Davvi Arctic Lodge — Hotel in Tunturi-Lapin seutukunta

Trip of a lifetime! Can’t wait to go back. Thank you Transun!||We had a wonderful time in the winter wonderland of Karesuvanto. We stayed for 4 nights and flew from Humberside Airport and stayed a 3 bedroom fell house, a short 2 minute walk from the actual hotel itself.||Our departure from the small enontekio airport to the resort was smooth and quick, straight onto a coach for 45 mins to our first stop which was to get our suits and boots, which despite temperatures going to as slow as -35 on our trip, they kept us extremely warm and we had no issues at all with them! That night we had a lovely meal followed by a welcome meeting including all details of activities and our stay etc.||Our first day activity was the reindeer camp which despite the cold, was a lovely way to start the day and the whole party really enjoyed it, we learnt about how important the reindeers are to the Sami culture and how a local grew up with it, before our 20 ish minute long ride on them round the beautiful landscape that surrounded this reindeer camp. That afternoon we went sledging and enjoyed the snow and last of the sun before it set around 4pm, then to a nice warm filling meal in the restaurant before going on a short search for the northern lights, no luck that night.||Our second day started with the fell viewpoint snowmobile tour which we had pre-booked and wow thank god we did! We had a brilliant time on this excursion which was approx 2 hours and involved us driving to the top of the nearest mountain/hill a quick photo if your hands didn’t freeze then driving back down and seeing some reindeer! This was a lovely but cold excursion and would highly recommend everyone to do it! That afternoon we had some lunch before we chilled out in our fell house and warmed up before dinner, another lovely hearty meal. It was back down to our room to get changed and out for our forest trek, led by Kieran and Paula who took us to the top of Davvi Hill, the hill behind the hotel and told us some stories about the surrounding area and northern lights whilst we drank Gloggi, the local drink. I really enjoyed this and Kieran and Paula were great at explaining more about area and the lights. ||Our third day involved the huskies! We had a short transfer of 20 mins in mini vans to the husky kennels, where our huskies were eagerly awaiting us! We had a wonderful time with the huskies. I got the privilege of mushing (driving) the huskies first which was an incredible experience and I loved every second then at the halfway point, me and my partner swapped and I took the passenger role. It was a little bit physical, braking and turning corners but the huskies knew the way and we had an amazing morning. After the ride we got the chance to stroke and get photos with the huskies and ask the local guides any questions before we headed back to the hotel for our lunch. That afternoon we walked to another country, Sweden! The walk was approximately 20 minutes to the other side where there is a lovely open church, tourist information centre, cafe and a sign to show that you can be in both Finland and Sweden at the same time! Once we got back, we booked the sauna (free) for that evening as only the cabins had saunas in their rooms. It was a lovely way to end the evening after being in -20 all day!||Our fourth and final full day involved snowshoeing in the morning. This is where you essentially have a large tennis racket on your shoe which allows you to walk in the deep snow. We walked through the forest and places before that wouldn’t have been possible. It was a lovely morning and despite not thinking we would enjoy it, we came back wishing we could go again! After another lovely lunch we went to the sauna again to embrace the true Finnish culture before our final dinner which was a traditional Scandinavian meal with food from Finland, Norway and Sweden. This was lovely and a great final night. I would also like to thank the restaurant staff but particularly Dean who|ensured one of the members of the party,who was vegetarian, was looked after and was comfortable, thank you Dean! We went back down to our room before getting ready to go on our final search for the famous Northern Lights on the northern lights snowmobile excursion. We departed the hotel around 11pm on the snowmobiles, and despite this being a bit later than one may like, this is the best time to see the northern lights and it is a once in a lifetime opportunity. After around 30 mins or so we stopped in a reindeer reserve area where we finally saw the beautiful Northern lights, a dream come true! Some more gloggi to warm up a little bit before we embarked on our cold journey back. What a wonderful night!||Our final and departing day we went cross country skiing another optional extra we pre-booked. This was a lovely way to end our holiday despite falling over every minute🤣This was led by Jon who was brilliant and explained the history of the skis and how they have developed to how they are used today. We had a lovely time going up and down the hills around the hotel. We had our final meal at Davvi Arctic Lodge before our transfer back to the airport.||We’ve had time to reflect on our holiday and how much of a lovely time we had. My advise to anyone, do it. Despite the cold or early mornings or late nights it’s worth every second, we felt looked after beyond extent and would go back in...

Trip of a lifetime! Can’t wait to go back. Thank you Transun!||We had a wonderful time in the winter wonderland of Karesuvanto. We stayed for 4 nights and flew from Humberside Airport and stayed a 3 bedroom fell house, a short 2 minute walk from the actual hotel itself.||Our departure from the small enontekio airport to the resort was smooth and quick, straight onto a coach for 45 mins to our first stop which was to get our suits and boots, which despite temperatures going to as slow as -35 on our trip, they kept us extremely warm and we had no issues at all with them! That night we had a lovely meal followed by a welcome meeting including all details of activities and our stay etc.||Our first day activity was the reindeer camp which despite the cold, was a lovely way to start the day and the whole party really enjoyed it, we learnt about how important the reindeers are to the Sami culture and how a local grew up with it, before our 20 ish minute long ride on them round the beautiful landscape that surrounded this reindeer camp. That afternoon we went sledging and enjoyed the snow and last of the sun before it set around 4pm, then to a nice warm filling meal in the restaurant before going on a short search for the northern lights, no luck that night.||Our second day started with the fell viewpoint snowmobile tour which we had pre-booked and wow thank god we did! We had a brilliant time on this excursion which was approx 2 hours and involved us driving to the top of the nearest mountain/hill a quick photo if your hands didn’t freeze then driving back down and seeing some reindeer! This was a lovely but cold excursion and would highly recommend everyone to do it! That afternoon we had some lunch before we chilled out in our fell house and warmed up before dinner, another lovely hearty meal. It was back down to our room to get changed and out for our forest trek, led by Kieran and Paula who took us to the top of Davvi Hill, the hill behind the hotel and told us some stories about the surrounding area and northern lights whilst we drank Gloggi, the local drink. I really enjoyed this and Kieran and Paula were great at explaining more about area and the lights. ||Our third day involved the huskies! We had a short transfer of 20 mins in mini vans to the husky kennels, where our huskies were eagerly awaiting us! We had a wonderful time with the huskies. I got the privilege of mushing (driving) the huskies first which was an incredible experience and I loved every second then at the halfway point, me and my partner swapped and I took the passenger role. It was a little bit physical, braking and turning corners but the huskies knew the way and we had an amazing morning. After the ride we got the chance to stroke and get photos with the huskies and ask the local guides any questions before we headed back to the hotel for our lunch. That afternoon we walked to another country, Sweden! The walk was approximately 20 minutes to the other side where there is a lovely open church, tourist information centre, cafe and a sign to show that you can be in both Finland and Sweden at the same time! Once we got back, we booked the sauna (free) for that evening as only the cabins had saunas in their rooms. It was a lovely way to end the evening after being in -20 all day!||Our fourth and final full day involved snowshoeing in the morning. This is where you essentially have a large tennis racket on your shoe which allows you to walk in the deep snow. We walked through the forest and places before that wouldn’t have been possible. It was a lovely morning and despite not thinking we would enjoy it, we came back wishing we could go again! After another lovely lunch we went to the sauna again to embrace the true Finnish culture before our final dinner which was a traditional Scandinavian meal with food from Finland, Norway and Sweden. This was lovely and a great final night. I would also like to thank the restaurant staff but particularly Dean who|ensured one of the members of the party,who was vegetarian, was looked after and was comfortable, thank you Dean! We went back down to our room before getting ready to go on our final search for the famous Northern Lights on the northern lights snowmobile excursion. We departed the hotel around 11pm on the snowmobiles, and despite this being a bit later than one may like, this is the best time to see the northern lights and it is a once in a lifetime opportunity. After around 30 mins or so we stopped in a reindeer reserve area where we finally saw the beautiful Northern lights, a dream come true! Some more gloggi to warm up a little bit before we embarked on our cold journey back. What a wonderful night!||Our final and departing day we went cross country skiing another optional extra we pre-booked. This was a lovely way to end our holiday despite falling over every minute🤣This was led by Jon who was brilliant and explained the history of the skis and how they have developed to how they are used today. We had a lovely time going up and down the hills around the hotel. We had our final meal at Davvi Arctic Lodge before our transfer back to the airport.||We’ve had time to reflect on our holiday and how much of a lovely time we had. My advise to anyone, do it. Despite the cold or early mornings or late nights it’s worth every second, we felt looked after beyond extent and would go back in...

This genuinely is a 5 out of 5 review! ||Flight - Gatwick to Enontekio, under 4 hours. Enter Air are a budget airline but the staff on board were brilliant. ||Enontekio Airport, be prepared to be thrown back in time to when airports weren't these huge sprawling footprints like they are today. There's no baggage carousels no screens nothing it's trailers with your luggage on which is actually a million times easier.||Coach transfers, despite the weather conditions the journeys were effortless, drivers were brilliant and unlike the UK when a flake appears on the road nothing shuts down! ||The hotel||Accomodation - we stayed in the Aurora lodge. The room was airy and light with high ceilings which made it feel bigger than it was. The bed was comfy and there were basic amenities provided (tea / coffee etc). The bathroom was lovely, walk in shower with a rainfall head, heated flooring. The room was heated by a heat pump, it was -27 when we first arrived so the heat was set at 26° which in all fairness was too warm once the room warmed up. A very comfy little bolt hole to rest after the days activities.||Food - the food wasn't bad, however if you're expecting a salad bar stocked with fresh fruit and veg then be prepared. Due to its location the restaurant relies heavily on local produce, or imported foods. This is a restaurant in the northern hemisphere not an all inclusive in the Med.. ||The all inclusive package sees you get breakfast / lunch and dinner, there's a choice but again not a huge amount but what there was was more than adequate. ||There is a bar in the restaurant area with a good selection of alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages. For any Gin lovers I recommend the long gin tinnies which go down far too easy!!! ||The Activities - |Forest walk - there's an instructor lead walk up the hill at night which was lovely, the area when covered in snow looks completely different in the darkness compared to what it does in the daylight (all 4 hours of it. ||Reindeer safari - you get taken to a reindeer reserve run by a local family. The sleigh ride takes you out and around a frozen lake being pulled by reindeer which despite the cold was an incredible experience.||Husky sledding - absolute bucket list moment, being able to drive a dog sled driven by huskies across a frozen lake, through a wood, across another lake and then back again. The huskies are clearly very well looked after and their kennels and facilities put some of our animal welfare centres in the UK to shame. ||Now you may all be thinking but it's positively Baltic out there in the snow and ice... However Davvi Artic provided us with boots and snow suits which when worn with a few layers underneath definitely kept out the cold. ||The locality / things to do - ||There's a small petrol station down the road from the Davvi Artic Lodge which has a cafe attached to it, they did the most amazing apple / caramel cake served with a warm cup of Gloggi (the local hot drink), the staff were friendly and it's definitely a place to warm up after a walk. ||You can walk into the Swedish side of Karesuando, there's a picturesque little village with a small convenience store which for it's location is really well stocked. It was about a 30min walk from the hotel. ||If you wanted to see Lapland without the Christmas influence then this is definitely a place to visit in January time. ||If you've got this far I hope this review helped and if you book a trip...