🎿Ski resorts in Finland: a complete guide for locals and newcomers

Imagine getting off a warm train in Lapland and seeing the first slopes straight away. Or, you could leave Helsinki after work and, forty minutes later, be standing on top of a hill with the city twinkling below. This is why we love Finland's ski resorts — here, skiing is part of everyday life.

This article is your main guide to all the articles on winter skiing. From here, with just a couple of clicks, you can find articles about the season by month, Lapland, cheap weekends near Helsinki, family resorts, freestyle parks, and how to fit all of this into a realistic budget.

“When we first went to Finland, we just picked a spot on the map and went where it was cheapest. The second time, we opened a hub and realised that we needed a quiet resort with a children's school — and finally got some real rest.”

🗺️Map of places to ski in Finland

When it comes to skiing holidays, Finland is divided into three large groups of resorts: Lapland, Central and Eastern Finland, and the south/resorts near Helsinki. Each one is different, and each one has its own price and set-up. The large resorts of Lapland, such as Levi, Ylläs, Ruka, Saariselkä, and Pyhä, are the country's most popular. They have reliable snow, a long season, and a combination of slopes, the northern lights, and the silence of the hills.

Lapland is a great place for skiing: Levi, Ylläs, Ruka, Saariselkä, Pyhä–Luosto — your guide to these resorts: where there are more 'red' slopes, where the family infrastructure is better, and where there is almost perfect silence and kilometres of cross-country trails next to the downhill skiing.

If you go a little further south, you will reach Central and Eastern Finland. Vuokatti, Tahko and Koli. Vuokatti is a year-round winter sports centre with slopes, parks and cross-country trails. Tahko is a popular place with lots to do. There are about 24 trails, snow parks and lots going on in the evenings. Koli is a small but popular resort in a national park. It has beautiful views and the most famous slopes in southern Finland.

Finally, there are the southern resorts, which are described in detail in the article Where to ski near Helsinki... weekend and evening skiing. These are small but lively ski centres, such as Serena Ski, Talma and other slopes around the capital. They are perfect for evening skiing after work, for warming up quickly before a trip to Lapland, and for budget weekends without flights.

To make the hub truly useful, we rely on the official websites of resorts and regional tourist offices. Below is a tentative set of ‘entry points’ where you can view current trail maps, webcams, prices and events:

🎯How to choose quickly: three typical travel scenarios

If you don't want to spend hours comparing options, start with a simple question: 'What kind of trip am I looking for?' Most people go on winter trips to Finland for three reasons: a short weekend, a week or a week and a half, or a family holiday with children.

For a short weekend, it's easiest to head south and refer to the article Where to ski near Helsinki... weekend and evening skiing. The logic is simple: minimum logistics, maximum time on the slopes and the opportunity to combine skiing with city life. The ‘work in the morning, ski in the evening’ scheme works well here, or an express flight/train to Helsinki, followed by a car rental or bus to the nearest resort.

If you have 7-10 days and want a ‘real winter’, check out When and where to go...: the season by month and choice of region and read in detail about Lapland for skiing: Levi, Ylläs, Ruka, Saariselkä, Pyhä-Luosto and Central and Eastern Finland: Vuokatti, Tahko and Koli. For this length of time, it makes sense to fly to Lapland or take a combined route: a couple of days in the central part, then a flight or night train to the north.

But if you're looking for a family-friendly ski holiday in Finland, with good schools, entertainment and easy access to the slopes, check out Family Skiing in Finland: Resorts, Schools, Ski-in/Ski-out and Weather. In this article, we talk about where it's best to live near the slopes, which schools are good for beginners, how to choose the best season for your child's age, and whether the ski-in/ski-out option is really as good as people say it is in Finland. You should read it with the article 'Living on the slopes or in a village: how to choose and save money'. This will help you to work out what is more important to you: maximum comfort or flexibility and savings.

“When we first went, we rented a house in the village and it took us 20 minutes to get to the slopes each day. When we went back, we picked an apartment near the ski lift. Our skiing days got longer, and our mornings got twice as peaceful.”

If you want to get straight to the point, follow this logic for the tasks:

❄️The season is short, when to go and what kind of snow to expect

We will analyse the detailed ‘monthly’ picture in the article When and where to go...: the season by month and choice of region, but here is a quick guide to give you an idea of the framework.

In Lapland, many ski resorts open some of their slopes in late autumn and keep going until the end of April, and sometimes even longer, thanks to the high altitude and the fact that the snow is stable. Levi, Ylläs and Ruka are usually the best places in the country for snow, which is why they are popular with families and sports teams.

In central and eastern Finland, at resorts such as Vuokatti, Tahko and Koli, the season usually starts closer to the beginning of winter, with January to March remaining the peak months. They use artificial snow and lights on the slopes, so it is comfortable to ski even when the days are short and it is frosty.

In the south, near Helsinki, the season is shorter and more dependent on the weather. Small resorts such as Serena and Talma prepare the slopes and install evening lighting as quickly as possible. This is ideal for people who live in the capital region or fly in for a couple of days on business and want to combine work and skiing.

✈️Logistics without cars: trains, flights and shuttles 🚆🚌

The good news is that you can enjoy a skiing holiday in Finland without renting a car. The article "Lapland without a car: airports, night trains, shuttles..." provides a detailed overview of the various options, and here is a brief summary.

You can get to Lapland by VR night trains from Helsinki and Turku to Rovaniemi, Kolari and Kemijärvi. There are sleeping cars on the night trains, and then connecting buses that are timed to match the train schedule. These buses take you to places like the resorts of Levi or Ylläs.

Another option is direct flights to Kittilä, Rovaniemi, Kuusamo and other regional hubs. Shuttles and regular buses run to the resorts from these places. For central and eastern Finland, there is a combined scheme: take the train to the nearest town, then get the bus or taxi to the resort.

Even if you fly into Helsinki and don't want to rent a car right away, you can easily get to some of the southern resorts by public transport. You can get electric trains, regional buses and a short taxi ride for the 'last mile'.

We will discuss detailed routes, timetables and tickets in the logistics materials and a separate section on travelling to the slopes without a car, so that skiing holidays in Finland are accessible not only to those who have a driving licence and experience of winter driving.

💸Budget and passes: how not to overpay for snow

When planning a trip to a ski resort, people usually think first about flights and where they will stay. But in Finland, a lot of the budget is spent on things like ski passes, rentals and insurance. We'll talk more about this in a different article, Travel budget: ski passes, rentals and insurance.

Most large resorts have different prices for ski passes depending on when you buy them. It's often cheaper to buy online in advance than at the ticket office, and multi-day and family options are significantly cheaper than a set of one-day passes. Buying online lets you save money and get your pass straight away, so you don't have to stand in line at the ticket office.

Add to this equipment rental, ski school lessons, ski insurance (especially if you plan to do freestyle and will be reading the article Freestyle in Finland: the best parks + weekend route Ruka carefully), as well as transport to the resort. The final price for the week can vary by one and a half to two times, depending on how far in advance you book everything and whether you are willing to ski not only during Christmas and the February holidays, but also during quieter periods.

In a separate article, we discuss the issue of accommodation: Living on the slopes or in the village: how to choose and save money helps you understand when it makes sense to pay extra for ski-in/ski-out, and when it is wiser to live in the village and travel to the slopes by car or bus, investing the difference in a longer ski pass or additional activities.