Rovaniemi Things to Do

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If you are visiting Rovaniemi in winter i suggest to take time for a couple of Safari in the great white snow, go and ask information to Arctic Safaris.

Might seem a little expensive but in other sites the prices are almost the same.
Good service, kind people.

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One museum you have to visit on a trip in Finland is the Arktikum in Rovaniemi.

Some info from their beautiful website:

Tickets & opening times

Adults 8 €
Children (7-15 years) 5 €
Children (under 7 years) 0 €
Pensioners/Students 7 €
Groups (min. 15 persons/group) 7 €
Family ticket: 2 adults + 2 children (7-15 years) 20 €
Season ticket 17 €
Temporary exhibitions only 4 €

Winter season

1.9-30.11 Tues-Sun 10-17
1.12-8.1 Every day 10-18
24.12 Closed
9.1-31.5 Tues-Sun 10-18

Summer season

1.6-15.6 Every day 10-18
16.6-15.8 Every day 9-19
16.8-31.8 Every day 10-18

Subject to change.
Further information on + 358 (0)16 322 3260 or by email: info@arktikum.fi

As part of my ski tour around the world i have skiied at Levi 3 hours north of Rovaniemi and had a great time!! During my days at Rovaniemi the temperatures were rather low and the ski fields can not operate at temperatures colder than minus 25!

so when the forecast was such that it looked likely Levi would open the next day i jumped on an early morning bus - leaving Rovanemi about 7 am - i found that public bus transport went smoothly and on time despite serious temperatures and snow on the roads!! The bus to Levi left and arrived on time.

Getting rental ski equipment was a pleasant and easy process with pleasant service and a low price for one day rental. Got my boots etc quickly and easily and with my ski pass off i went. When the sun started going down about 2 or 3 in the afternoon the nightlights came on - excellent serious night skiing provided!! the ski field had a good range of runs with tbars and gondolas - only thing is after a while - the minus 16 we started at started to drop and my feet started to notably get cold and uncomfortable when using the tbars.

there is a service or shopping/hotel centre where the bus stops with toilet and meal facilites and luggage storage.

i enjoyed and recommend my day or more if you want skiing in the Arctic Circle amongst the lovely people of Finland.

When i arrived in Helsinki i phoned the bookings number for the one of ?two icebreaker ships in the world in use for the general public - booked a place and got an overnight train from helsinki heading north to Kemi and taxi to the 'port' - everything was heavily snowed over for miles!!
Off we went with mostly japanese tourists on our exciting adventure!! We got a thorough tour and explanations of the working of the icebreaker and its ability to crush through very thick ice and that the ice we were going out into the harbour or ocean could be 2-3 metres deep - we then had an excellent lunch including the choice of local salmon or reindeer and then we were out to give our full attention to crushing through deep ice out in the miles and miles of ice until we came to a stop and put on dry suits - very glamourous but amazing!! we were able to jump into the area of water behind the boat and float in the subzero temperatures of the sea between Finland and Sweden.
we were very well looked after and educated on what we doing and it was a thoroughly excellent notch to my belt of things to do before i die!!

expensive but cheaper than ads i have since seen offering package deals

Went out in minus 25 degrees during the day but lovely blue sky and sun to the Arctic Circle!! Another adventure and exciting notch in my belt!

This is the official Santa Claus address with 'his' post office here - so you can mail stuff such as letters and post cards with Santas postmark - and all sorts of souvenirs. Or, not that i bothered, join the queue to meet and have a photo with a white haired guy in a santa suit.
Take photos of the sign that marks the arctic circle and the signposts of how far to get to whatever international city from there.
Also went walking around as there are reindeer parks for the tourists reindeer rides and a paddock nearby with loads of very cute reindeer for upclose shots. Especially with an arctic sunset in the background - about 3 oclock in the afternoon.
Then i walked about 2-3 km to a reindeer safari park - info from the tourist office in Rovaniemi and i had prebooked with them by phone for a reindeer ride - i had to get there by the time the daylight had gone - but by the time i got there and then had to wait around a bit for the rest of the tourists booked for reindeer rides it was minus 33 and my feet started to freeze - I was getting too cold and my feet became excrutiatingly painful but the woman owner gave me a lift into town so i had a great experience overall that day. Still didnt see any aurora lights though!!

An excellent museum with loads of interesting stuff about Lapland and its tribes ie the Sami peoples, the Arctic fauna and flora, interesting info of the Nazis invasion and involvement .
Housed in an architecturally interesting building - especially with its glass area looking out to the snow when i was there in mid freezing season.

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This is a sport and culture arena not far from the city centre. It is in unique shape inspired by the landscape of the high hills of Lapland. You have to see the real Lapland before you understand the idea of this interesting architecture work.

After meeting Santa Claus in Rovaniemi, Liz and I went on a riverboat cruise to a reindeer farm somewhere in the depths of Lapland. Join me on this fantastic journey, won't you?

The adventure company responsible for this dingbat adventure of mine was Arctic Safaris. I'll recommend them highly since their guides were cute and highly professional and the cost was somewhat reasonable too. The riverboat cruise to the reindeer farm cost something like 50euros and it included transfers from the hotel. (Check out the website link below if you're keen on the same adventure. Do note that prices might have changed since I had this adventure in 2002.)

My Arctic Cruise started from Koskikatu Pier. Read on to find out what dingbat adventures I got into.