Five tips — what to do on your winter holiday?
Plenty of people still have winter holiday days to use, and maybe no plans yet either. You don't have to travel all the way to Lapland to enjoy a winter break. It's winter in the south too, and there's plenty to do in your local woods.
Our outdoor expert Caj shares his tips for easy, low-key winter trips.
Caj on a ski tour in his beloved local woods – not another soul in sight.
Winter in the south can be tricky. Sleet and grey skies can easily sap your motivation to head outdoors. On sunny days the popular spots tend to be packed, but in “bad” weather you'll often have even the busiest places almost to yourself. So make the most of the bad days.
5 tips for your winter holiday:
1. Local trips are easy and surprisingly rewarding
Oddly enough, many of us have never properly explored our own local woods, especially in winter. Keep things as simple as possible and getting out the door becomes easy. Most of us in the Nordics have some kind of forest within a short walk of the front door.
Grab a backpack, pack some warm layers for breaks and something to eat. Make a hot drink at home before you leave and take it along in a thermos flask. If you don't know your local woods well, check a topographic map beforehand. There are plenty of free topographic maps online, and you can install a navigation app on your phone. Bear in mind that batteries drain fast in the cold, so don't rely on your phone too much.
A winter trip straight from the back garden. Coffee brewing on a camping stove makes for a cosy moment.
With a camping stove you can cook food and make hot drinks out in the woods. It adds a whole new dimension to a trip. You'll find information on different types of camping stoves here.
Kids love local trips too – no sitting in the car, just straight out the door and off on an adventure. With adults around, they can venture safely beyond familiar play areas and explore further into the woods.
2. National parks and recreation areas offer stunning nature and waymarked trails
Finland is a hiker's paradise. On top of the right to roam, there are no fewer than 41 national parks! Luontoon.fi is a great place to look up information on national parks – check here to find the ones nearest to you.
A weekend winter trip in beautiful Teijo National Park was an unforgettable experience.
The great thing about national parks is the waymarked trails, campfire sites and lean-to shelters. You can enjoy your food by the fire and even stay the night, as long as your kit is up to winter camping.
When hiking in national parks, remember that the right to roam doesn't apply there, and each park has its own rules.
Remember outdoor etiquette:
- Respect nature
- Stick to marked trails
- Only camp in designated areas
- Only light fires in designated places
- Don't leave litter
You'll find our tips on the basics of winter camping here.
3. Enjoy a proper meal outdoors
You can eat outdoors in winter too – just make sure you dress really warmly. Cook on a camping stove or over an open fire. Did you know you can even turn a camping stove into an “oven”? Check out Luontohaaste's tips for using a Trangia here.
In this video, we make pizza over an open fire.
Over a campfire or on a camping stove, you can make pretty much anything you'd cook at home. Sometimes it takes a bit of creativity – two frying pans, for example, can make an oven.
In winter, do as much of the prep as you can at home, so you don't have to fiddle around with numb fingers out in the woods. Bring warm sit pads for everyone, or a sleeping mat – it makes sitting much more comfortable.
4. Try something new!
Winter opens up a whole range of fun activities, such as snowshoeing, off-track skiing, backcountry cross-country skiing and Nordic skating.
We stock reliable kit for all of these, but you can also hire gear to start with, so you can try out a new activity first. Second-hand gear can also be a good, affordable option.
Cheap backcountry skis from a flea market work well for ski tours in southern Finland. No need to worry about every rock and outcrop.
If winter trekking appeals to you, you can get started on a small budget. Once you're hooked and the trips keep coming, you can upgrade your kit over time.
You can rig up a functional pulk sled for under 50 euros. The inspector checking the rope connections.
You can even make your own snow stakes. These are made from painted aluminium angle, cord and a split ring.
There are winter trekking destinations all over Finland too. You don't always need to head all the way to the open fells of Lapland. In southern Finland, the wetland and bog areas offer easy, scenic skiing terrain.
5. Get a bit wild and come up with something fun or challenging
If a night in a national park doesn't feel challenging enough, you can always add a twist through your choice of gear or destination.
Caj spends the night in a small patch of woodland in the middle of a motorway slip road.
Think up an unusual destination. Caj, for example, found a safe patch of woodland in the middle of a motorway slip road and spent the night there in cold, rainy weather.
If sleeping in a tent or a lean-to is starting to feel too familiar, try sleeping under a tarp – or even under the open sky.
Hopefully one of these ideas has got you keen to get outdoors this winter. Winter is a great time to be out in nature, whatever the weather. It comes with its own challenges, but with the right clothing and kit, it's many outdoor lovers' favourite season.