Lapland holiday, what do I need to pack?

[Wagsandclaws]

I'm literally beside myself with excitement...

I've just booked a three night trip via Canterbury travel to Lapland Luosto resort for DH, Ds12 and Ds8. It's the first time the boys have been abroad and on a plane so we are so very excited as we have saved for a long time for this.

Has anybody who's been before got any suggestions for us as to what to pack? We will need gloves hat Ect Ect as they just provide a warm suit and boots I think? Which clothes should we take? Anything special for the evening ( it's only a buffet so fairly informal ).

As we will be in the hotel and I run hot anyway I think just normal nightclothes yes?

Any tips would be much appreciated as it's a first for us and I understand at the beginning of December it's very cold! TIA

Cotton T shirt / joggers / sweatshirts all fine inside of course.

Performance fabric t shirts are probably more useful and most people have some of them for doing sport.

You'll no doubt have a drying cupboard in your room so if you take 2 lots of base layers you can wash them and dry them quickly in your room. The Uniqlo ones are nicer than the Decathlon ones though theirs are good too.

We've been to Finland 6 times and temperatures have ranged from 0 to -32 degrees but the thermal suits you'll be given will be fine with base layers and an additional fleece layer. Decathlon do fleece joggers for adults and when my children were small I used to buy fleece pyjama sets from Primark whch were perfect for the job!

Any kind of buff will do but I personally find merino incredibly itchy and wouldn't want it near my face, but that's probably just me!

You do want to ensure heads, hands and feet are kept warm, Decathlon do great silk glove and sock liners. We wear sock liners with thin wool socks (John Lewis do good ones for kids that they can then wear as school socks) and a pair of Heat Holders on top. Occassionally we have also worn a pair of Primark-type tube welly socks or those fluffy synthetic socks as well. I'd recommend glove liners, fleece gloves and then mittens (for all of you not just the children)

As other posters have said, you will be absolutely roasting inside. Finnish buildings are very well heated and incredibly well insulated. When we stay in a hotel we usually have to turn off the heating. And definitely no need to dress up in your hotel.

We had no need for sun cream or sunglasses- it barely gets light!
Bepanthen nappy cream as a moisturiser/ lip balm helps protect faces against the cold and is surprisingly ok on your face.

As well as being flipping cold during the day, the day stops mid afternoon. We didnMt go out after about 3 because it was too dark! So pack stuff to do in the ‘evening’. Our hotel had a pool so we swam for an hour plus each day and then activities like games etc for the room.

Even when it does get dark there should be enough lighting in the grounds of your hotel for some snow fun if you haven't had enough!

I thought that after we eat we can maybe go for a stroll by the lake at the back of the hotel. Apparently you may or may not be able to see the northern lights ( if it's clear ) it's worth a go anyway.

We haven't been on a holiday ever due to my fear of flying but I'm more excited about this break than I am about getting in a plane and the DC's have no idea which I want to keep that way

I'm compiling a list thanks to all of your wonderful suggestions. We are all asthmatic so I've sorted out the travel insurance, it's pretty well controlled for all of us so I'm not too worried about that.

We did think we'd pack a few card games and maybe a couple of board games, I suspect we will be shattered by the evening and I'm always asleep by 10/10.30 at home anyway!

Enjoy, Lapland is a magical place!
Some good advice here already, just layer up everything , even socks, gloves, hats so if it gets too hot you can remove one layer.

We are staying in Luosto, I love that there isn't loads to do there and it's not too touristy, just the hotel, cabins and a little supermarket I believe - I'm so excited!