Top USA winter destinations
The USA is a popular travel destination all year round, but in the winter the diversity of the country really widens a holidaymaker's options. There are essentially 4 types of destination available to the winter traveller to the USA: ski resorts; mountainous snow-capped adventure holidays; snow-bound city breaks; and winter sun. A decent ski holiday insurance policy should be able to provide suitable cover for each type.
The most popular by far are the ski resorts, which come in all shapes and sizes. The greatest variety are to be found in the Rocky Mountain State of Colorado. Colorado is home to the biggest ski resort in America, Vail, which has over 5000 acres of skiable mountain, as well as top-rated resorts in Aspen, Breckenridge, Steamboat and Winter Park. Europeans flock to the USA every year for the winter ski season, including most popularly, Vermont, its laid back atmosphere and old-world charm proving to be a magnet. For those who like to touch Hollywood royalty, Park City, Utah is a popular destination for many celebrity skiers as the home of the Sundance Film Festival and its associated Institute. It should be noted on any ski break that health care in the USA is expensive and any piste-based mishaps will hurt your bank balance as much as your pride so ski holiday insurance is a must.
Turning to the Ski resorts, New Hampshire is most notable for offering top-rate skiing alongside activities to keep even the most fevered and fervent adventure sports fan happy. Night tubing, snowshoeing, sleigh riding, snowmobiling, ice climbing, ice skating and ice fishing are all optional extras on a ski holiday here. Another, more surreal, option is Lake Tahoe on the California / Nevada border. From the uppermost point on the mountain it is possible to look down at the same time to see snow-covered mountain pistes and the Nevada desert leading to Las Vegas all in the same panorama. The skiing in Tahoe is excellent, but it is the night life for which the resort is perhaps better known. The Nevada side of the town is flush with casinos and other ways in which to occupy yourself off the slopes, helping it stand out among the younger ski crowds, contrasting with the more sedate style of many American winter resorts. Most ski holiday insurance will cover other adventure sports, too, but always make sure you double check.
If you're not quite as inclined to action and adventure but nevertheless a big fan of the winter chills, nothing can compete with the regular thrill of Christmas shopping (or spending your Christmas money after the event) in the great New York City. Chilled to sub-zero temperatures walking the streets, you can enjoy the vast array of coffee shops, both global chains and smaller, independent coffee houses, or slip into some of the best known department stores in the world. New York can also offer sights from classic skyscrapers, elegant statues and beautiful, snow-covered parks.
The last of the four options is a little bit of winter sun. Los Angeles, California, is the world's mecca for wannabe movie stars, but it also offers more than enough sights, sounds, smells and experiences for any holidaymaker. From the Disneyland and Universal Studios theme parks to the high-end retail therapy of Rodeo Drive, LA has something to amuse all tastes, budgets and inclinations. For a proper getaway in the USA it is hard to look beyond the isolated idyll of Hawaii. As with LA and Southern California, the temperature rarely falls below 20°C (68°F), but unlike LA it offers an opportunity to see some of the most beautiful terrain in the USA as well as offering all of the benefits of tropical island life.
