The best three-day winter vacations in Lake Tahoe

When in Reno, make time to head up the mountain for the tops in recreation

Wendy Lautner & Marnie McArthur, tahoe.com
March 1, 2008

Lake Tahoe's incredible access to snow-capped recreation and scenery rivals its wide array of visitor amenities. From world class accommodations and restaurants to nightlife options for young and old, there's so much to do here it's hard to know where to start. Let us be your guide. Already have your logistics dialed in? Go directly to Tahoe's best 3-day ski vacations.

Before leaving home
Make advance reservations to establish a comfortable and convenient home base that fits your needs. Your Tahoe home away from home can be as luxurious or rustic as your tastes and budget. Be our guest and compare prices on Lake Tahoe accommodations to reserve before you go.

Pick your location
• South Shore: Night owls love the action at Stateline – casinos, headline entertainment, restaurants, movies, and arcades are just steps from the base of the Heavenly gondola, accessing world-class ski and boarding terrain. Non-skiers will enjoy great shopping and ice skating nearby. Sierra at Tahoe and Kirkwood are two smaller resorts with great terrain parks and Nordic skiing just a half hour drive from the South Shore or book cozy lodging near the resorts.

• North Shore: Large and small resorts offer grand amenities and old fashioned charm. Squaw Valley and Northstar are destination resorts with alpine villages, restaurants, shopping, ice skating and Nordic skiing. Alpine Meadows has big skiing and a small, down-home feeling. On the North West shore, Homewood offers friendly, low-tech family skiing, boarding and snow play. Diamond Peak on the North East shore is a small family resort with a great children’s ski school. Mt. Rose/Ski Tahoe on Hwy 267 is Tahoe’s highest base resort and a 20-minute drive from the Reno/Tahoe Airport. You’ll find casino nightlife and entertainment in North Shore Nevada at Crystal Bay.

• Donner Summit: Reach the closest resorts to the San Francisco Bay Area without going over Donner Pass. Downhill resorts include Sugar Bowl, Soda Springs, Donner Ski Ranch, and Boreal Mountain Resort. For Nordic skiing, Royal Gorge is Tahoe’s largest resort

Getting here
• Planes: The Reno/Tahoe International Airport provides 180 daily flights with non-stop service to 18 destinations including Atlanta, Boise, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Seattle, Portland, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Oakland, Orange County, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose and Salt Lake City. An additional 20 destinations are serviced via direct, one-stop flights. Visit www.renoairport.com for more details. Don't want to rent a car? South Tahoe Express provides ground transportation from the Reno/Tahoe Airport to South Lake Tahoe with 11 daily departures each way.

Personal aircraft flies into Tahoe Truckee Airport at North Shore and Lake Tahoe Airport at South Shore; or charter flights from the San Francisco Bay Area on Bigfoot Air.

• Trains: Other transportation options include Amtrak and Greyhound into Downtown Truckee.

• Automobiles: By car, the Tahoe area is accessed by Interstate 80 on its north end, Highway 431 on its east end and by Highway 50 on the south end. Travelers from the Bay Area and Sacramento generally access Tahoe by either the 50 or 80 corridors, while Reno travelers use Highway 431 or Interstate 80.

Want to park your car while you're here? Many hotels and resorts have complimentary shuttles to the ski resorts, plus public transportation systems like BlueGo on the South Shore, TART on the North Shore, and the Truckee Trolley make it easy to get around. If you crave the freedom of a personal vehicle, rental car companies have sport-utility vehicles topped with ski racks.

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Your best 3 days
• Day 1
Refresh your skills and warm up the legs with a lesson at one of Tahoe's cozier resorts. Smaller resorts like Soda Springs Ski Resort and Donner Ski Ranch on Donner Summit provide on-the-way-from-the-Bay accessibility off Interstate 80 and offer beginner packages including rentals and lift tickets between $50-60. From Highway 50, Sierra-at-Tahoe offers lesson packages starting around $80. Someone in the family/group not interested in skiing? Soda Springs and Sierra-at-Tahoe both offer snow play and tubing parks for the kids starting at around $15 for the day. If on-the-way access isn't a concern, try one of Tahoe's hidden gems. On the East Shore, Diamond Peak offers lesson packages starting around $74; on the West Shore, Homewood provides lesson packages from $70 and both resorts feature incredible lake views.

Carbo-load for the weekend ahead: Pack in some tasty calories and fuel-up at one of the Lake Tahoe's rich, Italian eateries. Coming from Donner Summit, order a tasty pie at the Village Pizzeria (530) 587-7171. Heading into the South Lake Tahoe, splurge on hand-tossed pasta and an 18-item salad bar at Passaretti's Italian Restaurant. And on the North Shore, check out Fiamma at (530) 581-1416.


• Day 2
Ski a classic Lake Tahoe giant. The two majors: Squaw Valley and Heavenly Ski Resort are Tahoe's must-see-and-ski. Touting heaps of terrain and incredible lake views, it's unlikely a day at either one would steer you wrong. Want to try an up-and-comer? Northstar-at-Tahoe, while not considered a Tahoe giant, offers plenty in slopeside amenities like shopping and restaurants to entertain non-skiers. But if it's pure terrain you're after, head to Alpine Meadows on the North Shore or Kirkwood Mountain Resort on the south side. Looking for where the best deals and events are during your stay? Find out more about skiing at Lake Tahoe here.

Entertainment Deluxe: Night two is the time to go big, Tahoe style. Especially in winter, there's plenty of live music options, dance parties and even theatrical performances if you hit the right night. For the latest listings, check Lake Tahoe entertainment here. As a rule, the biggest parties are generally at North Shore's Crystal Bay Club-Casino and in South Shore, the party never ends at Harrah's Lake Tahoe and Montbleu Resort & Casino.

• Day 3
Switch it up. Today's the day to remember why you came to the mountains in the first place - to relax. So, resist the urge to clamor back to the busy ski resorts and instead enjoy a day away on some of Tahoe's less visited trails. Your mode of transport is up to you. Try something like snowshoeing, or cross country skiing at Tahoe Donner, Spooner Lake, or Royal Gorge's quiet trails. Join Wilderness Dog Sled Tours for a sunset meadow mush (530)550-8133, a backcountry snowmobile tour with Lake Tahoe Adventures (800) 865-4679 or take a ride on a horse-drawn sleigh with Borge's Sleigh Rides (800)726-RIDE.

Massage: To completely unwind and return home refreshed, let one of Tahoe's massage therapists put your aching muscles at ease. Some of the best therapists in Truckee can be found at Truckee Massage. In South Lake Tahoe, the Tahoe Lakeshore Lodge offers excellent treatments on the Lake and in North Lake Tahoe try one of a variety of exotic treatments at Tranquility Massage.