Lucky to be going to Lapland

[jojomom]

We are soooo very lucky to be going to Lapland in December (paid for by Grandma!) I have no idea what clothes to pack. I believe we are provided with some outerwear. What else should I take? Has anyone been who can give me a general idea? I have a DS aged 7 and a DD aged 3.

Oooh [henvy]

Never been (or am I ever likely to ) but Muddy Puddles website does a good 'checklist' for what young children would need.
I'm pretty sure they provide the outer layer but you need to supply the 'inner layers'.
Enjoy !

Thanks for the tip. Will have a look.

I lived in Finland for a bit and visited Finnish lapland several times. I would say take lots of layers, while it was very cold (like -20) outside most buildings had fantastic heating so you'd want to strip down to a single layer inside. Most buildings had lots of cloakroom space, it seemed common for locals to change into slippers or indoor shoes at the door (even in the hospital I worked at) - depends on what your accommadation is of course. Hats and gloves are a must, even for short trips out. I found I needed either thermals under my clothes or padded clothing. If you're doing any outdoorsy activities (sledging, dog sledding, skiing etc) then bring extra changes as you'll get soaked.

I'm really grateful for your advice. Bought some loose fitting tracky bums and fleece tops today. Gonna get thermals for underneath. Seems strange buying such pyjama style clothes for our hols! Will we need any dressy up stuff? Gloves, hats, scarves, socks etc will be on the list for the next shopping trip!

We went to lapland a couple of times, last time 2 years ago when ds was 8 and dd 5 and had an absolute ball. We went to ski as well as all the santa stuff. I second the idea about layers. We had temps that varied from 0 to-30 so you need to be able to add or take away as necessary. I bought jackets and salopettes from h&m which were really reasonable. Under this i put a polo neck and thermal vests leggings on both which worked really well. Also an all in one for dd from ebay, the only pain with this was toilet breaks as you had to take everything off!! An absolute must is a balaclava with extended neck piece to stop the cold getting in - again mine were from ebay. We had hats over the top for really cold days. We layered gloves, a light pair under waterproff ones was the change we made 2 nd year! They sell disposable hand warmers in the shops there which were a gift in -30but much cheaper here as lapland is mega expensive. The other thing is when we went 1st time i took way too much stuff. You find that you only need a couple of sets of under clothes because there is no need to change. Even if you go out to eat people tend to leave salopettes on. I took one smart set for dinner with santa but still they wanted to wear tracksuits as they were comfy. Snow boots were from next about £14 were perfect with tights and wool socks for both.ds was not pleased 1st time but reminded me to buy his tights for 2nd trip!! Hope this helps - you'll have a ball, nothing compares with the magic there!!

highjack! jojomom which travel company are you going with?
anastatia which one did you travel with? I'm looking for recommendations

We're going too!!!! Ive got a set of full on thermal underwear for us all, I'm going to get another thermal vest soon. (but that's a throwback to childhood, mum always put me in a thermal vest sometime in September!). I'm going to get a hat with side wings... are they called Peruvian? Vvvv excited!

-30 .

I couldn't even contemplate that. My contact lenses would freeze in my eyes.
Ouch!!

Ok I'm getting excited now!! I think we are booked with Thomson (as I posted earlier this trip is funded and therefore booked by a very generous Nanny! Otherwise would not happen in my lifetime!) I have seen bumpf and it says full board, several trips/activities included. It's for four nights in Levi. Nanny is obviously coming too.

I want a Russian furry hat thingy. Seen one today in H&M! I'm sure it's not practical but will wear it in bed or something! H&M was great today for jog bots. Can we keep this thread going all the way till departure date please?

We were in Levi both times - it's beautiful. A plastic sledge is a must but you can buy them at the supermarket there for about 10 euro. We used them to tow children and carry food/skis. Be careful though ours were stolen twice so take them inside.
We travelled the 1st time with crystal (much cheaper) and 2nd with inghams. Both were good. Both booked as ski trips at about half the price of a santa trip. If you leave it till last minute inghams do amazing special offers. You can then book all the christmas activities via the internet or in resort Look out for all of the little wooden huts they have fires inside which you can cook sausages over and they usually have hot juice in a kettle that's free to all. Can also recommend the creche in Kidsland at levi gave us a nice 2 hours to play in the snow with no kids.

DH took DD for the 4 day thing a couple of years ago (Rovaniemi) and is taking DS4 this year (Levi). They go with Thomas Cook (same thing as Thomson). The outerwear is provided as are proper snow boot things. You need to take warm hats and gloves, thermals, decent socks (like proper hiking socks or similar) and then dress in layers.

DH reckons that the suits are so warm that you don't really need to pile on the clothes under them, so just underwear, a t-shirt and then a jumper of some kind. DD wore long johns, socks and trousers on the bottom. I packed her thick tights as well, but, apparently they weren't needed. He also reckoned that the hotel was really warm, even at night, so just ordinary pyjamas for that. Although, they both said that the hotel pool in Rovaniemi was too cold to support human life. DH went in and then came back out without letting DD do more than put her feet in it because it was so cold. No-one on the trip could actually swim in it

Just read all the posts again as we are going on Wednesday!!! Packed today and still worried about whether we have the right clothes or the right amount of clothes. I'm a worrier generally though, scared stiff the kids will get ill for when we leave! DD had chuck pox 2.5 weeks ago, DS not had them yet so doing a scary "hope no spots inspection" regularly.

Clearly she had chick not chuck pox! By the way thanks for great advice from posters.