Finland – Skiing holiday in North Karelia!
Here you can learn skiing at your own pace. After that you are able to make shorter and longer skiing tours on the frozen lakes or through snowy forests. We do not have any mountains but there are many hills where you can test your uphill and downhill skills. If you want you can also try the snowshoes which are also a very nice way of moving yourself in the snow. After a day in the fresh air it is time to relax in the Finnish sauna. The last evening is spent in the traditional smoke sauna. You can step on to the ice hole! After the smoke sauna experience you get a delicious glow-fried salmon dinner in the guesthouse. During the cold and clear nights you can see millions of stars in the sky, if you are lucky sometimes also northern lights!
All the tours are suitable for people with team spirit and average condition. You start slowly and notice that you’ll get fitter every day. The good night sleep and plentiful, tasty food help you to get new power for your life.
Guide
Your guide is a Finn called Minna. She will make her best for you to feel welcome. She has a lot of stories of every day life in North Karelia and she knows a lot about the history and nature of Finland. She has made the guesthouse Pihlajapuu like a grandma’s for you. She also likes to cook organic and tasty food for you.
Board and lodging
The guesthouse Pihlajapuu situates in a small town pf Nurmes in North Karelia, about 20 km from the town centre. It is in the countryside between forests and two lakes. This almost one hundred years old log building used to be a village school. It was renovated in 2000 for its new purpose. There are two floors in the house. Downstairs there are one double room and two single rooms, living room, dining room and a kitchen, also three toilets and a sauna with a comfortable terrace and fireplace. Upstairs there are 3 single rooms and 4 double rooms with shared facilities of two toilets and showers. Pihlajapuu has a Wi-Fi connection in the house.
Beside the house there is a sports hall with a small library. The skiing tracks begin in front of the house.
Arrival
By airplane to Kuopio airport (a flight at 16.10 from Helsinki ), Or by train to Nurmes railway station. There is a group transfer from the airport at about 17.15 hours. Departure at about 11 hours from Nurmes to Kuopio, for the flight at 14.25 hours from Kuopio to Helsinki..
Date in 2023:
28.1.-4.2.2023
Price: 990€/person
Single room supplement: 140 €
The price includes: Group transfer from Kuopio airport at about 18 hours and back to the Kuopio airport at 11 hours. (Or transfers from/to Nurmes railway station). Accommodation in double rooms, full board, skiing equipment, sauna every day, English speaking guide, international group, The use of snow shoes during your holiday.
The price includes the skiing equipment. Please, inform your shoe size, height and weight.
Not included in the price: Flights or train tickets.
We advice you to take a travel insurance.
Group size: 3-12 women
Programme*:
Day 1
Arrival at Kuopio, transfer to Nurmes, 120 km distance to the guesthouse (about 1,5 hours). Getting to know the group. Welcoming dinner.
Day 2
After the breakfast the skiing lessons start. There is a flat track around the sports field where you get to know the first important technics for skiing. After coffee break a short Finnish course and in the afternoon we play together Kyykkä which is an old Karelian outside game. Of course in the evening the sauna is waiting for you.
Day 3
Today you learn how to break, go downhill and uphill and also practice the curves. A skiing tour of 5-8 km. After that a sauna with honey and herbs.
Day 4
Skiing tour to a cape of Lake Pielinen, about 12 km. Now you really can practice your technics. Sauna in the evening relaxes your muscles.
Day 5
A skiing tour to the north of Pihlajapuu, over the lake and fields, about 18 km. In the evening a peat sauna and relaxing. The peat gives your face a soft skin.
Day 6
Today we are going to make a skiing tour south of Pihlajapuu, about 20 km.
Day 7
A skiing tour to the Hungerhill of Salmenkylä village, about 12 km. After coffee break you walk over the lake (about 1 km altogether) to Minna’s smoke sauna and kota (fireplace). After the smoke sauna and ice hole experience you walk back to the guesthouse to enjoy the dinner of glow-fried salmon.
Day 8
Time to say hei, hei. Bye bye, see you next time. Transfer to the airport or railway station.
*The changes in the programme are possible because of the weather and snow conditions.
