J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Might be going Feb/March, dont know much about it !

hornydevil

i was there a year ago it was amasing something you will never forget!

i got off the plane and it was like something you would dream of as a child (the north pole) id recomend it!!!

Wish

iTrader: (2)

Im taking my son to meet the great man himself SC on the 22nd December !

Of course its for him !

Henrik

iTrader: (5)

My nan lives there, and I've been there many winters and even more summer holidays What do you want to know?

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Simon Cowell, now thats mean !

Just dont know much about the place, the in laws have suggested it as a possible ski destination for Feb/March next year, I knew that there was snow there (no brainer) but I hadnt heard of anyone skiing there, well certainly no English people.

Is beer expensive, whats the skiing like, is there much to do, will there be plenty of snow in March, grateful for any insight !

Henrik

iTrader: (5)

I assume you are going to Rovaniemi then, right? Certainly that's the place to go if you want to see the real (tm) Santa

Over the years I've seen Rovaniemi become this busy tourist town, from what was once a small (well, it seemed like it) sleepy town in the middle of nowhere. Obviously, it's all super commercialized now, but it can still be good fun I guess, unless you see it every year

Skiing around Rovaniemi is both good and bad. I must confess that I haven't actually tried the slopes, but comparing them to the Swedish mountains, they look very tame, boring and short I have however done cross country skiing, and that is very good fun too.

Temperature-wise, it can be from -15 down to -40 during that time, so bring warm clothes (although I believe that tourists can actually hire warm clothes!).

Definitely do the "arctic-safari" tours, I haven't been, but they look like good fun, plus you get to go on a snow-mobile

Don't know about beer in bars, because I've never been to a Finnish bar (some half finn I am, eh? ), but alcohol is generally more expensive than in England.

The Arctic Circle place, Santa Park or whatever they call it this year, is a good place to go, although as you can imagine, again it's over-commercialized and it has lost some of the authentic feel it used to have. It should make for a fun day out though, but bring the big wallet if you want to do anything there My mum went on some reindeer safari in Santa Park last year or so, and she really liked it.

Do, obviously, try out the saunas, and if it is possible, try to go further up north (e.g. Laanila, sodankyla etc). There aren't really any mountains around Rovaniemi itself, but go about 200 miles further up north and it's full of them. I should say that they are not actually like mountain-mountains, but more like soft slopes etc.

You will most probably see the Aurora Borealis (or northern lights), which are sometimes totally incredible, and sometimes not quite as spectacular.

In February/March time there will be some day-light, but not much. Note however that even if it is dark, it's still not *that* dark because of all the snow, if you see what I mean. We have a cottage out in the woods, and in the middle of winter it is entirely possible to read a news paper or similar just in the moonlight if it's a clear night.

One place that would definitely be quite spectacular is 'Auttinkongas' (o is umlaut, i.e. two dots over it) but it's a bit of a bitch to get to if you don't drive there. It's basically this small waterfall but you can walk around in the forest around the river too. Never seen it in winter time, but I can imagine it will be beautiful!

Another thing you have to try is the Reindeer meat! They make some fried reindeer meat which is served with mashed potatoes, and it is absolutely gorgeous (it's called 'poronkaristys' (a with two dots on top)). I also like their sausages :-)

All in all, I think it can be a fun place to visit as a tourist, as there are certainly enough touristy things to do, especially if nature and Santa are your cups of tea.

cheeseboy

hmmm, lapland:-

http://www.neal.fotopic.net/c52487.html

we go there (Arjeplog) each year in winter for car testing.... awesome place - very desolate if you get out of the towns. Make sure you are prepared for cold though. Last year we had -38 deg for a week in the end of Feb...

Neal

scoobynutta555

Went to a place called Levi.

Did all the usual, snowboarding, husky trips, frozen lake fishing, Reindeers etc. We went after Xmas and stayed for a week.

Temps were around -15 but did drop as low as -30. Didnt see the sun for a whole week.

Would go again but not try the snowboarding, was very crap at it.

While I was there i had a subaru cap on and a bloke stopped me and said that I was going to be quite jealous because he actually had one. I asked him what he had (my99 green uk 4 door standard) and let him wallow in his bragging for a few minutes, then casually slipped in i had a P1 with full decat and 6 pot brakes. Cant describe how far his face dropped.

Trumble

We went to levi - with our kids 3 and 7 - the older one learnt to ski - the ski school was great - good teachers.

The skiing is limited for advanced skiiers - the world cup run was closed when we were there as there was the race.

We did the father christmas thing and also went on a snow mobile safari - my boy was hooting on this - 60 mph across frozen lakes - awsome.

Word of caution - it is fecking cold - and when I say cold I mean really cold - you will wear thermals all the time. At one point it was -28 in Levi center.

The place is really pretty and the people friendly.

I've got some (actually a shed load) pics if you want.

T.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Cheers for all you input, not sure what we are doing yet, the consensus is that its too cold, I really fancy it mainly as I have always wanted to see the Aurora but conversely I dont want the kids feet dropping off.

Petem95

Went to Rovaniemi a few years back and it was quality - did a skidoo (snow mobile) safari - started in the city and just drove onto the rivers (which are frozen), along the river under all the bridges, then into the country! Fantastic! The skidoos shift, but was seriously cold on the hands! (-25), but you wear thermal gear.

Virtually no daylight however, only light ish for 2hours a day or something around xmas. Hardly any people about really, I suppose as its so cold out.

You will enjoy it!

alistair

My kids ski'd there for 1/2 a day at a time when they were 5&6 - temperature was between -28 and -32.

Basically you wear thermals, clothes, ski gear and then thermal suits on top. 3 pairs of socks, 2 pairs of gloves, a very good hat and a scalf. After that we had hand and foot warmers - the chemical things that look a bit like tea bags. Was still feckin' cold, but OK for 3 hours or so.

If you're going there then invest in the right kit - there were loads of kids screaming after less than an hour - what's the point in spending all the cash in getting there, then skimping on a few hundered quid in kit ?

Don't know about that time of year, but in December, the days are very short - it only ever gets to a sort of twilight.

Snow mobiles are great fun, huskys are pretty dull - you see one dogs **** you've seen them all !

The Northern Lights are an experience though !

Al