Blog | MountVacation.com

Or how to choose the right booking platform to avoid bad surprises and save time and money.

Hundreds Thousands of booking platforms are now found on the internet. What makes some better than others? Who should choose which kind of platform?

Some platforms boast a very wide general offer (ex: Booking.com), some are location-specific (ex: londonhotels.com), others are budget-specific (ex: eurocheapo.com or luxurytravel.com), and finally, some hotels and other types of accommodation also have their own booking platform (ex: ichotelsgroup.com).
+ Good if you already chose your exact destination, know what you are going to do there, how much you are ready to spend on accommodation, or exactly which accommodation you want to stay in (ex.: for a business trip or to visit family). Most platforms provide relevant enough information and customer reviews about accommodations.
- No sensible data about the destinations and the offered activities, usually no customer reviews of the destinations. On these, you cannot find turn-key holiday packages and the customer service is often poor or even non-existent.

Some booking platforms are presenting an offer specific to a certain type of holiday: ski holidays, seaside vacations, golf holidays, etc. (ex: onBeach.com and MountVacation.com)
+ The information about each destination is very complete, so you don’t to lose time searching on different websites about the installations and services offered at each. Packages are often available, which allows a very simple vacation planning as well as some savings on the individual cost of services. You can also buy à-la-carte all you need for your perfect holiday, on the same website and in one transaction. Here’s an example of how simple it gets:  if you want to go ski or mountain bike, you want to get extensive information about the different resorts in the region you intend to visit. You might also want to buy lift/ski passes or organize the equipment rental for your family and not search for hours on the net. And what about reading reviews of the resorts and accommodations, all relevant because all written by skiers or mountain bikers?
In short, a holiday type-specific booking platform is the best way to easily organize your vacation. Oh, and the customer service is usually better because reps understand your needs and interests.
- If you know what type of holiday you want to spend (ski, beach, hiking, etc.) there is actually no downside to choosing a holiday type-oriented booking platform. And if booking your holiday is not as simple as presented above, it’s probably that you are on a booking platform of poor quality,  choose another one. One last advice, don’t go to MountVacation.com to look for any holiday on flat land!

Any horror stories to share about dealing with online booking platforms?

Saas-Fee, in Switzerland, will have the pleasure, once again this year, to host the regional Summer Cow Fighting tournament! Weird? Well, the Swiss people from the Valais region certainly don’t think so, they have been holding such tournaments since the 1920’.

Here’s how it looks like:

It is to be noted that cows used here, from the local Herens breed, fight naturally to establish the hierarchy in the herd, and their horns are blunted before the fights. No bloodshed or dead animals here, the fights are mainly a pushing contest. The first cow to back down from a fight is eliminated. The winning cow from each regional tournament gets to take part in the grand finale La Reine des Reines (the queen of the queens) in Martigny next October.

The cow fighting tournament will be held Sunday, 9th August 2009 but it’s worth spending at least the whole weekend in Saas-Fee, for it will be filled with live music and fresh food and drinks. It is a quite popular event in Saas-Fee so better book your accommodation early if you want to give it a try.

After presenting Andorra as a summer destination, Slovenia is also worth the introduction. Of course you’ve heard about all the great winter activities in Slovenia. From cross-country to downhill skiing, ice-skating, tobogganing and natural hot springs, winter resorting in Slovenia is a shoe-in for a great time.

What I love about  Slovenia in summer is the taste of “real” rural life one can get. I mean, I can stay on a farm, experience real farm living, help with farm chores and, get this, eat real farm-fresh foods. This sort of Slovenia farm vacation is getting more and more popular these days. It’s nice to know where your food comes from, anyway.

To put it eloquently, a summer mountain vacation in the Slovene Alps renders an organic biosphere of freshness and great outdoors. When I go to in the mountains, I generally stay for a few nights near Kranjska Gora. Kranjska Gora is where I can get my trekking and horseback riding skills on. Once I’ve done my daily farm chores, I head out with buddies (and family) to experience this infinite outdoor country. The Kranjska Gora area in the Slovene Alps is known for not only it’s natural snow, but has visitors going wild over it’s organic cheeses, veggies, fruits and free-range meats. After a long hike, it’s nice to eat foods that are unprocessed and mountain crisp. You don’t even want to get me started on the wines.

If farm work doesn’t fit in your idea of real vacation, Bohinjska Bistrica is a great place to have some family summer fun in the Slovene Alps. Bohinjska Bistrica is a real kayak and canoeing Mecca and it gets visitors by the truck loads. But, don’t worry, I don’t think it’s ever felt too crowded or over-packed. The winter resorts turn into summer retreats for most of the tourists who come to the area anyway. The best package deals, though, will be found online, from what I have gathered.

Once when I stayed and worked as a farm hand near Bohinjska Bistrica here in the Slovene (Julian) Alps, I got to draw milk from my first cow. You can do the same, though the taste will be quite a bit sourer than from the carton. (Is pasteurized such a bad thing anyway? I don’t really think so.) Plus, you can help make your own butter, which you can take home, and see how other products are made, packaged and sold. It’s really neat to learn where all that “packaged” food comes from.

If you’re a hiking fool like me, then you’ll want to at least once trek up Mount Triglav in the Triglav National Park, also part of the Slovene Alps. If you don’t like mountain hiking, then the Sava, Kolpa or Soca Rivers are all close enough to take a kayak, canoe or raft down. Often, Lake Bled has some great swimming areas. To tell you the truth, I just can’t get over the fantastic fishing, either from a boat or off the bank here. I could spend a thousand endless summers in this area in general, and in Slovenia particularly. Staying in one of the Slovene Alps resorts is a great way to have comfy living standards on your vacation.

To enjoy the countryside and all the organic goodness that comes from the earth without doing any farm work, it is possible to take a mountain vacation staying on the periphery of the farm. There are some great small towns to drive through, where markets and food stands wait with cheeses, wines, veggies, fruits and everything between. You can buy directly from the farmers themselves. It’s a great system, almost like a fair trade expo.

What I like the best about Slovenia is, yes the outdoors, yes the food and heck, if you’ve never seen a sheep traffic jam, it’s worth everything to experience this in Slovenia! The Kranjska Gora and Bohinjska Bistrica are two of many of my favorite Alps places. It’s wise to pre-book a farm or resort stay ahead of time, as it can get busy. It is, as I said, getting more popular as people wish to escape the cities that hold us in the rest of the year.

The small principality of Andorra, located in the Pyrenees between Spain and France, is still slightly less crowded than its large neighbors during the high seasons. Also, to spend summer or ski vacations in Andorra’s mountain resorts (Granvalira, Vallnord Ordino-Arcalis and Vallnord Pal-Arinsal) is comparably cheaper than in other Western-Europeans alpine resorts but the quality of their installations, accommodations and offer of activities is definitely as high. All that, in addition to the fact that Andorra is a duty free country, makes it really worth trying it for your next mountain holidays.

But I hear you from here, saying ‘ Nothing’s happening in Andorra outside the ski season! ‘
It used to be true, but not anymore. Hiking, mountain biking, kayaking and canyoning, and also hot-air balloon rides, via ferratas, museums, swimming, golf and fishing are all happening here! There is also a large children’s activity center. It seems like the Andorran resorts finally caught up with their European competitors.

Any self-respecting skier or snowboarder well knows that, thanks to the exceptional skiing conditions offered, ski holidays in La Plagne, France, are always a success. In summertime however, the diversity of activities offered makes revisiting the resort worth the trip, no matter how well you know it when snow covered.
Here is a quick overview of La Plagne’s summer offer:

On the ground:

• The Arapaho, a hybrid device, half scooter half mountain bike, enables to ride down almost effortlessly all sorts of tracks
• The mountainboard, also a hybrid machine, half BMX and half skateboard
• Countless hiking trails
• A 15 km cycling track, welcoming cyclists of course, but also joggers and rollerbladers

In the air:

• Paragliding, exceptionally good thanks to many good flying sites sheltered from the wind.
• Helicopter rides

In/on water:

• Numerous lakes
• An outdoor swimming pool
• The artificial lake Macot, with children’s games, ping-pong tables, barbecue areas, and lifeguards watching.
• Kayaking and paddling
• Rafting, canyoning and white water swimming
• Original activities: kayak-raft and cataraft.

And after super active days, you deserve a treat in one of the wellness centers found in the high altitude resorts. Jacuzzi, sauna, hammam, massages, cosmetic treatments, etc. are some of the amenities and services offered.

The resorts forming La Plagne each have their own individual personality and, with such a big program, it’s well worth planning to spend at least a full week here. La Plagne’s accommodations are found in both the village resorts and the high altitude resorts, and the offer goes exclusive hotels to self-catered apartments. Wellness centers, restaurants, bars and clubs will make lazy vacationers and serious athletes equally satisfied of their summer vacations in La Plagne!

Winter or summer, the Tignes ski resort in France is certainly not a boring place to be. The now famous Bikini Contest will be held, once again, to launch the 2009 summer ski season! If you don’t know it already, it’s a race down a mini slalom involving a dozen competitors on their skis or snowboard wearing only bikinis.
This frisky and eccentric event will certainly heat up the first days of summer.
So, see you guys in Tignes the 21st of June 2009 and don’t forget your bikini!

Val di Sole, in Italy, is one of my favourite summer resorts because of the diversity of sports activity offered.

For adrenaline-pumping experiences, the best is to hit the water. The Noce River challenges everyone to take the paddle to go white water rafting and, fortunately, the resort provides all the gear and equipment needed for a thrilling experience. And if rafting is not exciting enough, then you must try hydrospeed. Wearing a reinforced wetsuit, a helmet and fins, daredevils will meet the river currents head first, supported only by their hydrospeed. The services of guides, instructors, and experts can be retained for both activities.

If you prefer «drier» kinds of adventure, mountain biking allows to discover a large network of biking trails and tracks, among which is found a 35-kilometer-long cycling path. You can even reach some breathtaking canyons! For something new, try “tarzaning,” an activity that mimics the amazing skills of Tarzan. To do so, you can follow an aerial trail by swinging on ropes, crossing Tibetan bridges, and more. Here again, guides are there to make sure you remain safe and well entertained.

Families will find that the resort is worth exploring, they can walk the trails and appreciate the undeniable beauty of the region, and numerous unsupervised playgrounds are scattered along the way for parents and their children to play together. Val di Sole also has a sports center, tennis courts, football grounds, and climbing walls, as well as facilities to enjoy swimming, archery, and mini-golf, more than enough to satisfy every member of the family!

The summer activities offered in Val di Sole are countless! Fishing, hiking, horseback riding, nordic walking, and much more. The resort is just as lively during the winter season: extensive network of slopes, long ski runs, various off-pistes areas, cross-country skiing pistes, snowboarding insltallarions, ice-skating rinks, and snowmobiling. In short, Val di Sole is an ideal summer and winter vacation destination and remember: whichever season, accommodations fill up quickly so book ahead!

The winter season 2009 is officially over. Hope you got to ski/snow all you wanted, have learned new tricks and found off-piste hidden gems. Here is the Top Ski Destinations as identified by Robert Stewart from The Skiing Department blog. Interesting proposal.

Your thoughts on it before we come up with our 2009 listing?