European experience holidays

Despite having less money to spend, increasing numbers of people are choosing to go on activity or experience holidays. Holidays of this kind tend to be more expensive than your standard week on the beach in the Med, but it seems people are seeing greater value in them.

According to Gocompare.com, the latest craze in the travel market is the ‘playcation’, basically a holiday with a heavy emphasis on activity, exploration, learning and experiencing. The website recently carried out a survey of British holidaymakers and found that almost four in ten families are planning an organised, activity-based holiday in 2010.

For those couples that don’t have kids in tow, experiences differ slightly; more popular are wine, painting or language breaks. As more and more Britons ‘get into wine’ here in the UK, the demand for wine tours and wine tasting and appreciation holidays is also increasing.

So where are the best places to go for a wine experience? And can you combine your wine tasting with another activity? Because after all that wine, you may feel you need to do a little exercise.

There are some great wine-growing areas very close to home. The obvious locations are France, Italy and Spain. However, Germany, Hungary and Portugal are also proving to be popular.

In France, the main wine growing regions are Chablis, Alsace, Loire, Burgundy and Beaujolais, Bordeaux and Provence. Of course there are many more regions and localised areas growing the good stuff. Tours are usually around one or two provinces but you can specialise in just a hand full of vineyards or you can travel most of the country in search of the perfect glass full.

Most of Italy’s wine regions are located in the north of the country and so you can combine several regions in one tour. The most well known are Piedmont, Trentino, Friuli, Veneto, Tuscany and Umbria.

Spanish growing regions vary greatly, from the hot and arid plains of Castille and Ribera del Duero to coastal areas such as Catalonia, Jerez and Andalucia to fertile mountainous regions such as Rioja and Navarre. The wine is therefore very diverse and exploring two contrasting regions will be highly rewarding.

Wine growing is far more localised in Germany, Hungary and Portugal, therefore tours will be shorter but more in depth. Regions revolve around just a few vineyards so it is worth combining your wine tasting with other activities such as cycling – possibly from vineyard to vineyard – hiking and walking, as all three countries have a plethora of outstanding national parks. But painting and learning the local language mean you can learn something new for yourself and get a better insight into local culture and traditions.

Check out the packages on offer from Cresta Holidays if you are looking for short breaks throughout Europe.