Lapland

[etting]

Hi all

Looking at flying into Ivalo next year using avios flights in Dec – anyone got any tips of hotels and activities please? I notice it’s a 3 hr drive from the main Santa Village… is that a problem?

[Pebbles]

I would recommend you stay in Saariselkä, as the nearest resort with lots of activities, restaurants, equipment hire etc. There is an airport bus which meets each Finnair flight to/from Ivalo airport.

I have used a company called Lapland Safaris to book activities in the past and always been happy with the experience (though nothing comes cheap in Lapland!). I’ve done snowshoeing, husky sledding, cross country skiing… they also do reindeer sledding and snowmobiling.

I can’t comment on hotels from personal experience as normally book an apartment, but the two large ones I remember in Saariselkä are the Santa Hotel Tunturi and the Lapland Hotel Riekonlinna. I think both have a stop for the airport bus and local ski bus outside. There are various equipment places in the village where you can rent sledges, snowshoes, warm clothing etc independently but I imagine that if you stay in one of the big hotels then you can book packages where they organise the clothing and activities for you.

I suspect it is too far north to easily do a day trip to the Santa Village in Rovaniemi, although I reckon Santa gets about a bit and puts in appearances in other parts of Lapland too so maybe not the end of the world! I’m assuming you are wanting to go with children and therefore tied to December dates… for anyone without children who is less concerned about seeing Santa, accommodation prices are generally cheaper in January.

[etting]

Hi Pebbles, thanks for your detailed response.

Could you share the apartments that you’ve stayed in before? I really like staying where others have had a great experience.

I’ll also check out the hotels and the activity company you mention!

And yes, I have a 7 year old – so this is a visit to Santas home and to do some winter activities

[Pebbles]

The apartments where I normally stay are called Lapin Kutsu. They’re on booking.com and all the usual websites. Self-catering accommodation in Finland is a bit odd to be honest. The plus point is that you always seem to get your own sauna. The big minus is that you have to pay extra if you want towels and bedding (think I’m paying EUR 15/person and for that I get towels, bed sheets, pillow cases… but have to put them on the beds myself which is not the most relaxing start to a holiday really). I suspect that with a child it is probably easier to go for one of the hotels!

I would definitely look into what indoor areas or activities the hotels have for kids; assume you will spend a decent amount of time inside, because there’s probably only daylight between 10 and 2 and – to state the obvious – it does get very cold! I feel like some of the hotels have sledges and toboggans that residents can borrow for free so I would look into that as well; anything free in Lapland is a bonus.

If you can I would book for later in December rather than earlier as every year there seems to be a story in the press about someone’s Lapland holiday being ruined by lack of snow in early December. I suspect that Ivalo is so far north you shouldn’t have a problem with that, but there are probably websites where you can check typical snow depths.