Finland

A snowHead

I see Crystal have some free lift pass deals for Finland.

I know the mountains are more like hills, but I've never been, and am tempted to visit as it would be somewhere new.

The Crystal packages are mainly self-catering, so I would need to factor in food and drink. Is it eye wateringly expensive out there?

A snowHead

I never forget the poor kid that was on our coach transfer to La Plagne who thought he was heading to Lapland!! Laughing

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

On my first ski trip as a kid, I seem to recall there being some confusion as to whether we were in Austria or Australia Laughing

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@mikeycharlton, Well have had some brilliant holidays satying in Äkäslompolo in the Ylläs area. Drink is expensive, especially spirits, but beers aren't out of control, pretty similar to most ski resorts to be fair. If you need 100s of kilometres of piste, you might find Finland limited. However, if you are happy doing runs a few times, and just skiing for the craic wrather than "getting somewhere ", and if you want a different experience and a different kind of cold, it's brilliant. Never been with Crystal, but went with Inghams a couple of times, and now go there DIY. We don't go there for alpine skiing, we go for cross country, though we usually have a day or two up on the fells. If you do go with Crystal, check out the cabin options, and pay a bit more (they probably add a bit of under occupancy) for one with a seperate bedroom. The ones with a sofa bed in the lounge are a bit cramped to be honest. If they are getting their cabins from Destination Lapland, you can check them out on their site first. Log cabins are really good in Äkäslompolo, nearly all have a sauna, drying facilities and a washing machine.
If you do any other activities while your there, a day trip to a Sami reindeer farm is fun, and while quite dear, skidoo and dog sledding safaris are good fun.
I will add that our first two trips to Finland were exclusively alpine skiing, and even though we happily ski 30ish miles a day (ski distance) we were very happy and enjoyed ourselves very much. I think, but I'm not sure exactly, that there's 120km or so of piste in Ylläs.

You'll need to Register first of course.

Good points from @thecramps,

Its a different experience than the Alps and should not be compared 1-to-1. The landscape is totally different and I'd say Finland and Lapland gives you a sort of calmness while the Alps give you a dramatic view. We have only catered our selves in Lapland and stayed at log cabins with a proper kitchen and sauna. Lunches on the hills are similar to the Alps. Drinks are probably a bit more expensive, although I'd wager that the drinks in the Alps are not cheap by any means anymore.

I'd say Lapland is worth it and especially if you like Nordic skiing, then its unbeatable with beautiful long endless trails!

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

we had a fantastic time in Finland and have been twice. As @thecramps say alpine skiing is limited and Alcohol was expensive other things less so, it is a different type of holiday.

We did various add-ons which pushed the price up but were worth it including Dog sledding, a skidoo trip, snow shoe walking after dark.

We saw the northern lights, there were a few weak sightings, indulging from our hotel, but when we went out on the skidoos we had the full on display which lasted for an hour or so. We were parked on a frozen lake watching them and it is something I will never forget.

So it's a trade off, more winter activities vs less extensive skiing. Also depending when you go there may not be much daylight, we went in March and it was fine but still minus 10 every day. I wouldn't go to ski in e.g. January.

we stayed the other side of Yllas from @thecramps in Yllas sport which was very quiet and a bit far from a decent supermarket.

After all it is free

@richb67, January isn't soooo bad Laughing

Lights brilliant though quite often

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

@richb67, That was taken at nearly quarter past one, so practically middle of the afternoon.

snow reports

Had a quick look on their webcams. Pitch black at 9am, and then starts to get gloomy at around 2.30pm.

Looks cool with the floodlit pistes though.

@mikeycharlton, late January really isn't so bad daylight wise. The sought of grey gloom at either end of actual daylight lasts longer than here. Floodlight skiing is fun. If you go, be sure to try Munkki. They are Finnish doughnuts made with cardamom dough. Superb with a nice coffee or hot chocolate, especially when it's -25°C outside.

You know it makes sense.

As @richb67, says, if you chose Ylläs area, stay in Äkäslompolo side of the fell. More restaurants, shops and bars, and a really good supermarket where you can buy all you might need, including chainsaw and skidoo parts.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@mikeycharlton, just had a look on Crystal, and cabins don't look like an option, but those apartments look OK. For context price wise, our next trip there is costing about £400 each for flights, Man - Kittila via Helsinki, and we have nine nights in a cabin in the forests (we booked Thursday to a week Saturday, easy to do on destination Lapland site in low season, we are going late January) for about £1000. Transfers are about £120 in total.
In fairness I'd say that those Crystal prices don't look too bad if your getting a free lift pass too.

A snowHead

The free lift pass offer appears to be available only in Pyha.

The accommodation looks very good (genuine 4 star). Pretty good value package for £500-£528 I reckon.

A snowHead

A good opportunity to do some cross-country skiing - well worth having a go (especially if you think it will be easy Evil or Very Mad

). Maybe a good opportunity have some downhill lessons too.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Tried cross-country skiing in Formigal about 35 years ago as a kid, and hated every second of it Laughing

It was a particularly windy day though, and the ski lifts were shut, so we tried our hand at cross-country.

Main obstacle now would be lack of fitness. I can see myself on skidoo though snowHead

You need to Login to know who's really who.

@mikeycharlton, If you fancy the skidooing, make sure you take your photocard driving licence with you. I think it's a requirement there ( could easily be wrong on that though).

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

After skiing for nearly 40 years, in about 25 countries worldwide, we really loved our first Finland ski trip at the end of February 2025 Very Happy

It's just so different to anywhere we'd ever been. A snowy, winter wonderland (trees caked in snow), with ski hills rising out of remarkably flat (and rather samey), forested countryside, with studded tyres needed on the hire car for the snow-covered roads through the endless wilderness.

After flying to Rovaniemi with Ryanair, we:
- Skied at Yllas and Levi. Both more extensive than we'd anticipated, with some nice runs and good lift systems. The black world cup downhill at Levi is excellent. It's all just very different to the Alps (and Norway/Sweden) but great for anyone who loves to ski different places.
- Had no issues with daylight at that time of year. Though floodlights did come on at the slopes at the end of our ski days, it would probably have been ok without them.
- Hiked the scenic Korouma Canyon and saw all the frozen waterfalls there - brilliant.
- Visited the Ice Village between Yllas and Levi - fantastic. Lovely ice sculptures etc.
- Saw the Northern Lights two nights in a row - amazing.
- Found food prices to be no more expensive than say Tignes and restaurant beer was similar prices, if not a bit cheaper. We were self catering and supermarket prices were ok. One Finnish quirk is that supermarkets aren't allowed to sell any alcohol stronger than 8 or 9%, so for anything stronger than that (ie spirits or normal strength wine) you have to seek out official off licences - which can be a bit hidden away. Pleased to say we found them ok in the end wink

Help!!

Finland

snowHeads Forum Index >>> The Piste