Finland 2

Ranua wildlife park

We are big animal lovers in our house, so a trip to a wildlife park was a must. Their outdoor play area looked fun, but was closed this time of year, so our visit was all about seeing the animals. They have 50 northern animal species, to include owls, foxes, lynx, moose, musk ox, wolverines, wolves, wild boars, deer, reindeer, beavers, otters, brown bears, and a polar bear. We had the forethought of securing a guided tour in advance for extended time with the wild boars and polar bear. Unfortunately, the boars were sleeping when we crossed their area, so we quietly walked by as we learned fun facts about the animals. 

However, our time with Venus the Polar Bear was spectacular!  She was showing off (but appropriately discouraged from acting like a circus animal by the staff), and ready for her special treats, carrots and apples. Our kids were all engaged in this activity and was one of the top activities of our trip for our 10-year-old. We ended our time here with lunch at a little café on the grounds. Most of my family enjoyed a slice of pizza.  

Santa's village

From the wildlife park, we drove to Santa’s village. It is free to walk around this area, full of shops and restaurants. We noticed the line to meet Santa at the Christmas House was nearly nonexistent, so we popped in for a quick visit with Santa! 

I imagine our short line was another perk of visiting this time of year. We had a brief conversation with him, took a photo that we purchased for a keepsake, and moved on to find and cross the arctic circle line. We then found our meeting location to catch our pre-reserved shuttle to the snow hotel.

arctic snow hotel

This was an incredible ending to our already exciting day. The Snow Hotel is built new every year, so the rooms and sculptures within are never the same! We embarked on a tour of the hotel, which allowed us to view several of the rooms and chapel and included a ticket for everyone to enjoy a free drink in the ice bar in an ice cup (that was disposed of by throwing it against the wall in the bar, which the kids thought was so fun). We ended our tour with some cookies and hot juice. 

We then found our way to our sauna/hot tub experience. We were provided two wooden dry saunas like you may expect and were surprised to learn of their unique ice sauna. Who knew you could steam up an ice room?  We had about 30 minutes to enjoy each sauna and purchase drinks to help keep us cool. 

The only limitation was the amount of time we could spend in the ice sauna, for obvious reasons.   As soon as our sauna time was up, we enjoyed a family soak in a hot tub, which overlooked some of the property and allowed perfect viewing of the sun beginning to set.  Once we dried off and got dressed, we were able to finish watching the sunset on the frozen lake behind the hotel while the kids tubed down a hill. 

By this point, our appetites were primed, and we made our way to the restaurant to enjoy one of the nicest dinners of our trip. We were able to indicate in advance if we wanted a traditional Finnish reindeer dish, or a salmon meal that is grilled in an open fire in the middle of the restaurant. We selected a mix at our table and were able to get a taste of everything. We left full, satisfied, and cultured. (picture of dinner) Everyone in my family reports this is their most memorable experience of the trip because it was so unique. It is a hard feat to receive a unanimous vote amongst my crew! I highly recommend a visit to the Snow Hotel.   