Day by Day Itinerary
DAY 1: HELSINKI ARRIVAL
Arrival at Helsinki Airport. Meet your driver for a private transfer to your hotel in City Center.
Rest of day at leisure to explore on your own.
Overnight in Helsinki
DAY 2: HELSINKI– SANTA CLAUS EXPRESS TRAIN – ROVANIEMI
Buffet breakfast, Check-out from your hotel & keep the luggage at the hotel for a late-night departure.
Discover Helsinki and Suomenlinna: Begin your 5-hours tour with a professional guide covering all top 12 attractions with photo stops. Around 10 am after pickup from your designated hotel meeting points in Helsinki. You will visit the city's cultural landmarks and historic monuments, including: Olympic Stadium, Sibelius Monument, Esplanade Park, Old market Hall, Market square, Uspenski Orthodox Cathedral, Senate Square and Helsinki Cathedral etc. Your guide will share the city's stories along the way. Stop for photos at the top attractions.
After visiting the Helsinki attractions, you will have 30-40 minutes lunch break. After that you continue in a ferry from the Helsinki Market Square to Suomenlinna, listed as an UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is one of the world's largest sea fortresses that sprawls across a series of six small islands. During your walking tour, learn about the site's eventful history and see some of Suomenlinna's main attractions, like Suomenlinna Church, Jetty Barracks and Great Courtyard etc. Afterwards, your tour will end at Helsinki Market Square.
Late night, your driver will take you to Central Train Station to board the Overnight Santa Claus Express Train to Rovaniemi. The Santa Claus Rovaniemi train has both sleeping wagons and a restaurant
Overnight onboard Train - sleeping Cabin with a private shower / wc
DAY 3: ROVANIEMI – SNOWMOBILE SAFARI TO SEARCH THE NORTHERN LIGHTS
Enjoy a warming morning porridge on the train.
Upon arrival in Rovaniemi, where Santa's representatives will be waiting to welcome you and escort you by coach to your accommodation. The afternoon is free, and you may visit Rovaniemi city where there are lots of shopping possibilities and interesting places to visit, like Arktikum and Pilke exhibitions.
Have an early dinner in the hotel, before the departure in the evening to experience snowmobile driving while travelling at night through the magical arctic wilderness. Given extra light by the white snow reflection or the stars and the moon, you will follow the snowmobile trails away from city lights and look for a place to admire the sky. The guide will light a campfire and we can enjoy a picnic while waiting for the northern lights to appear. Relax around the warmth of the fire as we grill traditional Finnish “makkara” sausages, drink Lappish berry juice and listen to stories of northern lights. For taking good photos in the darkness you can bring your tripod for your camera.
The riding time on snowmobiles is approximately 1 hour and 30 – 40 minutes. Two adults ride on one snowmobile, single riding supplement for extra charge. The tour is suitable for families with children; children are traveling in the sleigh pulled by the guide’s snowmobile.
* Northern lights are a natural occurrence and cannot be guaranteed, vibrancy or color on the evening of this safari.
Overnight in Rovaniemi
DAY 4: ROVANIEMI – SANTA'S VILLAGE & ARCTIC SNOW HOTEL
After breakfast, Experience the ultimate winter adventures for Full day.
Santa's village guided tour, Meet Santa, Husky & Reindeer sleigh rides!
At 09:30, you will be pickup at your hotel for a ride to Santa Claus Village. In the village, you can visit the Elves’ Post Office and send greetings to a friend using the official Arctic Circle stamp. The Elves’ Post Office is an official part of Finland's national post service, so your friends will indeed receive the letter from the Arctic Circle. After the visit to Posti, you will taken for a ceremonial Arctic Circle crossing. This is considered to be a special place, where there's no stress and no bad vibes, so the legends say that one who crosses the Arctic Circle will have a lifetime of joy. That's why you will get a certificate of crossing - as a reminder of this magical place.
We assume you have some things to say to the Santa Claus, so we're going to take you to the Santa's office to meet the man in red himself! Have your camera ready and take a selfie with Santa after you tell him your Christmas wishes. There will be plenty of time to check out other facilities, grab a coffee and to get a present from a gift shop before we head on to our next stop - reindeer sleigh ride!
Get ready for a short, but sweet 500m reindeer ride with a professional reindeer musher. Reindeer are quite busy year-round, helping Santa deliver all those gifts, and we will be lucky to catch them on their break from flying. Riding a reindeer sleigh in the middle of Arctic circle is an extraordinary experience. After a 300m walk, the safari continues to the Husky Park where you will have a chance to meet the dogs and see them playing in a snowy field. After a safety briefing, you will endeavor on our 2km long sleigh ride. Huskies love sleighs, and they love to run, so they will be happy to take you on a snowy ride through icy Lappish landscapes.
Snow Sauna Experience with Dinner at Artic Snow Hotel
At 16:45, you will be transfer (1/2-hour drive) to Arctic SnowHotel, offers once-in-a-lifetime experience and the opportunity to explore snow and ice structures, spectacular ice sculptures, beautiful rooms of the hotel and arctic specialties, such as the Snow Sauna. After the tour, it is time to get ready for your sauna experience and the guide will tell you all about the traditional Finnish sauna and gives you also short time to try our unique Snow Sauna and see how you can get the best steam. Together with traditional Finnish sauna and outdoor jacuzzi, this is an extreme experience beyond compare! Towels and slippers included. Notice that each sauna will be booked for private use for each family. The dinner of the evening is served in a magical atmosphere by an open fire at Lappish Kota restaurant.
Dinner Menu
Starter: root vegetable soup with sour cream | Main Course Options (pick one): Salmon glow-fried by the open fire, served with baked potato, tartar sauce and coleslaw or Sautee reindeer with mashed potatoes, lingonberry sauce and pickles or Vegetable rosti with dark balsamico sauce, served with baked potato, tartar sauce and coleslaw (vegan option available) | Dessert: Flamed crepes with cloudberry jam and vanilla ice cream
During the evening it is also possible to walk around the hotel area on your own and warm up at Sky bar. The bar has also a second floor with glass roof where you can hopefully see the northern lights as well while being inside.
Overnight in Rovaniemi
DAY 5: ROVANIEMI DEPARTURE
Breakfast and goodbye to Arctic Circle and Santa Claus, transfer to the Rovaniemi Airport in time for your flight home or next destination.
- Extra activities can be added for later afternoon or evening departures
- Let us know if you require to arrange a domestic flight to Helsinki for your international connection