Colin and Livi outside their Levi log cabin, autumn

About Levi Finland Adventures

We came to Levi fora different way of life.

We came looking for adventure, nature and proper winters. We stayed. Now we guide other travellers towards the best version of Levi for them — while protecting the nature, community and character that made us want to be here.

Levi residents since 2024
A British family of five
In-resort, every season
Assisted direct booking

Colin, Livi and their three boys on the Levi ski lift

Hi, we’re Colin and Livi

We live in Levi with our three boys.

Originally from the UK, we now proudly call Finnish Lapland home.

We moved here because we wanted more of what Levi offers so naturally: time outdoors, proper winters, space to breathe, new experiences and a closer relationship with nature. Levi gave us all of that.

It also showed us how much difference the right decisions make to a holiday here. That is why we created Levi Finland Adventures.

Colin — hospitality & resort knowledgeLivi — organisation & family judgement

Our story

Our Levi story began on day three.

May 2023 — first visitNov 2023 — keysDec 2023 — three-week trialJan 2024 — we knew

In May 2023, Colin travelled to Levi for the first time. The plan was to work remotely for a few weeks, explore Finnish Lapland and spend some time snowboarding.

On his third day, he found a house being built in the forest. It was the kind of home he had imagined for years: log-built, south-facing and surrounded by nature. He called the estate agent. Then he called Livi, who was back in Cheltenham with the boys and nursing our youngest.

There was no Finnish mortgage, no residency plan and no clear idea of how moving a family of five to Finland would work.

Let’s see.Livi’s response, characteristically calm

The offer was accepted. The following months became a crash course in Finnish mortgages, residency, schools, removals and relocating an entire family to a country Colin had visited for 72 hours.

We received the keys in November 2023. That Christmas, the whole family travelled to Levi for three weeks to experience the schools, the temperatures and everyday life properly. By January 2024, we knew. We returned to the UK, packed our home and drove back to Finland.

The log house part-built in the pine forest, spring 2023

The pickup loaded with a roof box and bags in the snow, arrival day, January 2024

We were no longer visiting Levi. We lived here.

Not quite as sudden as it looks

Finland was already part of our story.

His grandparents lived in Helsinki during the 1960s, and Colin’s mother grew up there. She spoke about Finland throughout his childhood with a warmth that stayed with him.

The mountains came from another direction. Colin grew up skiing in the French and Austrian Alps before switching to snowboarding. In 2012, we lived in the Alps together and experienced what a life centred around mountains and the outdoors could feel like.

For years, the Alps represented the dream. Lapland turned out to be the answer.

Watch our story

Our move to Levi was featured on House Hunters International.

What began as an unexpected property search became a complete change of life: a new home, new schools, a new language and a much deeper connection with the landscape around us.

House Hunters International episode

House Hunters International · Levi FinlandVideo coming soon

Family life here

A family rooted in Levi.

Our boys arrived in Finland at very different ages. The eldest was old enough to understand that life was changing. The middle one was young enough for Levi to become normal almost immediately. The youngest has barely known anything else.

Today they attend Finnish school, speak Finnish and experience Lapland not as a visitor attraction, but as home. That perspective matters. It reminds us constantly that Levi is more than a holiday destination — it is a living community, a working resort and an environment that deserves care.

It also gives us an honest understanding of family life in Arctic conditions: what works with young children, what looks better online than it feels in reality, and when a full itinerary needs more breathing space.

At a glance

Where our knowledge comes from.

32+Countries exploredTravelling independently, as a couple and as a family of five.

5People, one big moveA new country, new schools, a new language and a different way of life.

2024Levi residents sinceExperiencing the resort through every season, not only a short visit.

18+Months hosting visitorsGuiding friends, family and guests through the practical realities of a Levi stay.

3Young local expertsOur boys experience Levi as home and remind us what families actually need.

Every figure above is paired with a real photograph from our own life here — no stock imagery.

What we bring

Three things you cannot get from a brochure.

First-hand knowledge of Levi

We do not know Levi from a brochure, a supplier presentation or a short familiarisation trip. We live here.

We use the roads, visit the restaurants, spend time on the slopes, explore the trails and experience how the resort changes through the seasons. That creates a different kind of knowledge.

A career built around hospitality

Colin has spent years working across hotels, restaurants and catering, including time in the Alps. A successful holiday is not a collection of bookings — it is the right location, realistic timings, reliable communication and appropriate expectations working together.

Hospitality teaches you to listen before recommending, and to know the difference between something impressive and something that genuinely works.

Experience travelling in different ways

Between us we have visited more than 32 countries — independently, as a couple and as a family of five. Hotels, apartments, villas, cabins and self-catering. Detailed plans and almost none.

There is no single correct way to travel. Our role is not to push everyone towards the same holiday, but towards the approach that fits them.

The trade-offs that are hard to see online

When a beautiful remote cabin becomes inconvenient
When staying centrally is worth sacrificing some privacy
Which experiences suit which ages
How much travel time an itinerary really involves
Which activities work well together on the same day
And when a plan simply contains too much

Our role is to make those trade-offs clear, and guide you towards the choices that fit.

What we do

Levi in-resort experts offering assisted direct-booking support.

We listen first. Then we narrow the possibilities, explain the trade-offs and shape the recommendations around your dates, budget, interests and preferred pace.

The result is not our version of a Levi holiday. It is your version of Levi, brought together thoughtfully.

Where to stay
Which area of Levi fits your priorities, and which property type suits your group.
Which experiences
What suits your group’s ages, energy and interests — and what to leave out.
Pace and balance
How to balance booked activities with unplanned time.

Eating and services
Which restaurants and local services to consider, and when to book them.
Whether you need a car
An honest answer based on where you are staying and what you plan to do.
Who to book with
Which suppliers to approach directly, and how the elements fit together.

The model

Why assisted direct booking?

Traditional packages can be convenient, but they are not right for everyone. Independent booking gives you more freedom, but finding and coordinating everything can take many hours of research. Assisted direct booking sits between the two.

You retain control

You choose the accommodation, experiences and suppliers that suit you.

You book directly

Where appropriate, you reserve and pay the relevant supplier directly.

You gain local guidance

We narrow the options, explain the differences and shape a realistic plan around you.

You avoid a fixed template

Your holiday is not restricted to a standard duration, hotel or activity schedule.

Our mission

Better holidays, and a better future for Levi.

Connecting travellers with the real Levi

We want visitors to experience more than the most heavily promoted version of Lapland — independently owned accommodation, responsible activity providers, local restaurants and regional food, quieter places and lesser-known seasons, and the people whose businesses give Levi its character.

For travellers, that creates a more personal experience. For local businesses, it creates a route to visitors who understand what they offer. Our ambition is not to send more people everywhere — it is to create better matches.

Protecting what people come here to find

Tourism is essential to Levi — it supports local employment, businesses and the wider regional economy. But growth has to be considered carefully. People travel to Lapland for forests, snow, wildlife, clean air, space, silence and distance from ordinary life. If tourism damages those qualities, the destination gradually loses the very thing people came for.

Respect nature and wildlife
Support responsible local businesses
Distribute visitors more thoughtfully
Value Levi outside the busiest weeks
Reduce unnecessary and poorly planned journeys
Protect the character of the community

Why planning matters

Choosing the right location reduces repeated taxi journeys. A realistic itinerary avoids rushed sightseeing. Booking local operators keeps more value in the community. Individually small choices — together, they influence what Levi becomes.

Our approach to every plan we shape

Our commitment to travellers

Six things you can hold us to.

We listen before recommending

Your dates, budget, group, priorities and pace come before any accommodation or activity.

We explain the trade-offs

There is rarely one universally “best” hotel, cabin or experience. We explain why an option may suit you — and where it may not.

We recommend realistically

We will not fill every hour simply to make an itinerary appear more valuable.

We are transparent

Where a commercial, affiliate or supplier relationship exists, we disclose it clearly.

We respect your independence

You retain control of your decisions and generally book directly with the relevant suppliers.

We tell you what to leave out

Sometimes the most valuable recommendation is the experience, transfer or expense that is not right for your trip.

Our commitment to Levi businesses

Not anonymous entries in an endless directory.

We also want to listen to local operators. They understand seasonality, staffing, weather, availability and the pressures of tourism far more deeply than a distant booking platform can.

Levi Finland Adventures is designed to create value for the businesses that give the resort its identity. We want to introduce suppliers to travellers who understand what they offer, have realistic expectations, are suited to the experience and value local knowledge.

So for each business we work with, we explain what makes it distinctive, who it suits, what visitors should expect, where it fits within a wider itinerary and why someone might choose it over another option.

Our aim is transparent relationships that benefit the traveller, the supplier and the wider Levi community.

Two of the boys lying in deep snow in the forest behind the house

Why this matters to us

Levi is where our children are growing up.

It is where they go to school, learn the language, make friends and build their relationship with nature. That gives us a deeply personal stake in how tourism develops here.

We want visitors to come. We want them to have exceptional holidays. We want local businesses to thrive. But we also want the forests to stay peaceful, wildlife respected, local businesses to keep their character, and future generations to feel the same connection that brought us here.

We are not observing Levi from a distance. This is our home.

Come and find your Levi

Everything you want from Levi, brought together for you.

Perhaps your ideal Levi holiday centres on skiing, a family Christmas, a private cabin, good food, long summer days or simply enough space to breathe. There is no single correct way to experience this place — our role is to guide you towards the version that is right for you.

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