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Lapland?

Island of Malta...
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Lapland?
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I love winter, snow and Christmas... so I can't think of a better place to visit in December other than Lapland!

I'm thinking of spending a few nights in Helsinki first since I will be coming from Malta... then 5 nights in Lapland.

Would really love to see the Northern Lights and get as much out of the trip as possible...

so here are my questions:

1. Where should I stay in Lapland?? Would you suggest Rovaniemi? It seems like the most popular place to visit.

2. Is it easy to get from Rovaniemi to the surrounding attractions and/or other towns?

3. Are 5 nights too much or too little?

4. Any other suggestions for a person who's going to Finland for the first time?

Thanks!

Steph

Finland
Destination Expert
for Helsinki, Finland
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1. Re: Lapland?
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1. Where should I stay in Lapland?? Would you suggest Rovaniemi? It seems like the most popular place to visit.

Rovaniemi is a city/town in Lapland, but does not particularly well represent Lapland. It does have the usual tourist traps, though. I'd head further North. A good idea is to rent a car and drive and stay around.

2. Is it easy to get from Rovaniemi to the surrounding attractions and/or other towns?

Due to the low density of population public transport it scarse. A rental car is a good option.

3. Are 5 nights too much or too little?

Sounds good, enough to experience the essentials. Northern lights highly depend on the conditions and the skies can be cloudy every night.

Arsy, France
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the joy of lapland for me is the open space and all the trees - this is something that you will not experience in Rovaniemi - I would suggest going much more northerly, there are popular resorts such as yllas, levi and saariselka that you could look into, along with Pyha, salla etc

if you are looking for a package deal where everything is taken care of then perhaps you should think about coming to the UK first and using a UK tour op, I believe that the Uk are the ones who are the main tourists to lapland so there is a lot of choice as regards to package deals, if you dont fancy that then you can DIY and once you have picked your resort, the local tourist office will be of great help to you for all your needs

Rovaniemi, Finland
10 posts
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Rovaniemi is a good option, among other nice destinations in Lapland. There you can easily combine "the beat of the town" and surrounding nature while on holiday. And not to forget: Rovaniemi is the official hometown of Santa Claus:). Rovaniemi is easily reachable and there are pretty good bus connections from Rovaniemi to other destinations in Lapland.

Newcastle
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Tourism Rovaniemi would say that though wouldn't it?

It depends on whether you want to get out into the wilderness properly or be in a larger resort/town.

From the point of view of seeing the Aurora Borealis, the best chances of seeing it vividly are in the smaller wilderness locations where there's little or no light pollution.

Edited: 12 years ago
Rovaniemi, Finland
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Finnish Lapland got a hold of Santa Clause and have been using him as a cash cow ever since.

Almost anywhere is commercial and somewhat gimmicky, and it is all pretty much the same anywhere.

Rovaniemi is the larges town(city) in Finnish Lapland and thus has more to offer, but it is not as scenic and beautiful as many other places.

Kittila/Levi does not look very Finnish when you get there, i got the immediate feeling that i was in a Alp town not in Lapland. But the scenery and are is beautiful.

If you want smaller towns and more personal, go to Saariselka, Akaslompolo or Salla...or if feeling adventurous go even further north.

But be aware that you will have much less choices in the smaller towns/areas(Saariselka for instance has only one store and if you plan on self catering you might want to figure out a way to shop elsewhere before going there) all have several restaurants tho so it is easier if you plan on eating out.

Also, the bigger safari companies that are primarily in Rovaniemi(but do also operate in some of the other towns) are more "wholesale tourism" and you will often not the real authentic Lapland feel from their trips. But all do try and cater for anyone, just expect to have to pay extra if you don't want to be stuck into a group of other people.

5 nights should be a nice trip.

Also keep in mind that if you do take the car hire option and want to go from one place to another that it is dark for most of the day and all of the night and that heavy snow and ice conditions are normal...so if you have no experience with such driving be prepared for a shock(and getting stuck or worse!) also remember that distances are long here in Lapland.

6. Re: Lapland?

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