WINTER EXPERIENCES
SNOWMOBILE THROUGH YELLOWSTONE
The world’s first national park is an American icon, with wildlife such as bison, grizzly bears and wolves in numbers seldom seen elsewhere in the USA (other than Alaska), and geothermal features that are utterly unique. The vast majority of the park’s four million annual visitors come in summer, so a visit in winter means an altogether more private experience. Although most of Yellowstone’s roads are closed to regular vehicles at this time, a trip astride a snowmobile puts a sense of adventure back into even the major sightseeing stops. The geyser at Old Faithful (pictured here in its resting phase) puts on its winter performances for a select audience, and the frozen steam above its usual jet of scalding water becomes a mushroom cloud many times taller. www.garyfalesoutfitting.com; from ₹ 26,000/ day for a guided snowmobile trip
GO GOURMAND IN AN ICE HOTEL
A night in a room carved out of ice makes for more of an interesting stay than a conventionally-luxurious one, but, at the original in Swedish Lapland, a 12-course tasting menu offers the option of a gastronomic(an essential pause for coffee and cake), and a fireside dinner under the stars – and perhaps the Northern Lights.
