Can some experienced travellers help me with my Itinery?

Hi guys, I wondered if some experienced Lapland travellers could help me with my itinery for my trip this Christmas.

So far, all I have booked and confirmed is 5 nights at Ounasvaraan Pirtit log cabins in Rovaniemi between the 15-20th December.

In terms of travel, I have nothing decided yet, but from what I can see the options are

1) Budget flight to Helsinki, then overnight sleeper train to Rovaniemi

2) Charter flight either direct to Rovaniemi or to Kittila, Kuusamo etc

I%26#39;ll start by saying that I%26#39;m not a great flyer, so the thought of an onward flight from Helsinki, however convenient, is not an option! The overnight train is an option, especially as some of the new carriages have en-suite bathrooms and the rooms dont look too different from a budget hotel! Does anyone have any experience of doing this?

The other option is a charter flight to Kittila or Kuusamo, and at the moment this is what I%26#39;m leaning to, as I am happy to hire a car, and would be keen on spending a couple of days in a little village or town around these areas before travelling onto Rovaniemi for the %26#39;main%26#39; holiday. Firstly, does anyone know how easy it is to get places on these charter flights? I know Thomsonfly fly to Kittila from Bristol %26amp; Heathrow, but cant seem to book the flights online....there is a website called charteredflights.co.uk which offers flights, but for my hubby, son and myself it is more than £1200 which seems quite pricey! Secondly, are there any places around Kittila or Kuusamo that anyone could recommend spending a couple of days?

Sorry for the lengthy post, and I hope someone can help!

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%26quot;some of the new carriages have en-suite bathrooms and the rooms dont look too different from a budget hotel!%26quot;

Yep, the new trains are comfortable and you save one night%26#39;s charge of a hotel room.

I think the cheapest flight option is from Stanstead to Tampere by Ryanair. The train goes via Tampere, so no problem there.

%26quot;are there any places around Kittila or Kuusamo that anyone could recommend spending a couple of days?%26quot;

Yep, Levi and Ruka are probly the biggest resorts in Finland. Both far bigger than Ounasvaara.

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Don%26#39;t know anything about the charter flights I%26#39;m afraid.

But we have travelled from Helsinki to Rovaniemi on the sleeper trains a couple of times. Last year (in the summer) we went on one of the old (Russian) sleeper trains. They are perfectly nice and comfortable but not as luxurious (no own shower/toilet) as the new Pendolinos. So - as not all sleepers are the new trains - make sure you check when booking.

You leave Helsinki in the evening, and wake up in Rovaniemi. Simple as that ... really comfortable.

We picked up a Budget rent a car in Rovaniemi, which is about 15 minutes walk from the station. But I%26#39;m sure you can probably pick your car up at the station if you organise yourselves properly!

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Russian?

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%26quot;Last year (in the summer) we went on one of the old (Russian) sleeper trains. They are perfectly nice and comfortable but not as luxurious (no own shower/toilet) as the new Pendolinos.%26quot;

A bit confusing.

Yes, there are old and new sleeper cars from HEL to ROI.

The new red 2-deck sleeper cars however are not (Italian Fiat Ferroviaria/later French Alstom) Pendolinos (type Sm3), they are made by a Finnish company, Transtech in Kajaani (Wagon type Edm) and run as P 265 and P 274 trains.

The elder generation of sleeper cars was also made in Finland, by VR Pasilan konepaja in Helsinki from 1964 to 1986.

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Hi, thanks for your reply everybody....I think my favoured option would be one of the charter flights into Kittila so we could spend a couple of days around there before moving onto Rovaniemi, but I think that all depends on the cost and availability of places on these charter flights

If anyone has past knowledge or experience, I would be grateful to hear it

Thanks!

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hi, we%26#39;ve gone for the chartered flights this year , and ours goes from manchester to helsinki and helsinki to kittila, £358.00 per adult and £298.00 per child, this is with finnair.they will check our baggage right through to kittila and theres only an hour wait at helsinki when we change flights.

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%26quot;I%26#39;ll start by saying that I%26#39;m not a great flyer, so %26quot;the thought of an onward flight from Helsinki, however convenient, is not an option!%26quot;

What do you actually mean by this? Changing flights in Helsnki is actually much easier than changing from airport to a train there.

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%26quot;I%26#39;ll start by saying that I%26#39;m not a great flyer, so the thought of an onward flight from Helsinki, however convenient, is not an option!%26quot;

Read: I%26#39;m afraid to fly

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Yup, scared of flying!

levi chalets

what are the levi chalets like?are they good?

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no no no no and no. we booked one of these last december for a week, and it was plain awful, inghams moved us out after day 3 when i realised how to use the contact numbers to contact them, and they even said they%26#39;d never seen anything like it.

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Hello raindrops

My family and i spent 2 weeks in the levi chalets last december and really liked the accomodation.levi chalets are central,we never had any problems with them and would stay in them again.We are booked to again in december.

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We stayed in the Levi Chalets in 2007 and have booked for this year. They were great, fairly close to the front slopes, well kitted out, very clean and spacious.

I would be interested to know what the previous poster%26#39;s problems were. We have recommended the chalets to other people in the past and they have agreed.

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The problems were from the very beginning, we had to wait outside the chalet on arrival as the cleaners were still in there getting it ready, 30 mins later we were given the keys and went in, the problems were in this apartment 1. a badly blood stained matress upstairs in the mezzaine 2. a broken wash basin that leaked all the water straight onto the floor through the crack, 3. broken glass in the front room sofa bed, 4. rotting food in the fridge, 5. a notice hung on the fire place saying out of use,6.used plasters left in the shower, and in general a very dirty place in need of a lot of work.

i can appreciate this can all be fixed but in all fairness after paying £1,830.00 pound for it it needed to be a hell of a lot better than it was, and once the inghams reps and the owners of the chalet saw it they agreed and moved us out, and we were refunded £400.00 by inghams along with a written apoligy.

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It does sound like you had a very bad experience.

I guess this was a one off as we could not praise the chalet we had high enough.

Sokos Ilves Hotel question

I am staying there next week for 2 nights and want to pack as little as possible. Are the bathrooms equipped with shower gel/shampoo etc?

Thanks in advance

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I haven%26#39;t been to that particular hotel but every other Sokos hotel I%26#39;ve been to has been equipped with these so I wouldn%26#39;t worry.

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You can double-check with them if you like: ilves.tampere@sokoshotels.fi

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It would be astonishing if they weren%26#39;t.

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Yes, that hotel is well equipped in all respects, but cannot confirm if it has the strange item called kettle, so many Britons seem to be fond off.

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Thanks to all your replies. I have never visited Finland before so wasn%26#39;t sure. Disappointed to hear no kettle though %26#39;cos we Brits love our cuppa cha :o)

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You would do well to stick to the excellent coffee. Finns don%26#39;t have a clue about tea.

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Unfortunately I%26#39;m not a coffee fan, but do sometimes drink decaf - is it any good over there?

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%26quot;I%26#39;m not a coffee fan%26quot;

No wonder, I%26#39;ve had coffee in England ;)

%26quot;but do sometimes drink decaf - is it any good over there?%26quot;

Forget it, just take a latte or cappucino instead.

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%26quot;Finns don%26#39;t have a clue about tea.%26quot;

Same could be said of Brits, depending whom you ask - the Chinese or Japanese, for example ;)

The tea sold in Finland is intended to be drunk without milk - you can%26#39;t find the very black tea types that are so common in the UK.

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From the comments above, cappucino sounds favourite. Thanks for taking the trouble to post your comments.

Electrical Plugs

Hey All,

just want to check on what adapter to take with me to Norway and Finland.

I%26#39;m sitting here with 5 adapters, all 2-pin, but slightly diffeent thickness of pin, and distance apart.

I understand that Scandinavia uses the same plugs as Western Europe?

thanks

Andrew

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Hi!

Here%26#39;s a really thourough site with pictures of different plugs and where they are used. http://www.kropla.com/electric.htm

The ones%26#39; used in Finland are the tyoes C and F.

Have a really nice trip!

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An adapter where the output is of type C will also fit into a socket of type F, so a C type (Western European 2-pin) adapter will suffice for both Finland and Norway (and the rest of continental Europe). F type (grounded) plug will not necessarily fit into a socket of type C.

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thanks guys, that%26#39;s a great help.

looking forward to my trip now.

cheers

Andrew

Accomodation in Yllas

I am going to book my holiday for next January this week and cant decide between 2 different accomodations. Ive narrowed it down to either Yllas Saaga apartments or Villa Armas Cabins. Any info you can give me on both, location, size, rooms etc would be great thanks

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yllas has two sides to it, the akas side which is where the village is and the supermarket and then on the other side there is the saaga side, the two sides are separated by the fell that you do your skiing on

if you are there for the skiing then the saaga side will be great as you can just step out of your accommodation to the slopes, however, not much else round there and if you want to go to the supermarket it will cost you 3 euros each way and I believe the bus only goes every 2 hours, taxi is going to be considerably more, if you are round the akas side you have the supermarket, shops, restaurants, bars etc (not that many but at least there are some) but to get to the ski resort you have to take the bus which runs every hour and is free for inghams guests

you really need to look back at the reviews of the saaga side as it may not have enough amenities for you

your other option is to wait on a last min deal and just go where they send you, jan is very quiet as it%26#39;s out of the school hols, plenty of deals around last year and the year before

day trip in helsinki

we will arrive helsinki on july 18 by emerald princess and wil stay there for 8 hrs (10:00 am - 6:00 pm). we would appreciate if someone can help us to make the tour plan in advance, thanks.

a) any idea of the docking port ? lansisatama or hernesaari. I know they are next to each other but have no idea of how big of each dock.

b) is there a local bus 16 from these docking ports to the city center. how long will it take ?

c) since time is limited and a lot of sights are there. so would like to have some suggestions for the places that must see or worth to visit.

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a) Makes no difference (as long as you remember your way back - and every summer I run into people who can%26#39;t).

b) The bus ride is only a few minutes. You won%26#39;t be the only one getting off in the centre, so just follow the crowd.

c) Look back through this forum as you are not the first to ask this question. It depends mainly on whether you want an organized tour or prefer to do your own thing. But briefly:

1. Esplanadi Park (drinky or coffee outside if the weather%26#39;s good), check out design shops/souvenirs.

2. Kauppatori/market square by the sea, flanked by Eastern Orthodox cathedral and modest Presidential Palace.

3. Senaatintori/Senate Square.

4. Either take a water bus to Suomenlinna (quite a bit of walking, time is an issue) or a boat tour from the Kauppatori quay.

If you%26#39;re REALLY organized and energetic you may wish to pack in a little more. But you could do this 1-4 tour in leisurely fashion and still have a memorable day.

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thank you for yr information !

by the way, can you tell where the tourist information centre at the city center as we would like to get a detail local map and do the tour by our own.

also pls advise where we can take the water bus to suomenlinna and what attractions/sightseeing are there, thanks.

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Tourist information? Piece of cake. The street is Pohjoisesplanadi, at the Kauppatori end. It%26#39;s pretty much opposite the Havis Amanda mermaid statue and the Kappeli restaurant (which looks like an enormous birdcage), both good landmarks.

Suomenlinna: the Kauppatori quay is not a very large area and you won%26#39;t have much trouble finding the ferries.

There is an inexpensive city-owned ferry leaving from more or less opposite the Russian eagle monument in the center of the plaza. There are several commercial operations which cost a little more, but I suggest you take one of those going to Kuninkaanportti (King%26#39;s Gate) as this will save you a couple of miles of walking plus precious time.

Things to see: the King%26#39;s Gate itself and the old Russian artillery pieces along the battlements. Have a beer and watch the huge Sweden ferries threading through the narrows between islands.

You can find out more from the city tourist office.

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thanks johnthefinn ! we really appreciate for your advice and information, thanks again.

renting a trailer-bike(bike with a hanger in helsinki

we are spending a few days in helsinki in july and were thinking that seeing the place on a rented bike would be fun. as i understand helsinki is a bike-friendly city, am i correct?

since we have two kids, aged five and six, we%26#39;d need to rent trailer-bikes (the ones where the child%26#39;s bike is trailed to the adult%26#39;s one). do you know if there is a place that rents these? or alternatively bikes with a hanger? could we rent helmets as well? i can%26#39;t seem to find anything on the net.

thank you!

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Biker friendly??? Well I%26#39;m not much of a biker, but I would not plan to tour the city by bike with kids (even with adults I%26#39;d have my doubts).

The public transportation works fine and the central area is so small, that it is easily walkable.

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On this page: www.pyoraillensuomessa.fi/index.php… you can see 4 bike rental shops in Helsinki. By clicking their name you%26#39;ll get their contact info. You%26#39;d better ask directly from the shops what sort of equipment they have for rent (and for what sort of price).

I would not count Helsinki (especially the downtown area) as an especially biker friendly place. On the other hand Oulu is the only city in Finland belonging to the Cities for Cyclists network: http://www.ecf.com/54_1 (the info on that page seem to be %26quot;a bit%26quot; outdated, from 2002. E.g. the number of inhanbitants in Oulu is nowadays 137 000 and there are over 544 km of well-maintained cycle paths in the city!). oulutourism.fi/en/…ulkoilu_ja_liikunta.aspx -%26gt; Biking

Check also this: http://www.hepo.fi/index.php?sivu=in-english

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There is a network of cycle paths in the city centre but the area is small. Polarbear is correct - walking + public transport is the best way to get around Helsinki. Taking a bike on the ferry to Suomenlinna for a day might be a good idea, though, as the little ones may get fed up with all the walking. It%26#39;s a fair-sized island.

I%26#39;m sure helmets will be available for hire from any bike hire company. Finns are a pretty health-conscious lot.

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thank you so much - what a helpful forum this is!

i will contact the different agencies directly; if they have what we need, we%26#39;ll rent a bike just for a day, good idea to take one with us to suomenlinna.