On the way to the airport, I was incredibly excited; yet a little nervous going through everything in my mind. I am not normally a person who goes on a cold holiday and I was worried whether I had packed enough layers and thermals to last me. The journey through Bristol airport was incredibly easy as we sailed through security and were in the departures lounge with plenty of time to spare.
The flight of 3.5 hours to Enontekio was smooth and coming into land, seeing all the snowy forests below you was just magical. Upon arrival, after getting our bags extremely quickly as we were the only flight in that day, we were on the coach for a 50-minute transfer to our hotel the Davvi Arctic Lodge. The journey was comfortable on the coach and driving through the snowy roads gave you a sense of being in Narnia.
The Davvi Arctic lodge is a rustic-built lodge hotel set on a quiet secluded hillside in the border village of Karesuando. On the coach we were given our welcome pack which had more information and the wavier forms for health and safety for the husky and the snowmobile excursions. These must be completed and signed by everyone in your group and handed back before you could take part in these activities, make sure that your driving license is shown to reception as well.
We were then taken to our 3 bedroom Fell House which was very modern and clean in design. After settling our bags down and rooms chosen, we walked down to the suits and boots room to get measured up for our thermal suits and boots. After we were all suited and booted, we freshened up and went to the hotel for dinner and the welcome meeting. If you are staying in the Fell houses, they are situated at the bottom of a short hill about 2 minutes’ walk to the main hotel building where the restaurant is located. This walk is very pretty as it was all lit up and through a small forest.
(Top tip: take walking shoes or boots with you as well as with this walk you would need something with a little grip to it.)
Every meal was served in a buffet style where you had plenty of choice for breakfast, lunch and dinner. As I have a dietary requirement, I needed to check in with one of the team so they could highlight what is not suitable and can always provide you with a surprise option from the chef as well, which was appreciated. The welcome meeting after dinner took place in a small lounge area just off the side of reception where we were given all the information about what to expect from our trip and how the groups and timings of everything works.
On the notice board in the main hotel, you are put into groups so you can see what time and what day you were doing all your activities. Based on this you will then be given a sitting for breakfast, lunch and dinner as well. It worked amazingly and the organisation was spot on as you were never stood in a massive queue waiting for food.
That evening we took a walk around the grounds of the lodge and went for a little walk all suited and booted. It certainly wasn’t cold and my layers that I took were plenty for me not to feel the cold.
After breakfast the next morning and fresh snow had fallen, we decided to take a walk across the border and into Sweden. This took approximately 30 minutes to walk across the bridge; halfway across is the perfect photo opportunity of being in two different time zones and countries at the same time.
The church in Sweden was a beautiful little church, if you ever go make sure you write in the visitors’ book and let me know if you find my name. After walking back across the bridge into Finland we stopped for a drink in the café/garage at the bottom and had a drink and a look around the souvenir stop. Then it was a short walk back to the hotel, to warm up before lunch. After lunch it was time for our first activity – a visit to the Reindeer Camp!
On arrival into the Reindeer Camp we were split into two groups, one group went on the Reindeer walk whilst the others sat in a traditional Sami Hut with a warming fire in the middle learning all about the Reindeer. Then it was our turn to go out and meet the Reindeer. I felt like I was a child at Christmas when we were on the Reindeer sleigh walk, it was peaceful, magical and then it started snowing. I could not believe I was in Lapland on a Reindeer Sleigh Ride and for me this wasn’t even the highlight. That evening we then did a Forest Trek at 8pm where after walking through the forest to the top of a hill we sat around a campfire hearing stories about the northern lights and folklore about how they came to be.
The next day we had a leisurely breakfast and went for another walk before our optional extra excursion of Fell Viewpoint Snowmobile Safari; this was a 2-hour journey. My colleague Amy took a turn at driving first whilst I was the passenger. This was probably the excursion that most were a little nervous, but excited as well. Once we both relaxed into this and didn’t worry about crashing, we started to enjoy it more. Then at the halfway point we swapped over so it was my turn to drive. Well, it was an experience full of adrenaline and my driving couldn’t be that bad as we are both still here to talk about it.
On our final day was our last activity and by far the one I was most looking forward to; I am a huge dog lover and was looking forward to seeing the huskies. The noise is probably what you hear first as they are all very excited to run and take you around on the sleigh. The manager was amazing at explaining all about the team of huskies they have and how they are looked after.
Unfortunately, during our 3-night break we were not lucky enough to see the Northern Lights due to the cloud levels. However, this did not detract from the overall experience. I would recommend this trip to anyone who is looking for that wow factor and even to those who feel a cold holiday is not for them. I would go back within a heartbeat as this experience was truly magical.
