Looking at doing a special trip next season to Finland or somewhere similar for January in celebration of hubby and mines big five-oh year.
I like the look of some of the advertised northen light trips with cabins in the snow.
Would be nice to do some skiing
I always rather organise DIY so after any advice from / links / tips from those that have done similar
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@NickyJ, If you fly in/out of Helsinki airport then there is a train station in the airport. I stayed in a hotel one stop away Clarion Hotel Aviapolis for ease of flying out. When I booked it was 40% less than the airport hotel and on the map it looked like it was 600m from the train. However, the train station has an exit right next to the hotel.
I found food in Finland good and a normal price. Same for wine etc. Unlike Norway, where the food is expensive but Wine is a crazy expensive price (even with the exchange rate in our favour). I was in Norway in November and Helsinki and Turku last summer.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Went to Levi on honeymoon and loved it. Took the kids there a few years ago and loved it. Lovely place and we found the prices to be reasonable for everything.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Haven't skied in Finland, but it does look good.
If you do choose one of the big 3 - Levi, Ruka, Yllas - then make time for a couple of days in Helsinki.
Ylläs and Levi are the two biggest ski resorts in Finland. In this case being "big resort" (which is relative ofc, compared to French and Austrian mega-resorts for an example) is not a bad thing, as it means that a whole lot of activities other than skiing has developed around these two. Both are also one of the easiest to get to as they're located quite near one another close to Kittilä airport and about 200 km north from the nearest city Rovaniemi. You'll get most out of your trip if you hire a car. So the easiest way to reach the resorts and do stuff around them is by flying to Kittilä and hiring a car from the airport there.
Trying to describe the differences between the two with a few bullet points:
Levi:
+ A more concentrated, "alp-like" village
+ More and better restaurants if you're not into self-catering or want to mix self-catering with a couple of nights out. King Crab House is my personal favourite if you're into seafood
+ A host of indoor activities to do in the afternoons if you've been to skiing or doing something else outside earlier - or if weather doesn't permit outside activities. Like spas, bowling etc.
+ Piste-skiing maybe a bit more varied than Ylläs, the fell feels a bit bigger, it takes a bit more time to move around the fell and there's contrast between different parts of it - from quiet cruisey blues of southeast Sammu to busier reds around western side of the fell - so staying on piste keeps you busier a bit longer than in Ylläs, although like Ylläs the whole of Levi is easibly skiable in a day as well
Ylläs:
+ Better views from the top IMO, the run north east towards Varkaankuru is my personal favourite in Finland
+ More, easier and better "light off piste" -skiing on the side of the pistes above and in the treeline, almost guaranteed powder somewhere
+ Has a more quiet, sedate feeling in and around the village of Äkäslompolo if you're not into restaurants, night life or anything else a "made up alp village" has to offer
+ If you're into trekking, snow-shoeing or XC, I find the routes around Ylläs nicer than around Levi
- Spread out and apart from a few shops stretched by the road through Äkäslompolo there's not much going on. The village has almost a "Western Town" feeling to it, only moved from a prairie to above the Arctic Circle.
- As the fell is smaller, rounder in footprint but also higher than Levi, it's more susceptible for wind. Whereas in Levi some part(s) are always covered from the wind, Ylläs catches wind easily so that 50 % of the resort may be affected which results in closed gondolas and chairlifts in that part of the resort.
Extra activities applicable to both:
1) Try snow-shoeing or skinbased trekking skis. The latter's like a mix between XC/telemark skis and snow shoes. Personally I find it way more fun than any of those (well I haven't tried telly...) - as said, Ylläs has more to offer in form of routes and views on this department. Just watch your ACL's going downhill as the skis do not have edges to help facilitate turning or stopping nor a release mechanism.
2) If you're staying at Levi or Ylläs and want to do a day trip to somewhere, Pallas is worth checking out. It's about a one hour drive away and you really feel being in the middle of nowhere up there. You can ski - especially do lift assisted free skiing - and/or do a tour above the treeline in snow shows or those skinbased trekking skiis (both rentable from the shop). Just check a hut with an open fireplace from the map and head into that general direction, following close to but not necessarily precisely a marked trekking route. You get most out of your experience there if you pick a fair weather day and are there reasonably early.
3) Snow Village (near Ylläs, drivable from Levi): a bit tourist-y place but worth a couple of hour's visit still. It's like a big snow castle made every year with ice sculptures etc.
A couple of additional thoughts: although it might seem easy to get to, stay in and do some activities and even a bit of skiing in and around Rovaniemi, I do not recommend staying there and using Rovaniemi as your "base" for the trip. The city was burned down in the war by Jerries and is just a commercial center for northern Finland and is not what anyone would call pretty. Convenient transfer hub for sure by train or plane but that's about it.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
That's a brilliant post
Many thanks
After all it is free
After all it is free
We've been to Levi several times now, one thing to watch out for is that the full ski area doesn't open until mid-Feb.
Everything else is wonderful, not the most testing skiing in the world but it's quiet, the pistes are immaculate and you have loads of other activities if they float your boat.
And of course, there is the chance of the Northern Lights, we've seen them to a greater or lesser extent on 3 out of 5 visits in half-term. Only really need to wander into the woods and get away from lights..... we've never paid for a specialist trip. HTH
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Ravensburger wrote:
Extra activities applicable to both:
1) Try snow-shoeing or skinbased trekking skis. The latter's like a mix between XC/telemark skis and snow shoes.
Despite not being anywhere near Lapland we had a great weather today, -14C, clear blue skies and it had snowed some 6 inches of fresh snow on top of old hard-pack a couple of days earlier. So we took our skinbased trekking skis out for a small tour around a nearby golf course that’s public space off-season (greens and some bunkers being off limits).
Had such a great time! Just thinking about how nice it would be to tour a fell, ski up above the tree line to a hut/open fire and come down.
@Ravensburger thank you for your wealth of knowledge.
Thinking of a not dissimilar trip for us in Feb/Mar 25 to include a hunt for the Northern Lights, have you any further tips please. I do realise seeing them is in itself a lottery.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
There’s an app or a few that forecast aurora borealis and also take into account weather forecasts (cloudiness) and give quite precise predictions about when the probability to see the lights is at its highest. Like “tomorrow at 9:45 PM”. Aurora Forecast and Aurora Now are a couple that I’m aware of.
As to where to go to see the light, obviously one wants to avoid ambient light, so wandering into the woods a few kilometres from the resort and piste floodlights helps. Note: stay away or proceed with caution if following ski-doo tracks. You don’t want to get hit by a speeding tourist or local in a snow mobile. Best is to step aside from the track as soon as you hear an engine sound getting closer. Fatal accidents are rare but do happen.
As to where to go precisely: as said any forest or hill will do. But just to give some idea about spots higher up, from Levi one could go to Kätkä. You can leave your car at Levi centre to the Burger King parking lot, just carry your skis and go across the road near the roundabout and towards the lake. Cross/go around the lake and then climb up the fell, maybe trying to reach “the dark side” of the fell that doesn’t face Levi’s pistes as to minimise light. There’s a fire pit near the top. Quick sketch, following roughly the light blue line:
If driving a bit further is not a problem, Aakenus fell between Levi and Ylläs (about 20-30 min from both) could work. There’s a parking lot where this pre-planned route ends, so starting there, heading for one of the nearby huts/fireplaces and getting back down would do the trick:
In Ylläs I’d probably head to Keskinenlaki or Kellotapuli, the fells adjacent to Ylläs. Coming from Äkäslompolo side I’d leave the car to the parking lot of the Nature Center Kellokas and start my way up and around Ylläs from there (the first few km’s are forest).
If staying on Ylläsjärvi side I’d drive to the ski area parking lot and just start to head to my right when facing the hill:
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
@Ravensburger thank you so much anr Happy New Year
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Just back from a quick New Year trip to Levi. EasyJet now flying to Kittilä (3hrs) from Gatwick, it’s then only a 10-15min taxi to Levi (we were staying at the excellent Break Sokos hotel in the village at Zero Point).
Yesterday was -30, so you must go prepared for very very cold weather at this time of year. Heated gloves and a crazy number of layers - face protection is essential.
Because of the dark (sunrise around midday, and it’s down again by 2.30pm), most pistes are floodlit, and consequently you can clearly see where they cut through the trees and the resort is very easy to navigate (far easier than many resorts in the Alps IMHO).
Skiing is good if you are bold. Zero Point itself is quite a taxing arrangement of gradients, light, and shade, and there is no way that I can see to simply cruise down if you are a beginner.
Taking the new (2022) Glacier Express chairlift over to the fell (as Seagrave Jnr and I did) was all well and good, but the connecting run (G.3) to the bottom of the gondola was closed off, and, with that, access to the rest of the resort and the blue runs at South Point without coming back to Zero Point for the bus. Steep short reds abound (Seagrave Jnr managed these but it wasn’t pretty), and even the big black (G.2) is pretty short by Alpine standards - it’s bloody good fun though, as long as you anticipate the change in gradient! (reader, Seagrave Jnr did not come with me on that day)
Life is expensive there - that 12-minute taxi was €50 and a supermarket can of beer is €4, for example. Eating out (with alcohol) is pretty fierce generally, but we found some pizzas for about €12 each, and went in hard on the fabulous breakfast every day.
The swimming/spa (Water World) is really good (€24 each for adults), and you are never far from a sauna (we had one in our hotel room) - the whole thing is very healthy, but be sure to moisturise!
Don’t know what else to suggest. We went 2 years ago for Christmas and did the amazing Santa, and elves, and huskies, and reindeer things - highly recommended. This time was just for sledding and skiing, and it works really well for a short break.
LS
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
We have been to Finland (Levi) several years in a row now, and whilst it can be bitterly cold some days, in the last 5 years, we have only found 2 days to be too cold to ski. We lasted about an hour.
Lots covered above, but another huge plus is the slope site huts!! My OH does not ski, but she can potter up the slope and sit in one of the hut, fire ablaze, read a book and pop out to watch us ski when she wishes. There is always a fire going and ability to cook sausages / marshmallows for the kids rather than going into the cafes. So yes whilst Finland can be expensive for some things, you can save a packet by packing sausages / snacks and sitting in the huts with a fire going. The kids love cooking their own lunch too! We are so used to them now that we take a camping kettle with us
Levi is also brilliant for accommodation range. You can of course go for luxury, or you can go for the cheaper but perfectly brilliant self catering lodges. We head out on boxing day 24 for 2 weeks and it is costing us 1800Euros for a cabin that will take 6 people. 300 Euros per head for 2 weeks (if you can fill your cabin like we are) is great value.
Snowmobiles can be hired extremely easily (Kinos safaris) for 1/2 or full days and you can just head off on the snowmobile tracks. Pack your sausages again, as whilst there are cafes around, so are the wonderful huts where fires are usually lit!
As a massive bonus this year, Finnair are now joining AVIOS, so if you do collect airmiles like us, you can redeem them for practically free flights.
Last year flights and accommodation cost us £3350 for 2 weeks for 5 people.
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Poster: A snowHead
