Hap­py New Year 2019, our dear rea­der! Last year we cove­r­ed various tra­vel­ling topics rela­ted to Switz­er­land and Fin­nish Lapland, Life in Engel­berg, Fin­nish sau­na cul­tu­re and Swiss time to name a few. We will kick off this year by intro­du­cing you how life in Luos­to – our other home – is.

Luos­to, loca­ted in the Sodan­ky­lä muni­ci­pa­li­ty, is liter­al­ly in the cent­re of Lapland. It is the home of rein­de­er her­ding and the roots deep down to ear­liest occup­a­ti­ons in the area. For examp­le. Vuot­so and Tank­a­vaa­ra gold mining cen­ters are good examp­les of how peop­le used to live in the area. No won­der that you will still run into rein­de­ers blo­cking the road while dri­ving around in Luos­to area.

Life in Luos­to – sepa­ra­te vil­la­ge from Sodan­ky­lä and Tank­a­vaa­ra – is total­ly uni­que; you will for­get the time and live as the sea­son and the days go by. The­re is no need to rush and basi­cal­ly one for­gets the con­cept of time. Timel­ess­ness runs in the Lap­pish and Luos­to blood. What needs to be done wit­hin a day is done, other­wi­se ever­ything else necessa­ry is post­po­ned until later. (And who would know the due dates for that?)

Luos­to used to be the go-to place for sla­lom tou­rism in the 80s. Peop­le used to queue for the ski lifts for hours, as it was THE place to be. Nowa­days it is the home of peace­ful natu­re, ber­ry picking hea­ven, ear­ly cross-coun­try ski­ing tracks, an own ame­thyst mine and the heart of what Lap­pish tou­rism should look like.

Luos­to also repres­ents the Lap­pish life­style: things should not be rus­hed. Lap­pish men­ta­li­ty is to be one with the natu­re. It is said that Lap­pish peop­le will sleep through the win­ter to be awa­ke for the rest of the year – sum­mer. When the sun doesn’t set, Luos­to natu­re will burst into fire. By colours, vibrant views and the sun that won’t set, the life­style will total­ly turn into some­thing else than any­whe­re in the world.

During deep win­ter, one only won­ders why not to set off for a ski tou­ring trip to Ukko-Luos­to, cross-coun­try ski­ing to Orress­ok­ka or perhaps to snow­shoe around the lake of Ahven­lam­pi. Luos­to offers won­der­ful hea­vi­ly sno­wed trees around the cen­tral Lapland area to get the most out of your stay. If you are lucky, the auro­ra will light up the way back home.

Lap­pish peop­le, neit­her the Luos­to peop­le, will rush. Lap­pish and the Luos­to men­ta­li­ty means that you will need a fle­xi­ble time­ta­ble and a relax pace of acti­vi­ties to ful­ly enjoy the Lap­pish and Luos­to gems; ever­y­day life, tas­te­ful din­ners by open fire, mee­ting the rein­de­er and the aurora.

Magic in Luos­to. In deep win­ter (9th of Jan, 2019) the sun will show its­elf for a few hours.

We will be also very hap­py to see you soon in Luos­to area!