Dates: December 3rd – 8th
Duration: 5 day
Counries: Sweden, Finland
Crew: 2 adults and a 7 year old
The route:
- flight Ljubljana – Stockholm
- Stockholm – 5 hours
- Stockholm – Kiruna night train – 15 hours
- Kiruna – 2 days
- Kiruna – Rovaniemi taxi ride – 4 hours
- Rovaniemi – 3 days
- Rovaniemi – Amsterdam – Ljubljana flight
Everything actually started in May, when my wife turned 40.
With the help of all her friends, I created a surprise for her.
Her longtime wish was to visit Santa Clause village in Finland, Santa came to her party, and invite her to the North.
So thats what we did.
Planned the trip to Arctic.
To be honest, I have not planned a lot.
Nothing, to be precise.
But the planning was half of the fun for her.
And since, we were going quite far and for quite short time, we wanted to make most of it.
First stop: Stockholm
We arrived in Stockholm at noon and had five hours to kill before our night train to Kiruna.
We went to Christmas market in Stortorget, the Gamla Stan district, charming Old Town.
The market wat nothing special, but they did serve mulled wine and hot tea.
Enough for a smooth ease into Sweden.
My gastronomic gonzo friend Daniel recommended Skeppsbro Bageri, and boy, it did not disappoint.
Nigth train Stockholm – Kiruna
We bought some snacks and boarded our night train to Kiruna at 6 PM.
The 15-hour journey in small sleeping cart turned out to be very fun experience.
We slept like babies and arrived at Kiruna 10.30ish.
There is free city bus directly in front of the train station and it takes to the center of new Kiruna town.
Sleeping under Aurora in Kiruna wildreness
Kiruna is the most northern city in Sweden, located in the province of Lapland.
It’s known for its iron mines.
There is also a “old” part of the city, but it is collapsing into the mine tunnels under it, so they are building a completely new city couple of kilometers away.
We stationed in a local Espresso house to have some coffee and warm breakfast.
At 1 PM we were already meeting Asa, the owner the AB dog sledding team who took us to the starting place.
There we met Jos, our guide for the day and the night.
We were headed to the woods.
Deep woods.
Into -20°C and pitch black night.
We were joined by Rafa, nice Spanish guy from Barcelona.
The ride took an hour and a half and we crossed two huge – solid frozen – lakes to get to the cabin in the forest.
The cabin had no electricity (we ran an aggregate for 1 hour combined to charge some lights for the cabin), no running water, and a toilet that was literally a hole in the ground with a view of the Arctic sky.
First, we made a fire in the hose, prepared food for the dogs, made thier houses and beds, chopped the wood, and then, started prepping everything else.
This trip was really epic.
Eventhoug it was very cold, the fire in the fireplace kept us warm, Jos cooked us an amazing dinner. we played uno cards, and even got to see Aurora Borealis.
Kiruna – Rovaniemi taxi ride
There is no easy way to get to Rovaniemi from Kiruna.
We explored a lot of options and the public transport would take too long, and we were tight on time.
Renting a car was not an options because the price was crazy,
so the best option was to book a taxi ride.
We did try couple of options and since I don’t want to go into details, I wouldn’t recommend GetTransfer app.
At the end, a friendly Finish guy picked us up, and drove us directly to the apartment in Rovaniemi.
The ride was also very nice.
It took us a bit over 4 hours to get there.
We stopped two times and talked about moose hunting traditions, the sacred Finnish relationship with saunas, and the friendly dynamics between Nordic neighbors, almost all the way.
The road was magical as well.
Deep forest in every way you look and as far as you can see in the arctic night.
The Finale: Santa Village in Rovaniemi Finland
We crossed the border in Pello and entered Finland.
Our second Scandinavian country. 2/4 so far.
We arrived in Rovaniemi around 7 PM and were tired and hungry.
We started the sauna – yes, the apartments in Finland come with saunas automatically – went for groceries, order some warm food in and enjoy the cold Finish weather and some fun Finish TV programme for the rest of the night.
The next day started early.
Dora turns into a beast when traveling.
All is planned, things are booked, alarm clocks are turned on.
And they went off at 7 AM.
Breakfast, coffee, dressing up, picking up rent a car and off to the …
… well, then this got complicated real fast.
We got into a car accident with a local delivery guy.
Thankfully nothing serous, but we did loose over and hour to talk with te police, renting service and to calm down a bit.
But then in was really on, and we were off to …
… The Santa Village!
Oh boy … it did not disappoint.
In any way, shape or form.
Its massive. Its crowded. Its fun. Its very nice built. Its magical.
But it is also a huge shopping centre. And a chaotic spending machine.
But, thats how it is with this huge signature attractions.
They have it all.
Even too much.
But we tailored experience to our liking.
Since most of official tours are organised from 1 PM to 5PM we organised our activities so, that we dodged most of the lines and crowds on the most popular attractions and places.
We also met Ina’s classmate and his father and spent couple of hours together, which was fun.
It’s also interesting how the park works.
It does not have a typical entrance and entrance fee, but the village is open to everyboyd.
But then if you decide to visit a specific activity inside the village, then each activity has its own pricing model and rules.
Best activities by our opinion:
- Meeting Santa, doh!
- Snow park: its full of activities – Ice bar, labyrinth, sledding, skating, and so on).
- Ice restaurant: we were there for lunch, and it seem enough (in terms of duration and cold).
- Reindeer walk: so nice! such lovely and funny creatures and the best thing is this activity is done.
- Before this attraction opens to the public, so you are alone in the whole part of the village.
- Baking marshmallows on open fire in the woods.
- Dancing in the Ice bar and drinking out of ice glasses.
Takeaways
Take at least two days, if you can. Lines are long, days are short, weather is cold. You will be tired and better to split visit in multiple parts since it will be easier and
Book stuff in advance. Specially in december. The number of people is wild and if its possible, book in advance as much as you can.
The reindeer meat is a must-try. It’s ok, but since you wont be in Finland every year, you might as well try it to see what the local speciality is all about.
Every Finnish apartment comes with a built-in sauna, which feels like a gift from the gods after a day in -20°C.
Layer up like you’re preparing for space travel! When you think you’re dressed enough, put one additional layer on top, and you should be fine.
Prepare for the eternal twilight – it makes everything more difficult magical.
This time I’ll make an exception and wont write a budget breakdown, since the trip was a gift.
Btut if you’re interested about specific pricing or overall spend, you can hit me up on email and I’ll explain it all.