Are, Brunkulla Apartments

I've been snowboarding for a few years and visited resorts in Canada, Austria, France, Switzerland and Germany. This winter we wanted to try something different. We'd heard Sweden and Norway often received epic snowfall, coupled with quiet slopes and the exchange rates now meant the Scandinavian countries were cheaper than the Alps.

We picked Brunkulla apartments because they were cheap, looked good in the photos and were walking distance to the slopes. We got flights, transfers and self-catering accomodation for £320 in late Jan. Bargain.

The transfer from the airport was only one hour which is much much nicer than the 3 hours average in the Alps. The setting is beautiful with Are's mountains set around a huge frozen lake.

The apartments themselves were great. They seemed fairly new and in excellent condition. Very different to the typical Alpine chintz-fest, much more Ikea showroom. Ooh and they all had a sauna!

The nearest lift was 5 mins walk away and this was one of the main lifts in town so the location was great. The only downside was the 10 minute walk into town in the evening was tricky given the minus 15-25 deg celsius temperatures.

The resort is lovely. Friendly people, no lager lout Brits roaming around (although the Norweigian visitors try their best to replace them!). nightlife is quiet compared to somewhere like Morzine but lively enough if you find the right bar.

The slopes are good, but much smaller hills than the Alps and a little icier than we expected. During the week they were empty - no queues on lifts, slopes to yourself. Just awesome. If you're a snowboarder the number of drag lifts may put you off but you soon get used to it.

The snowparks look epic - I'm not a park rider yet - and there's even an mini-park to get you started.

All in all we all loved the place, the slopes, the people and Brunkulla Apartments and we're planning on going back this year.