Finland Lapland
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Matt..

Original Poster:

3,869 posts

207 months

Monday 29th September
quotequote all
I'm researching a possibly 5 day trip to Lapland in Finland during winter. 2 adults and no kids! If you've been could you share your experience? I'm unsure when best to go and where to stay. Ideally I'd go early in the year.

Edited by Matt.. on Monday 29th September 10:36

smifffymoto

5,185 posts

223 months

Monday 29th September
quotequote all
Levi.
Handsdown the best place,skiing,dog sleds,snowmobiles,walks to Kotas in the forest for hot chocolate,northern lights if you’re lucky.

www.levi.fi

TCEvo

14,441 posts

220 months

Monday 29th September
quotequote all
I went to Ylläs in early 2023 & stayed at Lapland Hotels Äkäshotelli - it was a package holiday, flights via Jet2 from to Kittilä Airport.

The accommodation was fine, but dated. There were other bars & restaurants within walking distance.

Ylläs is a ski resort - the more modern part is the bulk of the ski resort, where we stayed is the opposite side of the hill, which is more of a village.

If you're a skier it's limited terrain, although the snow's superb, & it's better to stay in the modern area as access to the ski lifts is better.

https://ski.yllas.fi/en/

In addition to the skiing we did snowshoe walking through the forest - I really enjoyed that; went to a reindeer farm (coach trip), rode snowmobiles, went to the Ice Hotel for dinner; which was superb (amazing place, food really good, need to book a taxi there/back) and didn't see the bd lights (!).

Trips were all booked when we got there via the travel rep.

As a winter holiday it was great.

Matt..

Original Poster:

3,869 posts

207 months

Monday 29th September
quotequote all
Thanks all.

All we really want is spectacular scenery, ideally not loads of people. We don't care about the hotel. It can be 1 star for all we care.

I have been considering the first week of Feb as there will be some daylight, not loads of people but it will potentially be very cold. It's hard to know when is best though as I've never done a winter trip anywhere properly wintery.

4Q

3,589 posts

162 months

Monday 29th September
quotequote all
Matt.. said:
Thanks all.

All we really want is spectacular scenery, ideally not loads of people. We don't care about the hotel. It can be 1 star for all we care.

I have been considering the first week of Feb as there will be some daylight, not loads of people but it will potentially be very cold. It's hard to know when is best though as I've never done a winter trip anywhere properly wintery.
I'll second Levi as there's loads to do in and around the village, however if you're looking for "spectacular scenery" i would suggest somewhere other than Finland as it's mostly flat tundra or pine forests. The Alps, particularly the Dolomites are much more spectacular .

TCEvo

14,441 posts

220 months

Monday 29th September
quotequote all
Matt.. said:
Thanks all.

All we really want is spectacular scenery, ideally not loads of people. We don't care about the hotel. It can be 1 star for all we care.

I have been considering the first week of Feb as there will be some daylight, not loads of people but it will potentially be very cold. It's hard to know when is best though as I've never done a winter trip anywhere properly wintery.
I was there at the end of Feb - it was "seasonably warm" apparently & not as cold as I expected, although as we're skiers + holiday we already had cold weather gear.

Echo scenery comments below. If you want mountains, vistas etc there are better cold places in Europe, Finland does look good though:




Matt..

Original Poster:

3,869 posts

207 months

Monday 29th September
quotequote all
4Q said:
The Alps, particularly the Dolomites are much more spectacular .
To be honest we're simply ticking off countries and Lapland looks like a good option for snowy scenery that isn't the Alps.

We go to the Dolomites every year and are fortunate enough to travel extensively (6-10 trips abroad a year and UK national parks throughout the year).

Portti

251 posts

53 months

Thursday 2nd October
quotequote all
Matt.. said:
Thanks all.

All we really want is spectacular scenery, ideally not loads of people. We don't care about the hotel. It can be 1 star for all we care.

I have been considering the first week of Feb as there will be some daylight, not loads of people but it will potentially be very cold. It's hard to know when is best though as I've never done a winter trip anywhere properly wintery.
I'm a Finn so perhaps I can contribute something to this discussion.

With regards to the timing of the trip, I would consider an ideal time for a skiing trip in Lapland to be March and early April. There's more daylight than in the beginning of the year or in December, and most likely it is also not as cold as earlier in the winter.

If you decide to travel on February or early-March, one thing to consider is that Finnish schools have winter/skiing holidays during a three-week period at that time. It seems that for 2026 the skiing holiday for Southern Finland is week 8 (week starting 16 Feb), Central Finland week 9 (week starting 23 Feb) and Northern Finland week 10 (week starting 3 March). During those weeks (especially week 8) there will be lots of Finns on their holiday in Lapland which drives the prices up for those weeks.