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Types of Skiing Explained: Alpine, Nordic, Touring & SkateSpend Christmas doing something different. Ski, snowshoe and sauna with a small group of women, then sit down to a big festive dinner together – no hosting, no washing up and nothing to organise. Most of our guests come on their own, so you’ll be in good company from day one.
Active Winter Escapes
What to expect
We don’t do down days, even at Christmas. You’ll be out on skis, snowshoes or horseback on the day itself, then back in time for the good bit: a special dinner, a few surprises and a room full of women who chose the same Christmas you did.
Ready to join us?
Festive Adventures
Norway, Sweden and Iceland take Christmas seriously, and the big celebration happens on Christmas Eve. In Norway that can mean carols in a little mountain church, a traditional dinner and dancing round the tree. In Iceland it comes with local food, folklore and traditions most visitors never experience.
There are a couple of Christmas surprises along the way too, but you’ll need to join us to find them out!
Go remote
Stay in a family-run mountain hotel looking out over a national park. Here you can learn to cross-country ski by day, with yoga sessions, a sauna and cozy fireside armchairs to come back to after being out on the snow. Alternatively, you could head above the Arctic Circle to the Lofoten Islands for a week packed with activities including snowshoeing, skiing, sea kayaking, horse riding and spa evenings.
Learn to cross-country ski on 300km of groomed trails in the Swedish mountains and stay in a friendly hotel with a sauna and pool to ease tired muscles after a day on the snow. If you’d rather learn to downhill ski, we also run adventures with small-group lessons for complete beginners, night skiing and a twilight sledge ride.
In North Iceland, Christmas comes with Icelandic horses, snowshoeing, whale watching, thermal pools and a sauna. All this alongside local festive traditions that are always a real highlight.
What's the difference?
Christmas trips are built around all things festive: big dinners, local traditions and a few surprises. New Year trips are about seeing in the new year somewhere unique with a group of awesome women and celebrating in style. From fireworks in Norway to counting down to midnight in a wilderness cabin miles from anywhere, new years isn’t missed on any of our trips.
We've got you covered
Yes, and most of our guests do. Gutsy Girls was set up for women travelling solo, so you’ll join a small group of women in the same position. Friends can book together too, although we limit it to no more than three per trip so that the group stays balanced.
You’ll still be out and active. Depending on the trip that means skiing, snowshoeing, horse riding or a husky ride, then back for a special dinner with the group. There’s also a couple of Christmas surprises from your host along the way too. For many European countries Christmas Eve is the big one, so you’ll get to experience that and your own Christmas Day too!
Yes. The festive dinner is included in the trip price, along with the rest of your meals, activities and instruction. The traditional big meal may be on Christmas Eve though so that you can celebrate with the locals, although you definitely won’t go hungry on Christmas Day either! Check each trip page for exactly what’s included.
The main celebration is on Christmas Eve, the 24th Dec. That’s when the big dinner and all the traditional celebrations happen.
You don’t need experience: every Christmas trip is suitable for complete beginners, and instruction starts on day one. You do need a good level of fitness though as you’ll be out all day learning your new activity. Aim to do some medium to high-intensity cardio, like running, cycling or swimming, at least three times a week in the run up to your trip.
You might and groups definitely have in the past. December has long, dark nights, and Lofoten, North Iceland and the Norwegian mountains all get good displays. It depends on the weather and solar activity though and nature always works on its own schedule, so we can’t promise anything.
Not a lot, which is part of the appeal. Expect around four to six hours of daylight in the mountains of Norway and Sweden, whilst in Iceland there’s usually about three to four. In Lofoten the sun doesn’t rise above the horizon in late December, but you get a few hours of blue twilight around midday.
In the Norwegian and Swedish mountains, expect anything from -5°C to -20°C. North Iceland and Lofoten sit near the coast, so they tend to be slightly milder, but when the wind comes off the arctic ocean you’ll definitely feel it. Don’t worry though, we send a full kit list before you travel so you can have the right stuff to make sure you keep warm.
If your trip isn’t guaranteed to run then please hold off booking flights, or book something flexible, until your date is confirmed. If your date has got the green light though you can book whenever you like. Make sure to choose flights that align with your group transfer from the airport too – these will be in your booking portal.
Of course. Our cross-country ski and yoga trip in Sweden runs 20-27 December and 27 December-3 January, so you can book both weeks back to back. There are also options if you want to try two different locations for a festive adventure, just check out our New Years trips to see what works for you.
