It’s funny isn’t it the more you travel, the stronger the desire to see more of the world becomes. Finland is right up there as somewhere we’re keen to explore and we have a list as long as your arm of the places we’d love to discover there. At this time of year, you can’t help but dream about capturing the Northern Lights. Finland is one of the best places in the world to hunt the remarkable Auroras and there’s no shortage of places to stay.
But there’s something alluring about the Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort. Located 250 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle and a stones throw from the Urho Kekkonen National Park, the resort is accessed via Ivalo airport. There’s a great opportunity to enjoy the surrounding nature and culture plus their accommodation is to die for. Glass igloos and log chalets are the order of the day with the Kelo-Glass igloos an extraordinary combination of the two. You can almost sense the comfort from within while admiring the skies above, hoping to capture this natural phenomenon.
Obviously the Northern Lights are never guaranteed but there are plenty of other things to do. The Doves are adventurers at heart (even five year old POD) so can’t help exploring. That’s the most exciting part of a holiday isn’t it, understanding the culture of a country, in this case the indigenous Sámi people and experiencing what’s on offer. For us the appeal lies with reindeer farms and safaris, we’d probably try a husky and snow mobile safari too. POD would probably be up for horse riding as well, she’s loved what she’s experienced of horses thus far. Our recent trip to the unspoilt Northern Spain proved she really is up for anything when her favourite thing to do was to swim in the river with the locals. She climbed a mountain too which is a superb effort for someone with such little, albeit rapidly expanding, legs.
POD will be six on Christmas Day. More snow fell in the UK that December than it had done in a hundred years. There’s been nothing since so she’s yet to build her first snowman. She asks every year if there’s going to be snow, every year we say yes and yet the forecasters for Southern England always get it wrong. Perhaps that’s why snowy resorts seem a bit special to us, her expression when she sees snow en masse for the first time will be priceless!
Going for a sauna is customary in Finland and there are three different sized smoke saunas at Kakslauttanen. There are two à la carte restaurants as well – one even has a glass igloo bar. Dining is also available in the seriously impressive looking Santa Claus Celebration House. We’ve experienced very little Finnish cuisine thus far and you’d absolutely have to go native. From their grillimakkara sausages, Karjalanpiirakka pies and reindeer which are said to be one of the healthiest foods you can eat.
All that food talk is making us hungry so I’ll leave you with the Kakslauttanen in winter film. It’s looks pretty special and at only 3 minutes long, it’s worth a nose. Certainly a destination to add to the bucket list that’s for sure. Enjoy 🙂
All photographs and video courtesy of Kakslauttanen. Photography by Valtteri Hirvonen.
IT looks so beautiful with all the snow and glass igloos and I would so love to see the aurora. Someone said they won’t last for many years now so I’m a bit more determined!