Lapland

[Spoo]

We are thinking of going to Lapland this Christmas. We are both pre kid mad for it skiiers and hope to introduce our kids to the wonder of snow combined with seing FC. DS1 will be nearly 4, DS2 will be 2 and 7 months. We don't want to put them off and are aware that by pushing too hard we might put them off the snow for life. We have been to the snow dome a number of times DS1 loved it but DS2 wouldn't keep his gloves on and complained about the cold. I suppose what I am asking is will DS2 be too young to enjoy Lapland? We were thinking of may 3/4 days so we can do some snow based activties as well - sledging etc. Any advice would be appreciated.

bump?

Haven't been to lapland but did ski in Norway pre DS so aware of environment.

I only have experience of snow/skiing holiday with 1 child (DS)when he was 2.5, 4 & 5. My advice would be to forget the FC bit & go somewhere more mainstream that has good childcare facilities. My choice would be a Kinderhotel in Austria (but I am a bit biased ).

Thank you confused. I am a bit relunctant to put the kids in child care. We want to enjoy the snow with them. I have looked at the Kinder Hotels - I'll have another look.

We took our 17 month old DD to Lapland in January and had a great time. It was cold at times, but wrapped up well she was fine. We didn't actually do any skiing this time but hope to return when she's a bit older. Take a look at the tripadvisor.com Lapland forums - you'll get loads of advice there and also lapland.8.forumer.com where lots of people from the TA site have moved to.

I have been to Yllas and I would say Lapland is great for kids. There's so much to do apart from skiing and the slopes are very gentle so the skiing is really good for beginners if they do want to try it. However it will be very cold and dark in December, so I would say it would be better to go earlier or later in the year if you can. They can still see Father Christmas and see what he does the rest of the year.

However if one of your aims is to get some skiing in yourselves then you may not enjoy Lapland that much as they don't really have anything very challenging for advanced skiiers. If you just want an all-round winter holiday with a bit of skiing and some other stuff then it's a great choice.

Thank you so much for your advice. The aim was not for us to get some skiing in but to introduce the environment to our kids with a view to skiing next year. We are looking at Canterbury Tales and thinking about a 4 day trip, but it is very pricey, but I presume worth it. We would probably aim for a different location next year more orientated around skiing. I will have a look at tripadviser and that other website you recommended Mejon. Eachpeach - is it not a bit weird going at a different time of year? we hadn't thought about it.

It is often cheaper to go for longer even in December - if you can get away for a week, I'd recommend checking out Inghams or Crystal. We've been 3 times in all, always the 2nd week of January and the prices are reasonable.

Spoo - we don't have kids yet so didn't do the Father Christmas thing, but it was still winter in the UK (February) so I don't think it's too weird. There were loads of kids going and they all seemed to have a great time. We actually got a last minute offer on lastminute.com and it is cheaper in February as well as lighter.