5 Days In Lapland

If there is one place that should definitely be on your bucket list, it is Lapland, the northernmost region of Finland which comprises of cities like Rovaniemi, Kittila, Ivalo and more that make up this ‘winter wonderland’. It’s got the Snow, the wildlife, the northern lights, Santa Claus and never ending scenery. For the past couple of years we’ve been visiting a new destination every Christmas season, last year was New York and the year before that was Nuremberg in Germany. In December of 2019, I lived a fairy tale for 5 days in Lapland so once upon a time a man from a land far away, came to Finland.

Despite being a popular Christmas destination, doing research for this trip wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be and surprisingly I wasn’t the only one. The internet was flooded with questions about Lapland from aspiring travellers and the answers weren’t quite what I was looking for. In this blog post, I will try to answer all those questions about Finland, if it doesn’t, leave them in the comments section below.

When is the best time to go to Lapland?

I’d say Winters is the best to be in Lapland, everything is Christmasy, Northern Lights are at it’s peak and it’s the perfect time for Snow excursions. However, other seasons do have their own charm, the 24 hour sunlight of the spring and the multi-coloured autumn must be fascinating in Finland. Being from a land where highs reach to 50 degrees Celsius, we chose winter.

Where to go in Lapland?

Lapland has 6 airports and each of them have their own advantages and disadvantages. Rovaniemi is the capital of Lapland and home to the Santa Claus Village, hence making it the most popular destination of Lapland. Other less populated regions like Ivalo or Kittila, offer private undisturbed depths of Lapland with easy access to some amazing ski resorts and breathtaking hotels. If you do have the time I would suggest doing a bit of both, but if you can’t, Rovaniemi will also give you an all-round experience of Lapland.

We spent 2 nights in a resort in Kittila and another 2 nights in Rovaniemi.

Where to stay in Lapland?

Remember that video of the Glass Igloo hotel which went viral on social media? Yeh, I wouldn’t recommend that specific place, mostly because it has become a classic tourist trap and is definitely NOT one of a kind. There are dozens of unique hotels in Lapland which cannot be found anywhere else in the world. You’ve got Glass igloos, Glass huts, Glass Cabins, Wood Cabins, with options of private Saunas and Hot tubs, all in the Lappish wilderness offering panoramic views of the Northern lights and the white splashed landscape. However, these must-experience hotels come at a very heavy price tag and get sold out well in advance, so please plan much before. You do have affordable options such as regular hotels and Airbnbs available in popular parts of the region but how can you not cosy up in bed under the stars with snow all around you? Lucky for you, I found one of the best places in my trip.

About 20 mins drive away from Kittila Airport is the NORTHERN LIGHTS RANCH, a homely hotel with private Glass Cabins and optional private Sauna or hot tub facilities. They have an exquisite on-site restaurant offering authentic Lappish cuisine which you may enjoy while admiring the reindeers on their very own farm, oh and you can also feed them at any time of the day. In addition, Northern Lights Ranch offers complimentary Snowshoeing with many other payable activities right at your doorstep.

Booking.com

In our 2 days here, we took a dip in the hot tub at -22 degrees, smoked marshmallows at their fire place, slept under the stars, devoured their half board meals and spent a lot of time playing with the snow.

Honest Review, I pretty much liked everything about this place, although I wished the fireplace was on throughout the night but other than that, we lived a 48-hour Netflix special at the Northern Lights Ranch, if only it ended with and-they-lived-happily-ever-after (without worrying about their bank account).

In Rovaniemi, you have the option of staying at one of the upscale resorts at Santa’s village or in the city center in more budget places. We stayed at an Airbnb next to Lordi’s Square and would recommend it as a more ideal location. The center is home to many beautiful cafes, restaurants, a few museums which are definitely worth checking out, all within a short walk. Plus they have frequent buses to Santa’s Village, you wouldn’t want to stay anywhere else.

What to do in Lapland?

Lapland is packed with excursions and winter activities. Meet Santa at the Santa Claus Village, explore the wilderness, see the northern lights and so much more cool stuff to do here. Some famous ones include:

• Hunting the Northern Lights
• Husky Safaris
• Reindeer Slegh Rides
• Skiing
• Snowmobile Safaris
• Ice Fishing
• Sauna and Hot Tub Experiences

Here is my day to day itinerary in Lapland

Day 1: Kittila

Early afternoon, we landed at Kittila airport after a scenic 1.5 hour flight from Helsinki and it was white EVERYWHERE. Eyes popped and jaw dropped, we met our hotel pickup who drove us through the breathtaking roads of Lapland to the Northern Lights Ranch.

Immediately after check in we started clicking every single corner of our spectacular room before dark. If you haven’t guessed it by now, the daylight was very, let me emphasise again, VERY limited to about 2-3 hours. More details about this hotel in the Where to stay in Lapland section above.

The last thing on our to-do list was to enjoy the three course meal at their restaurant and feed the reindeers whilst waiting for our food. At this point, I was not tired, but I couldn’t wait to snuggle in my blanket and snore in the silent snow.

Day 2: Kittila

Waking up to pitch black mornings would take some getting used to, sunrise at 11:30am, sunset at 2:00pm *sigh*, at least we had clear skies.

After a nice long sleep in our new beds, we gathered energy at the all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet before heading to Levi Ski Resort for our first activity of the trip.

Snowmobile Safari with Wild Nordic was our agenda of the day and I had no idea what to expect. We arrived at Levi with the complimentary shuttle bus from Northern Lights Ranch and headed straight to the meeting point. We met our wild Nordic guide, Andrea, a jolly bad-ass who took extra care of all of us first timers and made sure that everyone had fun. Driving through the forests into the wilderness at -15 degrees Celsius was an adventure I will cherish for the rest of my life, I just couldn’t get enough. The entire safari took about 2 hours with more than an hour of driving time, it was one hell of an experience. If you are interested in doing a Snowmobile safari do checkout the different packages offered by Wild Nordic in Levi and Rovaniemi, oh and they provide all the winter gear that you will need.

The small Ski town of Levi was bigger than I expected; it was buzzing with cosy cafes, a huge supermarket and a magnificent souvenir shop where we met Snowball, the alcoholic husky who joined us for the rest of our trip. Got a magnet for the fridge, some munchies from K-Supermarket and had an early dinner at Café Soma, a cute little café in the heart of Levi that serves really good burgers.

We spent the rest of the evening at the ranch, feeding the reindeers, warming ourselves around the fireplace and sipping drinks in our private outdoor hot tub, oh and did I mention it was -22 degrees?

Day 3: Rovaniemi

The clear skies were now covered with thick clouds and a million snowflakes were in the air, as inconvenient as it was, I layered up myself and headed out for a short walk before bidding farewell to this gorgeous hotel. Trust me, we decided this place after a very thorough research and I couldn’t have asked for a better place to experience the serenity of Lapland, Northern Lights Ranch is highly recommended for a once in a lifetime experience or maybe twice, who knows. Read more about this hotel in the Where to stay in Lapland section above.

There were many first-times in this trip, including dragging suitcases in a thick layer of snow at Levi, I’m not complaining. We still had an hour till our bus arrived so….more coffee…and with cinnamon buns at another adorable café steps away from our bus stop, Kafet Café. Did you know that Finland is the highest consumer of coffee per person per day? All the places we went to had really good coffee and the best part was that it was usually bottomless, I could live in Finland.

 The 2.5 hour bus ride to Rovaniemi (via Kittila Airport) was quite impressive, the snow was pouring down non-stop but the bus was still on schedule, the seats were comfortable enough for a quick snooze and it was also equipped with free WiFi, perfect to check out the Finnish Netflix.

Rovaniemi city is quite compact and walkable, we settled in our Airbnb and stepped out for a walk around Lordi’s Square. It was still snowing but Rovaniemi was full of life, lights everywhere, children playing in the snow, couples strolling around hand in hand with their partners, locals walking their dogs, a winter wonderland indeed.

Our last stop of the day was right next to our AirBnb at Bull Bar and Grill, a vibrant sports bar, great for a laid back evening with drinks and games, the food was good too but could be better.

Day 4: Rovaniemi

The day we met Santa. Rovaniemi is famous for one very special place, the Santa Claus Village. Words will do no justice to this place, it’s like living every Christmas Story you’ve ever heard or a Christmas movie you have seen, I will be writing an entire blog post dedicated to Santa Claus Village, make sure to check it out before heading to Lapland. It was such an eventful day filled with so many activities, cheers to Visit Rovaniemi for this wonderful experience.

Back to the city center and more coffee followed, this time at Café and Bar 21, a modern café with a digital nomad feel, if I ever move to Rovaniemi, this would definitely be my favorite me-time spot. Bookmark this place on your map because I’d give it a must visit place in Rovaniemi, they serve brilliant pastries, great food and of course, epic coffee.

Since it was our last evening in Lapland, we felt like spoiling ourselves with a bit of luxury and that’s where Restaurant Monte Rosa came into picture, a Lappish fine dining experience located right next to Lordi’s Square. I treated myself with warm Salmon Soup and a big juicy Reindeer steak for Dinner, the best authentic Lappish meal of the trip. Monte Rosa is a local favorite and does get busy even on weekdays so I would recommend making a reservation. Cheers to our Airbnb host, Joel, for recommending this amazing place.

Day 5: Rovaniemi

The Grand Finale of our trip to Lapland was the thing I was looking forward to the most, a Husky Safari. A massive thanks to Bearhill Husky for making this experience the highlight of our trip. It is a top bucket list experience that should be ticked off by every person out there. Even if you have 1 day in Lapland, this husky safari should be a part of it. These beautiful creatures deserve a separate blog post, click here to read more about this epic experience.

We had just enough time to squeeze in a quick bite before our flight back to Helsinki. The lunch venue for the day was Café Rovaniemi, another local favourite which popped up quite often during my research for must try places to eat in Rovaniemi. They serve a brilliant lunch buffet with a lot of healthy, vegan and flavorful items for just 11 EUR per person, the lowest price we paid for a meal in Finland.

How expensive is Finland?

Very! Finland is not a low budget destination. Like all Scandinavian countries, a trip here is going to burn a big hole in your wallet but every Euro spent is totally worth it. It’s an experience you will not find anywhere else in the world and you only live once. Although, when I started to plan this trip, I was expecting to spend more than I actually did, so there are ways to budget for this trip and here are some pointers:

• Your biggest expense will be accommodation and the prices vary depending on season, winter being the peak, obviously. A decent Budget Hotel/Airbnb would cost about 100-150 EUR a night and a luxury Glass Igloo or Cabin Type accommodation would cost about 500 EUR a night on an average. We also came across a lot of Wood Cabins as Airbnbs for about 200-300 EUR a night, which would be perfect for families. Almost every place requested immediate non-refundable payment in full, so you will have to bring out the credit card sooner than you think.
• A decent meal in a restaurant would cost about 20-30 EUR per person. We kept a balance of eating-out and eating-in with ready foods from supermarkets which were actually pretty good for less than 10 EUR per person.
• Transportation in Lapland is the second biggest expense, Taxis are not cheap, a 15 min ride costs about 30 EUR. Public Transportation is a good option but it’s only available in Rovaniemi with frequent transfers to Santa Claus Village and the Airport from the center. The transportation between the major cities of Lapland is more convenient than you would think. Our bus ride from Levi to Rovaniemi costed us 37 EUR per person, which isn’t bad for Finnish standards, checkout the bus routes here. In Kittila, we arranged a Airport Pickup from Northern Lights Ranch and hopped on their free shuttle bus to Levi.

How to pack for Lapland?

Being from a warm country, this was a big challenge. So here are few things you need to keep in mind before you go on the trip:

• Rental Winter Gear – Finland knows that not everyone travelling to their country is well equipped for the extreme weather so some local tour agencies rent out winter gear (woollen socks, winter boots, mittens and overalls). These companies specialise in pre-planned tour packages and stand-alone snow activities so if you have booked any of their services, winter gear will be provided to you at no additional cost for that particular activity. Some popular agencies are Wild Nordic, Lapland Welcome, Lapland Safaris and Safartica.
• Thermal Underwear – This will be your first layer. A long sleeve thermal top and thermal pants don’t cost a lot and are easily available almost anywhere in the world, including Amazon. They are quite effective and come handy in other countries as well so I’d suggest to invest in a good pair of thermal underwear.
• Fleece Jacket/Sweater– Perfect for second last layer. They are light, inexpensive and give a good amount of warmth. Alternatively, a thick sweater could be used but a fleece jacket is just much more convenient.
• Winter Jacket – This will be your outermost and the thickest layer, most probably you might already have something for this in your closet. Just make sure it is waterproof, windproof and comes with a lot of pockets. If you are renting gear from a local tour agency, their overalls would do the trick.
• Shoes – The ideal footwear for extreme cold weather are snow boots but they don’t come cheap and I wasn’t willing to spend 100 EUR for a pair of shoes for less than a week. Instead, I used my high ankle hiking boots with thick woollen socks, worked like a charm. These boots are a good alternate as long as they are waterproof and are a size bigger than your usual shoe size to give enough space for thick socks and to breathe else they would have an opposite effect.
• Gloves/Mittens – Normal gloves are a NO, you will need thick waterproof gloves made for extreme temperatures. I got a pair from Amazon for about 18 USD and they did a wonderful job.
• Beanie and Woollen Scarf – Please DO NOT plan your trip without these. Winter gear that can cover your head, ears and neck is a must.
• Hand Warmers – These are a godsend. Small palm-sized packs that generate a great amount of heat when shaken, ideal to warm hands and feet, and they also keep your personal gadgets warm.
• Gadget Protection – Using personal gadgets in extreme temperatures is trickier than you think, but there are some simple ways to make your life easier and I’m going to write an entire blog post on this, do check it out when it’s up.
• Christmas Apparel – You cannot visit the Santa Claus Village and not have some pictures in the festive theme, trust me, you will not be the only one.

Where to eat in Lapland?

Here is a list of all the food places I bookmarked, obviously I couldn’t visit all of them in 5 days, but I would recommend them and would love to hear your experience there.

In Levi,

• Café Soma
• Kafet – Café, Bakery and Bistro
• King Crab House Restaurant
• Kotipizza

In Rovaniemi,

• Café and Bar 21
• Café Rovaniemi
• Ravintola Roka Street Bistro
• Ravintola Monte Rosa
• Kauppayhtiö Bar & Grill
• Paha Kurki Rockhouse
• Pancho Villa
• Santa’s Salmon Place (Santa Claus Village)

Can you see the Northern Lights in Lapland?

Yes, you very much can, however, it’s all about luck which unfortunately was not on our side during this trip. Northern Lights are a phenomenon that cannot be predicted in advance. They usually occur between the month of October and March, the skies need to be clear and light pollution should be at a minimum, even then there is no guarantee that you would actually see them. Tour agencies in Finland do offer excursions to hunt them in the depths of Lapland and take you as far as the borders of Sweden, but we skipped them since Northern Lights Ranch is pretty much the ideal location for the lights, provided they do occur.

How to get to Lapland?

International Flights to Lapland are available from a limited number of countries so unless you are from one of those lucky countries, chances are that you will be flying in the Finnish capital, Helsinki, which is not in Lapland. There are multiple flights that run daily between Helsinki and Lapland. FINNAIR and NORWEGIAN AIR are the 2 major airlines, both have good reviews and either one of them can be chosen depending on your timing and budget.

Getting around the different cities of Lapland is quite easy via the Public Transport. Even with very heavy snow, we found the bus service to be extremely efficient; equipped with Free WiFi, USB outlets and toilet facilities for your comfort. However, that’s not the case within these cities, the distances are usually walk able and there is no actual need for public transportation, with exception of the capital, Rovaniemi, so keep some extra budget for a few taxi rides.

For our trip, we flew in Helsinki and took an internal flight with Norwegian Air to Kittila before heading down to Rovaniemi via the bus.

General Tips and Recommendations

• Safety – Not once during my trip I felt unsafe at any part of Finland. The Finns are quite welcoming to tourists and every single local we met was quite helpful. So safety is not an issue in Finland, that doesn’t mean you leave your belongings unattended or keep loads of cash on you at all times, i would always take the regular precautions and be vigilant at all times no matter which country I go, but that’s just me.
• Cash – Although Finland is quite expensive, you don’t need a lot of cash here. Cards are accepted everywhere, whether its taxis or stalls at a Christmas market, cards can be used everywhere.
• Language – Finnish language is often considered among the hardest languages in the world so if you are thinking of picking up a few words before your trip, then don’t. Everyone we met in Finland spoke perfect English and encountered no language problems in our trip. We did have to fire up Google Translate in the supermarkets though.
• People – A while ago I read somewhere that Finnish people suck at small talk and yes, that is very true. However, Finns are humble, calm and welcoming; they like to follow rules, respect each other’s personal space and are punctual. I like the Finns, be like the Finns.
• All the activities and accommodations we booked for our trip had to be paid in advance and in full amount, so you will spend a lot more for your holiday before the actual holiday.
• The water in Finland is the tastiest water I’ve ever had, especially in Lapland, so spare the plastic and use the tap.
• Cloudberry is a berry that’s only available in really cold countries with extreme temperature, including Finland, do try them if you get the chance. I got it’s Jam back home.

Make sure to check out my other upcoming posts from Finland.
Use #PleaseStampMyPassport in your Lapland posts on Instagram to be featured, HAPPY TRAVELLING.