jinz

I wish I could explain how much these suggestions are getting me through a pretty rough week. Thank you so much. The nurses keep asking how I stay cheerful. I tell them Fodors is the best medicine. Anyway I thought I should give a little more info.

We have been blessed to spend holidays in the Swiss and French Alps so have seen snow. We are both terrible at sports (great spectators though!) definitely no skiing but we will try toboggans to with much laughter and falling out.

Mostly we love going to ski places because love beautiful snowy scenery and we enjoy going to the top of mountains in gondalas, snow trains, etc. For the rest we enjoy walking around snowy villages, absorbing the atmosphere and people watching.

We have all the right gear so no worries there.

We are passionate about animals (hence our original plans see bears in April - they will be sound asleep when we are there in January).

I thought I should get the snow side sorted out and then work out the rest from there. So far we have Jackson Hole (Yellowstone, Tetons), Aspen, Denver and Santa Fe as choices. To make it more confusing a friend has asked if we have thought of Whistler. Oh boy. I don't know how to decide except perhaps which ones have gondalas or snow trains and have beautiful towns.

Re travel - yes we Kiwis don't mind travelling - we see it as part of the adventure and we have met wonderful people in airports and on trains.

BigRuss thank you for the info on cars. Combined with the feedback about Orlando it has given us a good plan for that part of the trip.

Thank you again everyone. I hope one day I can return the favour.

Sassafrass

True, there are many cruise choices. I don't know how much cruising you have done, and am sure you are doing some research. One issue with cruises that have to cross the Gulf is that in winter, they can encounter fog that prohibits movement, sometimes delaying embarkation or return to port. That may mean missed ports as well. This January, there were several ships delayed out of both Galveston and Tampa due to fog. This seems almost routine now in Jan/Feb.

A day's delay at the beginning would not matter so much, but a day's delay returning could mean missed flights - never fun!

Things can happen anytime you are traveling, but better to know the possibilities/risks when making plans.

For more advice for the cruise when you get to that point, go to the Cruise Forum here on Fodors and to cruisecritic.com.

jinz

Hello Sassafrass, Thank you for the cruise tips. We have decided that we prefer being on land so we would need to fly in and out of our Caribbean destinations. Our final flight back to NZ leaves from LA. We would like to spend a week in Miami and then fly to somewhere in the Caribbean.


The best missing of flights happened when the volcano blew and the UK was shut down because of ash. We had an extra glorious week in London with perfect blue skies. Definitely not fun at other times though.

Gretchen

except perhaps which ones have gondalas or snow trains and have beautiful towns.

There is a train from Denver to Winter Park, but I think Aspen is a cuter town, and has very good shuttle service to other towns and ski areas nearby--like Glenwood Springs for a hot spring experience. There are sleigh rides, etc. also.
I would not put Vail in that same category but it is an entirely different sort of "town" and you can fly into it. You can also fly into Steamboat Springs.

crumlic

Hi all, I hope your dont mind me posting here but I'm a masters student in Ireland and as a part of my masters I am doing a project on generation x (people between the ages of 33 and 53) and their travel habits. So I would greatly appreciate it if you took 3-4 minutes to fill out my survey .thanks!
https://goo.gl/forms/CPrFSmG5bLM9vRM02

jinz

After lots and lots of reading up on all the suggestions and 24hrs of faintly considering Europe we have made up our minds and are committed to Jackson Hole area for our snowy experience (we will book snow coach tours, etc).

Would you recommend adding in Bozeman and going on the wolf experience.

Thank you.

HotWheels

You could book a snow coach tour in Yellowstone National Park to see the geysers, scenery, animals (bison, elk, coyotes, bighorn sheep) etc. in an entirely different way from most Summer tourists. If not interested in skiing, you could also take a snowmobile ride (snow coach enclosed; snowmobile not enclosed). Much of the park is closed to Winter driving; the coach tour would be the way to go. Stay in park, or at town of West Yellowstone (West entrance; road also goes to Bozeman).
As for other areas, we greatly enjoy Charleston, SC area. It's great to take a horse-drawn carriage ride, then walk the historic town. One of the best cities for food in USA, too! Lots to do, but easy to relax in; friendly people.
I hope you have fun, whatever you decide!