A winter week in Rovaniemi
Mar 14th, 2016, 01:11 AM
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A winter week in Rovaniemi
Hello all,
as I received some feedback previously on our plans to visit Rovaniemi I would like to give a quick summary of our week at the Arctic Circle.
Initially the plan das been to try to go to a place to see the Northern lights. We had considered Myvatn (Iceland) which we had visited in the summer, the Lofotes (Norway) which we had seen in autumn, Kiruna (Sweden) and Rovaniemi in Finland. In the end the decision was made based on a combination of available flights and activities possible in Rovaniemi (which does not mean that we won't visit either of the other places at some point in the future).
We decided to fly into Rovaniemi (via Helsinki) and not take the train, bus or car from Helsinki. It is about 8 hours from Helsinki. Flights worked smoothly and we arrived basically on time. We had decided that we wanted to have rental car and I would probably recommend this for most combinations. You can definetely also get around without an own car. Most tour providers will pick you up at your hotel and especially if you pick a hotel in the city center you can reach everything you need on foot. So why a car? We wanted to visit a reindeer farm, the zoo in Ranua, Santa Claus village and had considered the Amethyst Mine as well as wanted to have the option to drive out of the city to watch the night sky. Most of it is possible with tour operators but if you add up the fees you will be likely better off with an own car. And you have more flexibility.
So, in our case the car was provided by Scandid Rentals and was in prime condition with Navigation and a few other nice gadgets. Can certainly recommend it. And the "office" is right next to the baggage claim area (as are all the other rental car companies) so while waiting for our bags we could finish the logistics around the car rental. Driving on snow was not too bad, you get used to it quickly and the first thing we noticed was, that the drivers in Rovaniemi drive very carefully and defensive. Quite nice. We felt quite safe on the roads.
Rovaniemi is a nice little town we some shopping options, a good selection of hotels and restaurants and some very interesting museums.
In terms of hotels we were a bit surprised that quite a few of them had been booked out - at least on certain days. So in the end we had to split our week into two parts: We started at the City Hotel and then moved to the Chalet hotel. Both were good choices, I would give the City Hotel slightly higher marks.
Other than walking around the city we deciced to get the cultural pass in Rovaniemi, which includes three museums: the Arcticum (covering a lot of aspects around life in the Arctic), Pilke (kind of a science museum covering topics around wood and forestry) and the Korundi (Art Museum). I would recommend all three of them, if you have the time.
Other activities and day trips. As said initially one of our motivations was seeing the Northern Lights. We booked a trip on the first weekend with Welcome Lapland. They claim to have the best success rate but even they cannot blow the cloud cover away - which in our case made sightings impossible. The tour itself is nice with a bit of a hike up a hill and sausage at the campfire. Without the Northern Lights it is still okay - but not a must. There is one other operator that cancels the tour if there is no chance of sightings.... Unfortunately cloud coverage remained an issue for the rest of our stay .. so we have a reason to go back to the Arctic Circle.
as I received some feedback previously on our plans to visit Rovaniemi I would like to give a quick summary of our week at the Arctic Circle.
Initially the plan das been to try to go to a place to see the Northern lights. We had considered Myvatn (Iceland) which we had visited in the summer, the Lofotes (Norway) which we had seen in autumn, Kiruna (Sweden) and Rovaniemi in Finland. In the end the decision was made based on a combination of available flights and activities possible in Rovaniemi (which does not mean that we won't visit either of the other places at some point in the future).
We decided to fly into Rovaniemi (via Helsinki) and not take the train, bus or car from Helsinki. It is about 8 hours from Helsinki. Flights worked smoothly and we arrived basically on time. We had decided that we wanted to have rental car and I would probably recommend this for most combinations. You can definetely also get around without an own car. Most tour providers will pick you up at your hotel and especially if you pick a hotel in the city center you can reach everything you need on foot. So why a car? We wanted to visit a reindeer farm, the zoo in Ranua, Santa Claus village and had considered the Amethyst Mine as well as wanted to have the option to drive out of the city to watch the night sky. Most of it is possible with tour operators but if you add up the fees you will be likely better off with an own car. And you have more flexibility.
So, in our case the car was provided by Scandid Rentals and was in prime condition with Navigation and a few other nice gadgets. Can certainly recommend it. And the "office" is right next to the baggage claim area (as are all the other rental car companies) so while waiting for our bags we could finish the logistics around the car rental. Driving on snow was not too bad, you get used to it quickly and the first thing we noticed was, that the drivers in Rovaniemi drive very carefully and defensive. Quite nice. We felt quite safe on the roads.
Rovaniemi is a nice little town we some shopping options, a good selection of hotels and restaurants and some very interesting museums.
In terms of hotels we were a bit surprised that quite a few of them had been booked out - at least on certain days. So in the end we had to split our week into two parts: We started at the City Hotel and then moved to the Chalet hotel. Both were good choices, I would give the City Hotel slightly higher marks.
Other than walking around the city we deciced to get the cultural pass in Rovaniemi, which includes three museums: the Arcticum (covering a lot of aspects around life in the Arctic), Pilke (kind of a science museum covering topics around wood and forestry) and the Korundi (Art Museum). I would recommend all three of them, if you have the time.
Other activities and day trips. As said initially one of our motivations was seeing the Northern Lights. We booked a trip on the first weekend with Welcome Lapland. They claim to have the best success rate but even they cannot blow the cloud cover away - which in our case made sightings impossible. The tour itself is nice with a bit of a hike up a hill and sausage at the campfire. Without the Northern Lights it is still okay - but not a must. There is one other operator that cancels the tour if there is no chance of sightings.... Unfortunately cloud coverage remained an issue for the rest of our stay .. so we have a reason to go back to the Arctic Circle.
Mar 14th, 2016, 01:28 AM
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But even without the Northern Lights we enjoyed our time in Rovaniemi. Here’s some of the things we did:
A day trip to the reindeer farm: Poro-Pekan Pirtti (about 50km outside of Rovaniemi) which was a really fun trip. The two owners could not be any more friendly and we were received very very friendly, got a tour around the farm, got to feed the reindeer and play with the dog and learned about the farm and reindeering. Also included was a very tasty dinner. We also learned that on Saturday night there is dinner and karaoke activities here so If we come back sometime, we will consider this … They also do Northern Lights events with BBQ. We definitely had a great time here.
We also did a short trip to Santa Claus Village. Very touristy, but if you have a bit time to spare it is a nice trip. You can do shopping, mail your postcards from the post office there and do various activities like rides on a reindeer sled or a short round in a husky sled (or just visit the dogs). There is also an ice bar and you could do short tours on snow-mobiles. All in all this it is touristy and if you have more time I would do most activities somewhere else, but if you are only visiting shortly, you can do most things here.
As we like zoos it was clear for us, that we would try to go to the Ranua Zoo (about 1hour by car) and it is a nice little zoo, quite interesting in the winter. They have a large selection of owls, some wolves, moose, reindeer, mosk oxes, dholes, lynx, polar bears, beavers and otters (I am sure I am missing a few animals) … around noon time a feeding tour starts around the park, which you can follow. The explanations are in finish, but you can always ask the keeper questions in English and she is happy to give information. There is also a little fireplace in the park to stop for lunch. We liked our little trip to this small zoo.
And lastly our highlight, a day with a husky sled. There is different tour operators that offer different tours. We had looked for a somewhat longer tour and we wanted to be driving ourselves. In our case we chose Bearhill Husky as operator and chose the Taiga Tour. And we were extremely happy with our choice. It is about 4 hours of actual driving, with a lunch stop (yummy), transfer, short training and equipment. It was a great experience. You should be in okay shape. At least one of you (usually you share one sled with your partner) will have to stand at the back of the sled and help the dogs uphill as well as steer a bit. This was probably the highlight of our trip. The dogs were amazing and the scenery is great. I also liked the length of the trip, as we got a good feel for it.
A day trip to the reindeer farm: Poro-Pekan Pirtti (about 50km outside of Rovaniemi) which was a really fun trip. The two owners could not be any more friendly and we were received very very friendly, got a tour around the farm, got to feed the reindeer and play with the dog and learned about the farm and reindeering. Also included was a very tasty dinner. We also learned that on Saturday night there is dinner and karaoke activities here so If we come back sometime, we will consider this … They also do Northern Lights events with BBQ. We definitely had a great time here.
We also did a short trip to Santa Claus Village. Very touristy, but if you have a bit time to spare it is a nice trip. You can do shopping, mail your postcards from the post office there and do various activities like rides on a reindeer sled or a short round in a husky sled (or just visit the dogs). There is also an ice bar and you could do short tours on snow-mobiles. All in all this it is touristy and if you have more time I would do most activities somewhere else, but if you are only visiting shortly, you can do most things here.
As we like zoos it was clear for us, that we would try to go to the Ranua Zoo (about 1hour by car) and it is a nice little zoo, quite interesting in the winter. They have a large selection of owls, some wolves, moose, reindeer, mosk oxes, dholes, lynx, polar bears, beavers and otters (I am sure I am missing a few animals) … around noon time a feeding tour starts around the park, which you can follow. The explanations are in finish, but you can always ask the keeper questions in English and she is happy to give information. There is also a little fireplace in the park to stop for lunch. We liked our little trip to this small zoo.
And lastly our highlight, a day with a husky sled. There is different tour operators that offer different tours. We had looked for a somewhat longer tour and we wanted to be driving ourselves. In our case we chose Bearhill Husky as operator and chose the Taiga Tour. And we were extremely happy with our choice. It is about 4 hours of actual driving, with a lunch stop (yummy), transfer, short training and equipment. It was a great experience. You should be in okay shape. At least one of you (usually you share one sled with your partner) will have to stand at the back of the sled and help the dogs uphill as well as steer a bit. This was probably the highlight of our trip. The dogs were amazing and the scenery is great. I also liked the length of the trip, as we got a good feel for it.
Mar 14th, 2016, 02:08 AM
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Thanks for your interesting trip report. In which month did you travel? Are some months better for seeing the Northern Lights? That is, are some winter months known for being less cloudy?
For driving on snow, did you need to rent a four-wheel drive?
An eight-hour flight from Helsinki to Rovaniemi? That's quite a long domestic flight. Based on your research, would it have been easier to view the Northern Lights from Norway or Iceland?
For driving on snow, did you need to rent a four-wheel drive?
An eight-hour flight from Helsinki to Rovaniemi? That's quite a long domestic flight. Based on your research, would it have been easier to view the Northern Lights from Norway or Iceland?
Mar 14th, 2016, 03:54 AM
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Hello Diamantina,
no, we had a "normal" car (Auris). You had to speed up a bit carefully and break earlier than you would as well as watch your distance a bit. But Finsh drivers were very understanding if you were driving cautiosly. But generally speaking we did not have any problems. Of course you could go for a 4WD or AWD SUV type vehicle to add even more options.
Sorry, the domestic flight is just 1 hour, I phrased that badly. It is about 2 to 2 1/2 hours from Frankfurt to Helsiniki and then another hour to Rovaniemi. The eight hours is by car or train from Helsinki which I had initially considered but then decided for the more direct route as on this trip we were not planning to stay in Helsinki anyway and wanted more time in Rovaniemi.
I can't comment on the cloud likeliness in march. For Aurora activities I have read that Sept / Oct as well as March / April are the more active months. Nov through Feb also possible. In addition to clear skies you would also have ideally no moon.
We just got back, so we were in Rovaniemi early March 16.
no, we had a "normal" car (Auris). You had to speed up a bit carefully and break earlier than you would as well as watch your distance a bit. But Finsh drivers were very understanding if you were driving cautiosly. But generally speaking we did not have any problems. Of course you could go for a 4WD or AWD SUV type vehicle to add even more options.
Sorry, the domestic flight is just 1 hour, I phrased that badly. It is about 2 to 2 1/2 hours from Frankfurt to Helsiniki and then another hour to Rovaniemi. The eight hours is by car or train from Helsinki which I had initially considered but then decided for the more direct route as on this trip we were not planning to stay in Helsinki anyway and wanted more time in Rovaniemi.
I can't comment on the cloud likeliness in march. For Aurora activities I have read that Sept / Oct as well as March / April are the more active months. Nov through Feb also possible. In addition to clear skies you would also have ideally no moon.
We just got back, so we were in Rovaniemi early March 16.
Mar 14th, 2016, 11:17 PM
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Thanks for info and the clarification about flight times. Whew! One hour is much better. My husband and I were in Helsinki in March about 17 years ago, enroute to Russia. Even though we had to walk through foot-high snow at times, we loved it and have since considered visiting Finnish Lappland. It's encouraging you enjoyed it and found many things to do.
Mar 15th, 2016, 01:03 AM
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@bilbo. We did not do cross country skiing but very much enjoyed sled dogging (see second part of my report)... it is not a cheap adventure but I would highly recomment going for it (my recommendation is choose one where you can drive yourself rather than just sit in the sled and if you can, go for a somewhat longer tour (a couple of hours to full day).
Mar 15th, 2016, 10:48 AM
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Very useful report - i'll file it for future reference. I stayed in the Snow Hotel in Kirkenes, Norway last year and did a dog sled trip but yours sounds better since you got to drive the dogs. (I was busy staying on my sled!)
Mar 17th, 2016, 01:19 AM
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@ vickie: If you enjoyed our stay t the Snow Hotel in Rovaniemi you might be interested in this hotel: http://arcticsnowhotel.fi/
It ia about 30 mins outside of Rovaniemi. We met a couple that were staying there and they were quite impressed - they were staying in one of the "iglus" with a view of the sky. It is probably breath taking when you see the stars or even better the northern lights. Under cloudy conditions that goes away unfortunately. But they said that the accomodations were great and food was excellent (don't have any own insight on either). As mentioned, it is about 30 mins out of town with virtually nothing in walking distance, so you have to plan your logistics accordingly.
It ia about 30 mins outside of Rovaniemi. We met a couple that were staying there and they were quite impressed - they were staying in one of the "iglus" with a view of the sky. It is probably breath taking when you see the stars or even better the northern lights. Under cloudy conditions that goes away unfortunately. But they said that the accomodations were great and food was excellent (don't have any own insight on either). As mentioned, it is about 30 mins out of town with virtually nothing in walking distance, so you have to plan your logistics accordingly.
sorry ...
