Finland is Dreamland

Ever since I was a kid, my father would always choose these exotic locations which were not completely explored by humankind. And hence they were touristy, cheap, and untainted by commercialism.

Although Finland is a very explored destination at that and is also very commercialized, it’s still a destination that doesn’t pop up easily into an Indian’s head. And my father chose exactly that.

In this article, I am covering the following, so please feel free to look for whatever you’d like:

1. Why Finland?
2. When should you visit?
3. Where should you go in Finland?
4. How to get to Finland and travel intra-country?
5. What was the itinerary like?
6. What about winter clothes?

1. Why Finland?

The intention behind choosing Finland was to see the Northern Lights (DUH!) and experience snow like never before. But before I begin with my itinerary, here is some backstory about Northern Lights. Northern Lights are visible from any of the countries present in the Arctic Circle. There are 8 countries present in the circle — Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Russia, Finland and the United States. Additionally, you can also spot the lights in Scotland and Siberia. After speaking with multiple guides and tour operators, what we realized is that these lights are visible best from Siberia, followed by Iceland, and then followed by the rest of the countries (This is my opinion, but people might have differing opinions). Essentially, higher the latitude, better is the chance of seeing those lights.

Siberia is a place which is not easily reachable for a tourist. Iceland is extremely expensive, and from my understanding, lights are just 5% stronger here than that in Finland. Finland also has Rovaniemi and amazing Ski resorts in its northern part. And that’s how we zeroed in on Finland as our destination to see the ultimate Northern Lights.

Also, let us not forget about how Finland has been named the HAPPIEST COUNTRY in the world 6 times in a row! And who will not want to visit the happiest land that gave us some of the world class drivers like Kimi Räikkönen and Valtteri Bottas, and an amazing leader — Sanna Marin who so graciously runs the country.

2. When should you visit?

Once our location was final, the next thing was to check the weather forecast for the next couple of months. Now to see the lights, you need to have favorable weather conditions, which include:

1. Clear Sky (No clouds)
2. Not a full moon night
3. No Snowfall
4. Should be dark at night (The sun does not set in the Arctic Circle for a couple of months)

Keeping all of this in mind, the best time to visit Finland or any other country for the lights ranges from October to March. December and January are extremely busy and expensive months due to the festive time. Furthermore, the weather conditions were extremely favorable for us in February, and so that’s when we decided to hit the country. The country is still extremely cold, unlike any of the tropical ones. However, we could totally live and thrive in a temperature that ranged from minus 25 degrees to 8 degrees.

3. Where should you go in Finland?

With all our expenses and budget, we decided to visit Rovaniemi, Kemi, and Saariselka. We did not want to spend any time exploring Helsinki as we were more interested to tour the exotic locations. I will be talking about all the locations and what we did there in detail later in the article.

1. Rovaniemi is famous for Northern Lights (DUH!) and Santa Village. (Try googling Santa Claus’s hometown and you will know why is Rovaniemi so special). It is the capital of Finnish Lapland and the place feels like Christmas all throughout the year.
2. Kemi is known for its Ice Breaking Sampo ship, and we did exactly that!
3. Saariselka is a small tourist village where apart from Aurora Hunting, you can do a lot of other activities like Reindeer Safari, Husky Ride, Skiing, and so much more!
4. Parallelly, if you like, you can also visit Levi instead of Saariselka

4. How to get to Finland and travel intra-country?

It is fairly simple to get to Finland. All international flights land in Helsinki. You can either spend a day or two in Helsinki, explore around, and then take another flight to Rovaniemi/ Ivola. We decided not to halt here, and go to Rovaniemi directly.

From Rovaniemi, we took a cab to Saariselka. Now you may not want to book a cab from the airport to your place of stay before the trip as there are ample cabs available outside the airport. You can take their information and ask them to drop off you later at the destination of your choice should you wish to be driven around. Drivers, there are super friendly, helpful, and completely reliable. You can also take a flight to Ivola directly if you want to explore the northern part of Finland.

5. What was the itinerary like?

Day 1: A day full of travel and sleep

Flight details: Delhi — Helsinki | 08:10 AM IST 13:45 EST

<Super simple and quick immigration at the Helsinki airport>

Helsinki — Rovaniemi | 16:20 EST —17:45 EST

PS. There are Indian restaurants in Rovaniemi for all my curry-lover readers!

Day 2: Swimming in the arctic ocean and hunting the northern lights

Our day started quite early at 5 AM. We had booked a tour in the Ice Breaker Sampo ship in Kemi by directly booking through the website. They have multiple time slots and we booked the 8:30 AM time slot to ensure our evening remains free for rest and other activities. They did NOT provide us with overalls for cold weather but they provided the following:

• Pick up from selected hotels in Rovaniemi at 6:30 AM
• Free lunch in a snow castle that is away from the frozen sea
• Overalls for swimming in the Arctic Sea ONLY

They first gave us a tour of the entire ship which lasted for about an hour/ two. There is a small cafe-like set up where you can have tea / coffee or other refreshments for a small price. Subsequently, the ship came to a stop close to the area where we intended to swim, granting us the opportunity to stroll over to the ice and capture numerous photographs. The scenery throughout is extremely pretty and white because this ship cuts through the frozen sea! The most exciting part of this outing was floating in the Arctic Sea! It wasn’t something I knew I wanted to do, but it ended up being a thrilling experience that should belong on everyone’s bucket list. Getting suited up in the ship was slightly chaotic due to limited changing room space, but the actual floating was very relaxing and cathartic. Overall, this outing is not very adventurous since you’re mostly indoors sipping hot drinks and chatting with people. I will not recommend if you get easily bored.

Following that, we returned to our service apartments to unwind and rejuvenate before we set for the next expedition, which was the highly anticipated highlight of our trip: the quest for the northern lights. After a great amount of research on the internet on how to take trips for the Northern Lights, I found this gem of a person, who is amazingly passionate about the Aurora Borealis — Alex.

Aurora Hunting offers multiple ways to experience its captivating allure. Group tours take you by bus to a specific location, while private guided tours provide a more intimate exploration of various sites. Although group tours are affordable, the private option, like the one we chose with Alex, is worth the expense. Walking, reindeer rides, and husky rides are other means of reaching the aurora sites. Watching the auroras is a mesmerizing and immersive experience. Despite the wait, once they appear, their beauty is indescribable. We even ventured to Sweden to seek stronger illuminations, guided by Alex’s expertise. After hours in the outdoors, we savored hot berry juice and returned home with contented hearts and radiant smiles.

Day 3: Trip to Santa Claus Village and Saariselka

We connected with our airport driver to take us around Santa Claus village and then drop us at Saariselka. After checking out from our Service Apartments in Rovaniemi, we kept our luggage in the car and left for Santa Claus village. We explored the village, which was a delightful experience primarily aimed at children. We snapped a photo with Santa Claus and took a stroll around before continuing our journey to Saariselka.

During our drive, we stopped to grab snacks and charge the car. As we travelled further north, we encountered fewer English speakers among the natives. I want to take a moment to express gratitude for the assistance we received during the afternoon on two occasions. Firstly, when ordering vegetarian snacks, communication was challenging. Thankfully, Google Translate came to the rescue, allowing me to request a cheese sandwich. Secondly, we faced an issue with our car’s charging, but our driver, who was incredibly kind, arranged for another cab for us. I wish to emphasize this incident as it exemplifies the helpfulness of the Finnish people towards tourists.

The journey to Saariselka was breathtakingly beautiful, with snow-covered roads and a grayish sky. Occasionally, coniferous trees peeked through the snowy landscape, offering a picturesque sight as we made our way to the village. Saariselka itself is a small village with only a single main street and a few hotels/ service apartments. One interesting cultural observation we made was that there was no concept of porters in the Saariselka hotels. It was up to us to handle our own luggage (Very different from what we have in India!). Nevertheless, thanks to our light travelling, we settled comfortably into our service apartments.

Day 4 — Day 7: Exploring the REAL FINLAND

The subsequent days were devoted to embracing the true essence of Finland. Our initial endeavor involved gathering information about the village, and we quickly realized that Saariselka could be effortlessly explored on foot. This allowed us to conveniently visit a local food mall where we purchased groceries, enabling us to prepare our meals at home. This proved to be a clever hack that saved us a significant amount of money, considering the high cost of dining out in Finland.

Our first stop was Lapland Safaris in Saariselka, where we made reservations for several thrilling safaris spread across 4 days:

• Introduction to Skiing
• Visiting a Reindeer Farm via a snowmobile
• Aurora spotting to Lake Inari

In addition to the planned activities, we also booked another Northern Lights hunt with a different company. Luck was truly on our side as we were blessed with yet another sighting of the ethereal auroras. To our surprise and delight, we even caught glimpses of the lights from the comfort of our hotel.

On the last day, we flew back from Ivola. The hotel kindly helped us with obtaining the bus timing from hotel to the Ivola airport, which is the sole operational airport catering to tourists in the northern region.

6. What about winter clothes?

My father found this amazing start up that provided a great deal on renting outer jackets and boots. Additionally, many of the places we visited offered winter overalls, boots, caps, and gloves for visitors to use. However, we discovered an ideal way to layer our clothing for the cold weather, and it goes as follows:

1. Undergarments and two layers of thermal socks
2. Thermal Inners
3. Normal clothes (we opted for full sleeves tee and jeans)
4. Water proof jacket, pants, socks, and boots
5. Something to cover your eyes, ears, and head (just a hoodie won’t work)
6. Two pairs of gloves

(Yea, I looked fat in all my pictures, but who cares? I had the time of my life!)

This vacation was a perfect balance of quality time with my parents and a deep appreciation for the snowy outdoors. There was no rush, allowing us to savor each moment and create lasting memories. During our stay, I had the pleasure of trying a new delicacy, such as the reindeer hotdog. Moreover, I had the opportunity to meet people with fascinating stories from around the world and even made new friends along the way. However, the true highlight of the journey was undoubtedly the awe-inspiring Northern Lights. Spotting these lights was a stroke of luck, and I felt incredibly fortunate to witness their mesmerizing display on different days and in various locations. It was an experience akin to spotting a rare and majestic tiger in the wild — you either see it or you don’t. This dance of colors across the night sky left me spellbound, and I was reminded of the profound beauty and unpredictability of nature. Every aspect of the trip, from the serene moments to the extraordinary encounters, filled my heart with joy and made this vacation an unforgettable one.