We know...
Jeris encapsulates the Lapland dream: cosy winter cottages, log fires, a beautiful lakeside setting, spa facilities, deep snow and a fantastic range of activities. It's the best place we know for combining comfort and adventure.
Imagine returning to your very own winter cottage after an active day in sub-zero temperatures. Draw the curtains, turn on the sauna, light the log fire and feel the warmth seep back into your bones. Heavenly!
Jeris enjoys an enviable position on the shore of Lake Jerisjarvi and on the very edge of the Pallas-Ounas National Park. It's jaw-droppingly beautiful out there. The only problem is that you have to leave that log fire to experience the great outdoors. It's a tough call folks!
You know...
“This was a wonderful experience for us and the kids - there will never be another Christmas Day like it. Our best Christmas ever - thank you Activities Abroad!”. The Holbrow Family - December 2010
Suitable for
Anybody aged 5 years or over.
Duration: 6 nights
21 December 2011: Flights, arrival and welcome
You will be greeted upon arrival at Kittila Airport and transferred directly to your cosy accommodation at Jeris. You will meet with your guide for a welcome dinner.
22 December 2011: Snowshoe safari to the Christmas tree
This morning your guide will accompany you on a snowshoe walk over deep snow arriving at a very special tree where the children can leave their Christmas wishes. Along the way the elves will tell special stories and play games before you enjoy hot drinks and marshmallows around a campfire.
23 December 2011: Mush puppies
Today you will head to a local husky farm. You will be told about the lives of the huskies before hitting the trail on a 9km safari. Dog sledding is magical and the whole family is sure to remember today for a very long time.
Christmas Eve: Christmas tree search and Father Christmas
After breakfast you will all head into the forest to select the perfect Christmas tree. It will be taken back to the hotel where everyone will get together to decorate it and bake some cookies.
This afternoon the excitement builds as you are taken in snowmobile-pulled sleighs deep into a snow covered forest. Suddenly a candle lit path is visible through the trees and elves guide you to a small cosy log cabin where each family will be invited inside to meet the great man himself.
Father Christmas will spend time listening to the hopes of each child in front of his fireplace. This evening a delicious Christmas Dinner is served with traditional Finnish specialities – there may even be a surprise dinner guest – who knows?
Christmas Day: Reindeer games
Today the childrens' eyes will sparkle as they get to meet Rudolph’s cousins. You will all be taken to meet a reindeer herder and his family who will tell tales about the reindeer and their lives in Lapland. Each family will then take the reins on a short reindeer safari.
26 December 2011: Snowmobile safari
Today the whole family will have a go at snowmobiling. this 30km safari will show you the very best of the winter landscape - children really will believe they've entered Narnia. The adults will be given full tuition on how to drive the snowmobiles (2 per snowmobile) whilst the children will be wrapped up warmly in a sledge behind the guide's snowmobile.
27 December 2011: Departure
Today it is time to bid farewell to Jeris but you will leave with memories to last a lifetime.
Tourism in Finnish Lapland has become the main income source of employment and income replacing traditional industries such as forestry. Development from a period of extractive industry to an industrial society has come about quickly. In 1950 the largest part of Lapland's inhabitants lived in rural areas and more than half the workforce worked in forestry and agriculture. Today 65 % of the workforce is in the service industry, 22% in processing and 10 % in primary production.
This huge growth in tourism and service provision has been developed in conjunction with a long-term sustainable tourism plan with one of the primary objectives being to maintain nature in its natural state while guaranteeing the traditional way of life. Much of this has been achieved along with membership of EU development programmes, aimed at diversifying sources of livelihood, effective usage of resources and to increase export.
Approximately a quarter of Lapland’s 100, 000 strong workforce was unemployed in 1997. Promoting entrepreneurship, ongoing re-education of the workforce and development of the educational system to suit the needs of enterprises is continuing. The target is to diversify the sources of livelihood, increase the value of refinement production and develop new enterprises particularly in the area of tourism. National measures as well as EU-programme measures support this objective.
We embrace this philosophy, employing local activity providers and using only locally owned hotels. In this manner we help to maintain jobs in an area where unemployment was, until recently, very high. Additionally, the use of local suppliers ensures that the tourism spend filters through to local economies via the tourism multiplier effect.