Lapland In January
Lapland, most famous for Santa and is his workshop is not just for Christmas and here’s why!
Lapland situated in Finland’s northernmost region is known for its subarctic wilderness, ski resorts and natural wonders including the midnight sun and the Northern Lights. In December families descend upon the resort to gain an insight into Santa’s hometown and visit Santa’s workshop, but come January the crowds leave and Lapland becomes a mystical snowy paradise. We headed to Lapland in mid January on one of the resorts quietest weeks to see how magical post Christmas Lapland could be!
WHERE TO STAY?
Lapland has a number of resorts with the 2 busiest being Levi and Ylläs. Levi and Ylläs offer the biggest mix of Santa related activities as well as winter wonderland excursions and skiing. We’ve stayed in both resorts and they are similarly just as great as each other.
WHAT TO DO?
GO ON A HUSKY DOG SLED RIDE
This is something that is probably on everyones bucket list and an absolute must while you’re in Lapland! Whizzing along through the forest holding on to the reins of 8 beautiful husky dogs with the cold crisp wind hitting your face and out of this world views along the way was like something from a movie! Wrap up warm though, temperatures dropped to -50 during our route and I lost all feeling in my fingers and toes half way round, which was a scary feeling at the time. Easily fixed with a warm fire and mulled wine after though! 😉
Husky Ride in Lapland
GO ON A REINDEER SAFARI
A reindeer safari in Lapland will take you to meet the the indigenous Sami people, Sami people are most known for semi-nomadic reindeer herding in Lapland and herd reindeers to use as meat, fur and for transportation. An excursion like this will typically consist of a reindeer sled ride through the forest and close interaction with the reindeers feeding them and brushing them. If that doesn’t sounds like a Lapland experience, I don’t know what does!
Reindeer Selfie
By the way, is this the best reindeer selfie or what?!
GO SKIING
Go skiing! Whether you’re a beginner or not, Lapland is a fantastic place for skiing! It’s not the place for thrill seekers as a lot of the slopes are more beginner to intermediate, but for sunrises and sunsets over the ski slopes like no other you can’t beat it!
Love Travel HD
GO SNOWMOBILING TO SEE THE NORTHERN LIGHTS
We loved this awesome excursion where we got to ride snowmobiles up to 60mph through the snow forests and mountains of Finland. The adrenaline rush from riding one of these was immense! We stopped in a little hut and huddled round a fire half way through to warm up and then sped back home. The plan was to see the Northern lights on route and usually you can, but unfortunately for us when we went, it was too cloudy, but still an amazing must do experience in Lapland!
STAY OVERNIGHT IN THE SNOWY FOREST
Ok so maybe i’m a bit biased on this one, but something I think is a must do in Lapland is to spend a night appreciating the natural beauty of the area. There are quite a few ways you can do this, i’m sure a lot of you have seen the glass igloo’s in Saariselka which are on most people’s bucket lists where you can sleep all cosy underneath the stairs. Our experience was just as spectacular too! Midway through out week in Lapland, Seb surprised me with a stay in a beautiful tepee in the middle of the snowy forest, it had a hot tub outside and every though it was -50 degress outside we jumped in and drank wine under the starry sky! The tepee we stayed in was part of the SnowVillage Ice Hotel which is well worth a visit to see the amazing ice sculptures, ice slide and ice bar! We ate dinner at the hotel restaurant then wondered back to our cosy tepee and just before we got there, Seb got down on one knee and proposed! Of course this was a once in a lifetime beyond incredible experience for me, but I have no doubt that spending a night surrounded by snowy trees, the Northern lights and stars in the sky would be impressive for anyone!
Are we missing anything? We would love to go back to Lapland one day, so if there’s anything we’ve missing that you recommend, let us know below!
