Best age for children to visit Lapland?

donnalouise_2

Thinking of taking my 4 year old nephew to Lapland this December.Read on a few sites that very young children would find it too cold.Any advice would be appreciated.

spender

Have been 3 times, to be honest I feel that 4 is too young especially if it is very cold (minus 26/27 when we went in January). A lot of the major tour operators do agree that 4 is just a bit too young, I would suggest about 6 (our youngest was 6 the first time and he just cried because of the cold).

louise24769

Hi
I would really really recommend the Santa Special at the Alton Towers hotel resort. We went as a family in December and it was GREAT. My boys are 2 and 6 and it was perfect! We got there one afternoon and left the following. There were lots of things to do. Seeing Santa, feeding reindeers, dodgems, pantomine, woodland walk, fake snow in the gardens (looked beautiful), water/swimming park, cinema, face painting, lots of entertainment, hotel room, 3 course evening meal (eat as much as you want) and breakfast (again, eat as much as you want). Cost about £170 for the 4 of us. Didn't have to pay for anything apart from our drinks with the meals. Definately going again! If you take another adult there is a fab spa that you should go and have treatments in - YOU KNOW YOU DESERVE IT.
Louise

rdwarr

Bear in mind that people actually live in Lapland and have children! As long as you dress properly you'll have a great time.

ladykibby

Hubby and I went to Lapland last year, glad we didnt take grandchildren..... we decided to wait until they were about 5-6 years old to appreciate it. We only went for the day - DONT DO IT.... We were absolutely cream crackered !! Thoses poor kids must have been too !!!

My suggestion on whole Lapland trip - only take kids 5 years and older, get proper clothing and footwear, stay at least 2 nights to appreciate it and give santa my love and tell him I have been a good girl again !!!!

One nore thing, if you plan to go toboganning, take out winter sports insurance - just in case !!!

Have a good time !!!

livinginhope

1st time we went our child was only just 1,we bought special clothing,not your average ski wear,it was -32C he wasn't cold at all,2nd time we went we had 2 children,one age 6,the other age 4,again they had very good clothing and didn't find it cold.I think as long as you buy/hire appropriate clothes they should be fine,but to experience the true magic of the place,I think anything over 5 would be best.

tight_jock

We went for 5 days over Christmas when youngest was 18 months. We bought him thermals and an outer suit from a canadian company and used the layers as per the guidelines. The other two were issued with boots and snowsuits as were OH and I and also took thermals, hats inner gloves and balaclavas. At its coldest on Christmas day ( -40 !! :eek: ) we were still warm enough. The guides will not let you spend too long out in it if it is dangerously cold. There were fires alight at all our stops and hot drinks and soup available regularly. The coaches also had their heating on full blast and our cabin was actually too hot.
It was a truly magical experience and all the kids had a fantastic experience. We went with Canterbury travel and I would highly recommend them to any one.
I would not, however , recommend a one day experience due to the intensity of the day. Early start, very busy day and late finish. Friends of ours have done this and regretted it.

Some companies will not take under 2s as they go free!! This may be why they are discouraged - or maybe I am just a cynic. As rdwarr says ... they have children there too......... oh I would also recomend winter sports insurance

ENJOY

black-saturn

I took my children there in 2001 and I think I got it just about at the right age. You need to do it when they are still believing in santa but also old enough to be able to remember it for the rest of their lives. Mine were 5 and 7 when I took them. They give you the option of hiring a thermal suit. I hired one for the children but not for me and the children were complianing they were hot the whole time they were there. It was about minus 3 when we went.

tight_jock

black-saturn wrote:

They give you the option of hiring a thermal suit. I hired one for the children but not for me and the children were complianing they were hot the whole time they were there. It was about minus 3 when we went.

Our clothing was all included in the cost except for #3 son as he was under 2

black-saturn

tight_jock wrote:

Our clothing was all included in the cost except for #3 son as he was under 2

AAh you must have gone all inclusive. I didn't as there were a couple of activities in the AI that we didn't want to do. I paid extra for the hire of suits when I got there and hired a reindeer ride, husky sled ride, paid for a meal and other things when we got there and it was much cheaper.

Rachie_B

awww it all sounds fab !

we are thinking of going next year when our youngest son will be 6

how much roughly can we expect to pay for 2 adults ,2 children for say a 3 day trip?