October ski weekend at Levi

It has been a while since I skied properly. I skied in July at an indoor ski resort in Madrid and Oslo, and in June also in Oslo. But after that in August and September only on some snow piles outside ice skating halls... so it was time to ski again! Last year for October I went for a day trip to Levi (alt. link), but while fun that was a gruelingly tiresome travel and way too short time in Levi. So this year I went for the whole weekend.

Last year the slopes were also hard, so hard that I was worried I would fall and slide to the bottom and hurt myself. It was OK, but it was good to find out that this year's slopes were not as icy. But the slopes were divided between the racers -- there were teams from Japan, Slovenia, Lithuania, Norway, and UK at least. Last year the racers had most of the longer slope, and us others had a slice of that slope plus the slope with jumps and rails. This year the racers had the entire long slope. There was enough space to ski on the slope with jumps, but it would have been nicer to be able to run all the way from the top. It is not a big altitude difference, and the public slope was long enough but still.

Slopes:

Skiing:

The snow at Levi is stored on the slope (and partially trucked from another storage location). Here is what Google maps shows as the summer satellite picture, showing where the snow is stored under insulation blankets:

There was also a nice spa at my hotel, the Levi Design Hotel (also called the Levi Spa Hotel). They have warm outdoor pool and two jacuzzis, a 25-meter pool inside, and a ton of hot pools, play pools, etc. There's also several saunas, I liked the log sauna the best even though it was a bit too mild. Several people commented on that actually, previously it has been a hotter sauna that many preferred. 

The hotel also has all the necessary machines in the lobby, one to get ski tickets and another one to print your boarding passes for the flight out :-)

And at Levi, the reindeer may greet you when you walk to your hotel:

For food, there's plenty of options but I really liked the Salteriet in the center (and also just 100 meters from the slopes). I can recommend their salmon-on-wood-plank:

In Levi there's a nice set of stairs from the bottom of the slopes to the upper hotels (the Levi Panorama hotel and the Levi Summit event place). Particularly in the evening this is a super nice walk as you will be able to see the slopes in evening lights next to you.

I flew Finnair's ATR-72 up to Kittilä, and back with an Airbus A319. When going towards Kittilä I had an early morning flight and the sun rose nicely when we were up in the air:

Interestingly, when coming back I was at home somewhere after midnight, and had to be back at the airport again around 6am, due to a work trip. And as explained in another article (alt. link), the time was short also due to Finnair cancelling my original flight and putting me on an earlier plane.

And the Kittilä airport is always a nice one to visit, so small and efficient:

Levi is close to the airport, and there's a regular bus (15€) that runs after flights to the hotels:

For more skiing stories, check out the Planetskier website! This article has also been published there in this link. For more sauna and swimming stories, check out planetswimmer.com and saunablogger.cool websites! And of course the Planetcaver for other stories in Blogspot! The photos and text (c) 2025 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. I never take photos of swimmers or saunagoers.

Athens airport

Had a chance to fly to and from the Athens airport, coming in on KLM and flying out with Lufthansa. It is a nice airport. Not having had time to eat breakfast, I particularly liked that the even at the downstairs bus gates there were kiosks with warm food on offer. Usually those kinds of gates are void of any services. Well done.

I was a bit worried coming in to the airport that I'd have a problem with my ticket - my second name was wrong in the ticket. Turned out that no one batted one eyelid on this, so had no problem. Good.

At the Athens airport one can see many different airlines, e.g., this one from the training airlines:

Flying out I had a Lufthansa A321, the D-AISD. It looked so shiny that I wanted to know if I was on its first few flights. How wrong I was, though. The plane is from year 2000, 25 and half years old. I guess it must have been at a paint shop recently. Great that Lufthansa takes good care of their planes!

The Athens airport official name is Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos, or briefly just Athens International Airport. The airport code is ATH. It is technically not in Athens, but in a city called Spata. The airport homepage is here, and the Wikipedia article here.

It is fortunate that the airport has a direct rail link to the most commonly used ferry port to the islands, the Piraeus port. It is one of the largest ports in Europe, a massive facility. Getting to the airport from the port does take more than an hour even with the fastest direct trains, and slightly less than an hour by taxi. But it can be difficult to get to early or even afternoon flights from the islands, depending on ferry schedules. 

When I landed at the Helsinki-Vantaa airport, it was emptier than I had ever seen it. Literally no one else at the airport:

This article has also been published in Planetflier.com here. For more flying stories, check out the Planetflier.com website! And of course the Planetcaver, and Planetskier blogs for other stories in Blogspot! The photos and text (c) 2025 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. 

Spilia Beach Bar - obviously with a cave

One would expect there to be plenty of caves in mountainous Greek islands, but it didn't seem to be the case for Idea. There are some beach caves, however, the easiest to access being right in the main village, Hydra, at the "Spilia Beach Bar". That, is the cave beach bar. 

Under the bar there are some swimming places, not really beaches but stairs leading to the sea. And right next to them is the cave. It is indeed a beach cave, carved by the sea forces. There's a gaping hole at the top of it, and the rock seems .. awfully thin at the top. Maybe that's why the hole has been covered by a net and signposted for no one to walk above the cave. Or swim into the cave either. 

Of course, I swam to the cave.

But please, please do not swim to the cave. It is actually dangerous. And walking above would be madness, the roof is going to collapse at any moment.

The cave is at these coordinates: N 37.352033 E 23.463300. The beach bar link is here.

And right next to the bar there's a restaurant, the Sunset Restaurant, and behind it is a bar, the Hydronetta Cocktail-bar that is the best place on the island for watching sunsets. Recommended!

There are obviously beaches also on the island, even one sandy one and another pebble beach, both near Hydra. See my other article (alt.link) for the details.

The island of Idea can be reached from Athens by ferries, e.g., the Magic Sea Ferries line runs there 1-4 times a day depending on season and day. One way tickets are around 40€.

Bar:

Sunset:

Ferry:

This article has also been published in Planetswimmer.com here. Read the full series of urban exploration stories from theurbanexplorer.net, and other underground stories from planetcaver.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot or Planetskier web site. And of course the full Planetskier skiing article series at planetskier.net. Photos and text (c) 2025 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved.