Going on a Lapland holiday is a dream for many, but the price tag associated with such a holiday can be daunting.
In this blog post, we're excited to share how our family of four (1 adult, 1 teen, and 2 children) managed to build our own trip to Lapland and save over £4000!
How much we spent on our Lapland Trip
We paid just £481 per person for a 4-night stay in Levi. This included return direct flights from Manchester, accommodation, all transport in resort, all the activities we did, winter sports insurance, clothing that we can keep to resell or reuse, souvenirs, food and drink!
This is was literally everything we spent on this trip.
This, compared to the jaw-dropping £1200 per person quote we received from a travel agent for just 2 nights!
Our saving of £4000 is against a similar 4 night package.
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Our Guide to Levi, Lapland
First and foremost, I spent days researching the areas of Lapland, what types of activities to do and the most suitable accommodation for us.
Hopefully, our Lapland Blogs will save you hours of having to do the same. For reference, the dates we stayed were Sunday 26th November to Thursday 30th November. Please bear in mind that booking this early in the season can mean a lack of snow.
I only booked our trip 4 weeks beforehand when locals said that the snow was here to stay and businesses confirmed activities would be running early.
As a rule of thumb if you're booking a months in advance, we would recommend looking for dates from 5th December onwards.
Generally, after Christmas is the best time to visit Lapland in terms of the amount of snow- January, February, March and even April have the deepest snow but there's usually plenty in December.
Flights to Levi
In early November, we managed to get EasyJet flights from Manchester direct to Kittilä for £52 each, prices had being dropping significantly over previous few weeks.
I had set an alert up on to let me know when the prices fluctuated. We booked at the start of November to depart just 3 weeks later.
For luggage we chose to travel light with just a small backpack each. We wore ski boots and ski jackets on the plane, as did most of the other passengers.
We squished everything in
travel vacuum bags which we use on every trip. Believe it or not we didn’t even wear everything we took either!
To save space we reserved our toiletries with Boots to collect after security.
We chose not to pre-book seats together after seeing there was plenty of seat availability on the plane.
EasyJet allow free check in 30 days before, so straight after booking the tickets, I checked us in.
On this occasion, as with every EasyJet flight we've ever taken, and we fly a lot, we were all seated together for both legs of the trip.
With it being a budget flight to Lapland, we weren't expecting anything extra like they do on the package holiday flights to Lapland, but it was so magical.
The staff all wore reindeer antlers and announced that Rudolf was ready to pull the plane to Lapland before setting off.
They did a colouring competition on board with prizes and the pilot gave out regular announcements to keep the kids excited. It was such a lovely start to our trip.
Where to stay in Levi, Lapland
For our accommodation we stayed at Levi Suites Unna Mannu in a 2-bedroom apartment, which was £488 for four nights (£122 per person).
The apartment was right in the centre of Levi, just a few minutes’ walk to Zero Point, with a wide of variety of eateries on the same street and a well stocked local supermarket close by.
It was spacious, modern, well equipped, and very clean. The apartment was more than we required.
We had two bedrooms, a large living room area with a TV which had Netflix/Disney+ loaded on. 2 toilets, large walk in shower, a sauna, washer, drying cupboard and fully equipped kitchen.
Taxi Tranfers in Levi, Lapland
We used a private shuttle company from Kittilä airport to Levi which took around 15 minutes.
In all honesty, we could have saved money here and booked a taxi on the Menevä Taski app, but the apartment manager offered to organise this for us and for ease we accepted, paying €70 each way (£29pp return).
Car hire is another option and could be a cheaper option if you would like to discover areas outside of Levi. We chose activities which had the option of adding a shuttle transfer from Levi centre as I don't drive.
Winter Sports Travel Insurance
We have an annual travel policy but did not expect to be visiting Lapland this year so unfortunately, hadn’t added winter sports cover.
To avoid a phone call and any admin fees amending the existing policy, I purchased new cover for this trip at just £4.50 per person from the Post Office.
What to Wear in Lapland
From Vinted we managed to buy used ski wear (trousers, a jacket, and boots for each of us). Then from M&M direct we bought fleece snoods and base layers relatively cheap. We luckily had ski gloves and hats from a previous trip to Switzerland.
The total cost for the four of us to be kitted out was around £80 in total, so £20pp.
For under our ski layers I took a few pairs of fleece pyjamas for the kids which we already had. For myself base fleece tops and fur lined leggings.
There's no need for additional clothing in Lapland, people literally just remove their outer layers to eat in a restaurant.
We recommend taking normal PJ's for inside- we found the rooms very warm and could have easily managed with summer pyjamas.
See our full guide on dressing for Lapland here.
What we Spent on Food in Lapland
Surprisingly, we managed to keep our food and drink expenses to just £122 for all 4 of us (£30.50pp).
We took some essentials in our bag from home including a flask with hot chocolate sachets, noodles, biscuits, sweets, microwavable popcorn, and mini concentrated squash on the advice on others and I'm so pleased we did.
The day we arrived we had just missed the supermarket and restaurants so it put us on until the next day.
The idea of layering up just to go out for dinner put us off eating out most evenings. The apartment was so cosy with loads of space for cooking and eating.
After busy days we preferred to have something home-cooked and chill out in front of Netflix with our duvets than go back out.
The supermarket offered well-stocked kid-friendly options like fish fingers, fries, nuggets, and Swedish meatballs.
We did get two pizza takeaways from Pizza Factory, highly recommended!
I'll admit though, I've never spent so little on food during a holiday. The total we spent in Levi, we can easily splurge on one meal out when on holiday usually.
The Activities we Booked in Levi, Lapland
Lappin Saaga: Santa’s Reindeer Sleigh Ride
We booked a 1km reindeer sleigh ride with Lappin Saaga (a 15 minute ride) through the forest, however the whole experience at Lappin Saaga lasted 1 hour.
We met the reindeers and looked round the farm, guided by an elf who also took us to see the ponies.
Lappin Saaga offer pony treks through the snow too which sounded magical, these are on our list if we do a future visit.
Following the sleigh ride, we were welcomed into a cosy wooden hut to enjoy hot berry juice and cookies with the elf guide who talked to us at length.
We booked transfers both ways through Lappin Saaga and the total for experience and transport was £38.50pp, which we though was great value for money. Lappin Saaga is approximately a 15 minute drive from Levi.
You can find information on what programmes Lappin Saaga offer HERE
Arcandia Elf Court (Halfling Session)
Following a transfer from Levi organised by Arcandia, an elf welcomed us at the gates and guided us through 45 minutes of snow-based activities.
With the Elf we did hill sliding, rolling in a giant inflatable ball, tried archery and met the two reindeers.
Later, we entered the 'Elf Court' to meet Santa. In the lodge we did tree and cookie decorating, crafted paper snowflakes of course met Joulupukki- Santa to you an me.
The intimate experience centered around spending quality time with Santa for about 45 minutes.
Santa escorted us to the gates at the end to show us his reindeer, and our return transfer took us back to Levi Centre.
The entire experience, including transfers, cost £101 per person which we found to worth the price tag.
Arcandia 'The Darkness' Parkside
By purchasing tickets for the Elf Court in the morning this granted us free entry to 'The Darkness' at Arcandia in the evening.
At night the park transforms with lights and dramatic music - a unique experience in Lapland.
Additional activities, including mini snowmobiling, ice pucking, human snowballing and knockerballs, along with those from the afternoon were available to try.
These activities are coin-based and coins can be purchased upon entry.
Again we chose to book transfers through Arcandia for the evening. In total we paid £15 per person, inclusive of the coins for the activities.
Entrance for the evening can be purchased separately if you haven't attended the Elf Court.
Mini Snowmobiling at Arctic Circle SnowMobile Park
This activity is suitable for children aged 4-12 years, so only two of us participated in this.
The track was wide and allowed room for errors. Both girls handled the snowmobiles independently and confidently to my surprise.
For this activity they got 10 laps on a sizable forest track. To break it up they did 5 laps each at a time, so the other wasn't getting bored.
Only one snowmobile was operating at once which I thought was good, as it meant less chance of a crash!
All the helmets and balaclavas were supplied by the company too. We didn't pre-book this activity, we just went on a whim one of the afternoons and no-one else was there.
At the end, the girls received their snowmobile driving licence.
This activity was budget friendly at a price of €20 per child. When divided among the four of us, this activity amounted to just £8.50 per person.
Northern Lights Polarman’s Camp
The highlight of our trip was the Polarman’s Camp. You're picked up from Levi Centre around 8pm and driven 20 minutes away to a secluded area, far away from any light pollution.
I booked this activity as it was based around an igloo that was heated, so could provide us the opportunity to warm up if needed and we did as it was -28 degrees.
During the night we had a traditional Lappish BBQ (food was provided) along with hot berry juice and whisky for the adults.
The guides were great and told us Finnish folk tales about the aurora all evening and included a video presentation on the science side.
There was also a real life igloo which the kids loved getting inside and listening to the guides explain how they make them.
There was only a 20% chance of seeing the aurora on the night. However, not long before we were due to leave it appeared in the sky and lasted a good 20 minutes.
We arrived back in Levi Centre around 11.30pm. The activity worked out at £63.50pp which was great value for experience we had and I would highly recommend the Polarman's Camp.
For more information on this activity click HERE
Feeding reindeers at K5
At K5 hotel you can feed the reindeers that are located round the back, in the hotels grounds.
A bag of food can be bought at the hotel's reception for €7 making it a cheap activity.
Sledging at Zero Point
We purchased a sledge at one of the sports shops in the town for €10. This provided endless fun.
There's an area at Zero Point where you sledge all day long. The sledge was great for getting our shopping back from the supermarket too.
Remember to take your sledge inside wherever possible as people will take them if left unattended!
A Gondola Trip up Levi fell
Lastly, we took a trip up Levi Fell via a Gondola.
The two-way trip cost €50, so around £11 per person.
Tickets are available from the machines inside the large building at Zero Point.
The Secret Café is located at the top of the fell but it was unfortunately closed when we went, so the girls just played in the snow.
DIY Lapland vs Package Holiday Lapland
Overall, we had an amazing trip. 4 nights seemed more than enough and we got to see and do so many amazing things. Hand on heart, I think we had a better trip than people in the same resort who'd booked organised packages.
I spoke to numerous families over the course of the trip, and a few were disappointed by short husky, reindeer and snow mobile rides. The food that was included their kids wouldn't eat so they were buying extras. They also had to cover their evening meal as it was only half board. Plus there was free time allocated, which they were then spending money doing other activities. They still had a great time, but it just wasn't as 'magical' as they had envisaged in their head.
Of course, there are benefits to booking a package trip, in that everything is sorted for you including clothing, and you are taken to and from, every activity and have a rep in resort. I'd like to say that it also offers you additional protection but after seeing the way some families were treated last year when there was no snow in Lapland, I can't get behind this. 'No snow, no go' guarantees weren't adhered to, and people were left fighting in court to get their money back after disastrous trips. Again, not all tour operators are created equally.
If you research and design your own itinerary you can literally do what suits your family and focus putting your money on to great experiences (and meals) whether than be £500pp or £1500pp.
Carry on Reading!
If you've enjoyed this blog and would like to continue reading, we have a series of Blog Posts on Lapland, including a trip account of a visit to Rovaniemi and lots more hacks and tips. You can find these here
