Finnish Lapland travel guide

Three nights is the bare minimum to stay in Rovaniemi if you would like to experience Arctic glory and make a beautiful memory of your Lapland story. One day to visit Santa Claus Village and meet Santa. One day for a husky ride, a reindeer farm visit and, in the evening, a northern lights tour. If the northern lights are the main reason you come, we recommend planning four to five nights: the more nights you stay, the higher your chances of seeing them. You can add two nights for a second destination such as Levi or Saariselkä.

It depends on what you want to experience. For the midnight sun, come in June and July. For the autumn colours, September and October are the best time, and you can see the northern lights then too. For snow, come from November to March, when every winter experience is running. February and March have the longest days of the winter and are the best time to see the northern lights.

Flights and accommodation are your biggest costs; everything else can be planned in advance. In mid-February, a night for two in Rovaniemi costs a median of 350 € in an apartment, 593 € in a hotel, 737 € in a cabin and 1,152 € in a luxury glass igloo. Budget beds start around 50 €. Tours per person average around 195 € for a husky safari, 179 € for a reindeer farm experience, 129 € for a northern lights tour and 169 € for a snowmobile safari. A taxi from the airport to the city centre is about 36.60 € for up to four people. Three nights for two people in an apartment, with two tours each and the airport taxi both ways, comes to about 1,770 € before flights and food. Prices checked in September 2026.

It depends on what you want. If you would like to visit Santa Claus Village and want a wide choice of tours, Rovaniemi is better. If you come for skiing, Levi is better. Levi is the most visited ski resort in Finland, in and around the village of Sirkka, with 44 slopes and 26 lifts. The distance from Rovaniemi to Levi is about 170 kilometres. If you come for a week, you can stay in both.

From late August to early April you can see the northern lights in Lapland. September, October, February and March are the best times: on almost every second clear night you can see the show. If the sky is clear, you can see them in November, December and January too. Check our forecast page to see tonight's odds.

You can fly to Rovaniemi: it takes about 1 hour and 25 minutes from Helsinki, and in winter there are flights from many European cities. Check current routes and prices: flight search and bookings. You can also take the train from Helsinki to Rovaniemi: the night train takes 12 hours and the day train about 9. There are other airports in Lapland: Kittilä (KTT) for Levi and Ylläs, Ivalo (IVL) for Saariselkä and Inari, Kuusamo (KAO) for Ruka.

In Rovaniemi the average winter temperature is between -10 °C and -15 °C, but extreme cold can easily push it down to -30 °C (-22 °F) or even colder. In winter, dress in layers: wool next to the skin, a warm middle layer, and a thick, windproof and waterproof winter coat and snow pants. Boots should be a size up for thick socks. You can rent winter clothes in Rovaniemi, Levi, Inari or Ruka.

Yes, Santa Claus Village is completely free and open every day of the year. You can meet Santa for free, but you pay for a photo with Santa and for activities like a reindeer ride or a husky safari.

Yes, summer is a completely different world in Lapland. The temperature is very comfortable, usually between 15 °C and 25 °C, and from early June to early July the sun never sets. You can hike across majestic national parks, boat on the winding rivers, go mountain biking, and much more. Best of all, hotel prices are much lower in summer than in winter.

No, you do not need a car in winter. Buses between towns are frequent and you can easily get a taxi to go anywhere. We do not recommend driving in snowy or icy conditions if you do not have long experience of winter driving. In summer a car will save you time, because there are fewer buses between the towns.