Last New Year, I headed off to Lapland with my family. It was a fantastic experience which I recommend. Here are just a few insider tips that the brochures don’t tell you.
Food
The food is expensive in Finland. This is no surprise, but what options do you have? I recommend taking plenty of snacks. Cold children are hungry children and being able to placate them with a cereal bar makes everyone’s life easier. We also took sandwiches that we had purchased just before our UK morning flight so that when we arrived at lunch time we had food with us to eat as soon as we got to our hotel.
Most Lapland packages from the UK are half board. This is a great option as you can eat a substantial breakfast and evening meal. At lunch time many restaurants and hotels do a soup and bread lunch for just under ten euros or you can try a fast food restaurant. The food in the hotels is good and varied so even children with a limited diet can usually find something they like, such as fish fingers, meat balls, chips, potatoes and bread.
Saunas
There is a reason that saunas are so popular in Finland. When you have been outside in sub-zero temperatures all day, you want to be warmed to your core. I deliberately chose a hotel with a sauna because I find it so relaxing being completely warm. You have to be a little brave to go in a Finnish sauna though, because you go in naked. The etiquette is that you shower before your sauna and take a towel in with you. Outside the sauna there is a roll of tear off pieces of paper. These are for you to sit on. Alternatively, you can sit on your towel. You can of course keep the towel wrapped around you but when everyone else in sauna is naked, you do tend to stand out!
Saunas are part of the Finish culture. Do not be surprised to see very young children and pregnant ladies in them. They are mercifully single sex in hotels! If you really are too shy to bare all, then consider choosing an apartment or hotel room with your own private sauna.
Clothing
I’m sure that most people who go to Lapland take way too many clothes with them. I only wore one third of what I actually took with me. Remember that your holiday is probably short, so your whole jumper collection is not needed. If you are travelling with a company that provides an all in one snow suit, this will be a huge help in staying warm. What you do need to go with it is a good quality set of base layers, warm socks, thin gloves to go under mittens, a warm hat, a snood to protect your face against the snow and clothing that you can layer.
I made a rooky error on my trip. So concerned was I with my warm clothes, that I forgot Lappish hotels are toasty warm. I didn’t need or want to sit in a fleece to eat my dinner. I wanted a nice top to put on, but they were all hanging in my wardrobe at home. Your hotel room is also likely to be super insulated so leave the fleecy pyjamas at home and bring something light to sleep in.
Excursions
When you arrive at your resort, a short walk around is likely to lead you to companies offering excursions. You can go directly to them - Finns frequently speak excellent English and prices are usually cheaper than your UK tour operator. A number of excursion companies have websites for you to book in advance. Depending on what you want to do, you may not even need to book onto an excursion. We really wanted to visit an ice bar and with a little bit of research we found there was one 15 minutes walk away and we paid the entrance fee direct. Another friend used a taxi to reach the ice bar with her young children.
Don’t feel that you have to fill your holiday with excursions. It’s great to allow time just to play in the snow. Around our resort, we found toboggans lying around that were free to use. A quick enquiry at your hotel will direct you to where the locals go sledging. My favourite experience during our stay in Lapland was when we followed the hiking trails behind the hotel to an aurora cabin. We pulled Little Lady in a toboggan along well signposted snowy paths until we reached a cabin in the woods. It was open and free to go in with a giant balcony to watch for the Northern Lights. Sadly, it was too cloudy to see the lights but the whole experience was full of excitement and adventure.
A trip to Lapland is an amazing experience. Enjoy!
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