Northern Lights Family Adventure

Day 1: Arrival

Fly from London Heathrow to Kuusamo via Helsinki. Transfer to Hossa National Park, where you will meet your Finnish wilderness guide and settle into your Hossa Forest House or Apartment.

Day 2: Snowshoeing

After a leisurely start and breakfast, you will be fitted with snowshoes before joining your guide for an 'off-piste' walk into the surrounding forest, perhaps heading out onto a frozen lake too. Lunch will be a picnic around an open fire before heading back to the Adventure Centre.

Day 3: Cross-country Skiing & Igloo Building - Stage 1

Your chance to try the Finnish national sport of cross-country skiing. Once fitted with ski shoes and collecting your skis, you'll watch an instructional video before heading outside to practice. Once everyone is comfortable, you'll head out into the forest with your guide, along some of the many routes in the park.

In the afternoon you'll have spades and shovels to help make big piles of snow. Batons are inserted and the piles are left to harden overnight, ready for stage 2.

Day 4: Husky-sledding & Igloo Building - Stage 2

Today you have an early start as it takes about 1.5 hours to get to the farm from which you'll go husky sledding. After a briefing on how to control the sledge, the calls the huskies respond to and the hand signals to alert the guides, you will be allocated your sledge - adults driving if they want, children in the sledges. You then head out on a 45-60 minute loop through the forests and alongside the frozen lakes before returning to the farm for lunch.

Back at Hossa National Park you're ready to start hollowing out the snow piles to make igloos - teamwork is required!

Day 5: Snowshoeing

Today you have another chance to go snowshoe walking, heading up to the ridge area of the forest. Look out for wildlife, or at least their tracks in the snow. Lunch is usually a picnic again, around an open fire, before heading back to the Adventure Centre. In the afternoon there may be time for some tobogganing.

Day 6: Reindeer Farm & Winter Wilderness Skills

This morning you head to a nearby reindeer farm to learn about the life of a reindeer herder, try some lassoing and enjoy a short reindeer sleigh ride. To get to the farm, you may have to option of hiring fat-bikes (approx. €30 per bike/day), walking there with snow shoes or even cross-country skiing to get there.

In the afternoon you'll learn some winter wilderness skills such as fire making, orienteering, animal tracking and (if conditions are safe) ice fishing!

Day 7: Free day with your choice of activities

Today is a free day so that you can opt for more of your favourite activities - whether that is cross-country skiing or snowshoeing, or you can try something new such as tobogganing or fat-biking (fat-bike hire is extra). 

This evening there is a farewell dinner with the group together and your guides from the week. 

Day 8: Time to go home

After breakfast, join the group transfer to the airport for your flight home.

Please note: for the 26th December 2022 departure, the trip is for 7 days. Please ask for the full itinerary for this shorter duration.