How to do LAPLAND on a budget!

Stonebabies

testicles wrote: »

Around July!

Ha not at all sure what's the fun in going in July?! December is when we're going

Stonebabies

mik_da_man wrote: »

Great Deal.

I'd nearly stay a night in Tallinn, I did a day trip and felt it was a wee bit rushed.
it's a beautiful spot and well worth a visit.

Brilliant thanks!

Stonebabies

Easterly Beasterly wrote: »

We have just booked a trip for 2 of us to Lapland from November 18-21st.

We did it more or less the same way except we are flying from Dublin - Helsinki with Norwegian and then getting a flight from Helsinki to Rovaniemi with Finnair. There is a 3 hour layover in Helsinki but we don't mind that. The train trip is 15 hours AFAIK and can be expensive.

We are staying 3 nights in the 4 star Lapland Hotel Ounasvaara Chalets and got it all in for less than €400 per person. I couldn't believe the value when I went digging. It does get more expensive as you get closer to Christmas but the weekend of November 18th - 21st is a great weekend to go they do an official opening of The Christmas Season at The Santa Village and Santa Park. It's also a good time to see the Northern Lights.

We have no kids and we can hardly contain our excitement!!

Brilliant! It worked out over €1k for flights for us from Helsinki to Rovaniemi so we opted for the overnight train at just under €300 for 7 of us. Lots of people go with no kids, I was surprised at the amount of couples when reading reviews & researching!

Stonebabies

racso1975 wrote: »

You can also get flights direct to Rovaniemi with norwegian air from gatwick flying the 5th dec to 9th worked out at 380.

Yeah I saw that but the timings were mad so we'd have to overnight at a hotel in Gatwick, to be fair we could get a great price for hotel less than €50 for the night but the flights out were 5am for the dates we wanted.

Stonebabies

deiseindublin wrote: »

Would love to book this! Is it only from Nov 18 that the village and events are open/bookable.

What's the best website to look at booking events?

It's open all year round including visiting Santa! Santa Village is free entry but you can book activities. Santa Park you've to pay in but they don't have online booking you can pay at the door, their advice is to get there early as tour buses get there from about 10.30.

Stonebabies

Absoluvely wrote: »

When I went to Finland it worked out cheaper to buy Interrail one country passes instead of train tickets from the national rail company.

Excellent thanks, I looked at that too but worked out more expensive for 7 of us as we can get kids free on the train with VR.

Stonebabies

Quackster wrote: »

Great thinking OP! Especially spending a few days in Helsiki - you won't be disappointed.

Have to agree though with the other posters that Tallinn is worth so much more than a day trip. But sure that'll just be an excuse to go back again in the summer when there are direct flights from Dublin.

Yep was thinking exactly that!

Stonebabies

Carnacalla wrote: »

Dublin-Rovaniemi has appeared in Ryanairs search engine. Nothing bookable yet though.

They used to do direct flights but haven't in a while, hopefully they will again. It'd save a lot of hassle and money!

Stonebabies

Boards.ie: Mark wrote: »

Congratulations Stonebabies who is the first winner of a €50 One4All Voucher for finding the]best bargain of the week[]! You've filled the forum with Christmas cheer

Thanks so much, it'll go towards ski gear!

ShayC

Stonebabies wrote: »

Brilliant! It worked out over €1k for flights for us from Helsinki to Rovaniemi so we opted for the overnight train at just under €300 for 7 of us. Lots of people go with no kids, I was surprised at the amount of couples when reading reviews & researching!

Are you just getting a seat or a bed? Looking at compartments for 2 adults and 3 kids, its coming to €1122!!! Am I doing something wrong?

Stonebabies

Yep don't book the kids! I'll pop a section of the blog post I wrote with all the info below, if you've any questions just ask

How do I get from Helsinki to Rovaniemi?

Take the overnight train run by VR but it really should be called the Lapland Express! It took me a couple of days and a couple of phone calls to them to sort out the best rate. There are two options for the overnight train you can book a 2 berth cabin or seats that recline in a train carriage. We would be travelling with 5 children and children over 4 years old need their own seat so it actually works out cheaper for us to book a cabin.

Do not book any tickets online for children aged 10 & under. Book the adults into the cabin and then call them on 00358 203 32033, they’ve very helpful English speaking staff. Children aged 6-10 years old need a ticket to travel and will be added to your booking free of charge. If you book online you pay full price for them. Each adult ticket can avail of 1 free child ticket. Children under 6 years old do not require a ticket to travel in a cabin and you don’t need to notify them beforehand.

As there would be 7 of us I’d need to book at least 3 beds or 6 seats as 2 year old would be on our knee. This is where the calls came in as I was trying to get the best deal; the prices quoted on the phone were astronomical at €376 one way. With a little further research I found we could book 2 adults into one cabin and avail of 2 free children and then book 1 adult into a 2 person cabin with 1 child free. The other bed in this cabin will possibly be purchased buy another passenger. Notice I booked one of the children as an adult? I did that because we could then get another child free with that ticket.

The online rate is €118pp return this price includes a breakfast of porridge. If you sign up to their free Venturi programme you receive a €20 discount on this rate bringing it down to just €98pp return. You can’t book 3 beds on a single booking; it must be done on separate bookings. So the train for 7 of us return costs €294. Yes it would be a squash in the cabin but it adds to the adventure!

hairyairyfairy

Where can we access your blog?
Hope to get more tips from you especially where to get appropriate clothes (and tog rates etc)
Can't believe that this dream is a possibility thanks to your post!!!
thx

loki7777

hairyairyfairy wrote: »

Where can we access your blog?
Hope to get more tips from you especially where to get appropriate clothes (and tog rates etc)
Can't believe that this dream is a possibility thanks to your post!!!
thx

Google it
http://www.cherrysuedointhedo.com/2016/09/lapland-is-trip-of-lifetime-heres-how.html

hairyairyfairy

loki7777 wrote: »

Google it
http://www.cherrysuedointhedo.com/2016/09/lapland-is-trip-of-lifetime-heres-how.html

Thanks, she's the LEGOLAND lady!!!!

Stonebabies

Thanks Loki7777! Oh am I hairyairyfairy?! Yep I wrote a post on Legoland, Harry Potter Studios, Thomasland & a few others like Disney Paris, lots of info to help you do all these trips yourself at a fraction of the cost!

now online

For anyone doing this Lidl have ski gear in next Thursday.

matc66

@Stonebabies do you plan on organising activities when you arrive or beforehand?

now online

@stonebabies, we've booked! Thanks so much!

uck51js9zml2yt

Just read through this. Definitely something to book for next year....might leave the kids at home though !;)

80s Child

Our young fella is only 4 months old! I'm here looking at him going, "Sure, he'd still enjoy it!!"

Great thread! Fair play!

now online

To anyone thinking of doing this i say go, don't hestitate. What an amazing experience.
We're on our way home now, it truly was an experience if a lifetime. The only thing I would do different 2 cabins on the way, they are spotless but tiny. Even sleeping at either end of the bunk is a squash.
Santa park is all indoors, nice things to do for the kids big and small! Decorate gingerbread men,elf school watch a show visit post office etc tickets are valid for 2 days.

Santa's village was by far my favourite, we visited Santa there, and it really was Santa! We did a reindeer ride, missed the husky ride. Kids had a ball in the snow.

We didn't experience any nightlife, the days were so jam packed we were wrecked!

For eating out and taxis it's on Parr with ireland.

Truly a holiday of a lifetime, enjoy!

now online

Eta we didn't get to see the northern lights, it was too cloudy and you have to go outside the city. We did cross the artic circle both under it in Santa park and the physical line in Santa village

whackball

We are on the train back to Helsinki after an amazing 3 days.

We did it ourselves and worked out at a little over 400 each for 5 of us.

Flights Dublin to Helsinki
2 cabins on the overnight train
2 nights in the City hotel (2 rooms)
Return train to Helsinki
1 night hotel in Helsinki (2 rooms)
Flights home.
Booked 2 bags on plane....

Total cost 2070

Travel agent wanted 2700 for day trip or circa 6k for 2 nights

Amazing magical place.
Santa Village is amazing. Santa so good and reindeer rides etc.
Caught the official opening of Xmas season on Saturday. Was really nice.

Helsinki not too expensive and on a par with Ireland and cheaper for alot of things.

Great memories and we will return again when our 2 year old is older.
My 9 & 11 year old girls loved it.

saggycaggy

If there are any snapchat users here-I started following "stonebabies" just last night and the snaps from the trip so far are amazing!!

I'm thinking about booking this for next year so getting a proper view if it really helps- even to get an image of the cabins, train etc! and Santa of course :P

randombar

An old thread but I remembered it and was wondering if any boardsies did similar? Two kids 7 and 4. I reckon the 7 year old is going to be sketchy next year so it’ll be the last chance. Plus the year we’ve all had we might go a bit mad next year. Only live once etc. Etc.

I know very very early days but any advice would be appreciated.

JohnDeereIE

GaryCocs wrote: »

An old thread but I remembered it and was wondering if any boardsies did similar? Two kids 7 and 4. I reckon the 7 year old is going to be sketchy next year so it’ll be the last chance. Plus the year we’ve all had we might go a bit mad next year. Only live once etc. Etc.

I know very very early days but any advice would be appreciated.

Would be very interested myself. Two families and it looked like crazy money from the companies. Circa 1-1/5k per person which because of the virus is way out of budget. Kids getting older and need to do ASAP. Eldest already asking question so has to be next year. She is 7 as well.

Birdie086

MuchZeus wrote:

For context, I am a 24 year old graduate. Have a degree in business, still unsure of what to do in life, but didn’t leave my old college job because of covid and economic uncertainty.

A friend of mine had it booked for this year but obviously it got cancelled.
She got tonnes of advice from a Facebook page 'Lapland on a budget'

now online

GaryCocs wrote: »

An old thread but I remembered it and was wondering if any boardsies did similar? Two kids 7 and 4. I reckon the 7 year old is going to be sketchy next year so it’ll be the last chance. Plus the year we’ve all had we might go a bit mad next year. Only live once etc. Etc.

I know very very early days but any advice would be appreciated.

We did it, four years ago. I still look back on it as a trip of a lifetime. Follow the links at the start of this thread and set a reminder to do your research next October if you want to do it 2021.

TheDriver

One of the main flyers has stopped ie Norwegian.

fits

I hope to go sometime with my family. I lived in Finland a few years ago and went up there pre kids. I think we will go in March though because the days are longer the weather is better and better chance of seeing Aurora. And Santa Claus Village is still good to visit out of season. The zoo in Ranua is well worth a visit too.