Dressing for Lapland – what to wear

After writing this post on our guide to our Lapland DIY trip last year, I received a lot of messages on dressing for Lapland. Even some asking where fluffy pjs were a necessity! In this post ill go through what we wore and where we got the items.

I think it easier to put it all together in one post as I know before we went I did a lot of research to make sure the kids would be nice and toasty. For context we went end November into December so temperature range for us was -6 to -12 and there was snow.  Visit Finland has a brilliant informative video which is well worth a watch.

Ill focus on the kids but you can take it that adults broadly similar. However I did adopt the adult plus one thinking. As in what we wore plus a layer!

So…starting from the feet up.

• Wool socks – a must! We went for pure wool, just one pair not too tight and they were prefect. I purchased our via Ali Express
  

  Kids in their Reima gear Pic Credit: The Mamma Fairy

• Boots – goes without saying. Comfortable and waterproof. Make sure to try on with your wool socks before you go! A family in the cabin next to us were left with too small boots with the socks on. Luckily they could rent the boots on site. Ours and kids were Campri from Sports Direct, purchased this time last year in the sale.
• Thermals – Don’t scrimp on these as you will were them all the time. Again try before you go. Kids wore Reima and were fantastic, soft and a great fit
• Regular top/ long sleeve t – shirt  – self explanatory!
• Fleece – This was the kids extra layer, myself and the Dada Fairy didn’t seem to need this layer but the kids did and both had hooded fleeces from Reima, again, couldn’t fault the quality and functionality.
• Jacket – As with the boots this is your first line of defence! Ensure its a good fit accounting for the extra layers and it has a good hood and waterproof! Kids again had Reima and the jackets were exceptional. The fit, the hoods and the ability to withstand the temperatures at -12 and not a moan or a groan. No mean feat for my kids who leave the heat. Yes they are a little pricey but you get what you pay for and I really didn’t want to go all that way for the kids not to enjoy due to the cold which they weren’t accustomed to. The kids wore the jackets all winter here and was sorry to retire them to next year. They are safely put away until our adventures in December.
• Ski trousers – As with the jacket, these are a necessity. There is snow! Kids being kids love to roll in it, make snow angels etc! They will get wet! And nobody wants to sitting in wet clothes. Kids decked out again in Reima no leaks, no wet trousers, no moans. Full marks from us.
• Hats/ snoods – Very important, particuarly the snood and your neck can be exposed and the skin there is quite light and can really feel the cold. All of ours from Regatta

Lastly some final practical tips!

• Its dark almost all day – bring a torch or headlamp
• Bepanthen – my pair or fair skinned and burn in the sun easily and conversely the extreme cold bothers them but a layer of bepanthen on the exposed areas was a god send.

Enjoy every minute its beyond magical and myself and the kid cannot wait to return in December. We were there early in the season last year and this year booked later to experience the activities that were opened later in the Christmas season.

Happy to help if anybody has any queries – also Visit Rovaniemi contains a wealth of information and the staff are incredibly helpful. I see this year you can also book activities via their site which is very handy to have them all in one place.

 

Note: Many thanks to Reima for sending us some of the above items. All view my or the boys where appropriate.