Holidays in Finland: the joys of brutal but beautiful eastern Lapland, where it reaches -30°C in winter

Frozen in time: Finns have always embraced winter - with activities to warm the hearts of the whole familyJohn Gimlette traveled to the small ski village of Sallatunturi in Eastern Lapland. reindeer and snowmobiles took him for rides through the landscape

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Posted: 09:44 GMT, the December 27, 2022 | Update: 10:06 GMT, 27 Dec 2022

We all need to toughen up, Finns say. Forget hygge. We should be brave, or sisu. It's about resilience and strengthening the psyche. There are even a few new books on the subject with names like Sisu: The Finnish Art of Courage.

Eastern Lapland is a good place to try this . Our family - my wife, Jayne, and our daughter Lucy, 17, had never been more demanding.

In winter, the average temperature is minus 13c, with occasional lows of minus 30c (minus 22f) and you only get about four hours of sunshine. Swamps and lakes cover 80% of it and they're frozen for months.

So it's a tough world. Wolves and bears like it but there are not many people. In our area, Salla, there were over 10,000 reindeer and only 3,400 humans.

But it's also beautiful. The light is pink and the air is dry and clean with peppermint. Below, the forests look...