Experience a winter wonderland in Lake Placid
Area businesses and hotels in Lake Placid, N.Y., 180 kilometres southwest of Montreal, are offering shopping and lodging discounts the weekend of Dec. 7-9, when there will be a healthy dose of special familyfriendly Christmas events.
You could stay at the Golden Arrow Lakeside Resort for $169 U.S. per room, per night (there is a twonight minimum and it is based on double occupancy; kids age 12 and under stay free of charge). The package includes $50 in coupons for Main Street shops, an invitation to a private beach for a “toasty lakeside bonfire,” where you can roast marshmallows and make S’mores, and a gingerbread house-making party Sunday. For details, visit golden-arrow.com/specials-packages/ family-packages.
Or you could stay at the Pines Inn starting at $119 per night for two adults and two children in a room with two double beds (there is a twonight minimum). This package includes a holiday welcome bag, late checkout, and coffee and muffins each morning. For more information, visit http://thepinesinnlp. com.
The Northwoods Inn has a package starting at $210 per room that includes your lodging for two nights (for two adults and two children under 12). It also includes breakfast for two each morning, admission to an art reception in the Cabin Gallery, two free drink coupons and $20 in holiday shopping dollars. Visit northwoodsinn.com for more on that.
The 5th annual Lake Placid Holiday Village Stroll will include an ice-skating party on Main Street and a free matinee of the movie The Polar Express at the Palace Theatre. The skating party at the Lake Placid Olympic Center features Santa’s arrival by fire truck, crafts and gingerbread house-building. There’s also a charity Jingle Bell Run, art exhibitions, ice carving, free wine tastings, tree lighting in the village’s lakeside park, a Yule log hunt and a special Christmas show at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts.
For more lodging packages and special activity information, visit lakeplacid.com/holidays. Skiing in Sun Valley
The Sun Vally ski resort in Idaho is offering a pre-holiday ski special Nov. 21 through Dec. 20 for $79.50 per person (based on double occupancy, but that does not include fees and tax). It does include one night of lodging and one daily ski-lift ticket. The package may be booked multiple nights during this time period. The resort’s 77th ski season officially starts on Nov. 22, which is U.S. Thanksgiving Day.
Sun Valley has 75 trails (with a vertical drop of 1,036 metres), 19 ski lifts, three terrain parks for snowshoeing and cross-country skiing, and a 69-person ski patrol whose members include paramedics. Call 1-800-7868259 for more information, or visit sunvalley.com/trip-planner/deals. Maine, New Hampshire winter fun
The Appalachian Mountain Club is offering guests an Early Winter Tracks deal. When you stay three week nights, Sunday through Friday, you save 30 per cent on regular member and non-member rates, at any full-service AMC lodge in New Hampshire or Maine, for stays now through Jan. 31 if you book by Dec. 15.
These include the Highland and Joe Dodge Lodges in New Hampshire’s White Mountains,or Gorman Chairback or Little Lyford Lodges and Cabins in Maine’s 160-kilometre wilderness area. Or you can combine any of these for three nights or more to get the savings. Mention the promotional code WINT12 when making your reservation.
http://www.outdoors.org/lodging/winter-deals. cfm Air New Zealand
Air New Zealand is marking five years of direct flights from Vancouver to Auckland with a limited-time deal in which you can buy $50 addon fares from Auckland to any of the 26 connecting destinations the airline flies to from Auckland when you purchase a round-trip fare from Vancouver to Auckland.
The sale is only on until Thursday and applies to travel between Feb. 7 and June 8.
Air New Zealand just added additional capacity on the Vancouver to Auckland route with three return services per week in off-peak periods. The airline will also operate five times a week from mid-December to the end of February. Vancouver to Auckland round-trip fares start at $1,698. Air New Zealand flies to 53 cities in 16 countries, including 27 destinations within New Zealand. For more information about Air New Zealand from Canada, visit airnewzealand.ca.