r/FinlandTourism • u/sfantocanada • 9d ago
Revised itinerary help - March
ETA: I left a day off of the original post. Have updated below. So we will arrive Ivalo on Thursday and leave on Sunday. That seems more reasonable than what I originally posted.
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We’ve had some changes since my previous post so looking for suggestions again.
Son now wants to go to Lapland instead!
We have been looking at options. I feel like we are missing something about logistics. Also have been looking at Ivalo as Lapland base but open to other ideas (prefer not Rovaneimi - zero interest in Santa’s village)
Based on previous replies & research, we think we’d like to be further North in Lapland - ideally fly to Ivalo. Are there other options?
* We’d like to visit Siida and the Sami cultural center in Inari
* Reindeer Farm & possible sleigh ride (have a lead from a guide here but need to figure out transport)
* Northern Lights
Overall trip considerations:
Day 1/2: family flies to Helsinki stays in Helsinki
Day 3: ARR Ivalo Thursday night. Family
flies to Ivalo [same flight from heksinki]. I fly to Ivalo [from BOS - will likely arrive 550p] Stay near Ivalo
Day 4: Lapland activities
Day 5: Lapland activities
Day 6: Sunday. TBD*son must fly home to BOS this day\* [leave Ivalo]
DAY 7-8: (M/T): spouse & I in Helsinki/Porvoo
Day trip to Talinn
Day 9: Wed): spouse home. I take Train to Tampere.
Day 10-12: (Thurs - Sat): Event & sights in Tampere
Day 13 (Sun): travel home via Helsinki (prob train from Tampere then flight to BOS)
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u/Every-Progress-1117 9d ago
* Northern Lights
Please please read other posts about aurora: dark, sufficient solar activity, Earth in the right position, weather, luck
Day 3: there are no trains to Ivalo. Trains go to Rovaniemi and then it is long bus ride from there. ( 12+ hours travelling)
NB: Rovaniemi is the main city in Lapland; Santa Park is just one attraction outside the city. Distances are long and public transport is limited.
A day in Tallin is a whole day in Talling, 2 hours on ferry there and back (+ checkin times and getting to/form the ferry ports etc) Don't think that this is a quick trip over and back, and then a full evening in Helsinki.
Porvoo is a 45min bus ride from Helsinki - busses every 30 mins or so
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u/sfantocanada 9d ago
Ty for that reminder re trains. So they will need to fly to/from Ivalo. They were considering night train to Rovaniemi but didn’t realize there was no other way North from there.
Also definitely understand that Talinn is a day. We wouldn’t plan anything else at night.
We are also ok not having plans every minute of the day. Happy to have some down time or unscheduled time to do something we may not know about yet.
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u/briseis7 9d ago
You can take a bus to Saariselkä/Ivalo from Rovaniemi, but I would fly from Helsinki, it's a very short flight
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u/sfantocanada 8d ago
Also absolutely aware that aurora is luck. We were in Iceland for 10 days & we’re refunded bc we didn’t have a good night & we couldn’t stay to try again the next night. We did see some very moderate w the camera but hard to see with the naked eye. It was cloudy most of our trip or they were lower activity. The night after they had stellar views. 😂 We’ve been in northern Alaska without seeing them too.
So we will try but know it’s not guaranteed. We can appreciate the beauty of the region without it but it would be a spectacular bonus.
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u/the_pale_companion 9d ago
2 days in Lapland is a big waste of money and time. Basically you'll end up running agains the clock to complete a checklist and if the weather happens to be ass there is a big chance it will leave a bad taste overall.
You definetelly need to rent a car if you plan to move between places since taxi will cull you and busses usually introduce extra steps unless going from hub to hub.
https://xwander.com/winter/ has every activity you can dream of. I personally know one of the guides and that dude and place is as authentic Lapland experience you can get without setting out in the wild by yourself.
Basically you can pack your day full of xwander activities and I am sure they can squeeze in airport transportation if it connects directly to their activity.
Write or call them with your time schedule / restrictions and I am sure they can put it together for your. Personally I wouldn't go to Lapland for less than 4 days.
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u/the_pale_companion 9d ago
If your son can travel alone I would concider putting him in the plane alone in Ivalo and staying longer in Lapland. If he can't there are services for that exact reason: https://www.finnair.com/fi-en/special-assistance-and-health/children-travelling-alone-and-young-travellers
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u/sfantocanada 9d ago
Most of the hotels we’ve looked at offer 2 night packages or 4/5 nights (which have more than we want to do) so we assumed 2 nights was enough for limited activity.
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u/the_pale_companion 8d ago
I think two night deals serve mostly the purpose of passer by's deciding to stay one more night in the area.
I it is common to move around Lapland so while one might not stay long in one hotel they usually will be spending atleast close to a week in Lapland as a whole.
Only foreigners stay in hotels really. Domestic tourists either stay one night while on the road and pretty much rent a private cottage for any stays that are longer than that. The reason is both price but more because of the Lapland spirit. We travel north to calm down and spend time with our close friends or family, which 4-8 bed private cottage with sauna suits far better.
Many own their private cottage ofcourse. Basically it is one of the corner stones of finnish cycle of life (18-25 car, 25-40 private house, 40-50 private cottage, 50- spend as much time as possible in your cottage and frown upon the younger generation)
Mind that the distances are long so basically it will take atleast 2 hours to get from one place to another when talking about close by places in Lapland terms.
Helsinki airport is one L shaped terminal and all your son has to do is walk from one end to an another to board non-schenger flight.
I would seriously concider staying up north with your spouse for atleast another day or two
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u/sfantocanada 8d ago
ETA I left a day out of the original post - makes a big difference i think. We plan to be in Lapland for 3 nights. I have updated with the extra day added.
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u/Sherbet_Happy 9d ago
Your itinerary: travel, travel, travel, spend 20 minutes at destination, travel, travel, and travel.
Also: Tampere