Recommendations for skiiing in Finland

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We're a family of beginners and would love to go to Finland in Feb/March 2027 and have so many questions.

What resorts would you recommend? We want somewhere with easy slopes and instruction plus other snow activities.

Can you learn cross-country as a beginner or do you need to master downhill first?

Are children likely to be with the same group of other children for the week's lessons? (hoping that makes it easier to make friends)

We have never booked a package holiday as we like planning everything - is first-time skiiing the one time we should go with a company?

Why Finland? It's a nice place, but in terms of downhill skiing you'd be better off going to Norway or Sweden if you don't want to go to the Alps (Austria, France or Italy) which are the usual ski holiday destinations.

Cross country and downhill skiing are two totally different things - you don't need to master downhill in order to do cross-country. It might be difficult to find cross country lessons as there is little demand for them.

Children will always be in a group with other children, and usually with the same group for the whole week. Many resorts and ski schools have special "Kinderland" areas just for the small children. Instructors in Scandinavia and Austria all speak good English. French and Italian instructors are not known for their English skills.

First-time skiers should always book a package with a tour operator. It makes everything just so much easier and ensures that you've covered everything - transport, accommodation, ski rental, ski school etc. - and increases the likelihood of the children meeting other English kids (if that's important). The major tour companies are Crystal, Heidi, Inghams and Nielsen, but there are numerous smaller niche companies, including some that focus on family travel.

See the similar threads below ↓↓↓

That's super helpful, thank you. Why Finland?

1. all the non-skiing activities and chance of seeing the northern lights
2. from reading other threads, I got the impression it would be quieter than Alps / Dolomites
3. based on past trips, it was cheaper than Norway. Very grateful to have recommendations for places in Sweden or Norway though and I could compare

1 - Where I ski in Austria, there are plenty of other activities - horse-drawn sleigh rides, toboggan runs (including floodlit runs), ice skating, bowling and a tree-top walk. Most hotels have pools and wellness spas and many have additional activities for children. Sadly no Northern Lights - although the stars are amazing when seen against a pitch-black sky with no light pollution.

2 - Finland is quieter than the Alps and Dolomites, and quieter than the other Scandinavian countries, because ski tourism is not a big thing there.

3 - Norway: Hemsedal, Trysil, Hafjell, Kvitfjell.
Sweden: Åre,* *Sälen, Vemdalen, Idre Fjäll.

Many of the largest Scandinavian resorts are run by SkiStar, so you can look at their website for price ideas. Scandinavian ski resorts – explore Sweden & Norway

Well FWIW I have loved our ski trips to Finland. We’ve been to Saariselka, Levi and Yllas. My favourite is Levi, lots to do there. Yllas was very scenic but I wasn’t keen on the two different ski centres with a 15 min bus drive in between. Saariselka is a charming place but very remote and small. All three great for beginners though!

If you go at the end of Feb/early March, you’ll have the slopes to yourselves as all the Finns have had their half term by then. Downside is the ski schools might not be running either, only private lessons. But check first!

There isn’t an apres-ski scene like in the Alps for instance. But there is little lappish wigwams dotted around the slopes with an open fire. Lovely little spots to rest and cook your lunch Finnish style (“makkara” a type of sausage like a frankfurter but bigger, cooked on a skewer over the fire, delicious 🤤).

We’ve been there independently but once with Crystal too, as the flights if booked independently would have been very expensive, it was cheaper to go with Crystal as the package included the evening meals too. We were very happy with Crystal.

Just checked re:ski schools. In Levi, for instance, the last week of group ski school commences on week 10 which is the week beginning Monday March 2nd.

Any other recommendations for in places in Finland?

Maybe what wete looking for is more along the lines of places for a fab snow holiday with opportunities to try skiing?

That's really good to know, thanks, I thought it would be a longer season as saw lots about March being an amazing time to visit Lapland

We are going to Beitostolen in Norway in the February half term to do snowboarding. We've never been on this kind of holiday and read it was good for beginners. We booked everything through Crystal Ski (TUI) and whilst we paid a premium for it, it's been so easy. Everything apart from our clothes is included. DS is 13 so he will go to a different snowboard school to us. We are booked in every morning for 4 days then we can do what we want in the afternoon.

I just booked Ruka for this February with my 2 boys as it's supposed to be great for beginners (which they will be) I got a great deal with Crystal ski for £1500 which includes a 3 bedroom cabin with sauna, flights, transfers and luggage. Such great value and snow will be great. I'd recommend looking at options like that

Crystal can do better deals than booking independently sometimes. We’ve done lots of diy trios mostly for Alps, but including Trysill Norway as I got cheap flights, hired a car at Oslo and it was easy drive. Don’t discount a package though I’d outside peak weeks.

I've done both alpine and cross country skiing in Finland. There are generally lots of easily accessible cross country tracks near the ski resorts, but there isn't generally a 'group lesson' vibe like you would see in cross country specific resorts like Seefeld or Dobbiaco. You can generally get private instruction and rent cross country equipment in the Finnish resorts.

The Finns have their big 'ski week' holidays in mid February, before and after that it is generally really quiet on the slopes.

Resorts wise, my favourite is Ruka (Crystal goes there). It's compact, but this does mean that the alpine skiing isn't very big so would be a bit boring for anyone who is an expert. English speaking group alpine lessons. Cross country equipment definitely available to rent, some nice easy starter trails a short walk from the bottom of the ski jump. The usual stuff available like dog sledding, snowshoeing, snow mobile, reindeer farm. The ski area is split into to 2 sides of the hill, interlinked by a gondola and bus so easy to get around. The main hotels are clustered so close to the slopes you can practically ski out the door.

Next is Levi - This is built around a larger town, slightly larger alpine area. Cross country equipment definitely available to rent, some good cross country ski trails near town. English speaking group alpine lessons during the main season. I got there on holiday with Inghams - they used to run until the last week of Feb, but now the last flights from Manchester is feb half term. The usual stuff available like dog sledding, snowshoeing, snow mobile, reindeer farm.. I don't love the slopes at Levi as much as at Ruka, but that's just me being a bit nesh. 2 sides of the hill again, linked by regular buses or you can ski over.

Yllas - Nice downhill skiing but the accommodation is very spread out. The main stuff is in the nearby village Akasompolo, so it's always a bus to get skiing from there. There is a smaller area called Sport Resort Yllas - that has limited services but you can basically go out and ski out the door. Yllas can be really windy so the top lifts get closed, and so you can't ski over the top to the other half of the resort. I still liked it, and the cross country skiing was fine. They did 'taster days' on cross country I think there, might have been organized by Inghams.

My DC learnt to ski in Levi in Finland. Fantastic resort for children. Really safe, plenty of ski-ing. We absolutely loved it. There are plenty of other activities, dog sledding,

I think Crystal and Inghams both go there. It can get bitterly cold, so you need plenty of layers. The snow is fabulous though, lots of lovely powder and all the pistes are well bashed.