A Guide To Winter In Lapland, Finland 🇫🇮🦌
✅ Finnish Basics
🇫🇮 Lapland
Lapland stretches from Norway, through Sweden and Finland, and into Russia. Dropping down just south of the Arctic Circle, and north to the Arctic Ocean.
So where will you go? Rovaniemi is the main choice when in Lapland, it's home to the Santa Claus village along with museums and day trips around the region, for most spending 3 to 4 days here will be enough time to get a feel for the Arctic.
Saariselkä, for those more adventurous, is a resort town 3-hours north of Rovaniemi. It's home to trails, skiing, and the Urho National Park. It also makes for an easier base if you wish to travel even further north into Norway, for Arctic Swimming.
❄️ Weather
The Polar Night does happen this far north, where night is 24 hours a day around the Winter Solstice, which makes for a confusing adjustment when coming from more southern countries or trying to adjust to a new time zone.
It should be fairly obvious, but dress warm and cover as much exposed skin as possible. The first snowfall is typically in early September, with temperatures dropping and minimal, sometimes no sun to warm up the atmosphere.
You can expect a dry winter climate, which does 'feel' better than a wet cold, but temperatures average -15*C, commonly reaching -30*C.
🌠 Northern Lights
No trip to the Arctic Circle is complete without seeing the Northern Lights. That far north during the long winter nights, you are almost assured to catch a glimpse during your stay. Instead of waiting around aimlessly looking at the night sky, download MyAuroraForecast on your desired platform which will alert you when conditions are ideal for viewing.
📚 Terminology
Don't worry about speaking Finnish, locals especially those in tourism are well spoken in both English and Swedish (the 2nd official language) and they understand that Finnish is an extremely hard language to learn.
Being a Uralic language, it completely differs from Indo-European languages such as English. Finnish closely relates to Estonian and distantly relates to Hungarian. As a result, don't expect to become fluent, instead here are some useful words.
Hei! - Hello
Hei hei! or Moi moi! - Goodbye, Moi moi is the same as saying Bye bye in English.
Kyllä & Ei - Yes & No.
Kiitos - Thank you.
Missä on...? - Where is...?
Anteeksi - Excuse me.
Anteeksi, en puhu suomea - Sorry, I don't speak Finnish.
🦌 Sámi Peoples
In Lapland you'll likely see a unique flag; mainly red and blue, with green and yellow stripes. This is the flag of the Sámi peoples, the indigenous people of Lapland.
A lot of traditions and experiences you'll experience during your stay can be attributed to the Sámi people and the way of life for the some 9000+ people that inhabit the Finnish North.
Understanding and learning about their way of life is essential for any stay in Lapland, expanding beyond Santa Claus, and getting to know the people who have inhabited the land for the past 10,000 years.
✈️ Transportation
✈️ Plane
The second busiest airport in Finland, entirely due to the tourism of Lapland.
Year-round there are multiple daily flights to Helsinki, with Finnair.
During the Christmas season, Rovaniemi opens up more options to fly in from, major hubs from Copenhagen, London, Frankfurt, and Zurich all offer direct flights, and with a range of carriers like EasyJet, Norwegian, Swiss, or Lufthansa.
Taxis and buses are available, and the buses will stop at most major hotels and of course the Santa Claus village.
(Bus tickets and route can be found at the link in the Airport Card)
🚆 Train
The Santa Claus Express train has been increasingly popular in the last few years and the Finnish train operator VR has fantastic service and timely trains.
This journey takes you 13-hours north through the scenic heart of Finland.
Day trains are available and leave early from Helsinki, arriving in the evening at Rovaniemi.
However, the best way I'd recommend getting to Rovaniemi is by the overnight train.
Singular seats are available for around €80 euros. However, if you are travelling with a partner or family, you can book cabins for an extra €200 euros. Some cabins have showers and bathrooms en suite for a slight extra cost.
It will be a comfortable and relaxing way to watch the country fly-by, saving the cost of a night in a hotel, and being able to comfortably wake up at your destination the next morning is incredibly convenient.
Do book this early as they sell out fast during December.
Rovaniemi has a few useful and frequent bus lines that will get you around town. The routes, tickets, and timetables can be found here.
🏡 Where to Stay
🌟 Unique Stays
🏨 Hotels
🛏️ Hostels
🗺️ Must-See Attractions
🎅🏻 Santa Claus Village
The main reason for anyone to visit Lapland is for the Santa Claus Village.
Located just outside of Rovaniemi, you can access it by the Line 8 bus, which runs hourly.
This is the only 'Official' place where you can meet Santa (Although other places in the city are cheaper). There are plenty of things to do in the village, visit Santa's post office where you can view all of the letters sent to Santa, or grab a souvenir,
You can also enjoy a ride with the Reindeer, which is expensive so I'd recommend the Reindeer Zoo instead for €15, or the Husky Safari for €10.
Snowman is an unexpected highlight in the Village. It does have an entrance fee, about €30. However, it's well worth it to be able to walk around the village, look at snow sculptures, go skating, go tubing down the hill, or grab a drink at the ice bar.
The full list of attractions can be found on their website:
Part way through the village, you can spot the Arctic Circle line which is the official crossing point of the Arctic Circle, it's a great photo opportunity.
🎄 Rovaniemi
The City Square is named for the Eurovision-winning metal band Lordi, with restaurants, Christmas Market & winter ice skating.
You also can meet Santa in the square, the advantage here is that its cheaper and has a shorter line versus meeting him in the Village.
🍽️ Restaurants and Cafes
I'll start by saying that food in Finland is generally really expensive, and especially so in Lapland. If you have the luxury of bringing food with you from say, Helsinki or Tampere, I would recommend it.
Otherwise buying groceries and cooking some meals is a great way to save money, K-Market is a fairly middle-of-the-road grocery store that you will commonly find around Finland.
🍽️ Restaurants and Cafes
🎟️ Recommended Tours
One day trip I can not recommend enough is to Bugøynes, Norway. There's one unforgettable experience in this small town. There is the opportunity to swim in the Arctic Ocean.
Once you warm up in a sauna, head down to the beach, and plunge into the freezing Arctic waters. It isn't for the faint of heart, but being able to swim about as far north as you can possibly get, is truly unforgettable.
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