Lapland, Finland
 

Anyone been? Was researching it the other day and it looks so fun and so different from my usual trips. Considering it as a part of a 2 week trip to Sweden, Norway, and Finland.

Yes. And there are even threads/posts here on FT from some.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/nordi...mas-paris.html

During winter or summer?

Winter

I visited Inari and Kakslauttanen (the famed glass igloos) over the past winter. Beautiful and pretty isolated, there just aren't that many people there.
Transport and activities are pretty expensive though. Think EUR80 for a 2 hour aurora-chasing experience.

Seems reasonable to me.

Yeah. You can't redeem everything for points ;)

As long as I can get my flights and most of hotels on miles/points, I'm more than willing to pay the piper for experiences and top flight food.

With converting points for gift/debit cards/card-bill-payment, Americans have lots of options to pay for an entire trip on points -- if only the provider of the local service in Finland accepts US debit cards, preferably with a PIN. :D

You surely are aware that it gets COLD there in the winter. Think -40 degrees (C or F) and that's without the wind chill factor.

The good news is, that the sun already comes up for an hour at noon :D

To visit Lapland and experience "winter" it's best to come in March or April.

But aren't Jan/Feb better for Aurora Borealis viewing?

Yes, because it is darker. But December works too. It can be cold, but -40C would be very rare...

While -40C might be rare, they happen. -30C is normal though and for non-Nordics that's beyond imagination. (the freezer at home is probably set to -18C only :D)

But sure, to chase the aurora borealis, it's probably best in winter. Having said that I saw it in an April, while freezing my family treasures off :D

You guys may not know this but I'm from Chicago. -30C is not scary to me.

As an American, -30C to -40C is the kind of weather in which skiing and hitting the snow-mobile trails is sort of fine by me too. In the meantime it's my Nordic relatives who freeze more easily in the US Upper Midwest cold. :D

It wasn't that rare that I saw American friends and relatives wearing shorts in -20C weather when going to school in the US. Sure, they would have a nice jacket on their upper body when walking to/into school, but bare legs no problem. :D

It's the wind that bothers me more than the ambient cold. It's more windy in winter in say the UP than it is in parts of Lapland.