Ylläs
From Wikitravel
Contents
Ylläs [1] is a popular ski resort located in the municipality of Kolari, at the Swedish border in Finnish Lapland.
[edit] Understand
The municipality is largely forest and swamps with some fells in the west. The most important location is the area around Yllästunturi (Ylläs fell).
[edit] Get in
[edit] By plane
Kittilä airport is about 50km west from Ylläs. There you may take a bus or airport taxi. Another possibility is to fly in Sweden from Stockholm to Luleå and from there to Pajala airport [2]. There you may take an airport taxi for the 30km trip to Finland.
[edit] By train
Kolari is the northernmost train station in Finland. During the winter season there is a direct train connection daily from Helsinki via Tampere; at 995 kilometers, this is the longest single train route in Finland. An overnight trip takes 13 hours and is most comfortable in a sleeping cabin. Sometimes the train contains a special club car serving as a nightclub during the trip.
[edit] By car
Drive by E75 from Helsinki to the north. Switch to E8 after Kemi. Drive to Kolari and follow signs to either Äkäslompolo or Ylläsjärvi.
[edit] Get around
By bus or taxi. In villages everything is within walking distance.
[edit] Talk
Most Finns are fluent in English, and Ylläs is no exception. Russian is also spoken by some people here, due to large numbers of Russian tourists.
[edit][add listing] See
- Lainio Snow Village [3] is located near Ylläs, somewhat halfway between Ylläsjarvi and Kittilä.
- St. Lauri's Chapel is located in Äkäslompolo.
[edit][add listing] Do
- Winter sports
Ylläs is Finland's largest downhill ski resort in terms of total drop (465 m) and single slope length (3000 m). There are 37 slopes in total.
The most important locations are Äkäslompolo and Ylläsjärvi villages [4] located on different sides of Yllästunturi. Around the fells there is the largest network of ski tracks (330 kilometers) in Finland.
Currently, several T-lifts and one chairlift line are available. The chairlift line only operates at good weather. There is also one gondola lift line operating at Ylläsjarvi and it was opened on February 9, 2008 at 12 o'clock noon [5].
Nearby Levi offers more comfortable lifts with 45 slopes and better infrastructure, however total drop in Levi is only 325 m and longest slope is 2000 m.
Both resorts maintain snow parks for freestyle snowboarding. These parks have rather large ice-runs, but jibbing rails and half-pipes are usually absent.
- Snow safari
Ylläs travel agencies offer practice of traditional Lappish activities like husky or reindeer sleigh trips, visits to reindeer farms and traditional Sami yarangas, as well as snowmobile safaris.
- Concerts
The Ylläs area hosts two major music festivals: Ylläs Jazz Blues [6] in February and Ylläs Soikoon [7] in July.
[edit][add listing] Buy
- Gifts by Wood Jewel [8], particulary from any souvenir shop in either Kolari, Ylläs or Levi.
- Lakkalikööri, a signature Lappish cloudberry liqueur, from Äkäslompolo Alko store.
- Cloudberry jam or sauce, from any retail store.
[edit][add listing] Eat
[edit][add listing] Drink
[edit][add listing] Sleep
The Ylläs area is one of the largest winter sport resorts in Finland and it has a great variety of accommodation opportunities.
- Hotel Kolari [9] is located in the main village.
[edit] Get out
| Routes through Ylläs |
| Tromsø ← Kilpisjärvi ← | W  E
| → Tornio → Turku |
| This article is an outline and needs more content. It has a template, but there is not enough information present. Please plunge forward and help it grow! |
