Top 10 Things to Do in Rovaniemi
- Cat
- May 12, 2017
- 9 min read
The Arctic Circle may seem daunting to even the adventuresome family, but with a little planning, some luck (weather-wise), and the proper clothing, this could be your families' best trip yet! We decided on Rovaniemi as our destination - not because of Santa Claus, but because we wanted to stay in a glass igloo, and the ones in Saariselka were fully booked for the time period we could go. NOTE: Tune in next week for our review of the glass igloos, you need to know a few things before you go!
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So, if Rovaniemi is your destination, keep reading to find out 5 things you should not skip on this once-in-a-lifetime trip!
Before we get started, you should know that this trip - as with everything in Lapland from Rovaniemi to Saariselka - is expensive. This area of Finland is a harsh environment that has only recently figured out that tourism is a big business. Unfortunately, due to weather conditions, they don't operate all year, and therefore have to compensate with astronomical prices on everything from food, to hotel stays, to excursions. Knowing that going in will save you the heartburn (though not the cash) each time you pay for your activities. And it should be said that although it is expensive, it is 100% worth it.
Now, on to the Top 8 Things You can Do to Make Your Trip to Rovaniemi a Success:
Drive from another city if possible - You can fly (1 hr flight from Helsinki) or arrive by train into Rovaniemi (overnight train). Most in town hotels have pick up services from the small airport, and the train station is walking distance to the center of town. However, if you are staying at any of the glass igloos or Santa's Village hotels, the transfer service they provide will cost you. In addition, you have no transportation and these hotels are sometimes 30 minutes from town. We recommend renting a car in ANOTHER TOWN such as Oulu, Helsinki, or Tampere and driving to Rovaniemi. It's a LONG drive, yes, but you see a lot on the way, AND you have a vehicle while in town. Why rent out of town? Well, as outlined above, EVERYTHING is more expensive in Rovaniemi, including rental cars. The countryside of Finland is beautiful and something you won't see any other way. Plus, the gas stations along the highways are fabulous - full grocery stores and restaurants inside every ABC and Neste.
We rented a large van in Tampere for 5 days to make the trip. We paid a total of 460€. We looked into the train, but tickets were going to cost 763€, plus a 4-day rental car upon arrival for 500€. The drive was long - we broke it up and stayed one night in Oulu - but the savings was worth it. We spent about 150€ on gas.
The great thing about having the car was that we went anywhere, whenever we wanted - including our own aurora hunt.
If you have an extra day to spare, we'd definitely recommend renting a car and driving north! We found our rental car for this trip and many others through rentalscars.com. They seem to have the best prices in Europe that we've found so far.
Wander Through Town (Keep your eyes open for events) - Although the town itself isn't much to talk about - one main street of tourist shops that have overpriced and tacky souvenirs - wandering with our eyes open uncovered our most exciting event to date: reindeer racing! Yes, you heard correctly - REINDEER RACING COMPLETE WITH JOCKEYS! We happened to see a flyer on a door of a shop in town. It was in Finnish, but had a picture of reindeer pulling skiers in lycra racing suits. And the date was THAT NIGHT! At first we laughed it off, thinking it wouldn't be interesting, but the more we thought about it, the more excited we got - and we weren't disappointed. Finland is home to some bizarre "sporting events" and this is no exception.
A reindeer attached to a harness and lead pulls a racer along the snow packed main street of town. There are two reindeer and jockeys per heat, and the goal is to finish with the fastest time. It was an incredible sight to see.
Go on a Husky Ride - This was one of the things we had seen in Kemi, but didn't have a chance to do. Looking back, we're glad we waited. Not only are the prices lower (comparatively - because they still aren't low!) in Rovaniemi, but there are more farms and we were able to do our research, selecting a company that contracted with a farm we felt met our requirements when it came to the housing and treatment of the dogs. This was important to us, after seeing media coverage of husky farms in the US and how poorly the dogs were treated. We booked through TripAdvisor with Safartica. The trip could not have been better! We had a gorgeous sunny day, a small group, and fantastic farm team members. We can't recommend this excursion enough.
Safartica outfits you with a coverall suit, wool socks to put over our own, heavy duty snow boots, and gloves. If needed, you can also borrow balaclavas to cover your head. Since it was only -10 while we we there, our own hats sufficed, although we did borrow one for G.
Find Reindeer - Reindeer are not the easiest animals to find. They are migratory, so just because there was a siting in a location yesterday, doesn't mean they'll be there again today. That being said, there are companies that will take you on a safari to find them (both via land and air) but there are no guarantees. We opted for a more laid back approach, as it wasn't on the top of our list to find a herd. We happened upon a few in Sinetta.
Visit Santa Claus Village - If you have children under a certain age, you should have this on your list. Although it is VERY touristy, it is well done. Santa is just as jolly and round as you'd imagine (check out his hands, they are HUGE!). Although they have pricey photo packages (of course) and tons of souvenirs in the shop, a two minute chat with the man is FREE! And, your child will remember meeting the real Santa Claus for a long time. If you don't have children or yours are a little older, skip this unless you like that kind of thing.
They do have an Arctic Circle crossing ceremony you can complete (and pay for), and also house Santa's reindeer. They also have a post office where you can send letters to family/friends. They will have the official North Pole cancellation stamp on them. You can also order a letter from Santa Claus for your child.
There's also a Santa Park - an amusement park dedicated to the winter idol. It was closed when we were in town, so we didn't even consider this as an option, but it is there.
Visit the Snow Hotel - Even if you aren't brave enough to stay the night, the Snow Hotel is open for day visitors to walk through and experience. It's a pretty incredible feat of engineering, and it's amazing to think they have to build this from scratch every year (only open a few months!). It's build from the snow and ice right at lake a few hundred yards away and it's a must see. If you are staying in the glass igloos or you have booked a night in the snow hotel, there is no charge to walk through anytime. However, if you are only coming for the day (which loads of buses do), there is a fee. Several excusrions from town include a stop here,some even include a sauna and hot tub experience as part of the adventure. This hotel is smaller than the Snow Castle in Kemi, but its suites are FAR more elaborate. If I had to stay a night in a snow hotel again, read about our experience and why we won't stay again here, I would choose the Arctic Snow Hotel - for the decorative suites.
Go Snowshoeing - We hadn't planned on snowshoeing, it's honestly just not something we'd ever thought about. However, we've enjoyed hiking since living over here, and our hotel, the Arctic Snow Hotel and Glass Igloos, had snowshoes available to guests for free, so we tried it out. The hotel sits upon the edge of a lake that was frozen and covered with about 18" of snow - we began our trek across the lake to explore the opposite shoreline, build some snowmen, and enjoy nature. The only sounds were the crunching of snow under your feet, and some heavy breathing. This turned out to be a GREAT form of exercise, it burns between 400-1200 calories an hour! We spent 2 hours wandering.
There were no snowshoes G's size available, and to be honest, it would have been difficult for him to walk in them had we had some, so instead, we pulled him on a small sled the entire duration of the trip. It was a WONDERFUL way to keep him entertained, he felt like a celebrity getting chauffeured around (we don't usually have a stroller or carry him, so this was a luxury for him). He also fell asleep after our first stop making snowmen, and it was a perfect place for him to nap. We had pillows and extra jackets in the sled for him to make it more comfortable - it was probably one of his longest naps to date.
See the Northern Lights - This one's hard to plan for, because the Northern Lights can be a tricky little devil. As a natural phenomenon, they are unpredictable and there is no guarantee you will be able to find them during your stay. They are also usually only visible between November and early April. There are many companies offering tours to "chase" the lights, and they often have mixed reviews. We think some of the poor reviews are due to expectations of guests - they expect to see the lights and if they don't are disappointed. It's not the guide's fault if the weather doesn't cooperate, the solar storms aren't happening, or the strength isn't enough to allow them to be visible. Knowing this, as well as the high price tag for these tours, we decided that we'd attempt to hunt them on our own the first night, and if we couldn't find them, break down and book an excursion. This is another reason to have your own transportation.
We were lucky, and found the lights the first night! It was an incredible feeling to see them for the first time completely alone - without a large group of people surrounding you. I'd recommend trying it on your own first if you have the time (and a car).
Since we found them relatively easily the first night, we knew we weren't going to book an excursion - we were going to hunt them again on our own. We didn't have to go far the second and third nights - they were right over the lake at our hotel!
NOTE: They CAN be tricky to see if you don't know what you're looking for. Many people think they will know them when they see - beautiful green and blue lights snaking across the sky. Well, unless you are lucky enough to have a K4 or higher solar storm, they may not look that at all. In fact, you might mistake them for clouds in the sky. If you think it MIGHT be the lights, take a few photos to see - the colors appear in the long exposures if the lights are present. If it still looks grey/cloudy in the image, then it wasn't the lights. I'll be posting tips to find the Norhtern lights soon, so be sure to join our email list so you can be the first to know about our latest posts!
Eat a traditional Lappish meal - Finland is not known for its food, but we have yet to have bad meal in this country. And Lappish food such as wood-fired salmon or salmon soup top our list of delicious meals we've experienced. Reindeer is also popular, and on most menus. For families with small children, finding food could be difficult if you have a picky eater, but many places in town have standard kids options. Outside of town, in the snow hotel for example, there aren't many options, so prepare for this if you choose to eat at one of the out of town hotel restaurants.
Stay in a Glass Igloo - Last but not least, this is an experience you should try. With the recent social media shares of these incredible hotel rooms, they have really risen in popularity and more and more are being built throughout Lapland as they've realized there is a lot of money to be made. Everyone needs to do this at least once in their lifetime, but you need to prepare yourself first. Come back next week for our full review on the glass igloos. Trust me, there are things you need to know before you go or you could end up leaving disappointed. You can check other reviews and current pricing here.
We hope this list gave you some tips and ideas for your family trip to Rovaniemi! Let us know if you have any questions about anything, we are happy to help families with their planning, and share our experiences. If we missed your favorite thing to do in the area, let us know! We are always looking for great ideas for next time!
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