Lapland family winter adventure holiday
| country: | Arctic Circle, Finland |
| location: | Finnish Lapland |
| departures: | 2008: 14 Dec, 21 Dec, 28 Dec 2009: 4 Jan, 11 Jan, 18 Jan, 25 Jan, 1 Feb, 8 Feb, 15 Feb, 22 Feb, 1 Mar, 8 Mar, 15 Mar, 22 Mar, 29 Mar, 5 Apr |
| price: | From £1375 - £1475 (8 days) per adult (over 14 years) and £995 - £1060 per child including flights from the UK. Can also be booked without flights. Minimum age 8 years |
read 1 travellers review
the amazing things you'll be doing
Our winter adventure in Kittila has become a firm favourite, so much so that one client suggested "it should be made compulsory"! Situated 200kms north of the Arctic Circle, Kittila is surrounded by wilderness countryside made all the more beautiful by a deep carpet of snow throughout winter. Add in a snowcastle, cross-country skiing, husky, reindeer and snowmobile safaris and you have all the ingredients for a fabulous winter holiday here in the heart of Lapland.
Accommodation: Our hotel is just five minutes from Kittila Airport so there are no lengthy transfers when you arrive. This is a small family-run establishment with just 37 rooms and offers a warm welcome and a convivial atmosphere. All the bedrooms are comfortably furnished and have an en-suite shower and toilet room. For relaxation you can take advantage of the small indoor swimming pool and the sauna (particularly popular after a day in sub-zero temperatures) as well as visiting Pilot’s Bar for pre- (and post) dinner drinks. The restaurant offers a good range of Lappish and international dishes with a varied salad buffet on offer prior to your main course. On Thursdays it is traditional to have pea and ham soup in Lapland and, whatever you do, make sure you try it here. Delicious, flavoursome and perfect for insulating yourself against the Arctic cold. Possibly the best thing about this hotel however is the staff. Nothing is too much trouble and they aim to make your stay as enjoyable as possible.
Price includes: Return flights and airport transfers, 6 nights full board hotel, reindeer farm and safari, cross country skiing, snowmobile safari, husky safari, all equipment including thermo-overalls, socks, mittens, boots and warm hat, and fully qualified guides and instructors.
Accommodation: Our hotel is just five minutes from Kittila Airport so there are no lengthy transfers when you arrive. This is a small family-run establishment with just 37 rooms and offers a warm welcome and a convivial atmosphere. All the bedrooms are comfortably furnished and have an en-suite shower and toilet room. For relaxation you can take advantage of the small indoor swimming pool and the sauna (particularly popular after a day in sub-zero temperatures) as well as visiting Pilot’s Bar for pre- (and post) dinner drinks. The restaurant offers a good range of Lappish and international dishes with a varied salad buffet on offer prior to your main course. On Thursdays it is traditional to have pea and ham soup in Lapland and, whatever you do, make sure you try it here. Delicious, flavoursome and perfect for insulating yourself against the Arctic cold. Possibly the best thing about this hotel however is the staff. Nothing is too much trouble and they aim to make your stay as enjoyable as possible.
Price includes: Return flights and airport transfers, 6 nights full board hotel, reindeer farm and safari, cross country skiing, snowmobile safari, husky safari, all equipment including thermo-overalls, socks, mittens, boots and warm hat, and fully qualified guides and instructors.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Flights, arrival, transfers and introduction. Your Lapland Adventure starts at dinner on Sunday evening when there will be a meeting with your guide who will brief you on the activities ahead. |
| Day 2: | Reindeer farm and safari. You head to a local reindeer farm where you learn about reindeer herding and how to lasso the animals before a safari through the winter landscape. Lunch is served by an open fire and everybody receives a reindeer driving licence. |
| Day 3: | Cross-country skiing. Kittila’s cross country skiing trails start close to the hotel. After initial instruction, your excursion will take you through snowy forests before returning for lunch at the hotel. Approximately 2 to 3 hours. The afternoon is free for shopping in Kittila or why not try your hand (or foot!) at snowshoeing? |
| Day 4: | Snowmobile Safari to Lainio Snow Village. A simply unforgettable day. Your guides will show you how to drive your snowmobile and ensure that you understand all the safety signals before following the trails to Lainio Snow Village. At the village (lovingly created by our good friend Rami - the man with the deepest voice in the known universe) you will find snow sculptures, an ice bar and restaurant and the snow hotel. After lunch you follow the snow covered route back to Kittila completing a circuit of around 80kms. Two people per snowmobile. |
| Day 5: | Free day or optional activities. Today you are free to relax or why not try snowshoeing or downhill skiing at nearby Levi? A shuttle bus runs from the hotel (18kms). |
| Day 6: | Husky safari. For many this is the highlight of the holiday. It’s difficult to describe the awesome sense of space as you drive your team through this vast and silent landscape. It is certainly something you will never forget. After a short transfer to the husky farm you will be introduced to the dogs and learn how to handle the sled before leaving on a 5-hour safari. Everybody gets their own team of 4 to 6 huskies who will pull you across frozen rivers, through snowy forests and over expansive winter landscapes. |
| Day 7: | Free day, optional activities or Lainio Snow Village. It’s been a pretty busy few days so you may just want to relax but most people choose to try their favourite activity again. They can be booked and paid for locally, simply ask your guides for advice. You could return to Lainio Snow Village where we’ve added the possibility of staying overnight in the snow hotel. |
| Day 8: | Departure, transfers and flights. Return airport transfers and flights home. |
travellers' tales
The best holiday we have ever been on and we would go on another tomorrow! With many thanks to the best guide in the business RAIMO. Thanks and we look forward to our next holiday.
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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. |