The Artisan Travel Blog

Kittila: The perfect Lapland winter escape

Arriving at Kittila Airport on a very late flight from the UK last December, I was happy in the knowledge that I had a very short transfer to get to my hotel. No sooner had my friendly Finnish taxi driver helped me into the car, he was then helping me out of it 5 minutes later as we arrived at the hotel. I was quickly checked into my room and tucked up in bed in anticipation of tomorrow's adventures.

I was met the following morning by my guide for the next two days, Jaakko. He was absolutely fantastic with the small group I joined and had obviously built up a brilliant rapport with the members despite the assortment of nationalities and ages.

This morning's activity was cross-country skiing and once we had established that no one in the group had actually done the activity before he led us through the very basic first steps of learning how to move around with the ski's attached to our feet. Once we got our balance and had learnt to stand up (!) we began a short circuit so we could practise negotiating the skiing tracks which run alongside almost all the footpaths in Northern Scandinavia.

kittila

The activity was pitched perfectly for the group and once everyone had learnt the basics we all headed back to the hotel to warm up with some hot berry juice.

Following cross-country skiing there is a free afternoon in the programme so after lunch I took the opportunity to sneak in a little more practise on my cross-country skis before doing a spot of shopping in the small town of Kittila (you really can't go home without a cuddly husky!).

After dinner in the restaurant I went through to enjoy the hotel's 'Pilots Pub' which is definitely worth a visit! Due to the hotels handy location near the airport, the accommodation was historically used by the pilots and flight staff of airlines from all over the world. The pilots loved relaxing in the bar at the hotel and they began to bring small gifts or tokens from their own countries to leave here after their visit. The hotel has now built up an impressive collection and there is plenty to keep you interested whilst you are enjoying a nice glass of wine in the evening with the rest of your group.

Read 4548 times Last modified on Thursday, 06 May 2021

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