Itinerary Expand all Venabu to Venabu Day 1 Start Venabu A private bus is sent from the hotel to Oslo Airport which collects all clients and transfers to Venabu (3hrs) in time for dinner. We recommend all clients arrive in time to join the group transfer. We have a brief introduction to the hotel and the ski room with briefing about the week's programme and equipment given to clients.Comfortable Hotel Meals included: Dinner Day 2 Morning tuition with our local instructors. The afternoon is free to practise on your own The first two days are usually to help learn the principles of walking and gliding on snow, and extra tuition is available on selected departures. Tuition is given by our local ski guide in the morning, followed by a short ski tour in the local area before returning for late lunch (at 2-3 pm). The late afternoon is free for independent skiing. Maps are provided so you won't get lost.Comfortable Hotel Meals included: Breakfast Lunch Dinner Day 3 Cross-country ski tour with tuition. This morning we head out on another ski tour around Venabu, our guide will observe what we have mastered and see where techniques can be improved. During the ski tour there will be further tuition to help us improve on what we have learnt. The late afternoon is free for independent practice and you can also book extra private lessons with one of the local instructors (paid locally). On one afternoon there will also be a group lesson with focus on hill techniques available (booked and paid locally).Comfortable Hotel Meals included: Breakfast Lunch Dinner Day 4 Ski tour with our instructors. Choose between shorter or longer tours. You can also ski independently. Another day of cross-county skiing, either independently or on one of our ski tours.Comfortable Hotel Meals included: Breakfast Lunch Dinner Day 5 Wednesday is a free day, when most guests choose to take part in the snowshoeing tour (payable locally). Wednesday is a free day, when most guests choose to take part in the snowshoeing tour (payable locally). Equipment is provided and it is a great way to relax and enjoy the peaceful surrounds of the Norwegian forest. Alternatively you may choose to head out and ski independently. Remember maps are provided so you won't get lost. Comfortable Hotel Meals included: Breakfast Lunch Dinner Days 6-7 Ski independently or with the group on one of our ski tours. For the last two days of the week we ski out with our guides to explore the beautiful Norwegian landscape. Afternoons are free to travel further as your confidence grows.Comfortable Hotel Meals included: Breakfast Lunch Dinner Day 8 End Venabu After breakfast, we transfer to Oslo Airport.
Venabu Fjellhotel The Venabu Fjellhotel has been run by the friendly Tvete family for over 50 years, and owing to its traditional charm and quiet location, it is a relaxing place to stay. There are 20 standard rooms housed within the east wing, or if you prefer you can upgrade (for a supplement) to one of the more spacious 36 superior west wing rooms. The hotel's saunas and ski waxing centre are free for everyone to use. There’s also a bar, a games room (table tennis, pool, etc), a TV room, craft shop and two spacious sitting rooms with open fireplaces. The dining room - which offers a spectacular Scandinavian buffet - affords glorious panoramic views out across the mountains. Yoga:One yoga session is held most days either in the morning or in the evening, typically 5 days a week. You are entitled to one complimentary session during your stay. After this, additional sessions are payable locally. Room Upgrades:Room upgrades may be available on request for a supplement. Please enquire at the time of booking for further details and prices.
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Reviewed January 2018 James D Trip: Headwater - Cross-Country Skiing in Venabu Best Holiday Ever Hotel is run by a family. I cannot overstate how well they treated us. Buffet meals three times per day. Free WiFi. The snow was amazing. We had no cross country skiing experience before. Tour guides were excellent and coached us around 3-4 hours per day. Massage / Pilates / Yoga classes helped greatly with muscle soreness. I thought I was relatively fit, but I found by the end of the morning session I was happy to relax for the rest of the day. Despite eating well, I think I have lost a couple of kg on the trip! What was the most inspirational moment of your trip? Being able to ski 10k by myself. Do you have any advice for potential travellers? The fitter you are the more fun you will have. Rooms are comfortable but not luxurious. There is plenty of space to relax in the lobby of the hotel. The hotel has a gym, billiard table, sauna and table-tennis table. If you are looking to ski and then relax it is fantastic. If you want to party and dance all night, this is not the right place to go. Is there anything else you would like to add? From what I could observe, the hotel gets a lot of repeat business, and for good reason.
Reviewed March 2017 Alison Brind Trip: Headwater - Cross-Country Skiing in Venabu venabu cross country skiing Well organised easy going cross country skiing in really friendly hotel with excellent food and facilities. Excellent cross country ski guides - highly adaptable to needs of group. What was the most inspirational moment of your trip? Snow shoe trip to wonderful frozen waterfall What did you think of your group leader? No one leader. Ski guides organised us with no fuss Do you have any advice for potential travellers? Go on this trip for relaxing cross country skiing Is there anything else you would like to add? If you want challenging skiing don't go on beginners week
Reviewed February 2017 Hugh Price Trip: Headwater - Cross-Country Skiing in Venabu Lovely area, great Hotel, excellent food and great gudes If you are into cross country skiing or want to learn this is a great choice. The guides are very good and extremely helpful. The atmosphere is excellent and the fact the guides return so often speaks volumes. The hotel is comfortable and warm, the rooms are not stylish but are good, upgrade id you want a bigger one. The food is very good and a wide variety available for all tastes. The staff are very friendly and helping the environment and love of the area is as important as profit at this family run hotel. What was the most inspirational moment of your trip? Seeing the sunrise on the Rondane NP Mountains What did you think of your group leader? There wasn't one! All the guides helped the guests and no specific leader was needed. There are guests from Germany, Norway, Netherlands and GB and it worked just fine. Do you have any advice for potential travellers? Mitts not Gloves definitely. Take layers but you don't need too much kit as you exercise so much. Buffs are good Is there anything else you would like to add? The guides are really flexible and we had 3 days of snowshoeing one being a full day ascent.
Reviewed March 2016 Alison Raynes Trip: Headwater - Cross-Country Skiing in Venabu Alison - Venabu Cross Country skiing A great introduction to cross country skiing in Scandinavia. The hotel ski guides were really helpful and sorted us out on the waxing which we had never done before. The hotel was good - free tea and coffee at all times made it feel very homely. Buffets were excellent with plenty of choice. What was the most inspirational moment of your trip? Probably 2 inspirational moments - we had good displays of the Northern Lights - which was a real bonus & also on a ski safari the guide persuaded us to "climb" on skis to a hill top 300 feet above the ski track. We had fantastic views and a great ski back down - which I had not thought I would be able to do. What did you think of your group leader? There was not a Group Leader as the holiday was via Headwater but the ski guides from the hotel were very good - they were great leaders and also considered conditions on the day and the abilities of the group. Do you have any advice for potential travellers? We really enjoyed having booked a week when there were ski safaris as well as the guiding. The ski safaris were longer days and had more off track. Is there anything else you would like to add? This was our first time in Scandinavia & we really liked that there was a mix of track skiing (which we are familiar with) and off track skiing.
Reviewed July 2015 Carol Sweet Trip: Headwater - Cross-Country Skiing in Venabu Off track at Venabu First day "off track" was daunting but by the last day it was fantastic and so so much more exciting. We had great guides from whom I learnt new skills. We were relieved we could cope with the temperatures at the end of March which were perfect for X country skiing. The hotel provided us with plenty of entertainment and was "the" place to be for many other tourists. What was the most inspirational moment of your trip? Being able to ski on open snow across the side of mountains. What did you think of your group leader? Excellent. Do you have any advice for potential travellers? Go for it! Is there anything else you would like to add? Nothing that comes to mind.
Reviewed March 2015 Anne Crowter Trip: Headwater - Cross-Country Skiing in Venabu Delicious Norway A superb location for sampling the delights of winter in Norway. The hotel was authentically Norwegian - lots of wood and candles, excellent smoked/marinaded/baked fish and meat, with a few veggie options, mouth-watering desserts (several of us "bagged" our faves before the earlybirds - aka The Germans - scraped the plates), good skis, help with waxing and great tuition and group leading. The sauna was very welcome after the day's battering - sorry "getting to grips with XC skiing" and the West Wing room was unusually spacious for a ski holiday. What was the most inspirational moment of your trip? The slideshow from Lars on Venabu and the mountains gave us a bigger picture of the area and the Norwegian buffet on Wednesdays was delightful. What did you think of your group leader? Robert, Richard and Siobhan went the extra mile to help us, both on and off the skis. Robert was excellent at tailoring the routes to the changing conditions, Richard was the waxing guru and his wife Siobhan mentored us newbies like a Pro. Do you have any advice for potential travellers? Practice your balance! Yoga or Pilates are good. XC skis are a lot more nervous than downhill and tip you off far more frequently, forwards and backwards as well as sidewards. If the snow is soft it's OK but it got icy towards the end of our stay and my coccyx hasn't forgiven me yet.
Reviewed February 2014 Anonymous Trip: Headwater - Cross-Country Skiing in Venabu CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING: VENABU This is a great location to get away from the daily frustrations of work, commuting etc. The location is absolutely stunning when the sun is out. This holiday is suitable for cross country skiiers of all levels from beginners to more advanced. What was the most inspirational moment of your trip? We had a week when it snowed a lot so the most inspirational moment was the day we had sun and could finally get an idea of the beautiful mountain location all around. We were lucky enough to spot with Robert, the local ski guide, a herd of reindeer moving up the mountain, they were far away but still exciting! What did you think of your group leader? There was no group leader on this trip, however, the hotel has two great ski guides who take out the hotel guests on cross country ski tours. Wenche and Robert are very nice and open to any questions someone may have, it was a pleasure spending time skiing with them. Do you have any advice for potential travellers? Be prepared for some fun days in the snow regardless of weather, even if it snows during the week the surroundings are magical. Is there anything else you would like to add? I think I will come back to Venau at some point, it was a great holiday!
Reviewed February 2014 Anonymous Trip: Headwater - Cross-Country Skiing in Venabu CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING: VENABU It was very nice hotel with excellent food, bus connection to the airport is comfortable. Our ski instructor are all very helpful and nice. Feeling like going again next year :)
Reviewed March 2013 Anonymous Trip: Headwater - Cross-Country Skiing in Venabu CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING: VENABU Excellent, professional and friendly set up, with comprehensive tuition and guiding. The full board option is very good value for money in what can be an eye-wateringly expensive (in GBP terms) country. What was the most inspirational moment of your trip? Placing my skis in the parallel tracks and realising that I can glide; Heading out on my own in the afternoon round the hotel and finally 'getting' the rhythm right; Snowshoeing through the woods and coming out onto a viewpoint over the frozen waterfall. What did you think of your group leader? Not really a group leader as such (it's managed by the hotel) but Robert and his team of giudes / instructors were really friendly, helpful and patient. Instruction and tours were tailored to the group experience, with alternatives offered and there were extra training sessions in the afternoons focusing on specific skills, if you wanted to practise. Do you have any advice for potential travellers? If you want a drink in the evenings, bring some duty free with you and don't expect alpine style apres ski! Is there anything else you would like to add? Really enjoyable holiday, good value with all the food included, great fun.
Reviewed March 2013 Anonymous Trip: Headwater - Cross-Country Skiing in Venabu CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING: VENABU This is an excellent mountain hotel. There is plenty of variety from new to x-country ski to off track mountain skiing What did you think of your group leader? Although there is no resident Exodus rep the hotel guides (Robert and Wenka pronounced Venka) made us very welcome. They are both skilled skiers and knowledgable about the tracks and mountain terrain. Do you have any advice for potential travellers? The brochure understates the ski potential by a long way. The hotel Ski Safari trips are worth the holiday in their own right.The leaders were able to accomodate guest with litterally no x-country ski experiance to those of us with 30 years skiing.This hotel is also the start and finish point for some DNT hut to hut routes so for those who would like longer trips there are DNT huts within easy day skiing Is there anything else you would like to add? As with every where in Norway alcohol is expensive by UK standards (at least N of England and Scotland).The tradational Norweigan buffet mid week will not be to every ones taste and tradationally they are not as veggie as many UK veggies would like. The horse, whale and raw fish dishes are intersting to try. More familiar reindeer, beef and lamb dishes were popular.Fish eating veggies are well catered for with a different fish every evening, there were also pure veggie options with chick peas and beans on the cold buffet.
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