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Lapland Winter Experience

Ylläshumina Hotel, Ylläs
 
Unique scenery | Explore the charm and tranquillity of Lapland's frozen forests
Excellent hotel | Warm and stylish hospitality with saunas - perfect for unwinding  
Great trails | Your hotel provides a perfect base for easy access to cross-country trails
Memorable cuisine | Enjoy authentic dishes celebrated across the region
Price from
£1185pp
Lapland Winter Experience. 7 nights
Price from
£1185pp
+44 (0)1653 617001 Call now
Price from
£1185pp
Lapland Winter Experience. 7 nights
Price from
£1185pp
+44 (0)1653 617001 Call now
 

Holiday information

 

A winter holiday in Ylläs, Lapland,

for an all-round Arctic experience

Situated 150 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle, amid the magical landscapes of Lapland, the village of Äkäslompolo makes an unrivalled base for an Arctic winter experience – whatever your age. The village is surrounded by seven scenic fells; these go by the name of Ylläs and together comprise Finland’s largest and best cross-country skiing network, with trails criss-crossing meadows and winding through frozen forests.
Guests can choose between a whole host of memorable experiences. Enjoy the thrill of dog-sledding, reindeer safaris, snowmobiling, downhill skiing, walking and fatbiking or appreciate the utter stillness and tranquillity of the wintry landscapes on a snowshoe hike. To top it all, if conditions are right, you may also get to experience one of nature’s great miracles, the staggeringly beautiful Aurora Borealis.

Your hotel for the week is the wonderfully welcoming Ylläshumina, which receives consistently high praise from Inntravel guests who return year after year. Set next to a frozen lake, it was one of the first hotels to be built in the area – by the current owner’s uncle – and has evolved gradually into the superb establishment you find today. Highlights include the high levels of service from the Qvist family, and the splendid hotel restaurant.
 
 

Our expert says

“It’s true that you could come to Ylläs purely for the cross-country skiing, but this is Lapland, after all, so it would be a shame not to try out typical activities such as dog-sledding or reindeer safaris (which can be arranged through the hotel) for an all-round Lappish experience.”
Inntravel winter holiday expert
 
Gallery

 

Winter activities

There’s no fixed itinerary, so take your pick of the activities as the mood takes you.
  • Dog-sledding, snowshoeing & so much more
    No visit to Lapland would be complete without trying at least some of the many activities on offer in this winter wonderland. The hotel has its own activity company and appropriate equipment and clothing is provided for all tours – this includes thermal jackets, trousers, boots, hats and gloves. Excursions can be booked in advance through us or arranged locally with the hotel.

    Dog-sledding
    Experience the thrills of dog-sledding on a half or full-day expedition. You begin by visiting a nearby husky farm where you are introduced to these wonderful animals and get to learn about what makes a good sled dog, how they are trained and how to handle them. You then settle into your sleigh (option to drive your own sled or share the driving of a 2-person sled) and are soon whizzing through the Narnia-like scenery – it’s an unforgettable experience hearing only the sled runners swooshing over the snow and the eager panting of the dogs. Warming drinks and a snack (or on the full-day tour, a picnic) are also included.

    Snowshoeing
    Snowshoeing is a wonderful way to appreciate the surrounding fells – the beauty of the snow-laden trees and the silence around you is truly breathtaking. Guided tours are available during both the daytime and evening – as night falls, you may be lucky enough to see the Northern Lights – and you also have the option of hiring snowshoes and poles independently.

    Snowmobiling
    Snowmobiling is a popular form of transport in northern Finland, and offers visitors the chance to discover landscapes that would usually be beyond their reach. There are many excursions available – from short taster sessions to half-day expeditions across the fells and over frozen wetlands, and it is also possible to book an evening tour, ideal for Northern Lights seekers (on request only).
    NOTE: To drive a snowmobile you must be 18yrs or over and hold a full driving licence.

    Fatbiking
    With their oversized tyres and excellent traction, fatbikes are perfect for use on soft, uneven terrain, and as such are becoming an increasingly popular means of exploring in the snow. They also offer a quieter alternative to the snowmobile – with no engine noise to distract, fatbike riders are able to pedal in peace. Guided tours lead past Ylläs’ frozen lakes and into the National Park, and include hot drinks and snacks.

    Reindeer safaris
    Reindeer herding is an important aspect of Lappish culture, and on a visit to a nearby reindeer herder you can learn all about their livelihood before undertaking a short sleigh ride into the nearby forest.

    Winter walking
    In addition to its many cross-country skiing and snowshoeing trails, Ylläs also offers 106 kilometres of winter walking paths. There is a good choice of routes for all levels, with paths leading through the forests and along the top of the fells.

    Downhill skiing
    The main downhill area can be found on the other side of the lake, and is accessed by a ski bus from the hotel. There are 61 runs (many of which are illuminated) both through the trees and above the treeline, with the longest slope measuring 3 kilometres. The domain caters for all abilities, with a good number of beginner and early intermediate runs.

    Cross-country skiing
    Ylläs offers an extensive 330km cross-country skiing network that caters to all skill levels, with trails conveniently starting right behind the hotel and leading across a frozen lake and through the surrounding forests to the seven nearby fells. The entire trail network is groomed from mid-February, with some tracks illuminated in December and January for skiing during the enchanting twilight hours.

    Along the way, skiers can find numerous cafés and traditional kotas for refreshments or rest from the winter chill, and access to the trails is free of charge. The terrain near the hotel is flat, making it ideal for beginners, while advanced skiers can venture onto the fells for a more challenging experience and breathtaking views, many trails also leading into the stunning Pallas-Ylläs National Park, a protected natural area.
     
    Cross-country trails lead away from the hotel
    Dog-sledding
    Snowmobiling
  • Fun for all the family
    Ylläs and the Ylläshumina are an excellent choice for a fun-filled family holiday. The hotel caters well for children, with the standard rooms being able to accommodate up to a family of 4, with 2 children sleeping on the mezzanine. The hotel also has a number of family apartments, which can take larger families of up to 5.

    Ylläs is everything you’d expect from a winter wonderland, and there is a whole host of amazing activities to try aside from skiing. The hotel has its own activity company, with excursions heading off from the safari house just next to the main hotel reception. Take a trip with some eager huskies or meet a real-life Sven at the reindeer farm, with all the appropriate clothing provided before heading out into the Arctic air.
    Meet a real-life Sven!
  • Special events
    At Christmas time, as well as enjoying a celebratory dinner, you can help decorate the tree and light the 500 candles in the street, and head out on a snowshoe walk on Christmas Day. New Year features the lighting of candles outside the hotel, a gala dinner, live music, fireworks, and a New Year’s Day brunch.
 

About Ylläs Fell

Set on the northern side of the Ylläs Fell, on the banks of a frozen lake, Äkäslompolo (altitude: 400m) is a traditional village where the focus is mainly on the myriad winter activities available in the surrounding wilderness. Although small, the village offers a good number of facilities, including a shopping centre with sports and souvenir shops, cafés and a well-stocked supermarket. The hotel is an easy, 20-minute walk from the centre of the village, on the opposite side of the lake.
Ylläshumina Hotel

Bedrooms

 

Extend your stay

 
Prices & travel
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  • 7 nights: 23 November 2024 - 13 April 2025

    Start Sunday* | End by latest date(s) shown above

    Starting Adults 13-16 yrs 5-12 yrs 2-4 yrs
    06 Feb - 12 Feb 2025 £1405
    13 Feb - 19 Feb 2025 £1405
    20 Feb - 06 Apr 2025 £1320
    23 Nov - 24 Jan 2026 £1185
    25 Jan - 06 Apr 2026 £1405

    *Start days: 06-16 Feb 2025 Sunday; all other dates, start any day

    A single traveller supplement of £60 applies for solo travellers if flying with Finnair. A supplement is also payable for a single room – see 'Additional prices' below

  • Room upgrades (supplement in £ per room per night)

    Ylläshumina Hotel, Ylläs
    Family apartment: 06 Feb - 13 Apr 2025 £80
    Single room: 06 Feb - 13 Apr 2025 £55
    Single room: 23 Nov - 24 Jan 2026 £45
    Single room: 25 Jan - 06 Apr 2026 £60
    Suite: 06 Feb - 13 Apr 2025 £200
    Suite: 22 Nov - 12 Apr 2026 £200
    Superior deluxe: 06 Feb - 13 Apr 2025 £172
  • RECOMMENDED AIRPORT(S):
    Kittilä (latest flight arrival time and earliest flight departure time both flexible)

    Travelling from the UK

    Travelling from outside the UK

    If you are flying from outside Europe,  you may need to fly to an airport not listed here. To discuss onward connecting travel to the start of your holiday, please contact us.

    Travelling from outside the UK
    We have many years' experience catering for customers who live outside the UK, and will be happy to make tailored arrangements to fit with your plans.

    You have two options:

    1) Book your own flights to London, from where we can book onward flights and connecting travel to your hotel.

    2) Book your own flights direct to an airport appropriate to your chosen holiday. You can either make your own way from the airport to the hotel, or we'll be happy to book onward connecting travel for you. Please consult with us before booking your flights, so that we can advise you on the suitability of your proposed route and timings.
    Outward route Airline
    Bristol - Kittilä Charter (contact us) 
    Outward route Airline
    Edinburgh - Kittilä (via Helsinki) Finnair 
    Outward route Airline
    Gatwick - Kittilä British Airways,  Charter (contact us),  easyJet 
    Gatwick - Kittilä (via Helsinki) Norwegian 
    Outward route Airline
    Heathrow - Kittilä (via Helsinki) Finnair 
    Outward route Airline
    Manchester - Kittilä Charter (contact us),  easyJet 
    Manchester - Kittilä (via Helsinki) Finnair 
    Manchester - Kittilä (via Paris) Air France 
    Travelling from outside the UK

    If you are flying from outside Europe,  you may need to fly to an airport not listed here. To discuss onward connecting travel to the start of your holiday, please contact us.

    This list of alternative flight options should be used as a guide only, and you should check each airline’s website for current routes, frequency and schedules. Not all flights operate daily, and may not run for the entire season. You should also heed the latest flight arrival time and earliest flight departure time stated above, as it may not be possible to arrange connecting travel outside these times. Our expert reservations team will be happy to offer advice if you would prefer to fly via a different route to the one included in our standard arrangements. A supplement may be payable for other flights.

What is included
  • 7 nights
  • 7 dinners
    7 breakfasts
  • use of cross-country trails
  • detailed information about the area
  • transfers from/to Kittilä Airport
 
Reviews

If you've experienced this holiday first hand, why not write a review?

We are keen for as many customers as possible to review their holiday. To make it easier to do so, we include a specific review section on our post-holiday questionnaire, and this is what we publish here, unedited. Read our full review policy >

All 13 reviews
  • Simona, London
    16 December 2023

    The area surrounding the hotel is extremely beautiful. Ski trails access is easy and choice of trails is limitless. Food was excellent and exceeded the expectations. Wonderful holiday. Thanks!

  • Dr R Hughes
    Southwell
    28 March 2023

    This was another, excellent trip to Yllas. The X-country skiing is simply wonderful, with a great choice of trails to suit all abilities on the doorstep. The hotel is incredibly welcoming, and all in all it's a great holiday and very special experience of Arctic Lapland in winter. 

  • Anon
    18 March 2023

    We are very familiar with crosscountry skiing in Norway but this was our first trip to Finland.  Our holiday was in March.  We found the landscape to be strikingly different but equally beautiful.  We appreciated the tracks being consistently well groomed, and also that walkers and skiers with dogs had separate trails.  We also enjoyed the numerous cafes that were available to us within relatively close proximity to the hotel.  We had one additional activity: the reindeer farm visit: which we would highly recommend.  The walk to the supermarket at Akaslompolo is quite a trek, so would suggest ensuring you don't plan a daily trip, but stock up well on one outing!  We predominantly used the cafes for lunch, and in particular the wonderful Navetta Galleria 2km from hotel, so needed little else. Hot chocolate and digestifs after dinner in Humina pub were a great treat on the last night.
    Hotel staff were without exception friendly and helpful.

    Highlights were the wonderful clean snowy landscape and bright arctic light.  The fine weather, with temperatures between -27 and -4,  and the northern lights, were added extras.

  • Anon
    13 March 2023

    This was our third visit to Äkäslompolo and we absolutely love Yllas Humina and the surrounding ski trails.  It was such fun to introduce some friends to this incredible landscape and wonderful, friendly Laplanders.

  • Kate Pontin, Norwich
    03 March 2023

    The husky sledding was excellent, a highly experienced team explained in detail the trip and the route through snowy forests and across frozen lakes was magical.  

  • Ms A Glenn
    USA
    27 February 2023

    We stumbled on Inntravel online when looking to book a winter holiday in Lapland, and we were thrilled with the agency's offerings. This bucket list vacation was remarkably affordable and well-organized. The Inntravel agents are professional, helpful, and knowledgeable. We will use this agency again. 

  • anon
    05 February 2023

    lovely holiday thank you

  • Robin
    29 January 2023

    We loved the trails, with picture postcard small cafes along some of the routes. The trails were well groomed and a refresher ski lesson on day 1 helped our confidence. The hotel staff were very knowlegeable and helpful and the cuisine was excellent. Dietary requirements were well catered for. The accommodation was very cosy. The Ski Bus is recommended for moving around with your ski kit.

  • Mr R Jenner
    Hereford
    15 January 2023

    Excellent trip - no Northern Lights unfortunately but all other aspects were good. Hotel food for breakfast and dinner was very good and plentiful, with different selections every night, so all those calories burnt during the day could be adequately replaced!

  • Mr J Fisher
    Leeds
    15 January 2023

    The mixture of difficulties on the trails made for a great experience improving our skills and improving our level of fitness. As pescatarians the food was fantastic. Dryers for clothes in the cabin was a great facility much appreciated and used every day 

  • Mrs E Beaver
    Leeds
    08 January 2023

    Personal highlights this year; it snowed + snowed + snowed while I was there this time. Its always something slightly different that I see as a 'highlight' (last year it was the amazing colours of the wintery sky). This years' icing on the cake was seeing Northern Lights when I went out for an evening walk on one of the odd occasions when the clouds lifted; + the sky was dark, the stars bright...+ then there it was; Northern Lights! As always the hotel was wonderful; lovely staff, delicious food, comfortable rooms. The snow covered landscape as spectacular as ever. Seeing occasional birds (dippers, siberian jays, 3 toed woodpeckers and siberian tits; as well as flocks of ravens) is always special; marvelling at how they survive a Lapland winter. 

  • MS, Bristol
    01 January 2023

    Check the weather before you go and buy the very best cold weather protection clothing that you can afford. If you think you have enough, think again! Being in -30 degs C is a whole differrent ballgame to the comparatively mild temperatures in the UK....

  • Nick J
    11 December 2022

    Great selection of XC trails. Not too busy before Christmas. Great selection of food at the hotel. Tips: bring a headtorch and subscribe to the online trail map. 
 

FAQs

If you have any questions relating to this or any other Inntravel holiday, our friendly travel experts will be happy to help. You might also find our General FAQs section helpful.
  • Living far from the capital ourselves, we know better than most that flying from London can be a bind, so we are very flexible with our travel arrangements. Call or email us, and one of the team will be happy to list the different options available to you, and any price implications.
  • Once you’ve decided on your exact itinerary (our travel experts will be happy to offer advice), you need to provide us with your party’s details, either by phone or via our booking form. At this point we also ask you to pay a deposit so that we can secure a room for you immediately on confirming availability with the hotel(s). If it turns out that we can’t secure the accommodation for the holiday you’ve requested, or offer an acceptable alternative, we’ll refund your deposit promptly and in full. After booking your accommodation and other key elements, we'll then book your travel (or you can do so if you’re making your own arrangements) and send you a Booking Confirmation and Invoice.

    More information about the booking process >
    Information about accommodation, general practicalities and more >
    Booking conditions >
  • Yes, it’s something we insist on, even for holidays in the UK. The vast majority of holidays go smoothly, but when things go wrong, it can be expensive to put them right. Buying a new pair of walking boots after your suitcase is stolen mightn’t seem so bad, but the bill for being airlifted down from a mountain with a broken leg or flown home while still recovering from an illness or accident can incur a five or six-figure bill.

    Many insurers offer travel insurance (you can find details on our insurance page of a policy that you may like to consider if you are a UK resident), but you do need to make sure that you’re covered for medical emergencies – including falling ill with Covid-19 while on holiday – and repatriation. We also recommend that you are covered for other eventualities, such as cancellation and loss of luggage and passports.

    When you purchase a policy, be sure to check that it covers the activities you'll be doing on holiday and that it is adequate for your own individual needs.
  • It is your responsibility to ensure you are in possession of the correct travel documents, with the correct validity. If you’re a UK citizen, you need a full British passport to travel to Finland, but not a visa (please note, however, that a new travel authorisation system is being introduced). If you are a citizen of another country, you’ll need to check requirements with the national embassy or your own consulate.

    Current information regarding vaccinations and travel health advice for UK citizens can be found through the Travel Health Pro website. You must make sure you have adequate insurance cover for illness, accidents and repatriation (see the insurance question). You should also apply for a Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) if your EHIC has expired (if you have a still-valid EHIC, you can use this until it expires).
  • The official languages are Finnish, Swedish and, in Lapland, Sami. The currency is the Euro. Finnish time is GMT/UTC + 2. It uses Daylight Saving Time, so in summer is on BST + 2.
  • For information on the practicalities of travel now that the UK is no longer part of the European Union, visit www.gov.uk/visit-eu-switzerland-norway-iceland-liechtenstein.
  • The UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) provides up-to-date, country-by-country travel advice, as well as information on security, local laws, passports and visas for UK citizens.

    If you live outside the UK, see our essential travel information page for a list of relevant websites.
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