winter snow / northern lights - advice pls!

[bagheera]

Hi - we have 4 children aged 7 and under and would really like to take them to see some snow this winter. Even better would be to see the Northern Lights. Does anyone have any ideas - we dont mind log cabins. B&Bs, organised or self catering. Very flexible really.

It just needs to be wintery and child / toddler friendly!!

Many thanks

It needs to be REALLY cold and clear for you to see the northern lights - you can sometimes see them in Iceland (hideously expensive), we saw them in Arctic Sweden 5 years ago (stayed at icehotel, v expensive but great adventure - there are log cabins near there you can hire but really wouldnt want to take small children then, over 10s only I think).

We're off to Copenhagen this December to the Tivoli gardens as really lovely and festive and v toddler friendly. Loved both Stockholm and Copenhagen for winter city breaks before having DS and am sure he'll love it there too.

The thing about the Northern Lights is you have to go a long way North and its has to be cold to see them. I would not recommend this for under fives.

We did the lapland thing to see Santa (not cheap but worth it)a few years ago with two kids, it was particularly cold (-20) rising five did get cold (despite the excellent cold weather gear they give you) and this spoilt his enjoyment and when we did see the Northern lights he didn't really appreciate it.

Went back last year (had to now had three kids and youngest hadn't been), youngest on this trip had turned five, the weather wasn't as cold (-5) and the Northern lights were fantastic.

IF some of your kids are pre-school then just the getting them in and out of cold weather gear (more than just ski wear) would be very time consuming. I would leave the Northern Lights for a few years and just find some snow in Europe.