Lapland

Kitikat

When searching for the offer from Manchester the text includes this paragraph.

Children: We regret that children under 12 years cannot be accepted in this chalet, although there are Child Friendly Weeks (06 Dec, 13 Dec and 20 Dec 09) when children of any age are accepted.

And we have booked through lastminute.com in the past when our children were under the age of 12.

Avalon_Fantasy

Greetings to everyone, I`m becoming addicted to this site and have made some considerable savings so thank you one and all for the amazing posts and links ect.
Regarding Lappish Finland *Rovaniemi*( This is the main town for the Father Christmas experience) I have a few tips of my own as I have been on quite a few trips there taking friends and family.
Firstly, you will need time to set your findings out.
Getting there:
Hotels:
Trips:
Father Christmas:
Food:

Have a look at Blue1.com for flights, there are a few companies that go and its a case of taking some time to work out the cheapest costs from your departure point , length of stay ect.

Firstly and this is my top tip, do`nt be persuaded to buy trip to see Father Christmas at the post office. ( Very often I have seen coach loads bundle in, DO* the post office, then DO Father Christmas then bundle off..whoosh)

At the post office and the surrounding area you will find many shops and eating places, you can stay in the post office as long as you like browsing, *and the crowds, but these tend to vanish when the coach tour departs!...

you can have letters posted with the stamps saying Arctic Circle, buy your own cards or make your own letter before you go filled with glitter or all sorts of things, then post from the post office and it gets the official Father Christmas stamp for christmas!.... even outside, after school sometimes... some of the local school children dress as elves and play and will throw snowballs if wanted, there is often an ice slide outside that you can go slide on.

Taxis as well as buses stop there to pick up passengers, and should you feel lost the people in the shops are very helpful with taxi numbers and bus timetables.

You can go to the post office for free!

To see Father Christmas and recieve time and a picture there are costs involved but not much and the pictures are beautiful and come with a lovely place holder.
The following link is very very helpful!

santatelivision.com/santaclaus/ (use the usual www. before the address)




For the husky dog trip, I have used Errasetti tours, if you contact them directly you may well find cheaper prices over all.
They will often pick you up from your hotel, but if you are at the post office I think they still have an office there along the way which is where they take you for the trips.

The husky trips are brilliant!! You get a husky drivers licence too its brilliant *Mushing* painful and bumpy sometimes being the sitting person... L

They also have a variety of other trips which may be useful if you have small children that just wish to be driven through the forest and over the lakes.
They do sledging, snowmobiling (brilliant fun!!) reindeer trips and all manner of things, I suspect they add things each year.

It gets VERY VERY COLD!!!!! I have often been there at minus 25 to 30, the cold is dry not like here, so as long as you are well dressed you dont get that bone chilling ice feeling you get here in the UK.

However, inside buildings it is usually very warm and sometimes hot!

Nearly all the companies I have ever come across do provide in the cost thermal clothing, gloves, footwear, socks ect ect, but my advice is to enusre you have your own warm things as well. (Carry spare socks and gloves for children as they do get wet sometimes if the children play with snow.
Fingers and toes are very vulnerable. Layers are the very best way to go.

Regarding the hotels, I have stayed at the Levi Tunturi this is very nice the following link:
hotellilevitunturi.fi/cgi-bin/wafnet3.pl?id=81&kid=2 (use the usual www. before the address)

And have stayed at the Sky Hotel Ounasvaara * in the cabins* and they are brilliant too!.
Also stayed in the cabins at : ounasvaaranpirtit.fi/pages/en/home.php (use the usual www. before the address)
So warm and just fantastic.. they also deal with polarsafaris they are another tour company that do trips.
Its a great place, there is so much more than just Rovaniemi but it is where many people tend to go. So its a start.

Brilliant ski and so forth at Levi too..there is the village ect..this link is good:

kittilajournal.com/levi.htm (use the usual www. before the address)

Check what people say on tripadvisor.com as well..simply because things do change.

On the whole I have spent perhaps 2 days on and off over each trip I have made to Finland... checking prices and have always got my trip cheaper than a specific organised tour.

I realise that it is daunting to do this for some people, but IF you stay in the Rovaniemi area most know that you are tourist doing the father christmas thing, English is well spoken, people are very helpful and its not such a huge place that you can get lost in.

The Airport at Roveniemi is small, there is a small shop and upstairs there is a restaurant, you can even "Stamp" your passport with a red santa stamp..I suspect you are not supposed to do it but Ive got them and no officials have ever been snotty about it.

I`l post this now and add some more later if you wish.
TTFN

inspector_monkfish

Kitikat wrote: »

When searching for the offer from Manchester the text includes this paragraph.

Children: We regret that children under 12 years cannot be accepted in this chalet, although there are Child Friendly Weeks (06 Dec, 13 Dec and 20 Dec 09) when children of any age are accepted.

And we have booked through lastminute.com in the past when our children were under the age of 12.

yes, thats the same with bristol and gatwick
all seems a bit odd

Kitikat

inspector_monkfish wrote: »

yes, thats the same with bristol and gatwick
all seems a bit odd

I'm probably being a bit thick, but I don't understand why you find it odd.

Avalon_Fantasy

Here is a link to the tourist map, if you click the drop down under the blue line you can view different maps, from the bus info to snow-mobile routes!
link:

.kartta.rovaniemi.fi/Web/Default.aspx?layers=Internet Opaskartta&cp=7379452,3443712&z=8&Language=enu
add the www. prior to the link..

This is the weather link, there are links to webcams, 9 day forecasts ect, closer to christmas when I`m going there I have the snow cam on all day..LOL... one time it hadnt snowed by the 1st of December and I was having kittens..but for the trip on the 5th there had been very heavy snowfall..phew..

Also Blue1.com airline are about the cheapest although you may find some empty lag flights with charters ect..
they also have a points scheme ..worth using if you travel to that area and its double points to Lapland at the moment.

Anybody can join the EuroBonus loyalty program regardless of age, and receive points with Blue1, SAS and other Star Alliance airlines. On top of that, children receive a 50 % discount on award trips.

I have found getting intouch with hotels directly you can find some wonderful bargains..and they also can offer suggestions that you may not have considered.

inspector_monkfish

Kitikat wrote: »

I'm probably being a bit thick, but I don't understand why you find it odd.

firstly, they say the 'child friendly weeks' are 6th, 13th and 20th Dec - but this offer is for 13th to 20th Dec, and still no children under 12 are allowed

secondly, i would have said 11 is pretty much bang on the cut-off for children to become 'non-believers' in santa - so seems a bit odd to have a no under 12's policy


hope i'm making sense :cool:

shop-to-drop

I've just booked! Slovenia not lapland we've done lapland already.

Really chuffed 4* Hotel Lek Half Board 19th - 26th December £329 per person with Inghams. Flights from Manchester London would have cost at least double unfortunately but this is the only down side.

Really looking forward to it!

Kitikat

inspector_monkfish wrote: »

firstly, they say the 'child friendly weeks' are 6th, 13th and 20th Dec - but this offer is for 13th to 20th Dec, and still no children under 12 are allowed

secondly, i would have said 11 is pretty much bang on the cut-off for children to become 'non-believers' in santa - so seems a bit odd to have a no under 12's policy


hope i'm making sense :cool:

What makes you think that children are not allowed on w/c 13th December? Have you spoken to them? My understanding is the opposite of yours in that they are saying that children are allowed on the weeks approaching Christmas.

inspector_monkfish

Kitikat wrote: »

What makes you think that children are not allowed on w/c 13th December?

the bit that says:


Children: We regret that children under 12 years cannot be accepted in this chalet,


and the fact that that particular holiday on offer is starting on the 13th Dec.


they then contradict themselves by saying:

although there are Child Friendly Weeks (06 Dec, 13 Dec and 20 Dec 09) when children of any age are accepted.</B>


I am assuming that if you want to take under12's for that week, you have to stay somewhere else, and just not in that particular chalet, and not on that lastminute offer

Kitikat

inspector_monkfish wrote: »

the bit that says:


Children: We regret that children under 12 years cannot be accepted in this chalet,


and the fact that that particular holiday on offer is starting on the 13th Dec.


they then contradict themselves by saying:

although there are Child Friendly Weeks (06 Dec, 13 Dec and 20 Dec 09) when children of any age are accepted.</B>


I am assuming that if you want to take under12's for that week, you have to stay somewhere else, and just not in that particular chalet, and not on that lastminute offer

If you want that offer I would contact them. I think that the bit were they say that children under 12 are not accepted is standard in their advertising and they don't take it out to make it more clear on the appropriate weeks. I don't know if I'm making sense - I think that it is just a standard paragraph that they use for every week whether it happens to be a child friendly week or not. I know it's about as clear as mud.