-to-date information on accommodation availability, transportation and Olympic Arts Festivals' events, which will feature Canada's indigenous people, its cultural diversity, natural beauty and spectacular cities.

Organizers are busy making sure that there is enough accommodation available for everyone to have somewhere to stay, including a homestay program, with a homestay registry planned to be launched this month. Private homeowners are also using rent2010.net to advertise accommodation but prices are already sky high.

Labels: 2010, Canada, Olympic Games, travel, winter

The interior of USA's Yellowstone National Park opens for the winter season on Wednesday, December 19, 2007. Visitors will be able to take commercially guided snowmobile and snowcoach trips over snow covered, groomed roads to popular destinations including Old Faithful and Yellowstone's Grand Canyon.

Xanterra Parks and Resorts provides lodging, food service, cross-country ski rentals and lessons, snowmobile rentals and snowcoach tours of the park. Details are available online at their Yellowstone website. Information on other authorized winter operations providing snowmobile and snowcoach trips into the park is available on the web at the National Park Service, Yellowstone website. Visitor centers will be open at West Yellowstone, Old Faithful and Mammoth, and the National Park Service website also has details of ranger-led activities and evening programs that are available throughout the winter.

The road from the park's North Entrance at Gardiner, Montana, to Mammoth Hot Springs and through the Lamar Valley to the Northeast Entrance and Cooke City, Montana, is open all year to automobile traffic. Updated conditions on all park roads used by automobiles, snowmobiles and snowcoaches are always available by calling (307) 344-2117. Starting December 19, visitors will also be able to check the status of park roads during the winter season online.

Labels: 2007, National Park, snowmobile, U.S.A., winter, Yellowstone

Here is a really nice shot of Lac Leman (Lake Geneva) in the spring. It was taken by Janet Burgess and shows the magnificent 140 metre high "Jet d'Eau" fountain in the background.
But why, you might ask, as Europe heads into winter, have I chosen to post a picture of Lac Leman in springtime. Well the answer will become clear if you take the time to click on this link, to a gallery of photographs that depict an incredible phenomenon whereby nature creates its own winter wonderland.

Labels: Lac Leman, Lake Geneva, Switzerland, winter, Winter Wonderland

Throughout most of Europe tomorrow morning (at 2am), European summer time comes to its official end and the clocks go back one hour. But to ward off the winter blues, there are plenty of festivals.

We begin this weekend with Halloween and then a few days later, the British celebrate with Fireworks night. It doesn't stop there though, in a multicultural world, these events are followed by the Diwali festival, or 'Festival of Light' also called Deepavali, on November 9. Diwali is a major Indian festival that is observed by Hindus, Jains and Sikhs around the world, to symbolise the victory of good over evil with lamps lit as a sign of celebration and hope for mankind.

Visitors to Leicester, England, have a unique opportunity to experience a 'Taste of Asia' for themselves, with a short break package in this year's official Curry Capital of Britain. The special packages have been put together by Leicester Shire Promotions, the city's tourism board, to showcase Leicester's vibrant Asian culture and exotic gastronomy, combined with its Diwali celebrations, which are said to be the largest outside of India.

Then of course, we move on to the Christmas markets, Christmas and the New Year parties.

Labels: 2007, Bargain Breaks, Diwali, England, festival, Festival of Light, Leicester, winter