Features

By Colin Nicholson

For many downhill skiers, the rather forlorn sight of a cross-country skier doing laps in a field close to the bottom of some ski lifts, will prompt them to ask: "Where's the fun in that?"

France ©Headwater

Where indeed? The pleasure of cross-country skiing comes from choosing your location carefully. You want to be able to ski straight across lakes into the wilderness - or ski from village to village - and be astounded by ever-changing views, rather than being stuck in some track that is an adjunct to an Alpine resort. And, be warned, almost all downhill resorts claim to offer cross-country skiing, though their claims are far from equal.

Specialist tour operators such as Headwater and Inntravel offer packages away from the madding crowd.

A sure bet are the Nordic countries, which are so far north as to have snow at low levels until the end of April. And with hundreds of kilometres of tracks through forests and over summits, you can only hope to scratch the surface of what's there. However, if you prefer the Alpine countries, perhaps because you like the food or because you find the alcohol prohibitively expensive in Scandinavia, there are places here too where you can enjoy a superb holiday.

On the following pages you'll find a list of some of the best places to go, and what to watch out for, country-by-country.

See also:
How to do it
Bambi takes to the slopes