Cheap Ski Holidays in Finland

Skiing in Finland and Lapland regions gives you a real winter wonderland experience. Located deep in the Arctic Circle and having one of Europe’s longest ski seasons from December to late April, and with snow unto 60cms and temperatures down as low as 14 degrees, make it ideal conditions for a perfect skiing holiday.

Obviously Finland is famous for Santa and the North Pole, reindeer outnumber people here and are a common sight, the scenery here is beautiful and the daytime excursions are fantastic. When you are not skiing, you must try reindeer or husky safaris or snow mobiling, Santa schools and Santa searches, ice fishing, tobogganing and by night you can sit back and enjoy the amazing Northern Lights, considered one of the seven wonders of the world. The non ski activities are almost as exciting as the skiing in Finland.

Levi is one of Finland’s top ski resorts, with extensive and exciting skiing available. It offers uncrowded slopes particularly good for beginners and intermediates with small ski school classes, wide nursery slopes and friendly English speaking instructors. Queues are a rarity here and the extensive lift system will take you to over 60 km of well groomed piste. Advanced skiers will enjoy the world famous World Cup gondola slopes and the off piste powder snow is amazing. Boarders are well catered for too with a special snowboard alley to explore. Many of the runs are floodlit too, making skiing available for longer.

Yllas is another snow sure resort offering skiing from November through to may, with a short transfer of 25 mins. Another ideal resort to learn to ski, with perfect, uncrowded nursery slopes and plenty of greens and easy blues to test yourself on, and of course English speaking instructors. Intermediates and advanced will enjoy the more difficult blues and reds and its a snowboarders paradise with 2 floodlit snow parks with jumps and a super pipe and boarder cross course.

And last but by no means least, we have Saariselka, located in the mystical north of Lapland, an friendly, uncommercialised resort, uncrowded, tree lined runs, perfect for beginners and early intermediates. Not much here for the more advanced skier, only one black run. Boarders have a good half pipe and some excellent powder snow.

So for an unforgettable winter break, consider Lapland in Finland, especially if you are travelling with children or some non skiers, it has a little bit of magic for everyone.

Money

The Euro (EUR) is the official currency of Finland. One Euro =100 cents. Banks, ATMs and bureaux de change are available in allcities and airports; banks are closed on weekends. AmericanExpress, Diner's Club, Eurocard, Access, MasterCard and Visa areaccepted in hotels, restaurants, and larger shops. Travellerscheques can be cashed in Helsinki and large cities, but ATMs arethe easiest and most economical way to get cash.

Time

Local time is GMT +2 (GMT +3 from the last Saturday in March to the Saturday before the last Sunday in October).

Language

Finnish and Swedish share status as Finland's official languages. Sami is spoken by the isolated population group in Lapland. English is taught at schools and is widely understood.

Climate

In general Finland has an extreme swing between summer andwinter, with bitterly cold winters when temperatures drop to-4ºF (-20ºC) in many areas, particularly in northernLapland. Summer, by contrast, can be warm with temperatures risingto 68ºF (20ºC) or more. Temperatures as high as 86ºF(30ºC) are possible in the south and east of the country. Thecapital, Helsinki, remains fairly temperate varying between anaverage of 63ºF (17ºC) in July to 23ºF (-5ºC)in February. In the far north the sun does not set for about 73days during summer, while in winter the sun remains below thehorizon for a 51-day stretch.