GROSSARL, AUSTRIA
The first snow has already fallen upon the fir-clad mountains of Grossarltal in Austria, so now is the perfect time to book your winter trip. There are plenty of activities on offer, including sledding, ice-skating and snowshoeing, and a highlight for skiers is the chance to swoosh between the mountain huts for which the region is famous. Family-run Grossarler Hof offers a welcome respite at day’s end, with log fires ablaze, mountain-lodge décor, and a sauna and hot tub. The hotel arranges outdoor distractions for the more recumbent too, with horse-drawn sleigh rides to Hohe Tauern National Park. Guests huddle beneath blankets, fortified by slugs of hazelnut schnapps, as they glide, Doctor Zhivago-like, through the snow to Aschaustüberl restaurant. Here they feast on a traditional Austrian dinner of bread dumpings, roast pork and fried potatoes, polished off with pancakes and apple sauce.
Grossarler Hof;