Finnish Lapland: Rovaniemi, Huskies and the Northern Lights at Yllas

1. Day 1: Arrive in Rovaniemi

   Rovaniemi Airport to your hotel in central Rovaniemi

   • Drive about 15 min
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Rovaniemi
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Rovaniemi Airport (RVN), most likely via Helsinki, and plan to land by about 3 pm. A driver meets you in the arrivals hall for the short drive into town, about 15 minutes. Rovaniemi is the capital of Finnish Lapland, sitting where the Ounasjoki river meets the Kemijoki just south of the Arctic Circle. Retreating German troops burned almost all of it in 1944, and it was rebuilt to a plan by Alvar Aalto, whose library and Lappia Hall still stand in the centre. At about 5 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group at the hotel and we fit everyone's winter outfit: thermal overall, insulated boots, mittens, woollen socks and a balaclava, yours for the week. After a short briefing we walk to the Lumberjack's Candle bridge and upstream along the lit riverside path towards Koivusaari, the wooded island in the Ounasjoki with a boardwalk nature trail, then sit down together to a welcome dinner of Lappish dishes, such as sauteed reindeer with mashed potato and lingonberries, or salmon soup.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Rovaniemi Airport (RVN)
   • Winter outfit fitting: thermal overall, boots, mittens, socks and balaclava for the whole trip
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Evening walk along the riverside towards Koivusaari island
   • Welcome dinner

   Free time: Free until the 5 pm fitting and briefing

   Activity: If your flight lands late, a driver still meets you and your guide fits your outfit at the hotel.

   

2. Day 2: Huskies, reindeer and the Arctic Circle

   Rovaniemi to a husky kennel and a reindeer farm, then the Arctic Circle at Santa Claus Village

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Rovaniemi
   Day 2 details

   The husky safari goes first, in the best of the short winter light. We drive out of town to a kennel in the forest, where the dogs start howling as soon as the sleds come out. After a safety talk from the mushers you ride two to a sled, one standing on the runners and one sitting, swapping halfway, on a trail of about 10 km through snowy spruce and frozen bog. Lunch is hot and sit-down, by a fire in a kota hut: salmon soup or a reindeer stew with rye bread. In the afternoon we visit a reindeer farm, where a herding family explains how the animals graze freely and are gathered each year, and you take a short sleigh ride behind a reindeer. As the light goes we reach the Arctic Circle at Santa Claus Village, about 8 km north of town, step over the painted line and post a card from Santa's post office. Evening free in Rovaniemi.

   Included

   • Husky safari of about 10 km with a kennel visit, two to a sled
   • Sit-down lunch by the fire in a kota hut
   • Reindeer farm visit with a herding family and a short reindeer sleigh ride
   • The Arctic Circle line and Santa Claus Village
   • An aurora outing out of town if the forecast is strong and the sky is clear

   Optional experiences

   • Official photos with Santa Claus (meeting him is free; the photos are sold separately)

   Easier option: Ride as the passenger for the whole husky trail, wrapped in a reindeer skin, and let your partner drive.

   More active option: Drive the sled for the whole trail, if your sled partner agrees and the musher is happy with your braking.

   Free time: Evening free in Rovaniemi

   Activity: Huskies pull hard. Standing on the runners means holding on and using the brake on the downhill parts; the mushers teach you first.

3. Day 3: Arktikum, then north to Yllas

   Rovaniemi to Arktikum, then north-west through the forest to Akaslompolo at Yllas

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Akaslompolo
   Day 3 details

   We start at Arktikum when it opens, the science centre and museum on the riverbank whose long glass corridor points north. It explains the Arctic in plain terms: the cold, the light, the animals and the people of the north, and how Rovaniemi rose again after 1944. It is the best preparation for the days ahead and for the aurora. After a sit-down lunch in town we drive about 180 km north-west, two and a half to three hours in winter with a stop, through forest, frozen rivers and small villages, with Yllastunturi ahead on the last stretch by road 80, to Akaslompolo, at the foot of Yllastunturi. Your home for the next three nights is a hotel in or near the village, and you will not pack a bag again until the last morning. Dinner is at the hotel. Afterwards we walk to the edge of the frozen lake, away from the village lights, for the first aurora evening, with hot berry juice and a guide who knows which way to look.

   Included

   • Arktikum science centre and museum with your guide
   • Sit-down lunch in Rovaniemi
   • Drive to Yllas with your guide
   • Dinner at the hotel
   • First aurora evening: a guided walk to the frozen lake

   Activity: The drive is in daylight or twilight depending on the month; in December we arrive in the dark.

   

4. Day 4: Snowshoes in the national park

   Akaslompolo to a trail in Pallas-Yllastunturi National Park and back, then out to a dark spot for the aurora

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Akaslompolo
   Day 4 details

   A slow breakfast, then we drive a few minutes to a trailhead in Pallas-Yllastunturi National Park, which runs north from Yllas along a chain of rounded fells. With a local snowshoe guide we walk about 3 to 5 km through old spruce forest bent under crown snow, across open bog and up to a viewpoint over the fells, reading the tracks of hare, fox and grouse on the way. Snowshoes are easy to learn: if you can walk, you can do this. Lunch is cooked over a fire at a wooden lean-to, sausages and a hot soup with coffee or juice. The afternoon is free. Try cross-country skiing on the tracks that start in the village, rest at the hotel, or warm up in its sauna. Dinner tonight is your choice in the village. Later, if the sky is clear, the minibus takes us out to a dark spot away from the village for the second aurora evening, around a campfire.

   Included

   • Guided snowshoe outing in Pallas-Yllastunturi National Park, snowshoes and poles provided
   • Campfire lunch at a wooden lean-to
   • Second aurora evening by minibus to a dark spot, with a campfire and hot drinks

   Optional experiences

   • Cross-country ski hire or a lesson
   • Downhill skiing at Yllas
   • Snowmobile safari (drivers need a valid driving licence)

   Easier option: Take the shorter loop of about 2 km to the lean-to and back, and spend the rest of the morning at the fire.

   More active option: Spend the free afternoon on a longer cross-country ski tour on the village tracks.

   Free time: Afternoon free; dinner on your own in Akaslompolo

   Activity: Snowshoeing is about 2 to 3 hours on foot in deep snow, slow and steady with stops. If the sky is fully clouded, your guide calls the aurora outing off early and tells you by about 8 pm.

   

5. Day 5: A free morning and a smoke sauna

   A free morning in Akaslompolo, then a lakeside smoke sauna near Yllas

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast and dinner
   • Stay in Akaslompolo
   Day 5 details

   The morning is yours, because three busy days in the cold are enough for most people. Ski, sleep in, take a snowmobile or ice-fishing trip, or walk the village with its small shops and cafes; your guide helps you book whatever you choose. In the late afternoon we drive a short way to a smoke sauna by a frozen lake. A smoke sauna is the oldest kind of Finnish sauna: a wood fire heats the stones for hours with no chimney, the smoke is let out, and the heat that remains is soft and deep. Sauna culture in Finland is on UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage. Between rounds you can roll in the snow, or step into a hole cut in the lake ice if you want to. Then a farewell dinner is served at the sauna or nearby, and afterwards we stay by the lake for the third aurora evening, under a sky with almost no light around it.

   Included

   • Traditional smoke sauna by a frozen lake, with towels
   • Ice-hole dip, if you want one
   • Farewell dinner
   • Third aurora evening by the lake

   Optional experiences

   • Snowmobile safari (drivers need a valid driving licence)
   • Ice fishing on a frozen lake
   • Cross-country or downhill skiing at Yllas

   Easier option: Skip the ice hole and keep to the warm sauna, the fire and the dinner table.

   More active option: A morning cross-country ski tour on the village tracks before the sauna.

   Free time: Morning free in Akaslompolo

   Activity: Bring a swimsuit for the sauna. The ice-hole dip is entirely optional and supervised; skip it if you have a heart condition.

   

6. Day 6: Yllas to Kittila Airport

   Akaslompolo to Kittila Airport (KTT)

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Breakfast
   Day 6 details

   A last breakfast with the fell outside the window, and time to hand back your winter outfit at the hotel. Mid-morning we drive about 50 km to Kittila Airport, about an hour on quiet forest roads, where your guide sees you to the check-in desk before saying goodbye. Kittila has flights to Helsinki for onward connections, so book a flight leaving after about 12 pm. Ending here rather than back in Rovaniemi saves you a two-and-a-half-hour drive on the last morning. If you would like more time in Finland, Helsinki is an easy addition: we can suggest hotels and what to see, including the Suomenlinna sea fortress, a UNESCO World Heritage Site a short ferry ride from the market square. If you need to fly from Rovaniemi instead, tell us when you book and we arrange a transfer back there at a set time.

   Included

   • Drop-off at Kittila Airport (KTT)

   Activity: Book a flight from Kittila leaving after about 12 pm.

Wildlife and weather: December and January bring the deepest cold and the shortest days: about 2 hours of sun in Rovaniemi near the solstice, and at Yllas the sun barely clears the horizon around it, with long twilight. February has more light and is often the coldest month. March has 11 to 12 hours of daylight, deep snow and milder days. The Northern Lights are possible on any dark, clear night through the whole season; cloud is what most often hides them.

• Rovaniemi2 nights
• Akaslompolo3 nights