8 Awesome Things to Do in Ylläs, Lapland, in Winter

Looking for the best things to do in Ylläs? I loved my trip there and want to share what I learned to help you have a holiday to remember.

Arriving into Kittila, to visit Ylläs in Finnish Lapland, was just stunning. Absolutely incredible all round panoramas of beautiful icy, snowy landscapes. I knew I was in for a good trip before it had even started.

Visiting Lapland was an absolute dream, but until I was invited to visit, I’d never actually heard of ‘Ylläs’.

“Ylläs is located 150 km north of the Arctic Circle in Finnish Lapland, in Scandinavia. Ylläs has many different kind of activities to offer, variety of services, events and new experiences for you on your holiday. Travel and tourism lives strongly in the area and the local people are genuine. There is two different lappish villages in the area; Äkäslompolo village and Ylläsjärvi village. There are total of 850 persons living in the area. Ylläs and its people welcomes you to our lives!”

–Ylläs Tourist Board

And now I’ve visited, and spent 3 days in Ylläs, I know, there are lots of cool things to do in Ylläs, whether you ski or not. It really was an incredible wintry wonderland that I’d recommend to anyone. The whole experience was one I never want to forget.

Ylläs ski resort was fab, the food in Finland was amazing and I did a few things in Ylläs I didn’t even know existed, let alone imagine I’d get to do. I hope you enjoy reading this post, and I really hope you get to Ylläs one day, to try out all these cool Lapland activities.

8 Awesome Things to Do in Ylläs, Lapland, in Winter

– The good pictures of me, by Harri Lindfors

1. Snow Village

One of the coolest things to do in Ylläs in winter is to visit the Snow Village. It’s a whole village made out of snow – igloos, ice bars and everything.

I was taken on a tour and shown some of the incredible feats of design and construction crafted every year by the ice artists, brought in from all over the world. They’d created a dome restaurant with dining booths and a bar in the middle.

You could book to stay over at the ice hotel on site. Visitors would normally book one night in the ice, and then have another at a nearby hotel. Each room was carved in a different style, with a different formation of beds and a unique entrance.

There was also an ice slide, which I went down several times, and a cinema, a bar, and a church too. All made of the ice.

“The roof shrinks in a few cm over the winter, as the ice melts and compacts”

– tour guide.

In 2018 there was a Game of Thrones tribute etched into the ice, as wonderfully modelled by me here. I’ve never actually watched the programme, but others seemed very excited by it. I just went with it.

“The SnowVillage is a magical world of ice and snow. Each year, around 20 million kilos of snow and 350 000 kilos of crystal clear natural ice are used to build the spectacular SnowVillage which changes in shape, size and design to amaze visitors year after year. Covering an area of about 20 000 square metres, the SnowVillage consists of a Snow Hotel, with snow rooms and suites, Ice Restaurant, Ice Bar, Ice Chapel, a slide and a vast network of striking corridors full of spectacular snow and ice art to explore.”

– Ylläs Tourist Board

2. Downhill skiing at Ylläs Ski Resort

Ylläs Lapland is well known as a ski destination. On our first full day we tried out the Ylläs Ski Resort slopes, right above Äkäslompolo Village. This is the largest ski resort in Finland, thanks to the number and length of its slopes as well as the height differences and diversity of its runs. It has incredible views out across the other rugged fells in the Pallas-Ylläs National Park.

If you want to ski Yllas, you have to come and check out the wintry beauty of the Ylläs Ski Resort.

You can find the Ylläs piste map here.

You can pick up your skiing clothes at the Service Centre on site.

3. Sauna and ice hole swimming in SUB ZERO temps

I’ve written a whole blog post about my experience jumping in an ice hole in Finland. But in short, after deciding there was no way I was going to do it I gave in to peer pressure and ended up in the freezing cold waters of Finland.