Snowshoeing & Winter Walking Holidays
Price
From £1350
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January, February & March 2025
Guided and self-guided snowshoe excursions in the Val Aurina, South Tyrol
Country
Italy
Ability
All Abilities
Duration
7 Nights
Style
Self Guided
Type
Centre-Based
Price
From £1350
Winter magic for snowshoers, walkers and cross-country skiers
Nestled in the South Tyrol, between Austria’s Zillertal and Italy’s Dolomites, with 80 peaks exceeding 3000m, the Val Aurina (or Ahrntal in German) is a snowbound treasure for winter adventure, abundant with hiking trails, snowshoeing routes and cross-country ski tracks, all of which provide miles of tranquil wonderment.
Guided snowshoeing excursions are available 4 days per week – optional and free. Also, everything you require to self-guide is provided, whatever your level of fitness, whether you snowshoe, go for winter walks, or do a mix of both. Cross-country skiers can thrive on 50 kms of tranquil tracks, whilst 86 kms of pristine piste will absorb the casual intermediate skier.
Choose daily how to enjoy your heavenly surroundings and then indulge in soothing relaxation at the luxurious 4* Superior Hotel Drumlerhof, a carbon-neutral gem, with its high levels of style and comfort, including a stunning health spa with panoramic indoor pool, beautiful bedrooms and outstanding cuisine. Its enthusiastic provision of local knowledge to active guests guarantees a truly inspirational winter experience. This is a place your body and soul will thank you for choosing.
Gallery
At a glance
Dates
4 Jan – 8 Feb 2025
8 – 22 Mar 2025
(Saturday to Saturday)
Arrive and depart any day is also available on request.
Price
£1350
Half-board in Alpine Double Room – 33 m² of pristine natural style, satellite TV, telephone, safe, balcony and large en suite with hairdryer.
Single Supplement – £350
Upgrade to a Suite – add £175 pp
Grade
With flexibility and choice throughout, this holiday is suitable for all levels of fitness.
Snowshoeing & Winter Walking
Your holiday includes 4 guided snowshoeing excursions, which are free and optional.
Also, with our smartphone App, you can self-guide our favourite snowshoeing routes and winter walks. Snowshoes are available at the hotel for €5 per day. Transport is provided for guided snowshoeing and might include use of local bus services.
Cross-Country & Downhill Skiing
50kms of cross-country pistes are available at 3 local centres, so you can explore snow-covered forests and sparkling white pastures on tracks that link pretty hamlets.
A cross-country skiing taster session is available every Wednesday, and there is also an introduction to biathlon once a week.
For downhill skiing, 86 kms of fabulous pistes await you in two small resorts, just a few minutes away by free and regular bus services.
What’s Included
7 Nights Half Board – at the 4* Superior Hotel Drumlerhof – bed, breakfast and 4-course dinner.
4 x Guided Snowshoe excursions – optional and free of charge – transport to and from trailheads is included, where required.
Local Knowledge for Self-guiding – Collett’s Holiday Handbook featuring our local guide’s Top 10 winter walks and snowshoe excursions. Also, as members of the Wanderhotels group, the hotel commits to extensive support for self-guiding, alongside its free guiding programme.
Digital App – access to user-friendly smartphone navigation for trouble-free self-guiding at your own pace on the best snowshoeing and winter walking itineraries in the area, including alerts to keep you on track!
Return Airport Transfers – between Venice Marco Polo and the Hotel Drumlerhof.
Travel
Our base is Campo Tures (German: Sand in Taufers) the principal resort of the Val Aurina near Brunico in the South Tyrol.
How to get here
Your best option is to fly to Venice Marco Polo Airport and join our free scheduled transfer service – see below. Alternatively, fly in and out of Verona, Innsbruck or Bolzano, then take a direct train to Brixen/Fortezza, from where we can organise a 45-minute private transfer. Bolzano is even closer to Brixen/Fortezza, but flight options are more limited.
Private Transfers – these might suit groups of 4 – 6, and are available from the airport or railway station of your choice. Contact us for a quote – and book early.
Fly-driving – exploit good winter car hire deals. Driving conditions are good. You can arrive at the hotel from Verona Airport without having to negotiate any mountain passes.
Airport Transfers
Scheduled Transfers provided by the Hotel Drumlerhof are included in the cost of your holiday and operate every Saturday between Venice Marco Polo and the hotel as follows. Please book your seat on the transfer at the time of booking, or very soon after. Thank you.
Departs Venice Marco Polo – 1400 prompt
Departs Hotel Drumlerhof – 0615 prompt – for flights taking off after 1200
Journey Time – 3hrs. 20 mins.
Ski Carriage – must be pre-booked at £15 return per set.
Some waiting time at the airport is inevitable unless you book a private transfer. Please note that the scheduled transfers cannot wait for delayed flights. See our ‘Need to Knows’ above for more information.
Holiday Highlights
Snowshoeing
Snowshoeing is one of the Val Aurina’s big attractions. Indeed, we are here to provide walkers with a winter destination, which is not dominated by downhill skiing. The Hotel Drumlerhof with its central location in Campo Tures is the perfect springboard for snowshoers and winter walkers, a gateway to awe-inspiring snowy landscapes of glistening white pastures, enchanting woodland, and magisterial 3000m peaks, where the only sound is the dripping of icicles as they melt in the winter sun.
Your holiday includes 4 guided snowshoeing excursions with the hotel’s dedicated guide, Stefan. Simply sign up the evening before and everything else is taken care of. At our request, Stefan and his daughter, Emma, have also identified a special selection of routes, ranging from easy and idyllic, to moderate and more adventurous. Mountain lodges (rifugios) with magical views are a welcoming feature of these excursions, perfect for a hearty lunch or a warming gluhwein. Whether you choose to self-guide or be guided, Collett’s will make Stefan and Emma’s chosen favourites available to you before your departure via our smartphone navigation App and Holiday Handbook.
Either way, throughout your stay, whether you seek out ideas for snowshoeing, hiking, cross-country skiing etc., Stefan and the hotel team are always around to provide their local knowledge, comprehensive route notes and itinerary proposals.
Hiking
Winter walking opportunities in the Val Aurina are numerous and it is a fabulous way to relax, reflect and reinvigorate. Picturesque villages and hamlets are connected by a network of waymarked trails, which traverse woodland and winter pastures, occasionally flanking rivers and streams, usually frozen. If walking is your way of getting away from it all, you won’t do much better than the many options here, whether you venture out for an hour or two before relaxing at the spa, or choose a longer day walk of 10 or 12kms incorporating lunch at a mountain lodge or a neighbouring village. These walks are as invigorating as it gets; the silence is overwhelming and the air is pure and bracing. Our base at the Hotel Drumlerhof is the perfect launchpad for winter walkers, providing access to three local valleys, each different in their own way, each towered over by absorbing 3000m peaks.
As with snowshoeing, Stefan and Emma, have identified (specifically for guests of Collett’s) their Top 5 easy walks and their Top 5 moderate winter hikes. All the relevant maps and details await you on your arrival and, as ever, Stefan and his team are ready to give their guidance enthusiastically. In addition, each of these walks will be made available to you before your departure via our smartphone navigation App.
Cross-Country skiing
In the Val Aurina there are 51 kms of well-prepared trails in 3 different centres, each easily accessible from the Hotel Drumlerhof, each with magical panoramic views. It is a tranquil sight to see skiers glide elegantly in heavenly winter landscapes, surrounded by the looming peaks of Europe’s prettiest cul-de-sac. For example, in the idyllic village of Riva di Tures (a short bus ride from Campo Tures) you’ll find 4 different cross-country tracks ranging from 3-15 km of varying levels of difficulty; and in Casere, you can even have a go at biathlon. One of the great features of the Val Aurina is the altitude of its alpine cross-country tracks in Casere, Rio Bianco and Riva di Tures, as the quality of the snow is always perfect.
Downhill Skiing & Toboganning
There are two small ski resorts in the Val Aurina, Speikboden (42kms of piste) and Klausberg (33 km of piste) both offering immaculate pistes and impressive lift infrastructure. Speikboden is just 5 minutes from the Hotel Drumlerhof on the skibus, which operates every 15 minutes, whilst Klausberg is a 20 minute ride. Both resorts provide dreamy runs on beautifully manicured pistes and, whilst limited compared to larger ski areas, they both offer enough fun and exhilaration to provide an alternative to snowshoeing or walking, should you fancy a day doing something different. Indeed, a beginner could happily book a week here, spending many happy hours between the two centres once he/she has mastered the basics. Also, as a rule, fresh powder is often available, if off-piste skiing is your thing. The Speikboden ski area features the highest chairlift in the South Tyrol and this bodes well for snow conditions.
Moreover, for something really different, the longest natural toboggan run in the South Tyrol is accessed via the Speikboden lifts: 10kms of manicured track will bring you all the way back down to the valley bottom. It is one of 7 toboggan runs in the valley, some faster than others!
A carbon-neutral 4* Superior winter retreat
Our base is the gorgeous 4* Hotel Drumlerhof in Campo Tures (German: Sand-in-Taufers), the principal village of the Val Aurina (German: Ahrntal). It is the perfect springboard for 3 local valleys, where winter walkers and snow-loving adventurers thrive.
The hotel is a hospitable and indulgent joy. In the same family for generations, today it is managed by sisters, Franzi & Emma, ably assisted by their parents, Ruth and Stefan. Emma and Stefan are true outdoor enthusiasts and know every corner of the area. Emma is fluent in English and will surely enhance your time here with her knowledge, ideas, and passion for the playground she calls home.
Inside the hotel, elegance and good taste abound, but not at the expense of warmth and cosyness. Highly attractive bedrooms guarantee sweet dreams and deep sleep. As a guest of Collett’s, you will be allocated an ‘Alpine Room,’ 33m2 of charm and comfort with floors and furniture made from natural wood, exquisite beds, a large en-suite bathroom, and a balcony.
Breakfast and dinner will be a special part of each day. Much of the fabulous food here is produced by the hotel itself which guests enjoy in the stylish dining room – where the service and atmosphere are charming and unassumingly relaxing. Ruth is nationally renowned for her cookery books and gluten-free cuisine.
Stefan has always strived for a sustainable hotel. This goal has now officially been achieved. Electricity is generated by a local waterfall that turns a turbine installed by Ruth’s father, while local biomass provides the heating. All products used by the hotel are fair-trade and sourced locally. Meanwhile, the chefs work their magic with food grown (and meat reared) organically on local land, farmed by the family and its team.
Need to Knows
Flight Delays – We cannot be responsible for the repercussions of delayed flights or other travel arrangements. If you are delayed, the scheduled transfer will still depart as scheduled. If you miss the transfer, airport taxis can be booked at your expense, or a car hired from the airport can sometimes be a cheaper option. Hopefully, any expenses caused by such a delay will be covered by your insurance.
ETIAS – The European Travel Information and Authorisation System is not due to be introduced until mid-2025. Currently there is not an exact date as to when it will come into force. This means you do not need to have a ETIAS for travel to Europe at the moment. For more information read our blog article here
Booking Conditions – be sure to read our full terms and conditions here before booking.
At Your Own Risk – please read the important notes here.
Travel Advice – check your government’s travel advisory for up-to-date information and advice about your destination. For UK citizens, check the latest Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office advice here.
Passport & Visa – any questions should be directed to the relevant embassy of your destination country; find out more here. It is your responsibility to be in possession of a full passport, valid for your chosen destination.
Travel Insurance – having adequate and valid travel insurance is a condition of booking with us. Details of our insurance partner, Campbell Irvine, are here.
Health Information – You should carry either an European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) or a Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) Neither is an alternative to adequate travel insurance. For more information visit https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice and https://travelhealthpro.org.uk/
ABTA – Independent travel advice and help is always available from ABTA by calling 020 3117 0599 or visiting www.abta.com.
