A Winter Wonderland Trip to Rovaniemi, Finnish Lapland

A winter wonderland of pink skies, husky sleds, frosty fir trees, steaming hot chocolate and twinkling lights – Finnish Lapland is where snow-filled fantasies come to life. And right at the heart of it is Rovaniemi, perched on the edge of the Arctic Circle and the official home of Santa Claus (and he’s got to know the best place to live). From the Northern Lights to reindeer sleigh rides, the winter months in the far north are full of magic, and my first Arctic adventure more than lived up to expectations. So here’s how to plan a winter trip to Rovaniemi.

Visiting Rovaniemi in winter

The two big questions about visiting Lapland in January are how cold is it going to be and is it going to be dark all the time? The sun rises at 11am and sets at 2pm in early January, but that doesn’t mean it’s pitch black the rest of the day. It’s twilight between 9.30am and 3.30pm with beautiful long sunrises and sunsets.

Rovaniemi’s daytime temperatures average highs of -10°C/14°F and lows of -18°C/0°F at night. It might sound scarily chilly, but if you’ve grown up with damp British winters, this crisp, icy cold doesn’t penetrate in quite the same way. And if you’re covered up in a good set of winter clothing and head inside to warm up every now and then, it’s bearable.

Where to stay in Rovaniemi

Most visitors to Rovaniemi stay in one of two main areas. Either the city centre which has a good selection of accommodation and easy access to shops, restaurants and transport, but isn’t quite the idyllic winter experience. Or outside the city for snowy forest scenery, and less light pollution so you’re more likely to see the Northern Lights. Santa Claus Holiday Village is one of Tovaniemi's biggest accommodation areas with accommodations ranging from glass igloos to wooden cottages.

But the igloos will set you back €860 a night and even a standard family cottage is €1,100 for four nights B&B. Another option is to rent a property privately through sites like AirBnB. We found a five-bedroom house sleeping 11 for €1,800 for four nights. It was only a 10-minute walk from Santa Claus Village so we didn’t need to hire a car. Nights in the north are long so it was good to have somewhere warm to cosy up, with underfloor heating, a fire, sauna and a brilliant BBQ hut in the garden where we cooked salmon over the fire.

Plenty to do in Rovaniemi’s Santa Claus Village

Santa Claus Village is the epicentre of all things festive in Rovaniemi and there are a ton of wintery activities you can do on site, making it an easy place to base yourself if you’ve only got a few days in Lapland. The park gets super busy in the run up to Christmas, but things calm down in the new year – making it a good time to visit. Read on to find out more about activities in the village...

Meet Santa and cross the Arctic Circle

You can visit Santa in the Santa Claus Office all year round. There’s also a Post Office where you can send letters with a special Arctic Circle postmark, and a Christmas exhibition. The line of the Arctic Circle runs right through the middle of the village – you can see it marked with a row of lanterns and strip of blue lights.

Go husky sledding

Speeding through the snowy forest behind a team of Siberian Huskies was a mustdo for my trip to Rovaniemi, and it didn’t disappoint. There are various different lengths of route you can take, from 500 metres to eight kilometres. But these guys really move, so hold on to your hats (literally) and wrap up warm as the ride soon whizzes past. Whether you’re taking a sled ride or not, you can visit the Husky Park to meet and stroke some of the park’s gorgeous dogs.

Take a reindeer sleigh ride

If you want to actually see the scenery, a reindeer sleigh ride is a lot more sedate, and a chance to get up close to these amazing creatures. Like the husky sledding, there are different lengths of circuit so you can decide how far you want to go. Sleighs can hold up to two adults and you’re wrapped up in reindeer hides so you stay nice and warm.

Visit the Moomin Snow Castle

A castle for five-metre tall Moomins made out of snow? Only in Finland. The Moomins are a Finnish institution, with a family of white creatures that look a bit like hippos, based on the books by illustrator Tove Jansson. The Moomin Snow Castle covers a huge 10,000 square meters, with a mini maze, igloos, an ice bar and a couple of sledge runs, as well as a lot of enormous Moomins carved out of snow and ice.