Lapland December 2010

Luvly.cuppa.T

Hi all, am going out in 2 weeks with my 15yr, 9yr and 7yr olds, with cosmos (actually used tesco vouchers I have saved for years to pay for half of the trip- whoo!).

Thing is I really have a small budget to play with, and this includes items for going out with. Reading around it is suggested that cotton clothes are not recommended for layers, so does anyone have any suggestions of cheap non cotton clothes for this purpose? (hire of ski suits and boots inc in price)

We are staying at Levi (Hotel Sirkantahti) for 4 nights, and I wanted to know the following:
~Can you hire sledges, and if so how much? Or would it be better to bring one with us?
~Anyone been to the ice village Laioia (or something like that??!) and what is the cheapest way to do this?
~How many clothes to bring?? It is possible to wash items/ wear them lots?
~How does one dress up nice with all these layers?? lol
~Are there any particular gifts in shops that people buy?
~How much is it to ski out there inc lessons? would this be expensive??
~Would it be worth taking the following: water bottle, flask, bottles of water, considering that these would be used for outdoor purposes.... (how does one stop water from freezing over??)
~Can you wear any makeup without it freezing on your face?? :eek:

Many many thanks- am so excited!!!

poe.tuesday

cotton is only not recommended if you are skiing as when you ski, you sweat and then the cotton absorbs the sweat and then goes cold but as you are not skiing (I presume) then cotton would be ok - however if you can avoid it, do so

get some cheap thermals for your first layer which needs to be reasonably tight, then go to primark and get their fleece pj's, these are ideal for your mid layer and then just take an additional fleece top just in case it is really cold, each layer needs to be slightly bigger than the first one etc so that air can circulate between the layers, thus keeping you warm

for socks I would suggest that you just use your normal ones but put two pairs on, just make sure they are not too tight or thick.

as for how much stuff to take, personally as you are only there for 4 days I would take two base layers (thermals) and just one set of the fleece stuff, you will be wearing them all day, every day and it's only the base layer that you will need to change every other day - you don't need to take loads of stuff, you won't need to dress up to go out in the evening, everyone just peels off their outer gear and sit around in the mid layers - if you don't fancy fleece PJ's then tracksuits will be ok etc, however, if you have loads of luggage allowance then take as much as you like - as a family of 4 with all our ski gear too we only ever take 2 bags and never take even half of our allowance - seriously, don't take high heels or anything like that as you just can't walk outside in them, by all means if you want to have a meal in the hotel then take them but most people will be lounging around in their snow gear

as for the sledges, you will find them all over the resort, but if you take them just remember that someone may take them from you, it is a sort of free for all and everyone just seems to take them - if you do buy one then you can get them from the supermarket, but do write you name on it and keep it with you or chain it up etc but honestly, you can just use the ones lying around, remember to take them with you when you go shopping so you can drag your shopping home - also - go sledging in the evening up the main slope, it's great fun

as for the Lainio Snow Village, it is about an hour from levi going towards yllas - here is a link to it http://www.snowvillage.fi - you have to ask yourself why you want to go here as there is plenty for you to do in levi in your 4 days

for gifts, there are lots of nice shops in levi, as for what to buy, there are necklaces made from reindeer horn etc and there is moomin stuff too - you will have no problem finding gifts to buy but do check out all the shops first as they all offer something different from each other

for skiing - yes it will be expensive and I would say that you are only there for 4 days, enjoy lapland for everything else first, do the whole husky, reindeer stuff and then if you love the place then think about going back and doing the ski side of the holiday - naturally if you want to try it you can but you will spend most of your time on your !!!! in the snow and it will be frustrating as you will not have enough time to get anywhere - but if the kids land is still there, then your kids can try out stuff for free up there, your eldest maybe a bit big though

as for taking a flask, don't bother, you can get drinks everywhere you go, just do remember to drink lots as it is very dry there

make up - yep you can wear it if you want, we always put a layer of Vaseline on our faces before we go out just to keep the wind from chapping the face, waterproof mascara helps too when you are playing in the snow - take lip balm too

I would suggest that you do not stick to eating in the hotel but be careful a it is expensive to eat out, you will find burger bars etc and they are really good burgers too and get stuff from the supermarket and make up sandwiches, do watch the prices as you will be amazed at the cost of some things, such as soup etc.

have you got any trips included with cosmos, if not, then try to book your trips with the inghams reps as their trips are much cheaper

also, when you are on the plane, take your hats and gloves etc with you as you can have to wait to get into the airport, as you are getting your outer gear included you may not want to take a coat with you but if you don't, just make sure you have something warm for to wear when you get off the plane and then when you walk to the buses - the airport is only 15 mins from levi so you will be there in a flash

I hope you have the most amazing time, remember to play lots in the snow, shake the trees and do lots and lots of sledging

where abouts are you btw as I have a load of stuff you could borrow for the kids - pm me if you are interested

Luvly.cuppa.T

That's absolutely brilliant Poe.Tuesday, thanks ever so much for all the info.

Yes we're going on one of those that has the reindeer/husky etc trips included, and I forgot to mention that we are full board too, so I am hoping to make full use of that. Although I might pack some pot noodles and a few snacks just in case the kids (or I!) don't like the food for any reason. It appears that we have a kettle in the room, but that's it.

Good to hear that everyone will be wearing the same sort of thing, ironically I don't tend to dress up much, but just in case I wondered how people worked round this!! Comfort is far better I like the idea of what you mentioned with pjs and doubling up socks etc.

Lainio is something I've always wanted to see, so for me it's a must if you like, a real urge I have to scratch, and with regard to the skiing, I think you're right there, that can always be saved for another time. Will check out the prices with the Ingham guys for Lainio though.

You know you said with drinks being available everywhere, how much do these cost? I'm thinking a flask or 2 might just save a few euros every day that we could put to something else, such as the Lainio trip. Or even the husky farm if we can stretch to that too.

Many thanks again for the info, and have sent you a pm;)

poe.tuesday

drinks - well in the supermarket they will be like waitroes prices, higher than normal but not too high, in cafes etc they will be a few euros and in restaurants they will be about 4 or 5 euros so if you can take bottles of pop with you then the kids can drink that etc, tea and coffee etc are usually from machines and cost a few euros - alcohol etc is expensive and will be over 5 euros for a half, spirits are very expensive - if you want to buy beer etc then anything below 5% is sold in the supermarkets and anything over is only sold in the alko shops (there is one next to the supermarket in the square in levi), wine etc is about the same price as a wine shop here but wine out in the restaurants is expensive

as you have a kettle then taking a flask and some packet soup would be a good idea to go out an about with - you will find that the trips that you do will include drinks and biscuits as part of the package, but if you take out some chocolates such as mars bars etc they will be handy for a sugar boost, remember to also take a back pack to carry all this stuff with you as you will need your hands free for making snowballs

the other thing that we do is to get old socks, cut the feet off them and use them as wrist warmers as often there is a gap between your gloves and outer-suit and these wrist warmers keep you toasty