Car hire

Hi again fellow obsessives.

Does anyone have any positive experience of hiring a car to drive around Yllas area (snow village etc%26gt;)and to do airport transfer in? We figured it would give us some independence but other people on here seem to think it%26#39;s too danegrous. What do people think?

|||

It%26#39;s quite OK ti hire car in Lapland. If you have any driving experience on snow and ice. Rental cars in Finland are normally brand new an in good condition. Just ask for one with studded tires.

Just check the weather before longer trips. A blizzard can be nasty thing. In less than half hour the road dissapears under snow so totally, that only way to know where it is, are the sticks on roadsides, put there to gude ploughmans. Just keep some warm clothes and your mobile with you, and you%26#39;ll be safe.

|||

Hi

On my mind your thought is feasible too. Roads here are good, well kept and peaceful. If I compare countries where I have been just in Sweden traffic is more slickly as here and the difference isn’t significant.

Here is a just couple special characteristic:

A car acts very different on snow and ice as on asphalt. Take it very carefully. On my mind there is a training trail in Rovaniemi. If you have time you can take a short route there. Besides it’s helpful it’s funny.

Another thing what you must observe are reindeers. They are totally idiots in traffic. Sometimes feels that they really wish to come mowed down.

Pera

|||

Hi there,

I hired a car in January 2006 from Kitilla for a week and drove around that area without mishap.

It%26#39;s actually much easier than you think. They use special snow tyres which have amazing grip and make the whole process relatively easy.

You have to be careful, and drive more %26quot;smoothly%26quot; than you would normally, but otherwise not a problem.

I didn%26#39;t have any major problems with reindeer, but was warned about their eratic behaviour.

My only other thoughts are, whether it is worth hiring a car in the first place ? Yes it will give you some independence, but do you really need it ? (I am assuming that you have transfers to you accommodation, and are not paying taxi fares)

|||

Thank you all for the useful feedback and good advice. We are hiring car because it was cheap for the week and we do have to organise our own transfers from Kitila. We were also hoping to drive to places like snow village because we cant do every trip by snow mobile its too expensive and we have two children who will have to go on the back and are a bit young.

I have heard about the reindeer so will be going super slowly and carefully.

Thanks again

|||

Travelman - I am hiring a car from Kittila airport on the 8th December for 1 week. Do they all come with snow tires or do I have to request? I am hiring through Budget.

DrBob

|||

As far as I am aware, it is law to have snow tyres fitted during the winter.

|||

Hi,

All rented car andalso the ones from budget have all got studed snow/winter tyres. in Finland it is a law to have either M/S tyres or better studs.

So dont worry they all have them. also they all have a motor/blok heater.That you plug in when ever you are staying.

Sam079

|||

Just a side issue, to have a good look at the current road conditions check out www.rovaniemi.fi there are links to loads of lapland web cams

|||

Thanks everyone - DrBob

|||

hi guys,

we are hiring a car from kittila for 4 days or so. I have a question though. I have lost the green part of my driving licence and only have the pink card part of the licence. Is this sufficient to hire a car in Kittila? I have phoned the guy at Europcar and he speaks a little english but wasn%26#39;t completely cluded up with the UK driving licence thing.

Any ideas?