Here are the available villas for rental in Finland.

Red nose day with Santa

Just an hour into the trip, 30,000ft over an icy ocean, and I'm already wondering why I'm searching for Santa on a day trip to Finnish Lapland.
The excited children have taken over the aircraft's PA system and are breaking into a chorus of When Santa Got Stuck Up The Chimney. Some of them are singing in a pitch that can be heard only by dogs and some types of sea mammal.
Still, I expect it's different when it's 'one of your own' (I'd failed to procure a small child to bring with me), especially when they start telling dirty jokes and have the microphone grabbed from them.
Our destination was the town of Rovaniemi in northern Finland. I was quite intrigued - after all, it's not every day you get the chance to experience being inside the Arctic Circle, and with the sun beaming down on a crisp December morning just how cold could it be?
Ahem. Minus 35C is a temperature I assumed was reserved for freezing inert gases in laboratory experiments, but it appears some people actually live in these conditions.
Admittedly, even the local guides had to concede it was 'a bit chilly' - there was a freak cold snap on the day we arrived. Apparently, school is cancelled only if the temperature dips below minus 40.
I imagine that in such conditions the teachers are too busy fighting off advanced hypothermia to give a maths lesson.
But Santa must be found at all costs, and we're kitted out in bountiful layers of thermal overalls and boots to insulate our temperate extremities.
Though everyone is wrapped up impenetrably, you can tell it's a different kind of cold outside. Cold that could hurt you.
That said, the immediate scenery is spectacular, especially if you're into heavy snowfall and fir trees. ... more

Warm welcome in a cool city

From the Daily Mail

The least known of the Scandinavian capitals, Helsinki has intriguing traces of its Swedish and Russian past. As an outdoor city Helsinki has few rivals - surrounded as it is by water and parkland, and boasting some terrific contemporary architecture.
With a compact city centre and a population of just half a million, Helsinki is invitingly easy to investigate over the course of a long weekend. A flight time of less than three hours gets you there in time for Friday-night drinks before dinner, returning on Sunday evening. Take a tip, though, and wait until the weather warms up.
ESSENTIAL PACKING: British citizens do not need a visa to visit Finland but you will need to take: an umbrella and a warm coat (just in case), your credit cards and plenty of Finnish marks (Helsinki is one of Europe's priciest destinations), a phrase book (most people speak English and are tourist friendly but the menu reader can be particularly useful).
MY FIRST STOP: Head straight for the central Esplanade and the elegant Kappeli cafe, Helsinki's prime people-watching spot: inside - glasshouse windows, ferns, chandeliers and a popular cellar-bar; outside - views along the avenue and, in summer, free musical entertainment.
A walk up the main avenue, Mannerheimintie, shows off the best of the buildings: starting at the Art Nouveau train station and on to the classical Parliament building, then the mock-Gothic National Museum sleek Finlandia Hall, new Opera House and Olympic Stadium climb the stadium tower for a sweeping view.
Helsinki's churches all sport dramatic domes and spires but the most extraordinary is virtually invisible from outside. The cavern-like Temppeliaukio church was hacked out of the granite but light floods in through the copper and glass roof.
Cheap eats from the quayside Old Market Hall include a dozen kinds of pickled herring or cured salmon, or a bag of smoked reindeer-meat crisps. Outside, stalls groan with 3ft-long wild salmon, bowls of Russian caviar, reindeer skins and woolly hats.
The Hietalahti flea market has more cafes and a lot of junk among the arts, crafts and antiques. On Sunday take the ferry across the harbour to Suomenlinna, an 18th-century fortress built across five interconnected islands.
EATING OUT: Cafe lunches (from around £5) and Italian and Chinese restaurants offer the best deals but for good-quality Finnish food - grilled fish, game, even reindeer steaks - you'll pay the earth. Main courses easily cost £15 to £20; add a beer (£3) or a bottle of wine (from £17) and you're soon talking telephone numbers. Hotel buffet breakfasts are usually lavish so stock up, while cafes serve cappuccinos and smashing cakes.
SHOPPING: The Finns claim that Stockmann Helsinki's main department store - is Europe's biggest. There's not too much else to get excited about, though the markets and downtown shops (both closed Sundays) throw up some unique items: knitted sweaters, carvings, clothes and fox-fur hats from northern Finland, and imported crafts and antiques from Russia. Don't expect any bargains. ... more

Heaven in Helsinki

From the Daily Mail

Even though I was fighting back fatigue after a three-hour flight with a very active little boy, Helsinki at night intrigued me immediately. Everything looked as though it had just been swept.
Neat blocks of sand-coloured buildings rose up over wide, cobbled streets and spacious squares, interrupted occasionally by some dark, romantic edifice from the turn of the last century.
Most impressive of these, particularly to our train-mad son Joseph, was the station itself, built in 1910 by the famous Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen.
Stern, stone-carved faces guard the entrance, staring down like gods from the Ghostbusters movie. It was a thrilling introduction to the city. We were hooked.
The friendliness of the people - not only the hotel staff, but also passers-by (who all spoke perfect English) was almost overwhelming.
Our first meal - room service of smoked reindeer, salmon and rye bread spread with garlic creme fraiche (a local favourite) was so good that even Joseph found nothing to complain about.
Waking refreshed, we caught the tram to circuit the city using our handy Helsinki cards.
At just over £20 for a three-day pass (children under seven go free), these are good value, entitling us not just to free travel and entrance to museums, but also to discounts at theatres, restaurants and sightseeing tours.
Catching sight of the busy local market by the harbour, we hopped off the tram and started threading our way through inviting stalls of fish, fruit, hand-made toys and woollens. I bought Finnish hats for the entire family.
Although not that cold when we were there, Helsinki copes well with freezing temperatures. Many shopping precincts are underground, doors are heavy against the wind, but inside shops, museums and galleries, it is warm and cosy. ... more

Lapping up the Finnish spa treatment

Life in Finland's imposing expanse of dense forest and lakes is dominated by climate.
Not surprising, then, that it's the land of the sauna. When it's minus 30 outside even the hardiest locals gladly desert the great outdoors.
Timeshare resorts thrive in Finland. Rural retreats offer outdoor activities like skiing, snowmobiling and husky dog safaris, while city locations provide more in the way of sports and entertainment. But everywhere the spa is king.
Set beside lake Nasijarvi, Tampere is Finland's second city. Small, sedate and modern it still provides plenty to do.
Nearby Sarkanniemi boasts an aquarium, dolphinarium and amusement park. At night the restaurant at the top of Nasinneula tower gives you a striking panoramic view of the city.
Sports enthusiasts can make the short trip to Kauppi National Park for cross-country skiing.
We stayed in Holiday Club Finland's converted Tampere mill, which has great views of the lake but also the industrial centre which heats the city.
The middle of several floors has been removed and a glass roof makes the communal areas light and airy. Luxurious, split-level timeshare apartments are dominated by huge Jacuzzis and all have saunas.
Tampere's spa boasts jacuzzis, a mineral pool and ice-filled plunge pool for the brave (or very foolish). The tiled treatment rooms with their statues make it a gleaming shrine to health and cleanliness.
The pool is everything you'd expect of a luxury spa. Water jets pummel you from every angle. Feeling sporty? You can swim against a current or alternatively just go with the flow.
An hour's flight north from Helsinki is Lapland, the land of the Sami people.
Here in Santa-land you can visit the Sami museum in Inari, with its open-air reconstructions of traditional Lappish homes and fearsome-looking traps for bears and wolves.
We stayed in the resort town of Saariselka, wherethe focus is on the outdoors and things start hotting up when the big chill begins in October.
Up here, you can see reindeer by the roadside and further north, near the Russian border, there are also eagles, arctic foxes and bears.
Skiing is the main activity and Oct to May is the snow season. There are black slopes for the experts but much of the terrain is undulating and ideal for cross-country and Saariselka has 240km of trails. It also has the world's longest toboggan slope.
Wilderness safaris, with reindeer, snowmobiles or huskies, are also popular. ... more

Finnish festive fun

There's something magical about sitting outside a remote wilderness lodge close to the Arctic Circle, breathing in the cold (-10C) night air and listening to the sounds of nothingness.

There's something altogether barmy however about doing all of the above while wrapped in nothing more than a small, damp towel.
Fear not though, your intrepid reporter was not risking limb-threatening frostbite for the sake of a story. I was actually rather comfortable and totally relaxed having just emerged from the warmth of a piping hot traditional sauna.
Needless to say, you can't spend too long out in the sub-zero temperatures but it's a surprisingly enjoyable experience for a few minutes.
I was in Finland, or to be more precise, and the Finns love their saunas. In a country with a population of five million, there are over one million saunas - basically, every Finnish home has a sauna. Business deals are even sealed with a sauna.
It's all about circulation and getting the blood pumping. A serious sweat session in the sweltering cabin is followed by a brisk but invigorating roll in the snow outside, dressed in...well not dressed in anything actually.
This can be repeated as many times as you desire, and there's also the option of having your back repeatedly hit with wet birch leaves - again, an unexpectedly enjoyable experience.
A couple of beers and a couple of hours later you're left feeling unwound to the point of being half asleep and with an incredibly warm feeling inside.
Our trip had started the day before with an early flight from Gatwick. The ungodly hour did little to dampen the spirits of the many children on the flight and their excitement levels increased as we dropped out of the clouds three hours later, to be greeted by the sight of the winter wonderland surrounding Kuusamo airport in the north east of Finland.
The kids were of course, all too aware that nestled somewhere down there amid the snow-heavy fir trees was a certain bearded, present-laden chap with a penchant for red.
Santa Claus is big business in this part of , and prior to our meeting with the man himself, I envisaged a huge queue of children being hurried along, conveyor-belt style, for their rushed couple of minutes on the big man's lap - I turned out to be completely wrong.
The children visit Santa in groups and each group gets to spend between two and three hours at his house. Initially, there is tobogganing and hot drinks round the fire outside, before suddenly, Santa appears at the top of the hill, ringing his bell and calling for the children to come into his winter lodge.
The, by now, very excitable sprogs get to bake cookies and cakes with Mrs Santa, as well as enjoy the aforementioned gift consultation on her husband's knee.
Well in advance of the visit, parents can even pass on their children's Christmas letters to the holiday company reps, so that on the day, Santa can produce their actual letter. It's an experience that will have them believing in Father Christmas until their early thirties at least!
While the St Nick visit is certainly special, there's plenty more to do in this area of Lapland. You can try all manner of Arctic activities and we got a taste of them all.
My favourite without a doubt was the husky safari. If you're heavy enough to be able to slow the dogs down, then you're heavy enough to drive the sled.
After a brief lesson from our wolf-skin clad husky breeder we were off in convoy on a seat-of-the-pants ride, bounding along tracks and up and down hills balancing on a couple of narrow runners.
The Siberian huskies just don't want to stop and it takes all of your might, and the huge clamp-like brake to finally bring them to a halt. We had what seemed like five minutes in charge of a six-dog team, but it would be truly incredible to travel off into the countryside for a day safari.
I was also really looking forward to the snowmobiling, but we were hampered because there hadn't been enough snow and the ice wasn't thick enough to drive onto the frozen lakes.
However, a few detours onto open, snow-covered roads gave us the chance to open up the throttle and get an idea of what it would be like to speed along uninhibited. You have to be 15 years of age to actually drive a snowmobile, but we saw many children having the time of their lives while clinging onto their mum or dad's back as they rumbled down the track.
Cross-country skiing is also a massive sport in Scandinavia, and as we struggled to get to grips with the unusually narrow skis, dozens of locals, of all ages, sped past, out on their equivalent of a morning jog.
It wasn't too long before we'd also got the hang of it and there were several well-marked paths of varying lengths where you can test your fitness.
Another great excursion for all the family is to a reindeer farm. We were told that the farmers themselves were often great characters and ours was no exception, singing us songs and presenting us with reindeer drivers licenses which turned out to be thin slices of antler.
You get the chance to feed the reindeer and also take a quick ride in a sledge so the kids can see how Santa gets to work.
Resort-wise, there are two main sites accessible from the airport. Iso Syote, about an hour away, is a compact little place with several (fairly short) ski-runs of varying difficulties and an extensive National Park nearby. At the park, the well-equipped visitors centre is great for a bite to eat and also to learn about the resident creatures and plants via interactive displays.
The Hotel Iso Syote is perched on the hilltop, meaning you can walk a few yards from your hotel room or 'log cottage', pop your skis on and head off down the slopes. The rooms and cottages are cosy but compact and there's a pool and the obligatory sauna onsite as well as a good restaurant. ... more