A beautiful winter wonderland - like nowhere else I've been (Lapland in general)

Member Name: gayle04

Product:	Lapland in general
Date:	09/01/09 (89 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Beautiful scenery and wildlife, fun activities, snow

Disadvantages: It can get really, really, really cold - i.e. minus 15 or 20

We went to a place called Yllas in Lapland in March 2008 for a week. My partner loves to ski and as I had never tried it before, we wanted to go somewhere we he could ski but where there were plenty of other fun activities to try if I didn't like skiing (and it's a good job we did, because guess what, I don't like skiing!). Lapland had everything we were looking for, lots of things to do, skiing, beautiful scenery and wildlife and cute log cabins.

We flew from Manchester and the flight wasn't very long, only about 3 hours. As soon as we hit the runway in Lapland, my breath was absolutely taken away. There was about 2ft of snow covering the ground and all of the trees and buildings were covered in snow, it was like a winter wonderland!

When we got off the plane, the icy cold weather hit us straight away. I would advise anyone going to Lapland in the winter to take their warm boots and coats on the plane with them, you will need them when you get off... even if you are just outside for a couple of minutes!

We were staying in a cute little log cabin in the woods and a coach picked us up and dropped us off. We booked the holiday with Inghams and I can't fault them. We had no problems the whole holiday and they were in touch often, holding meetings to let us know about the different activities we could do while we were there etc.

The cabin was gorgeous, it was just what you would imagine a log cabin in Lapland to be. Snow on the roof, about a foot deep, snow surrounding it, a real log fire, our own private sauna (!!), a little snuggly room upstairs on the mezzanine floor, and we even had a resident family of squirrels who visited everyday.

As I said before, I am not exactly a pro-skiier but from what others have said, Lapland is not great for skiing if you are more than a beginner or intermediate. They don't have many black runs there, and the visability etc is usually not great. This is especially true in the winter months as it gets dark very, very early (in fact, it barely gets light except for a greyish kind of glow). There was plenty of skiing for me and my boyfriend though (more than enough for me certainly!) and although I didn't go much, my boyfriend did and he never got bored of the choice of runs.

The other big thing in Lapland is cross country skiing and the locals get very angry if you walk on the tracks! You can also be fined for doing this so watch out. We tried cross country skiing as we got them for free as a promotion Inghams had on but we weren't very good at it! It takes a lot of skill and balance not to fall over, and unfortunately I had neither!

We also went on a husky safari trip while we were there. We were pulled along in a sledge by a pack of huskies at an amazingly fast speed, through the most gorgeous scenery you can imagine. Wrap up extra warm if you do this!! You get a blanket to put over you but as soon as you are sitting still for any length of time, the cold gets to your hands and feet. On the safari, one person stands on the back and "steers" the huskies (although they know where they are going really and the only important bit is to know how to break!), and one sits in the sledge. You get the chance to swap halfway through which is what we did and I loved both experiences. A word of warning though... the dogs fart and poo as they go around and because of the speed you are going, it sometimes flicks up and you have to dodge it!! You're ok if you are driving, but if you are in the sledge, it can be pretty smelly.

After the huskies, we went on a reindeer sleigh ride. This was much more relaxing (and less smelly!) as they just totter round at a nice pace. You both go in the sledge for this, snuggled up under a reindeer skin blanket (it's v. romantic) but it still gets very cold. Also, because you are in a line of reindeer sledges, sometimes the reindeer behind you comes right up in your face and nearly head butts you with his antlers! It was a bit scary (especially as it was me who was getting got) but my boyfriend found it hilarious and filmed every minute of it.

The final activity we did was a snow mobile excursion to the ice hotel. Again this was fantastic. Your drive for miles and miles, one of you driving and one on the back, and then get a nice warm meal (hot soup and drinks) at the hotel and get an hour or so to look around and take pictures. The hotel was amazing, something that really has to be seen in the flesh to appreciate how great it is. The journey there was also amazing, we went really fast across a frozen lake, and there were lots of scary hills and tight corners to negotiate. One word of warning if you are sitting on the back though - your bum will kill! You bounce up and down A LOT and it doesn't help when your driver keeps slowing down and then speeding up really fast (on purpose!!).

There weren't many restaurants in Yllas, and no night life to speak of so avoid it if you want to be going out everynight. There were a couple of bars though and the restaurants that were there were great. We went to one called Julli's mostly and they did the most amazing pizza.

Prices are high in Lapland, especially for alcohol and food and you will be shocked when you go to the supermarket and see the price of your shopping even though you only have a few items. If you are staying in a log cabin, it may be quite a walk to the supermarket so a good tip is to hire a kick sled, or take a sledge to pull along behind you with your shopping bags in.

I was really sad to leave Lapland and it is an experience I will never forget. I would love to go over the christmas holidays sometime and I imagine it will be a place which we return to again and again.

Summary: One of the best holidays I have been on, lots to do and lots of great memories.