Much like all travel enthusiasts, we too, wanted to “see the light(s)”! First question is which country to see it from.
Well, we tried Iceland already and were unsuccessful in our attempt, so this time the toss up was between Norway and Finland. The Norwegian fiords, train through Bergen and the cruises to see polar bears pulled us towards saving Norway for a summer holiday (the activities and place change completely with seasons here), pointing us towards Finland. Also, turns out Finland is more “affordable” compared to Norway.
Destination being decided, we had to plot how long and which cities to visit. After much research and conversations with friends who had visited, we narrowed in on flying into Helsinki, which at least in the winter was bitterly cold, windy and hence really not much fun to walk around. It’s also relatively small, so a half day there gave us sufficient time to see the main sights which are:
1) market square
2) sebilious monument (Must visit the tiny but full of character Cafe Regatta right opposite the monument)
3) rock church
4)uspensky cathedral
5) heureka science museum
Helsinki is very vegetarian friendly. Some options suggested by locals include:
Vegetarian/vegan restaurants in Helsinki:
• Zucchini - serves only lunch (Fabianinkatu 4)
• OmNam (Annankatu 29 B)
• Yes Yes Yes (Iso Roobertinkatu 1)
• Just Vege (Vaasankatu 15)
The restaurants are small and i strongly recommend booking before you arrive to ensure you have a table, even if it’s just two people!
Also, you cannot hail taxis around the city so you must request whichever establishment you are at, to call you one. They usually arrive in under 5 minutes :)
After wandering the main monuments, we wanted to experience a Finnish Sauna and asked the hotel to suggest a local one. There is a large public sauna with a pool just off the market square but the hotel said the oldest one in Helsinki, frequented by the locals was in Karfu area, a short 7-10 minute taxi ride from our hotel. Not knowing what to expect we landed up there. The first sight that greeted us, was of men wrapped in towels waist-down, drinking chilled beer, sitting on benches outside the main door exposed to the freezing cold (we were wearing 4 layers of clothing and winter boots!). Curious and amazed we entered and met a man behind a tiny counter. He charged us 15 euro a person and handed us towels - then the men and women were asked to go in separate areas. The changing areas and rooms were a bit run down and old but once we entered the sauna we began to love our time there. This is an original smoke sauna (not an electric one), so it really hearts up the body well. Every 10–15 minutes, we stepped out, took an icy shower and returned back in - the protocol explained by the friendly women in the sauna - experience not to be missed!
The next early morning we flew to Rovaniemi, in Finnish Lapland - our first port of entry to try and catch the northern lights. We stayed here for 3 nights. This is a very touristy city, and super kid friendly. It is “the hometown of Santa Claus” so one can pay him a visit and then pay 60 euros to claim your picture with him (no cameras allowed when u meet santa!). You can also mail back post cards “from Santa” at their post office and they have a line demarcating the artic circle - all great elements to get you in the mood for a magical winter vacation.
We spent a few hours at Santa Claus village (closes at 5 pm) and returned to our hotel. They offer many excursions within the village but we didn’t book them there since they will slightly pricier and moreover very touristy and also contained within the village, not taking you out into the wild forest.
At night I had pre-booked a northern lights tour by van with explore Lapland (suggest booking activities at least 24-48 hours in advance - ideally book everything before, specially the night reindeer ride since fewer companies offer this). Ben, is the sole proprietor of the company and also the tour guide! A one army show. He was very friendly, warm and enthusiastic. He picked us at the hotel and first took us to get warm clothing and gear. I think he under estimated how cold we (coming from india) can get. Also, note that we did this trip in the last week of march when the temperatures will range from -3 to plus 2 degrees - this marks the beginning of spring in Lapland! Their winter months of Jan and feb see temperatures of -35 degrees, so a lot of the guides and companies think March end is “really hot”. We ended up forcing them to give us gear going forward and very better off with the full overall suit, boots, two layers of woolen socks, head gear and a band to cover your mouth and nose as well. At night, it’s windy and bitterly cold - carry extreme weather gear to enjoy yourself.
Ben drove us around, almost 100 miles out of the city to see the lights but we finally returned back to the hotel at around 1 am with no luck.
The next morning, we had a 7 am pick up by bus for the ice breaker cruise which takes you across the border to Sweden. The two companies I found were icebreaker Sampo and Polar ice breaker cruise - both seemed similar - again, book well in advance since they have very limited spots. Also, always mention your meal preference when booking and they will make sure you have good options for meals!
The cruise trip returned around 5 pm (drive from Rovaniemi to Sweden is about 2.5 hours per way, so be ready for a long day. That evening, we had planned to rest. We enjoyed the sauna in our hotel and ate dinner at Kimo (tiny Asian restaurant offering wok and sushi options). There are plenty of restaurants in Rovaniemi, but few offer vegetarian dishes. The ones recommended were Yuca (Mexican), two indian places (we ate at one, more of a Nepali / Bangladeshi place - food was substandard and not fresh). There are many pizza joints as well and cafes offering vegan food. Don’t expect a gastronomic delight here but know that you won’t sleep hungry.
Our third day in Rovaniemi, was saved to visit the northern most zoo in the world. Considering we were three adults on the trip, we almost dismissed the zoo as childish but having visited, will say it’s worth the trip. Ranua zoo is about an hour from Rovaniemi. There is a public bus available to reach there but we struck a deal with a taxi driver we met to take us there. Booking cabs through the hotel comes at a serious premium, so talk to local drivers once you reach the airport.
Call Rollon on - +358 50 475 2140. He helped us with all our transport and he bargains well :)
Post the zoo, some friends had suggested spending the day at a place called Bears Lodge about 30 mins away from Rovaniemi again, we had a lovely lunch here and wandered around their property- it’s great for skiing and for those looking at enjoying Rovaniemi but away from the City Centre.
At night, we had a 8 pm pick from a northern lights safari by reindeer. I booked this through Helios tours and was VERY happy with the tour and the guide. Remember, these are sparsely populated regions and most tours will have one person who will do the pick up and drop and do the tour and help with gear etc. mostly there will be additional helper who is assisting with something. However, this one person is super skilled, efficient and seasoned. They are also a touristy location and take good care of their guests. We were heavily layered up for this ride and thankfully so! The ride through the forest was magical and even though we didn’t see any lights the experience was out standing. After an hour or so in the reindeer sleigh, we were brought back to a hut, served hot berry juice and cookies and we sat around a fire learning about reindeer herding - just lovely!
The next morning, we departed for Kakslautenen - town about 2.5 hours north of Rovaniemi. This comes about 30 miles before Ivalo (can fly in and out of here as well) so negotiate your taxi accordingly. Here, we stayed at the really popular igloos of the west village. The igloo rooms are spectacular - temperature controlled, and large enough for 4 people. The large igloos also have shower facilities and space for 4 single beds. They are not overtly luxurious but a fine balance between comfort and essential.
The rooms are usually on half-Board and they made some delicious vegetarian meals for us - the service staff was just superb. However, we felt the hotel was very commercial and had a price for everything. From the reception to the igloos it’s a 10-15 minute walk in snow and they don’t offer a bag drop service. So either you can drag a sleigh with your luggage to the room or pay 10 euros per bag for them to help you - I mean, seriously ridiculous. Since, I had read this before, we had already requested our taxi driver to drop us to our igloo and set up the luggage for us in the room. They even had a smoke sauna but booking it for 2 hours (minimum Time) cost upward of 500 euros! They also aggressively push their own excursions with many tourist companies not being allowed to pick up guests at their reception. (I personally, didn’t book anything through them since their rates were all inflated!). Also, they don’t really recommend any places to eat at see outside their property and their souvenir shop - they are really just trying to maximize their revenue and not the customer experience. We booked all our excursions through Husky and co. Very friendly, receptive and helpful guides. They even gave me a 10% discount on all our bookings.
We also took a drop at the Northern lights village - a lovely hotel, where u can eat a lunch buffet with many veggie options by a fire place and then enjoy an ice igloo bar experience (check the timings - it was open 2-5 pm and then 6-9 I believe for dinner). You buy a ticket for 10 euro and claim it for a drink in the bar - superb experience - get the hot chocolate with a shot of Finlandic espresso vodka and ask for almonds on the side - bliss.
We also did a snowmobile ride during the day - outstanding ride for over an hour in the forests. We did a husky ride as well, again a spectacular experience. We were out in the forests were over an hour and you have to actually ride the sledge yourself here as opposed to just being dragged around - one person stands and controls the sledge and the huskies while the other sits in the sledge and enjoys the ride. Just these excursions minus the northern lights viewing make the trip to Finland well worth the visit!
On our 4th night in Lapland, we once again set out to se the lights. The forecasts and the company predicted cloudy weather and advised us against paying for the trip. Something in me said, we should go. And, we did. Magically, around 8:30 the clouds began to wear away and our driver said we are going to see them tonight - the activity is high and the clouds are gone. We geared up and drove 10 minutes out of the city and he stopped the car on the side of the main highway and asked us to get out - there they were. We stood in wonder for about 10-15 minutes and then he said he wanted to drive us to a frozen lake where you can see the lights across a wide horizon. We stayed here for over 30 minutes enjoying the dancing lights. We didn’t have proper camera equipment but some tourists we went with did, so they took some pictures for us :) tip: increasing the exposure time, captures the lights really well.
The lights also checked off our list, we flew out of enchanted Finland, thrilled like children who had just met Santa (indeed, we had!).
Hotels in Helsinki:
Hotel Kamp - great location/best.
Hotel Lila Roberts
Hotels in Rovaniemi:
Arctic light hotel - suggest staying here in the City Centre so u can walk to restaurants and the shopping streets easily. The other option is to stay in the Glass hotel within Santa Claus village - good option if you aren’t going on to the igloos of kakslautenan. Avoid staying away from the city center since again you cannot haul taxis and they are frightfully expensive in Lapland.
Well, we tried Iceland already and were unsuccessful in our attempt, so this time the toss up was between Norway and Finland. The Norwegian fiords, train through Bergen and the cruises to see polar bears pulled us towards saving Norway for a summer holiday (the activities and place change completely with seasons here), pointing us towards Finland. Also, turns out Finland is more “affordable” compared to Norway.
Destination being decided, we had to plot how long and which cities to visit. After much research and conversations with friends who had visited, we narrowed in on flying into Helsinki, which at least in the winter was bitterly cold, windy and hence really not much fun to walk around. It’s also relatively small, so a half day there gave us sufficient time to see the main sights which are:
1) market square
2) sebilious monument (Must visit the tiny but full of character Cafe Regatta right opposite the monument)
3) rock church
4)uspensky cathedral
5) heureka science museum
Helsinki is very vegetarian friendly. Some options suggested by locals include:
Vegetarian/vegan restaurants in Helsinki:
• Zucchini - serves only lunch (Fabianinkatu 4)
• OmNam (Annankatu 29 B)
• Yes Yes Yes (Iso Roobertinkatu 1)
• Just Vege (Vaasankatu 15)
The restaurants are small and i strongly recommend booking before you arrive to ensure you have a table, even if it’s just two people!
Also, you cannot hail taxis around the city so you must request whichever establishment you are at, to call you one. They usually arrive in under 5 minutes :)
After wandering the main monuments, we wanted to experience a Finnish Sauna and asked the hotel to suggest a local one. There is a large public sauna with a pool just off the market square but the hotel said the oldest one in Helsinki, frequented by the locals was in Karfu area, a short 7-10 minute taxi ride from our hotel. Not knowing what to expect we landed up there. The first sight that greeted us, was of men wrapped in towels waist-down, drinking chilled beer, sitting on benches outside the main door exposed to the freezing cold (we were wearing 4 layers of clothing and winter boots!). Curious and amazed we entered and met a man behind a tiny counter. He charged us 15 euro a person and handed us towels - then the men and women were asked to go in separate areas. The changing areas and rooms were a bit run down and old but once we entered the sauna we began to love our time there. This is an original smoke sauna (not an electric one), so it really hearts up the body well. Every 10–15 minutes, we stepped out, took an icy shower and returned back in - the protocol explained by the friendly women in the sauna - experience not to be missed!
The next early morning we flew to Rovaniemi, in Finnish Lapland - our first port of entry to try and catch the northern lights. We stayed here for 3 nights. This is a very touristy city, and super kid friendly. It is “the hometown of Santa Claus” so one can pay him a visit and then pay 60 euros to claim your picture with him (no cameras allowed when u meet santa!). You can also mail back post cards “from Santa” at their post office and they have a line demarcating the artic circle - all great elements to get you in the mood for a magical winter vacation.
We spent a few hours at Santa Claus village (closes at 5 pm) and returned to our hotel. They offer many excursions within the village but we didn’t book them there since they will slightly pricier and moreover very touristy and also contained within the village, not taking you out into the wild forest.
At night I had pre-booked a northern lights tour by van with explore Lapland (suggest booking activities at least 24-48 hours in advance - ideally book everything before, specially the night reindeer ride since fewer companies offer this). Ben, is the sole proprietor of the company and also the tour guide! A one army show. He was very friendly, warm and enthusiastic. He picked us at the hotel and first took us to get warm clothing and gear. I think he under estimated how cold we (coming from india) can get. Also, note that we did this trip in the last week of march when the temperatures will range from -3 to plus 2 degrees - this marks the beginning of spring in Lapland! Their winter months of Jan and feb see temperatures of -35 degrees, so a lot of the guides and companies think March end is “really hot”. We ended up forcing them to give us gear going forward and very better off with the full overall suit, boots, two layers of woolen socks, head gear and a band to cover your mouth and nose as well. At night, it’s windy and bitterly cold - carry extreme weather gear to enjoy yourself.
Ben drove us around, almost 100 miles out of the city to see the lights but we finally returned back to the hotel at around 1 am with no luck.
The next morning, we had a 7 am pick up by bus for the ice breaker cruise which takes you across the border to Sweden. The two companies I found were icebreaker Sampo and Polar ice breaker cruise - both seemed similar - again, book well in advance since they have very limited spots. Also, always mention your meal preference when booking and they will make sure you have good options for meals!
The cruise trip returned around 5 pm (drive from Rovaniemi to Sweden is about 2.5 hours per way, so be ready for a long day. That evening, we had planned to rest. We enjoyed the sauna in our hotel and ate dinner at Kimo (tiny Asian restaurant offering wok and sushi options). There are plenty of restaurants in Rovaniemi, but few offer vegetarian dishes. The ones recommended were Yuca (Mexican), two indian places (we ate at one, more of a Nepali / Bangladeshi place - food was substandard and not fresh). There are many pizza joints as well and cafes offering vegan food. Don’t expect a gastronomic delight here but know that you won’t sleep hungry.
Our third day in Rovaniemi, was saved to visit the northern most zoo in the world. Considering we were three adults on the trip, we almost dismissed the zoo as childish but having visited, will say it’s worth the trip. Ranua zoo is about an hour from Rovaniemi. There is a public bus available to reach there but we struck a deal with a taxi driver we met to take us there. Booking cabs through the hotel comes at a serious premium, so talk to local drivers once you reach the airport.
Call Rollon on - +358 50 475 2140. He helped us with all our transport and he bargains well :)
Post the zoo, some friends had suggested spending the day at a place called Bears Lodge about 30 mins away from Rovaniemi again, we had a lovely lunch here and wandered around their property- it’s great for skiing and for those looking at enjoying Rovaniemi but away from the City Centre.
At night, we had a 8 pm pick from a northern lights safari by reindeer. I booked this through Helios tours and was VERY happy with the tour and the guide. Remember, these are sparsely populated regions and most tours will have one person who will do the pick up and drop and do the tour and help with gear etc. mostly there will be additional helper who is assisting with something. However, this one person is super skilled, efficient and seasoned. They are also a touristy location and take good care of their guests. We were heavily layered up for this ride and thankfully so! The ride through the forest was magical and even though we didn’t see any lights the experience was out standing. After an hour or so in the reindeer sleigh, we were brought back to a hut, served hot berry juice and cookies and we sat around a fire learning about reindeer herding - just lovely!
The next morning, we departed for Kakslautenen - town about 2.5 hours north of Rovaniemi. This comes about 30 miles before Ivalo (can fly in and out of here as well) so negotiate your taxi accordingly. Here, we stayed at the really popular igloos of the west village. The igloo rooms are spectacular - temperature controlled, and large enough for 4 people. The large igloos also have shower facilities and space for 4 single beds. They are not overtly luxurious but a fine balance between comfort and essential.
The rooms are usually on half-Board and they made some delicious vegetarian meals for us - the service staff was just superb. However, we felt the hotel was very commercial and had a price for everything. From the reception to the igloos it’s a 10-15 minute walk in snow and they don’t offer a bag drop service. So either you can drag a sleigh with your luggage to the room or pay 10 euros per bag for them to help you - I mean, seriously ridiculous. Since, I had read this before, we had already requested our taxi driver to drop us to our igloo and set up the luggage for us in the room. They even had a smoke sauna but booking it for 2 hours (minimum Time) cost upward of 500 euros! They also aggressively push their own excursions with many tourist companies not being allowed to pick up guests at their reception. (I personally, didn’t book anything through them since their rates were all inflated!). Also, they don’t really recommend any places to eat at see outside their property and their souvenir shop - they are really just trying to maximize their revenue and not the customer experience. We booked all our excursions through Husky and co. Very friendly, receptive and helpful guides. They even gave me a 10% discount on all our bookings.
We also took a drop at the Northern lights village - a lovely hotel, where u can eat a lunch buffet with many veggie options by a fire place and then enjoy an ice igloo bar experience (check the timings - it was open 2-5 pm and then 6-9 I believe for dinner). You buy a ticket for 10 euro and claim it for a drink in the bar - superb experience - get the hot chocolate with a shot of Finlandic espresso vodka and ask for almonds on the side - bliss.
We also did a snowmobile ride during the day - outstanding ride for over an hour in the forests. We did a husky ride as well, again a spectacular experience. We were out in the forests were over an hour and you have to actually ride the sledge yourself here as opposed to just being dragged around - one person stands and controls the sledge and the huskies while the other sits in the sledge and enjoys the ride. Just these excursions minus the northern lights viewing make the trip to Finland well worth the visit!
On our 4th night in Lapland, we once again set out to se the lights. The forecasts and the company predicted cloudy weather and advised us against paying for the trip. Something in me said, we should go. And, we did. Magically, around 8:30 the clouds began to wear away and our driver said we are going to see them tonight - the activity is high and the clouds are gone. We geared up and drove 10 minutes out of the city and he stopped the car on the side of the main highway and asked us to get out - there they were. We stood in wonder for about 10-15 minutes and then he said he wanted to drive us to a frozen lake where you can see the lights across a wide horizon. We stayed here for over 30 minutes enjoying the dancing lights. We didn’t have proper camera equipment but some tourists we went with did, so they took some pictures for us :) tip: increasing the exposure time, captures the lights really well.
The lights also checked off our list, we flew out of enchanted Finland, thrilled like children who had just met Santa (indeed, we had!).
Hotels in Helsinki:
Hotel Kamp - great location/best.
Hotel Lila Roberts
Hotels in Rovaniemi:
Arctic light hotel - suggest staying here in the City Centre so u can walk to restaurants and the shopping streets easily. The other option is to stay in the Glass hotel within Santa Claus village - good option if you aren’t going on to the igloos of kakslautenan. Avoid staying away from the city center since again you cannot haul taxis and they are frightfully expensive in Lapland.
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