We visited the hometown of Santa clause!! It has been always a dream to do so and i believe it is same for almost everyone else~~
This time, we travelled by a tour group booked via the travel fair, reason being is that, we are going there during the winter, and we are not really familiar with driving in a snowy country, additionally during the mid winter season, the daylight is quite short and it might be kind of difficult for us to drive in the snow and also in the dark. We are glad that we chose to travel by tour this time round even though it is not perfect~
First leg of the trip, we took the Turkish airline from Singapore to Istanbul (About 11 hour plus flight) then transit to Rovaniemi (Lapland) which took another 4 hr 30min. Including the transit timing it is almost 18 hour plus. Soo tiring but exciting for us!
Day 1: Arctic Arrivals and Santa Claus Village
Stepping off the plane in Rovaniemi felt like walking straight into a real-life snowglobe. The air was crisp, sharp, and pure in a way that instantly woke up every sense, carrying the faint scent of pine and frozen timber. Our winter adventure across Finnish Lapland had officially begun, and for the first three days, time seemed to slow down under the soft, ethereal twilight of the Arctic polar night.
Quick tip: Do keep your winter jacket with you, it was really cold once we got off the plane, the connecting area between the plane and the airport was not really heater. Some of the tour members quickly changed and wore their inner layer as soon as they got their luggage, so it took us awhile to prepare ourselves at the airport.
Our first afternoon was spent exploring the world-famous Santa Claus Village. And here are some interesting things you should do at the santa village:
- Cross the Arctic Circle: The officially marked line glows under fairy lights, making for a perfect, surreal photo op.
- Meet the Man Himself: Sitting in Santa’s wooden chamber surrounded by crackling fires instantly strips away adulthood.
- Winter Wonderland Views: Every cabin roof is piled so high with thick, untouched snow that they look exactly like life-sized gingerbread houses.
- Send a postcard from Santa claus post office: Since we went in December, we just mailed out as a daily mail, you can choose the christmas mail option and they will mail our near christmas! (Special stamp and Chop for your postcard)
- Enjoy the smoked salmon: The famous restaurant was the Santa’s Salmon Place which is located further away to the main area, but the queue was too long and we have limited time, so we went to another salmon restaurant randomly and it still taste great! This was the one we went: All about salmon
Sunset at like 4pm during the winter, it was dark and cold but the vibes at the santa village makes everything more lively. (We went between 2-4pm and it looks like it is 7pm in SG). It was really cold like -10 degree Celsius at that time.
After Santa village, we went to our hotel at the heart of Roveniemi, i think it was like less than 30min drive away. We will be staying at the Arctic City Hotel for a night. (The hotel was cozy and clean, most importantly convenient) After checking in, we had our own free & easy time, so we just loitered around the city area enjoying the cold weather and christmas lights.
Day 2: Reindeer Sleighs and the Lapland Wilderness
The next day, we woke up early and had our breakfast at the hotel before checkin out. The sun rise quite late at almost 11am, so 8am looks like 5am to us.
We spent our second day exploring the snow-dusted wilderness surrounding Rovaniemi. Bundled in heavy thermal gear, we boarded a traditional wooden reindeer sleigh.
Afterward, we took shelter inside a traditional timber kota hut. Warming our frozen fingers over an open fire with steaming cups of hot berry juice while listening to local wilderness stories is a cozy tradition you cannot miss.
After the reindeer activity, we headed to our next resort stay, the famous Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort. The distance was really far from our location, maybe like 3hr or more by bus. But the scenery along the way was really magnificent , we just enjoyed the snowy land and the sunset. we also stopped by at a petrol station for our lunch 🙂 Interestingly the food at the petrol station was great, even though abit salty but the fries and the meat taste really nice, 1 of the most delicious meal during our trip.
After the break, we continued our journey to the resort area. the resort area was area huge, but sadly we do not have enough time to slowly enjoy all the facilities and activities since we reached kind of late and some activities were closing.
We visiting of the areas by foot , like the auditorium area where they tell you how the aurora are formed, visiting the santa claus in the resort and also went to the hall area to have some warm blue berry juice. While walking, we spotted the northern lights! though it wasn’t clearly visible by eye, but we could capture it clearly on our mobile phones, great night~!
After which , we checked in , all of us was upgraded to Kelo-Glass Igloo (free upgrade for the tour), the room was huge and it includes private sauna as well. This was one of the highlights of the trip!
After checking in, we headed to the restaurant for dinner, we had a chance to try the reindeer meat ! something that we don’t really eat usually but i don’t think i will eat it again. The texture is quite dry and hard but overall i feel that it was a good experience!
Day 3: Crossing into Norway & The King Crab Safari
On day 3, we spent some time in the morning around the resort area, walking in the deep snow and enjoying the quiet morning after our breakfast! Wonderful experience for most of us i believe.
After which, we boarding our tour bus and continue our journey, and today, we will also cross over to norway, heading toward Kirkenes for a completely different kind of Arctic adventure. We had a pitstop at inari for lunch !
After the pitstop, we drove all the way to Norway, Kirkenes (overall journey was like 3-4hours from the resort area).
when we reached kirkenes , it was already dark (around 4pm), we just checked in the hotel (Scandic Kirkenes), had a quick rest before our next activity which is the snow mobile and king crab feast!
The snow mobile ride was really fun but cold, luckily they provided extra clothing and gloves as well. We drove the snowmobile on the frozen lake in the dark and stopped by an area whereby we get to see how the King crab are caught, and even got a chance to fold the king crab for a photo 🙂
after that we drove back and they prepare the king crab buffet ! Unlimited king crab legs for all of us! this was our dinner , so after our dinner, we headed back to the hotel to prepare ourselves for the northern light hunt. Sadly for us, due to some issue with the tour agency, seems like it was not arranged.. so we just toured with our original big bus to the russian boarder area and the area near Thon Hotel. We only managed to capture a little big of the lights from our mobile.
So this is the end of our first 3 days in the arctic circle. hope you enjoyed this post.
Miss the other parts ? Read it here:
Part 2 – Finland, Norway winter day 4-7
Part 3 – Finland Norway Winter Day 8-10
Overall –
