Family winter adventure in Finland
| country: | Finland |
| location: | Finnish Lapland, Arctic Circle |
| departures: | 2010: 21 Mar, 28 Mar, 4 Apr, 11 Apr |
| price: | From £1545 - £1795 (8 days) per adult based on 2 sharing and £1195 per child (10-14yrs) including flights from the UK. Price depends on time of year, number sharing & age of children. Trip can also be booked without flights. Minimum age: 10 years |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
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introduction to Family winter adventure in Finland
Situated 230kms north of the Arctic Circle, this wilderness hotel combines Scandinavian style accommodation with the warmest of welcomes and a great range of winter activities. Located on the banks of the Muonio River (cross it when it’s frozen and you find yourself in Sweden) the hotel’s unforgettable safari programmes will take you into the very heart of Lapland’s winter wilderness. Quite simply, we love this place and judging by the feedback, so do our clients.
Accommodation
The hotel: Situated 230kms north of the Arctic Circle this family-run hotel has 64 Scandinavian style en-suite bedrooms. Most of the rooms accommodate 2 or 3 people but there are some larger bedrooms suitable for families. The hotel has 3 cosy dining rooms (including one with a log fire) and a recently built pub, ideal for those pre-dinner aperitifs. Naturally, this being Finland, there are two large saunas and a family sauna within the main building. For a bit of pampering, the Aurora Wellness Centre offers therapies such as massages, dry cupping, peat treatments and a variety of facials. On the riverbank there are 2 hot jacuzzis, 2 steam baths, an ice hole (for the very brave!) and a relaxation room. There is even a husky farm just 2 minutes walk from the hotel entrance.
Wilderness cabins: On any holiday which includes an overnight safari you will normally spend the night in a wilderness cabin. Some, but not all, of the cabins can be basic (no electricity or running water) but they are all comfortable and cosy, especially once dinner is cooking and the fire burning. Sleeping arrangements will be in shared dormitory style areas. The cabins are generally so remote that there is little or no light pollution creating the best possible chance of seeing the Aurora Borealis. Despite their far-flung locations, there is always a sauna in the cabins - after all, this is Finland! Please note that we can never specify which cabin you will stay in as routes may change subject to local weather and trail conditions.
Accommodation
The hotel: Situated 230kms north of the Arctic Circle this family-run hotel has 64 Scandinavian style en-suite bedrooms. Most of the rooms accommodate 2 or 3 people but there are some larger bedrooms suitable for families. The hotel has 3 cosy dining rooms (including one with a log fire) and a recently built pub, ideal for those pre-dinner aperitifs. Naturally, this being Finland, there are two large saunas and a family sauna within the main building. For a bit of pampering, the Aurora Wellness Centre offers therapies such as massages, dry cupping, peat treatments and a variety of facials. On the riverbank there are 2 hot jacuzzis, 2 steam baths, an ice hole (for the very brave!) and a relaxation room. There is even a husky farm just 2 minutes walk from the hotel entrance.
Wilderness cabins: On any holiday which includes an overnight safari you will normally spend the night in a wilderness cabin. Some, but not all, of the cabins can be basic (no electricity or running water) but they are all comfortable and cosy, especially once dinner is cooking and the fire burning. Sleeping arrangements will be in shared dormitory style areas. The cabins are generally so remote that there is little or no light pollution creating the best possible chance of seeing the Aurora Borealis. Despite their far-flung locations, there is always a sauna in the cabins - after all, this is Finland! Please note that we can never specify which cabin you will stay in as routes may change subject to local weather and trail conditions.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Flights, arrival and transfers. After your flights to Kittila and transfers to Harriniva your winter adventure starts at dinner on Sunday evening when there will be a meeting with your guides who will introduce you to the region and brief you on the week ahead. |
| Day 2: | Reindeer farm and safari. This morning you will visit a local reindeer farm and learn about the reindeer’s lives and their importance in Lapp culture. Local herders will teach you how to lasso a reindeer and after helping to harness the reindeer, you head into the forest on your safari. |
| Day 3: | Snowmobile Safari. Snowmobiles are the preferred mode of transport here in Lapland. Once you are zipping over frozen lakes or navigating your passage along the winding forest tracks, it is easy to understand why they are so popular. Your guides will show you how to drive your snowmobile and the rest of this exhilarating safari is spent speeding through the winter scenery of Fell Lapland. 2 people per snowmobile. |
| Day 4: | Free day or optional activities. Today is free to partake in optional activities which are not included in the overall package price. You can try cross-country skiing, downhill skiing at Olos (transfer by shuttle bus) or how about a snowshoe tour? |
| Day 5-6: | Overnight Husky Safari. The highlight of any winter holiday in Lapland is the opportunity to drive your own dog team through the wilderness. In the morning you will meet the dogs and receive instruction on their care and how to handle the sled before departing on your two day safari. Lunch is taken by an open fire en-route to a wilderness cabin where you can relax in a sauna before dinner and bed. There is a fair chance that you will be woken in the morning by what sounds like a pack of starving wolves surrounding the cabin. Fear not, it’s just your huskies anxious to be doing what they love most - running. This second leg of your adventure covers approximately 25 to 30 kms before you arrive back at the hotel. |
| Day 7: | Free Day, optional activities or Lainio Snow Castle. After the exertions of your husky safari you may just want a day to relax in the spa and reflect on your adventure. Alternatively, you can book additional activities. This year we’ve added the possibility of staying overnight in a snow hotel at Lainio Snow Village. |
| Day 8: | Departures, transfers and flights. Return airport transfers and flights. |
traveller reviews for Family winter adventure in Finland
Just go for it, try everything, you don't know what you are capable of until you try it. Snowmobiling, snow shoe walking and dog sledging at the age of 62 was something very special. (more)
how this holiday makes a difference
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Tourism in Finnish Lapland has become the main income source of employment and income replacing traditional industries such as forestry. Development from a period of extractive industry to an industrial society has come about quickly. In 1950 the largest part of Lapland’s inhabitants lived in rural areas and more than half the workforce worked in forestry and agriculture. Today 65 % of the workforce are in the service industry, 22 % in processing and 10 % in primary production.
This huge growth in tourism and service provision has been developed in conjunction with a long-term sustainable tourism plan with one of the primary objectives being to maintain nature in its natural state while guaranteeing the traditional way of life. Much of this has been achieved along with membership of EU development programmes, aimed at diversifying sources of livelihood, effective usage of resources and to increase export. Approximately a quarter of Lapland’s 100 000 strong workforce was unemployed in 1997. Promoting entrepreneurship, ongoing re-education of the workforce and development of the educational system to suit the needs of enterprises is continuing. The target is to diversify the sources of livelihood, increase the value of refinement production and develop new enterprises particularly in the area of tourism. National measures as well as EU-programme measures support this objective. We embrace this philosophy, employing local activity providers and using only locally owned hotels. In this manner we help to maintain jobs in an area where unemployment was, until recently, very high. Additionally, the use of local suppliers ensures that the tourism spend filters through to local economies via the tourism multiplier effect. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |
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