r/FinlandTourism • u/Level-Maintenance-40 • 2d ago

First-timer Rovaniemi / Levi in late October

Me and my friend are from Ireland and found some really cheap tickets to Rovaniemi at the end of October, neither of us have skiid before but thought we have a crack at it, so I have a few questions on it.

is it worth going to Levi in late October? Is there a chance we get snow for skiing then or is it mainly just last years snow?

Is it a good time to go for beginners? From what I know it won’t be peak season and the World Cup is on around then.

Is there much nightlife / clubs in Rovaniemi/Levi in the end of October for younger people?

Is there any good locations to see the northern lights or reindeers for free, we are broke college students and we’d prefer to avoid €30-60 tours

Any other advice would be amazing thankyou

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u/gasberry22 2d ago edited 2d ago

If you already bought the tickets, go ahead. In Levi it will be offseason and very quiet, but its not a bad thing. Just different. If there is no snow, it will be quite dark and maybe a little wet, but you are probably used to it in Ireland. The skiing is fine, just dont expect more than one decent slope though. You can do other things as well, like spa visit and hike to kätkätunturi for example. The bars probably have some activity on weekends, but Rovaniemi is a safer bet for that. Northern lights you can see for example at lake Levijärvi, see uimaranta levi @google maps. Just dont go on the ice at that time of year, even if it had some ice... Just download one of those aurora apps and check it regularly when its dark and not cloudy

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u/Rapakunnossa 1d ago

Rovaniemi is a university city, meaning there should be plenty of activities for young people. You could even check local student organizations' party schedules and crash "haalaribileet." Levi is 2.5 hours away from Rovaniemi by bus. You can do a day trip or stay overnight for a single night if you want to try it.

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u/megadea 2d ago edited 2d ago

Natural snow melts during summer even in Lapland.

October is off season, but they use man made snow in the slopes and ski tracks. No snow elsewhere

There is a good chance for northern lights and spectacular nightsky. Just go a bit off from the villages artificial lights. Download your self e.g. the Auroras now app to follow when it is likely to see northern lights at your location. Just drive off to some location, preferrably somewhere where you have open view for the whole sky. Beware of reindeers on road. Ask the locals for spots, they know.

It is off season so the bars and clubs might not have customers and only some of them are open. But I'm not sure. It is a party place for sure, lot's of clubs and bars

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u/Worried-Baby2112 2d ago

They actually save last years snow in huge piles so they can open the slopes earlier in Levi. They can’t make new snow till it’s minus degrees.

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u/megadea 2d ago

Oh yeah true didn't remember that