LAPLAND FINLAND + A STAY AT KAKSLAUTTANEN ARCTIC IGLOO RESORT


I don’t even know where to start with how INSANE our trip to Finland and Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort was for part II of our honeymoon last month!  I basically planned the entire trip around the igloo hotel…when we were considering options for our trip I remembered seeing this beautiful resort on instagram months ago.  I did some research and found Finland climbing travel charts. Domino even just posted that it won the happiest country for the second year in a row! 

I really cannot say enough good things about Kakslauttanen and Finland in general.  The staff and accommodations were incredible. They were helpful through our lost baggage and booking activities a few weeks before we left.  The food was great with plenty of vegetarian options. They offer a traditional Finnish breakfast buffet and nightly specials for dinner.  There is a pick up and bag carrying service for when you don’t want to brave the cold.  Someone will even bring fire wood and start your fireplace in your cabin each night!  We choose to stay in the Kelo-glass igloos and I couldn’t have been happier.  The cabin was huge and beautiful (they actually sleep 6+ people). The bathrooms have a sauna in them. Nothing can beat sleeping in a heated glass igloo while falling asleep to the beautiful Arctic sky (and northern lights if you’re lucky!).  We both agreed that 3-4 days here is just enough.  At least at this time of year, with it being 30 below zero some days and only getting about 5 hours of daylight there is not a ton to do after your daily activity.  Plus everything is pretty pricey, we definitely spent the most on this leg of our trip.  It was easy to stop over here from our other destinations. The airport is Ivalo and it’s the smallest airport I’ve ever seen, lol.  You have to fly through Helsinki (Finland’s capital) but it’s just an hour or so flight from there.  It was about two hours from Oslo to Helsinki and then Helsinki to Copenhagen. Kakslauttanen will arrange pick up for you at the airport or you can book a taxi.  It’s about a 30-45 drive from Ivalo and costs about 70 euros.  There are some very small hotels around the airport so if you fly in late at night I would recommend staying there just to sleep and heading to the resort in the morning.  Ivalo reminded me of a sleepy little mountain town, there are a ton of snow activities you could book there (our snowmobiling tour actually left from here). This would be a way to experience the area for a fraction of the cost if staying at the igloo is not an option. 

On our first day we went on a dog sledding adventure, which was so much fun.  Hunter was the driver and I rode in the sled to take photos, of course.  The sun sets around 3pm this time of year so it was pretty much back to the cabin to hang out.  It’s so beyond freezing that one outdoor activity a day was plenty, haha.  We choose to walk to dinner each night which meant bundling up in all the layers before heading out. Our cabin was about a 5-7 minute walk from the main lodge.  We drank Glogg (mulled wine) every night and it was so perfect!  Day two we went on a 4 hour snowmobile tour with a private guide, we stopped off at a reindeer farm and were absolutely FREEZING by the end of the ride. But OMG it was so beautiful riding through the forest and stopping at a look out on top of the mountain where we could see Russia just 30 km in the distance.  Our eyelashes were icicles by the end of each day (as seen in my selfie below). The sunset and sunrise (at about 10am) colors against the snow were so incredible. The rest of the time we just wondered around snapping photos and taking in the sites.  

Truly a breathtaking winter wonderland!

There are a lot of photos with this post but it was too hard to choose favorites…

XO