Ice skating in Levi, through a lit forest

At the skating area there is a heated changing room, where you pull on the skates and helmet the session provides. Then you step out onto natural ice. The trail runs for 1 km through the forest, with several natural rinks along it, and bulb lights strung beside the ice show the way between the pines.

The session lasts 2 hours in all. There is a guide on site, hot drinks to hold between laps, and a kota, a log cabin where you can shelter from the cold beside a fire. You skate at your own pace: one loop slowly with a child on a kicksled, another quickly on your own, and a break in the warmth whenever your toes ask for it.

The cold that makes Levi a ski resort makes its ice. At the Kittilä Airport weather station January averages a low of -17 °C and February -16.4 °C. Visit Finland says lakes in Lapland are the first in Finland to freeze, usually between late October and December.

Natural ice is different from a rink. It is frozen water from the forest itself rather than a slab poured and polished indoors, and on a cold, still evening it has the faint crackle and hollow ring of the real thing. That is what sets forest ice skating in Levi apart from an evening on a city rink. The operator, Lovimainas, is a family business established in 2018 by a local family in Sonkamuotka, Enontekiö.

The practical side earns as much praise. Reviewers mention a pickup that ran on time and a short drive, warm changing facilities, and skates and helmets in good condition, including a choice of figure or hockey skates. Families write about the frames and kicksleds that let children and novice adults join in from the first minute.

The reviews are honest about the cold, too. One family skated in frost far below minus thirty and stayed about an hour and a half before their feet gave up; others mention a fire in a tent to warm up by. On GetYourGuide the session is rated 4.32 from 202 reviews, with value for money scored 3.7.

For skating on a lit trail, darkness is a gift rather than a problem. The bulbs along the ice do their work all afternoon in December, and the snow on the pines reflects every light. The listing suggests later time slots for a possibility of seeing auroras, never a promise.

The light comes back fast. Mid-January has 3.2 hrs of daylight at the Kittilä Airport station, mid-February 7.8 hrs and mid-March 11.5 hrs. A March session can begin in sunshine and end under the lights, with the forest changing colour around you.

Such nights are not rare. Levi's tourism site says midwinter frost is harshest in January and February, with temperatures down to minus 30 degrees made to feel colder by the Arctic wind. Finland's lowest recorded temperature, -51.5 °C, was measured at Pokka in Kittilä on 28 January 1999.

Plan for flexibility. Book the skating early in your stay, so a cold-night reschedule still lands inside your trip, and keep an eye on the forecast the day before. Between the extremes, good layers and the warm kota make even a properly frosty session comfortable.

The session is sold from $80 per person, shown in your currency on the booking calendar. Souvenirs are for sale at the site and are not part of the price. The listing states no age limit and no guide language, so check the booking page if either matters to your group.

One thing it does state: the session is not suitable for wheelchair users. Families with a pushchair-age child can still come, since the kicksled lets a parent push a small passenger along the ice, subject to availability.

Cold is the enemy of batteries. Lapland's rescue department warns that cold air drains phone batteries quickly, so keep the phone inside your jacket between shots. Never take off both mittens at once: the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health says contact frostbite can happen within seconds when bare skin touches cold metal, and a phone body is metal too.

If the sky starts to move, look up first and photograph second. The listing offers later slots for a possibility of auroras, and Levi records an annual average of 111 sightings. A green band above lit pines is the photo everyone hopes for, and it is luck, not a schedule.

Feet feel the cold first inside a skate. Visit Levi says wool socks, not cotton, should be the first layer on the feet. One good wool sock in the skate is warmer than two thick ones that squeeze the foot, and warm boots for the walk to and from the changing room keep your toes ready for the ice.

Cover the ears and the face. Visit Levi recommends a hat that covers the ears and a tube scarf that protects the neck and face, and says loose mittens keep hands warmest. A thin hat fits under the helmet better than a thick one.

For a first attempt, Levi's tourism site gives the basics: knees slightly bent over the toes and eyes up, which lowers the centre of gravity, and if you fall, fall sideways, then roll onto your hands and knees to get up. With a helmet on, a fall is part of the fun.

Natural ice is not polished like a rink, and that suits beginners better than it sounds. The slight grip slows you down, and the trail has rinks where you can circle and practise before setting off along the lights. Two hours is a generous first lesson.

Zero Point Rental is at Hissitie 8 on the Front Slopes, open daily from 9 am to 7 pm in winter, and its helmets are free of charge for children under 12. Levi's tourism site asks every skater to wear a helmet, since skating is always at your own risk.

For indoor ice, Kittilä village has the municipal Agnico Eagle ice hall at Havutie 5, with public skating normally Monday to Friday from 15.00 to 16.30. Never skate on a lake you find on your own: Lapland's rescue department says to go on the ice only on a marked route and with a guide.

Strong skaters should set their expectations. Some reviewers found the tracks short and the ice rougher than a rink, and the value-for-money score of 3.7 sits below the overall 4.32. Come for the setting and the atmosphere rather than for distance or speed.

It also asks for a tolerance of cold. The listing reschedules or refunds only at -30°C or below, so sessions in serious frost go ahead. Dress for it, take your breaks in the kota, and the trail repays you with a beautiful hour or two of Lapland winter.