7-day itinerary through magical Lapland!

I think any age is a good age to meet Santa Claus, and what better way to meet him in person than directly at his home in Lapland? For me, this meeting will remain magical and unique because I managed to make my inner child happy! We traveled there from November 26 to December 3.

I suggest that you put Finland on your wish list and save this guide to help you plan a trip like a fairytale! It's definitely a special place!

General information about Lapland

Lapland is a region in the northern part of Europe, above Arctic Circle, which covers four countries: Norway, Sweden, Russia and Finland. It is known for its rather extreme climate, fascinating landscapes, the Northern Lights, of course, and the unique culture of the Sami people, the indigenous people of this area.

Lapland's climate is an interesting one, being polar or subarctic one. Winters are very cold, long and dark. This whole period is characterized by the phenomenon called  polar night, when the sun doesn't rise for several weeks. While we were there, we caught about 4 hours of daylight every day.

Summer is also interesting, especially in June when the sun does not set. This phenomenon is known as midnight sun..

As mentioned above, Lapland is known for its Sami people, who have their own language, culture and traditions. They were and still are, although in much smaller numbers today, nomadic and reindeer herders.

Rovaniemi is considered the capital of Christmas, and that's where you'll find Santa Claus Village. It's practically where the magic begins on December 24 every year.

What should your luggage contain?

We thought it is better to have a specific article dedicated to clothes and footwear used in all Nordic countries. So I invite you to visit it here. and save it for any vacation to Finland, Norway, Iceland or Sweden.

Ways to reach Lapland

When we went, we found very good value options going with RyanAir from Bucharest-Bergamo and Bergamo-Helsinki. From the Finnish capital we took another Finnair flight the next morning to Rovaniemi. On the way back we did the same, but we also spent one night in Bergamo because of the late flight time.

Recently, I've seen more flights from several European capitals directly to Rovaniemi, if you don't want to see Helsinki. Although I recommend this city for a day trip, as I liked it the best of all the Nordic capitals we've visited. You can search from Paris or Amsterdam with KLM or AirFrance. From London you can fly with WizzAir or any other combination you can do with RyanAir or WizzAir. But with low-cost airlines you have to be careful because you will buy separate tickets for each flight segment and you have to go through security at each stopover, as they are separately purchased tickets.

Recommended accommodations

As I mentioned, we spent two nights in Helsinki because we wanted to visit this city and I think one day is enough. We stayed in a studio which was pretty small, but sufficient for our needs, which was about 20 minutes from the central station. The location was also very good for visiting the city center, the Christmas market and for a walk in the park next door.

The two nights in Rovaniemi we spent in another studio, modern and nicely furnished. Anyway the town is quite small so wherever you stay is perfect. The bonus of the accommodation is that it had parking and we needed it having a rental car.

The accommodation from Levi was the icing on the cake! Our own little wooden cottage, with two rooms downstairs and a small one upstairs, fully furnished kitchen, fireplace and our own SAUNA! Still one of the nicest and best value accommodations we have had so far. It is indeed quite remote, in the woods, very close to the ski slopes, but the 30 minute walk to the center of the resort was just what we needed each day.

Our recommended and tried itinerary

We spent 7 days in Finland and one last day and night in Bergamo for our return flight. We had two nights in Helsinki, two in Rovaniemi and three in Levi.

What we visited in Helsinki

In Helsinki, we took the train from the airport and in 40 minutes we arrived at the central station. We didn't necessarily have specific places to check off in the capital, but we wanted to visit a northern capital, to see how it was different from what we had seen before. The only place we had on our list was Cafe Regatta that looks like something out of a Christmas story. We enjoyed a cinnamon roll and hot chocolate while watching how it snowed outside.

I recommend you keep an eye out for the Christmas Market, you might catch it open. We caught the very first day it was open, but not entirely, there were only a few stalls open. Another place would be Old Market to try various local dishes. You can also hop on the harbor wheel for a wider view of the city.

The flight Helsinki-Rovaniemi took 1h 20 minutes and the airport is very close to Santa Claus Village. You don't necessarily need a rented car because there are buses that take you from the airport to the city for 8 euros each way and there are buses that take you from the city to Santa Claus Village. We rented a car from RentalCars because we had several targets on the list and the price at the time was 35euro/day.

What we visited in Rovaniemi

Santa Claus Village is the main attraction in Rovaniemi, because it is Santa's house. Even after so much time has passed since our day trip there, I don't have the words to describe the place. For us it was magical! We spent 6 hours there, walking in every corner of that place.

There is also a very unique accommodation there which is always sold out, namely Santa Claus Holiday Village. I can imagine what it's like and I hope one day to wake up there in the morning and drink my coffee two steps away from Santa.

There are lots of activities here, such as visiting Santa, reindeer sleigh rides, husky dog sleigh rides and much more for the little ones. Rovaniemi sits right on the polar circle line, but there is a line on the ground to mark the fact. There's a video camera right there, live on youtube.

There's also Mrs. Claus's cottage you can visit, lots of souvenir shops, very authentic restaurants and the post office. This is where we sent a postcard to loved ones and arrived just before Christmas! It's a place where you have to step in with the eyes and soul of a child and just enjoy!

What we visited in Levi

From Rovaniemi to Levi it's about a two-hour drive through a fairy-tale winter. And be careful on the side of the road because there can be reindeers ! Levi is a ski resort very popular in Finland and can be a great option for a ski vacation. Especially as the program is longer than in Europe, you'll ski during the polar night and maybe if you're lucky enough, you can see the Northern Lights while you're on the slopes.

We have chosen the reindeer sleigh ride here in Levi, thanks to the lower price than in Rovaniemi. Plus the whole activity takes longer, about 3 hours, the guide also introduces you a little bit into the world of Sami people, and the ride is in a more remote forest. It's a super activity for everyone. We had chosen the activity from this site, but you can definitely find much more on GetYourGuide.

Don't forget about the husky dog sleigh ride!We had a very well-priced reservation that had authentic Finnish snacks, but due to some details that I didn't understand, we lost out this activity. But so this activity is left for another Nordic country. You can find on GetYourGuide some of the options for this activity.

Instead, we set off on one of the trails in Levi, which passes by the ski slopes. It was just the two of us on a snow-packed trail, with a good chance of reindeers getting out from the forest. I don't have the location saved, but there are signs for trails that start at the base of the slopes that you can try.

Ice fishing was something I never thought I'd do. And it turned out to be my favorite activity here! The whole experience lasts about 4 hours and includes pick-up from their office in Levi, fishing gear, as well as thermal insulated coats if the ones on you aren't good, and snacks at the end. The place we were at was a very remote and well frozen lake, which a couple ATVs had ridden very far away from us.

If I remember correctly, we spent 2 and a half hours on the lake fishing and all of us (the 6 adults and 3 children) were lucky to catch 9-10 fish each. At the campfire, at the end we served their specific drink Glögg, which is a bit like mulled wine, only more flavored and alcohol-free. I booked the activity on this site.

Two other places I think are worth a visit in Levi are Arcandia Village și Tuikku restaurant, for a great view of the resort, if it's not snowing. In our case, once we got to the top, the visibility was extremely poor, the terrace was frozen, you couldn't see anything, not even our hand if it raised in the air, but we liked it even so.

Arcandia village is actually a movie set specially created in 2009 but never used for its intended purpose. It remains open for tourists from November to March, from 6-10 pm, but more details about the program can be found on this site. It's a place with various games and resembles a Viking village that lets you imagine various scenarios. It's about a 20-minute drive from Levi.

Unfortunately, we didn't catch the Northern Lights at all while we were in Finland, but luckily, it snowed like the good old days and charged us with magical energy! We didn't take any guided tours and drove about 1-2 hours further north, hoping that we might catch a glimpse. Having guided tours, the chances are much higher, because even if it's snowing in one part of Finland, your guide may take you to Norway or even further north.

To get an idea of the possible aurora, I recommend using these two apps: HelloAurora and AuroraForecast that have pretty good accuracy. And to get great aurora pictures, I recommend reading this specific article.

About Lapland traditional dishes

Because reindeers are so important, their food contains reindeer meat cooked in several ways. Admittedly, I didn't like it that much, but I tried their reindeer meat dish with mashed potatoes and cranberry jam.

But what I ate every day was the salmon soup with potatoes and dill! It was my favorite way to warm up after a whole day spent at -10 degrees. At the time, a soup was 22euro/portion and a main course with reindeer meat was 25 euro/portion.

For dessert, we overate thecinnamon rolls which you find in all the Nordic countries. It is a dessert that I associate a lot with winter and Christmas because of the used spices.

Recommended restaurants

Conclusion

Needless to say, Santa Claus Village was the main reason we went to Lapland. But after the first morning spent there, we realized that we actually came to feel the magic of winter holidays, the snow of childhood and all this warm atmosphere we surrounded ourselves with from all the cheerful people.

It's not a cheap destination, but that's to be expected when you put Finland on your travel bucket list. For us it was worth every penny and effort to get so close to the North Pole.For me, Lapland remains a vibe that I come back to every year when I look at the pictures and tend to return to one day!