A Trip to Rovaniemi
A Side Note
Originally we planned to take a trip to New Zealand. The guide and itinerary were pretty much all set, and just as I was getting ready to splurge during the Double 11 sales, my wife suddenly said there was a Finland aurora trip being sold at a loss on Fliggy. I had never seen the northern lights, never traveled to such a cold place, and had always wanted to try alpine skiing. Even though I was a little afraid of Finland’s extreme cold, after looking at the Fliggy aurora trip, the whole itinerary felt full of surprises and fun. One thing that especially won me over was that Fliggy lets you extend the trip by a few days. But in reality, on Double 11 itself, when I asked Fliggy whether I could extend by 5 days, they replied that flights were very tight during the Chinese New Year period and it couldn’t be extended. I asked again whether I could extend by 3 days, and the answer was still no. In the end, out of frustration, I decided to fully let loose: for the rest of the Finland trip I arranged 6 days myself, flying to Norway, Denmark, and Sweden.
The 6-day Finland flight + hotel package offered excellent value, and you don’t need a guide at all. All the activities are standardized: whatever you want to do, you just book it directly on Fliggy or at www.nordictravels.eu (a large local travel company — I’d recommend booking directly here). No guide needed. If you want to extend by a few days, just request an extension of 5 days, and you can spend those extra 5 days in Norway and Sweden. Note that on Double 11, because there are so many orders, you may actually be unable to extend. I’d suggest sacrificing the Double 11 coupon and booking a month in advance.
In winter, daylight across the Nordic region is very short. The sky only turns a dim gray around 9 a.m. In Rovaniemi it gets completely dark by 3 p.m.; in Helsinki it’s dark by 4 p.m.; other places like Norway and Denmark are slightly better, holding out until about 5 p.m. before nightfall. That said, the dusk and morning glow are gorgeous, especially when sunlight falls on rooftops piled deep with snow. Absolutely beautiful.
Let me lead off with a few photos.
The snowmobiles are also worth recommending. As for the husky sleds and reindeer sleds, there are short rides of 500 m and 1 km, as well as longer ones of 10 km, at different prices, so keep that in mind.
Guide
We went to Rovaniemi the week before Chinese New Year, January 20–23, which is not yet the coldest time of the year. It was between -1°C and -10°C (the guide kept saying the year we went was the warmest year ever), making it very pleasant for sightseeing. By the time we left, the temperature kept dropping; four days after we left it reached -25°C. Rovaniemi is really a place suited only for winter visits. There are tons of activities here, and you can do whatever you like.
Tip 1: For activities, I’d recommend booking directly on the official site www.nordictravels.eu. This company is very large, all activities are at official prices with no markups, and for many activities such as the aurora tours, they are highly professional.
In Rovaniemi we did the icebreaker cruise, the aurora photography tour, the aurora bus, the Rovaniemi day tour, and forest skiing. Overall, ranked from most to least fun:
- Aurora photography tour
- Forest skiing
- Icebreaker cruise
- Rovaniemi day tour
In the evening, some people recommended ice fishing as well, but ice fishing is mainly about the scenery and may not be especially convenient with kids. The snowmobiles are also worth recommending. As for the husky sleds and reindeer sleds, there are short rides of 500 m and 1 km, as well as longer ones of 10 km, at different prices, so keep that in mind.
The Aurora Trip
In Rovaniemi, the most fun and most memorable experience is the aurora trip. If you come to Rovaniemi and don’t see the northern lights, the trip is basically wasted. If you happen to catch a great aurora night and you love photography, you can spend several wonderful hours shooting there. The travel agency usually drives everyone to a very remote spot with little light pollution, often on a frozen lake. The view there is wide open and visibility is extremely high. This is where I encountered the brightest night sky I have ever seen.
A photo of a beauty to lead things off.
Confessing your love or proposing to your partner under the aurora — isn’t that incredibly romantic?
By popular demand, here are two photos of yours truly.
Seeing the aurora costs about 900 per adult per trip. If you book in advance but there’s no aurora that night or it’s too cloudy to see anything, the money is simply wasted. So I’d recommend not booking ahead. Wait until you’re in Rovaniemi, and around 5 p.m. decide whether or not to book based on the conditions.
- Download two apps, “Aurora Map” and “Aurora Now.”
- After downloading the apps, check the local Kp on them (I can’t remember whether it’s called electromagnetic intensity or solar storm intensity). The apps forecast the Kp for that night and the following days. If the Kp that night is not high (less than 3), I’d suggest not booking. A Kp of 3 or above is worth considering.
- If it’s still raining around 5 p.m. or there’s heavy cloud cover, check the cloud forecast in the app again. If the cloud cover is heavy, there’s no point going.
- If both Kp and cloud conditions are favorable, hurry to www.nordictravels.eu and place an order. You can also call them directly; they offer phone service in Chinese.
- When booking, I’d recommend the aurora photography tour. The agency puts 40–50 people on one bus and assigns 2 photographers specifically to help everyone take pictures. They’re relatively experienced with photography, much better than most amateur photographers. Also, when you sign up a second time, it’s half price.
A quick gripe about Zero, the guide who picked us up at the airport. On our second night, with light rain falling, she kept trying to con us, saying the Kp that night was the highest of these few days and recommending we buy her aurora bus tour. As a result, nearly 2,000 yuan went down the drain, all just to earn a bit of commission. Pure rip-off.
Skiing
Skiing is actually one of the most fun activities in Rovaniemi, but for some reason it seems few Chinese tourists do it. Rovaniemi has many ski areas, and they’re all free. As long as you have the gear, you can ski however you want. Beginners go to the beginner slopes, experts go to the expert slopes; to each their own. As for recommendations: if you book on Fliggy, remember to book a few days ahead. One more thing: skiing is conducted entirely in English with no Chinese instruction, so you need to understand some English. Even if you select Chinese on Fliggy, the instructor is still an English-speaking one, and choosing Chinese also costs 200 more. You can also book at www.nordictravels.eu.
The ski instructor first asks about your skiing level. If you’re a beginner, they take you to the beginner area and start by teaching simple skiing moves, such as braking to avoid falls, how to climb a slope, and how to glide. The moves are very simple; nothing fancy. After about an hour of practice you’ll basically have the fundamentals. Also, Finnish ski gear is far better than what we have back home — very light and well matched to each person’s height and weight, making it more comfortable and easier to use than domestic skis. After our instructor practiced with us for an hour, he took us to a beginner trail, did one run with us, and then we skied on that beginner trail by ourselves for 2 hours. Honestly, both adults and kids had a great time.
Recommended approach:
- On day one, book on Fliggy or the Nordic official site and have their instructor teach you the basic moves. They’ll also take you to the ski area and rental center to rent equipment.
- If you want to ski on your own afterward, you can form a small group, rent a car, pack some lunch, and head to yesterday’s ski area and rental center to rent gear yourselves.
The Icebreaker Cruise
The icebreaker cruise means boarding an icebreaker that sails on the frozen sea. The icebreaker runs once a day, following a very fixed route. The ice along the route is broken every day, so the ice on the route isn’t very thick; the ice along the edges of the route looked to be about 30 cm.
After about an hour of sailing, the ship reaches a slightly more open stretch of water and stops there, where everyone puts on a survival suit and can go for a swim. After swimming, people board the ship, change into down jackets, and then go play on the frozen sea — building snowmen and taking photos. The frozen sea stretches as far as the eye can see. Kids can have snowball fights and build snowmen here, while adults can take plenty of photos.
Also, those on the icebreaker cruise have lunch at a small town in Sweden at midday. The scenery of this town is gorgeous; whether in winter or summer, the views are enchanting, and it’s worth stopping to take photos for a while.
Overall, the icebreaker cruise is a once-is-enough experience; I probably wouldn’t want to do it again. One small tip: if you want to do the icebreaker cruise, you can book it in advance during Double 11 to get a small coupon.
Santa Claus Village Day Tour
For the day tour, the basic itinerary takes everyone to see the sunrise, then on to Santa Claus Village to meet Santa, take a husky sled ride (only 1 km), take some reindeer sled rides (about 1 or 2 km), and finally visit the Arctic museum. At the Arctic museum the guide’s explanations are fairly detailed and add quite a bit to the trip.
Santa Claus Village is actually quite beautiful — whether the wooden cabins in the daytime sun or the ice-sculpture restaurants at night. It’s well suited to spending a whole day here. There are also many activities; kids can take a sled and slide around on the snow. It’s a great place to spend a whole day.
If you’re staying at Santa Claus Village, you actually don’t need to book this tour, because meeting Santa, the husky sled, and the reindeer sled are all at Santa Claus Village, and you can pay to do them on your own. Doing it yourself may even be a bit cheaper, and your schedule is more flexible. That said, I’d still recommend the snowmobile. I saw many foreigners opting for the snowmobile, and I have some expectations of it.
The Arctic Circle sunrise is quite beautiful, but you don’t necessarily need to join a tour for it; you can usually catch it on your own.
If you want to travel independently, Santa Claus Village is pretty much ideal for a vacation and rest. However, rooms are in very high demand. If you want to book, you’ll need to start about 2 months in advance, and the prices aren’t cheap either.