Lapland help!!!

[Igottastartthinkingbee]

Knowledgeable mumsnetters!! Can anyone help with advice on travelling to Lapland. I have two DC who will be 6 and 4 by the time we travel.

Which resorts are best for this age? Also looking to fit in some skiing if possible. I’d love to do husky driving, reindeer sledging too. Santa visits are a bit pointless straight after Christmas though.

Haven’t a clue where to fly to, direct flights seem to be few and far between or extortionate. We would ideally fly from Manchester but would consider London airport if it’s much cheaper/faster.

I’d love to do it over new year but may look at mid February otherwise. Possibly taking DS out of school for a couple of days before half term. Everything I look at seems so expensive!! Is it impossible to get a good deal or do we just suck it up? I’ll never convince DH to part with a fortune mind

We went on a 3 night trip with Santas Lapland and were very impressed, you get a short sleigh ride and husky dog ride included but we paid extra to do longer ones. The, "search for Santa" day was magical

We spent 4 nights in Lapland about 4 years ago - arranged our own flights with Finnair and stayed in Kuusamo...I have linked the hotel which was nicely priced with loads of facilities (I think you can book through booking.com) You can ski at Ruka...

www.holidayclubresorts.com/en/resorts/kuusamon-tropiikki/

There were a group of 10 of us (my DD was the oldest and even though she had stopped believing in FC had a wonderful time).

The FC experience was wonderful, very personal and not rushed I think we spent about 4 hours there with the kids baking Gingerbread and Sledging - even special for adults.

www.pohjolanpirtti.fi/en/christmas

We also found a wonderful place in the middle of a forest which did the Husky/Reindeer and snowmobiling experiences - again the experience was not mass produced. Everything was affordable and not overpriced.

www.lammintupa.fi/en/

I think the flights and accommodation came to under £400 pp obviously then you add in activities and evening meals (Finland is very expensive in terms of food and drink). Will be cheaper after Christmas...

teenmum thanks for the all the info! I’ll have a proper look through later. Where did you fly to/from?

We went with Canterbury Travel to Rovaniemi. ..everything was included...huskies/reindeers/ FC etc. Absolutely brilliant and DCs loved it

We flew from Heathrow...We didn't go direct (via Helsinki) but both flights were with Finnair.

We went one February half term. The advantage of going then was that we enjoyed 8 hours of daylight, and could actually see the place properly. Also, at -10 during the day it wasn't as cold as it was at Christmas.

I did a diy trip in December. Cost £850 for 3 of us for 4 nights (2 of which on overnight train). Excluding expenses.

You can fly to Helsinki and then get the sleeper train - it’s an amazing experience in itself. We just headed to Santa Village (stayed in Rovaniemi) but the train stops in Kemi and other places that offer skiing. Levi is supposed to be good for that. We also stayed in Helsinki which was lovely.