Venabu cross country skiing holiday in Norway

Planet and people

UK Office
We are well aware of the impact tourism has at home and abroad, and we make every effort to balance the environmental impact of travelling with the immense benefits sustainable tourism can bring to destinations and the people who live there.

So we start in the office: we turn off all electrical equipment every night; we use energy-efficient bulbs; we measure print and paper consumption, and re-cycle wherever possible; we print our brochures on paper from sustainable sources, and send them out in bio-degradable packaging.

Cross country skiing in Venabu
We avoid crowded downhill resorts, seeking out instead incredibly pretty, off-the-beaten-track mountain villages where life continues as it has for centuries. When hand-picking where to stay, we choose small, family-run hotels, offering great regional cuisine, run by owners who take a genuine interest in their guests.

Originally a summer farm, the VenabuFjellhotel was the very first hotel to appear in our Snow programme 25 years ago, and guests continue to return year after year! Run by the super-friendly Tvete family, it enjoys a magnificently isolated location on the edge of the Rondane National Park where, historically, cross country skiing is the main form of transport during the winter months. This is the traditional heart of Norway – totally untouched by tourism.

In the hotel, every effort is made to operate in harmony with your surrounds, minimising any negative impact on the environment: where possible, everything from paper to food waste is re-cycled; the chef uses locally sourced products (where possible – it is very remote here, so some importing is necessary!) and works with local farmers; eco-friendly toiletries and cleaning fluids are the norm, and all renovation work over the last couple of decades has been in keeping with local styles, and using locally sourced materials.

Activity
Both cross country skiing and snow shoeing are easy to learn and you’re very much in touch with nature and your environment – just breathing in the crisp clean air feels good! When we are out on skis, we make sure we leave no human trace, and our leaders ensure that wildlife are not disturbed in any way.