Let’s go To the Mountains on Holiday!

When the skiing season ends in March-May, the time depending on the altitude of your destination, the millions of people who descend on the mountains annually go home, leaving the population at their usual few thousand per village and the slopes as quiet as if no one had been there at all. But in the summer months some start coming back, strange you may think, for it is easy to forget that once the snow has melted and the people gone away there is still a thriving tourist industry.

The chalets which are full to the brim in winter are often readily available during the summer and most of the hotels are still open. Walking around a ski resort which isn’t covered in snow or thriving with people day and night is a strange and lovely experience. The breathtaking scenery which impresses the skiers changes to summery landscapes and tree filled mountainsides. And then there are the activities.

Mountain biking is popular in ski resorts during the summer and companies offer bike hire, guided excursions and mapped routes. For the more adventurous there are countless numbers of mountain trails, but care is needed as there is often nothing between you and a messy end. However, all of the mapped biking trails are safe and rescue teams are always on hand to ensure your safety.

Those wishing for a more relaxed and slower paced activity can be impressed with the quality of footpaths and hiking opportunities on offer, with trails for this often mapped out and guides available too. The scenery can be enjoyed more thoroughly on foot than on wheels and you can obviously walk in places that a mountain bike cannot reach.

Aside from the mountain’s activities there are also all the usual leisure amenities in the town on offer all year round such as restaurants, pubs, trendy wine bars and swimming pools, meaning there is something different to do each day. Another advantage of a mountain holiday is that you escape the heat and humidity which makes some trips just too hot, as you can enjoy the summer sun whilst cooling down in a mountain breeze. As with all activities, excursions such as mountain biking and hiking carry some degree of risk, so you should always try and give yourself the protection needed by buying some travel insurance from a reputable provider such as AA travel insurance or GO travel insurance.