You might not imagine it, however Levi, Finland isn’t just a ski resort within the winter. Summer in Lapland is simply as lovely!
The Levitunturi mountain affords breathtaking 360° views of Lapland and slopes in all instructions even in summer season and fall. Best of all, Levi is a real paradise for lively individuals and households within the hotter months as nicely!
Unfortunately, this isn’t so well-known exterior Finland. But now you recognize, and you may look ahead to a fantastic summer season trip in Levi.
Experience summer season in Levi with mountain biking and mountain climbing! Discover the most effective routes for newbies and superior bikers, expertise the journey of the bike park or hike by breathtaking surroundings. There can be so much to find for households with young children.
In our article you’ll study all in regards to the companies within the village, the place to remain and tips on how to get to Levi.
So seize your mountain climbing boots or mountain bike and let’s go!
After studying this text, you’ll have all the knowledge you have to make your summer season trip in Lapland unforgettable. And who is aware of, you may even meet a reindeer in your approach by the Finnish wilderness.
Our Finland professional, Hendrik, visited Levi along with his household in the summertime.
Here is an summary:
Levitunturi – “Fjell of Levi” in Finnish – is an imposing mountain in Southern Lapland, standing alone and proud.
Once you climb a number of hundred meters, you’re rewarded with a wide ranging view of the encompassing panorama: the spectacular Pallas Mountains to the northwest, the Ylläs Mountains some 35 kilometers to the west, in addition to lakes, small fjells and numerous forests. At the foot of the mountains lies the charming village of Sirkka, which serves as a base for journey and exploration.
Take the gondola up the mountain, the place you may both race down the summer season toboggan run or discover the realm on one of many many mountain climbing trails.
A real paradise for nature lovers and explorers!
Mountainbiking in and round Levi
Not solely does Levi have a well-known bike park, which I’ll discuss later, however there’s additionally lots to find for many who aren’t essentially on the lookout for the adrenaline rush of downhill using.
With a big community of mountain bike trails that permit for adventurous day rides on single trails and thru picturesque forests, much less risk-averse bikers will even discover their cash’s price.
For my check, I attempted the Levi Tunturi Trail, a roughly 18km route that circles Mount Levitunturi, and I used to be actually impressed with the superb upkeep of the path. Some might really feel it’s extra like a freeway than a path, however I’ve seen many trails which have destroyed the character round them as a result of excessive variety of guests.
From my expertise I can say that nicely maintained trails are a lot better for the surroundings in these conditions.
Especially for younger mountain biking newbies, these trails supply a protected approach to enhance their off-road abilities.
Experienced riders will even have enjoyable doing the loop round Levitunturi Trail in competitors fashion and testing their velocity. But there are lots of different trails within the space, comparable to a experience to Ylläs and again, or exploring the lesser-known locations round Levi.
You don’t want a automotive in Levi, because the village is sort of small. However, if you wish to get round quicker, you may swap to a bicycle and get round city. We used 4 rental bikes to get to the Levi Bike and Activity Park, which is just 3 km from our lodging and was simply managed even by our 5 yr outdated.
Levi with small children
Levi Adventure Park
Speaking of our 5 yr outdated, Levi will not be solely a professional at steep descents, but in addition has so much to supply the youthful children!
Have you heard in regards to the Adventure Park at Gondolintie? There are a number of free issues for toddlers and young children, comparable to an superior playground, a small zip line parkour close to the bottom, and pedal vehicles, which our daughter simply beloved.
When the climate is heat and sunny, this can be a great spot to go – however don’t neglect to pack loads of sunscreen, as there’s little or no shade!
For children over 115 cm tall, the large zipline parkour is a completely sensible exercise – my son and spouse beloved it.
Before you get began, there’s an introductory course the place you study all about climbing and the completely different options. After that, you get to decide on one in every of a number of routes – all the things from ziplining for nearly 1,000m to climbing over enjoyable obstacles.
I’m telling you, this appears a lot enjoyable! I’m already excited and may’t look forward to our daughter to be large enough on her subsequent go to to Levi so we will all expertise this adrenaline rush collectively.
Tonttula Elves Village
On the final day of our trip, we visited the elven village of Tonttula, which is situated a bit away from Sirkka. A brief taxi experience took us there.
Here we have been in a position to take a guided tour, make Christmas decorations and bake gingerbread cookies – our youngsters particularly loved this.
We additionally visited the large cave and acquired to pet some livestock. We ate lunch right here and took a brief hike on the forest path.
Despite the truth that it was July and slightly out of season for us dad and mom, the go to was general very good and enjoyable for all of us, particularly our youngsters.
Levi Bike Park
A few years in the past I watched my good friend Kaddi go downhill mountain biking and thought, “Wow, that looks pretty cool!”
Thanks to Jesper, who I met on my trip in Åre, I acquired to expertise what it was prefer to experience down steep hills. It was actually thrilling and I had a number of enjoyable.
In truth, it’s a lot simpler and safer than you may assume. That’s why I used to be much more excited once I had the possibility to experience downhill with my son at Levi Bike Park, one of many oldest bike parks in Finland.
It was an unforgettable expertise and we each had a good time!
First, we picked up our downhill bikes on the Levi Bike Park retailer and geared up ourselves with our protecting gear. From POC knee pads to physique harnesses and helmets to gloves and shirts, it was all there.
Then we met our teacher Pieto, who will not be solely a path builder in Levi. Our group consisted of six individuals with completely different talent ranges, however Pieto was in a position to cater to every of us. Even I, as an skilled rider, was in a position to study one thing.
After an introduction to our bikes, we took the gondola up the mountain and began our tour on the Village Trail.
The inexperienced path is ideal for newbies and in addition affords nice views and thrilling options. We are positive this path will probably be extremely popular sooner or later!
We did the path in phases, taking breaks to apply completely different abilities. For instance, we discovered tips on how to make turns and experience waves.
After mastering the Village Trail on the Levi Activity Center, we took the gondola again as much as the Blue Groove Trail. This is among the hottest trails in Levi and has a number of thrilling berms and options – all at an straightforward Blue Trail stage.
We had a number of enjoyable!
In the afternoon, my son and I rode the Village Trail and the South Route with Pieto. We had the paths to ourselves and will actually put the pedal to the metallic.
Even although there have been a number of riders and bikers arising the mountain, the paths have been quiet. Even on the favored Blue Groove we may simply cease and take footage with out anybody getting in our approach.
What a sense!
With greater than ten trails of various levels of problem, the riders have been unfold out very evenly. This additionally signifies that slower riders don’t really feel like they’re holding others again. Top!
We had some actually cool days on the Levi Bike Park!
My son and I rode a number of trails and he did all of it with out worry and with nice approach – and that’s after just one lesson! He instructed me that he actually loved the expertise and since we’re again dwelling he has been using his Woom OFF Air on the paths close to us and he’s having a blast.
So cool!
As a facet be aware, many ski resorts all over the world are abandoned through the summer season months. This is in fact not supreme for the native communities. That’s why I totally assist the concept of villages the place you may dwell all yr spherical.
Fortunately, there are companies just like the Levi Bike Park that be sure that inns, eating places, and even the costly gondola and raise infrastructure don’t need to shut down when the ski season is over.
Services like these and others hold the small village of Sirkka bustling year-round and permit its residents to make a dwelling from January to December. How cool is that?
Hiking in Levi
Almost each night I made a brief or longer hike up Levitunturi.
In summer season in Lapland there’s an incomparable golden hour that makes my photographer’s coronary heart beat quicker each time. The nice climate and sumptuous views make each hike an unforgettable expertise.
Although there are some marked trails main up and across the mountain, I principally simply walked round and explored the environment. I particularly loved visiting Santa’s Cabin, climbing to the highest, and simply following little trails that regarded promising.
If you need to study extra about how these mountains have been fashioned, it’s best to positively go to the Ice Age Trail. There are additionally many different trails to discover round Levi – a fast search on Retkikartta will provide help to discover and discover all of them!
Services within the village
In Sirkka, with its nicely laid out middle, you’ll uncover a wide range of outlets and companies.
A incredible expertise for the children and me was the summer season toboggan run, the place you may experience alone or with a companion on a 2-person sled.
The attraction may be very standard and it is strongly recommended to return within the early morning or early afternoon to keep away from lengthy waits. After 4pm it will probably get very crowded and you may anticipate to attend as much as an hour to stand up and down.
We rented 4 bikes from the Zero Point store down by the slopes in Sirkka and it was an absolute blast!
We instructed them our measurement and desires on-line beforehand and once we arrived all we needed to do was strive the bikes on. What can I say? They match like a glove and we may begin using straight away. We additionally acquired our rental helmets. It couldn’t have been simpler!
Best of all, the shop has bikes for youths of all ages. Our daughter was thrilled to get her pink Trek bike!
The Tourist Information Center makes it straightforward to guide actions, get raise tickets, and even discover a cozy place to remain. If you lose one thing alongside the way in which, no worries – there are a number of sporting items shops close by.
For the small starvation in between there are a number of cafes and a espresso store, however if you’re actually hungry there are a number of eating places to select from. We selected an house with a kitchen and went buying on the S-Market grocery store within the middle to organize our personal meals.
I don’t drink alcohol anymore, so I didn’t go to the bars and nightclubs in Levi, however in case you really feel like a chilly beer after an action-packed day on the downhill trails, you may!
Where to remain
Our spacious house on the Hullu Poro Hotel was our dwelling away from dwelling throughout our keep.
It is a brief stroll to the town middle and the bus stops proper exterior the door, which may be very handy. The small spa with sauna and scorching tub was the proper place for the children to chill out after a protracted day.
Our house accommodated as much as six individuals and had three bedrooms, two bogs, a small kitchen, and a pleasant eating and dwelling space. We even had our personal sauna, however the climate was so heat that we didn’t use it.
All in all, it was a really snug keep and the included breakfast was scrumptious.
How to get to Levi
We began our journey to Levi by practice and bus and spent one evening on the hostel Café Koti. This choice allowed us to shorten our journey days and discover Rovaniemi a bit.
We particularly appreciated the Angry Birds playground, which can be free! With our youngsters, we spent a number of hours taking part in on the assorted installations lovingly designed by Lapses.
There was additionally a soccer area and we borrowed balls to play a number of rounds.
Bus and practice
Bus and practice are nice!
We determined to take the practice from Vaasa to Rovaniemi and again and it was actually low cost – particularly in case you guide early. Our practice tickets price us a complete of solely €75.00.
Granted, the journey takes between 6 and eight hours and it’s important to change trains twice alongside the way in which, however with some cool card video games, audio books or a film in your pill, the journey may be tremendous pleasant for everybody.
Flying to Kittilä
Alternatively, you may fly to Kittilä with Finnair, which is the quickest approach.
However, the flights are a bit costlier and there are restricted connections. If you resolve to fly to Levi, you’ll want to guide nicely upfront.
There are native buses that take you from the airport in Kittilä to Levi and again – they run similtaneously the flights, so it’s tremendous straightforward!
The Gear
As common, we traveled mild, utilizing solely the Arc’teryx V110 Duffel and our Eagle Creek Cubes to retailer our 4 outfits and belongings. My digicam gear and MacBook have been safely tucked away in my trusty Peak Design Travel Backpack, whereas I used my HUCKEPACKS Phoenix Lite for mountain climbing and the Vaude TrailSpacer 18 for biking.
But I particularly appreciated my Luna Sandals OSO Flaco and my Houdini Daybreak Shorts, which I at all times prefer to put on in the summertime. We acquired our mountain bikes and downhill bikes together with safety gear on the Levi Bike Park Shop (for the downhill) and at Zero Point in Sirkka (for the MTBs), so we will journey relaxed with out bikes by public transport. 🙂
Should you go and go to Levi?
Levi actually wowed us!
There are thrilling and enjoyable actions for youths and adults alike, which we actually loved.
It was particularly nice that there have been a number of free issues to do across the Adventure Park and that we may discover the realm on bikes – our youngsters particularly beloved that. So in case you’re on the lookout for an lively trip vacation spot with loads of room to chill out, it’s best to positively take a look at Levi.
With an abundance of various actions, lodging for each finances, and gorgeous views from Levitunturi, it’s positively a vacation spot to place in your listing in your subsequent summer season or fall trip!
