#17. Mini-guide: Finland
What I did over five days in Helsinki and Lapland
This post is a little long, so if you can’t see it all, click “View entire message” or “Expand” to see the rest!
I have also turned on payments, which are entirely optional but of course very welcome. This was a labor of love, but I got so many questions that I wanted to put together this mini-guide.
In 2016, I made it a goal to visit 12 new-to-me countries. I was living in London (loads of airports and flights) and had a ton of holidays (25+ days off), plus I was dating someone who was also keen to travel around (thereby cutting some of the costs in half). I made it to 11 countries that year, including 3 of the Nordics - Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Finland has been on my list ever since, but this year I finally made it happen, all with the hope to see the Northern Lights.
HELSINKI
There’s never a guarantee you’ll see the Northern Lights, no matter how far north you go or how clear the sky is. Knowing that it’s very much a luck of the draw situation, I decided to visit Helsinki and booked wintry excursions with the resort I stayed in up north, just in case luck wasn’t on my side (reader, I will save you the suspense, it was very much on my side).
I flew into Helsinki on Thursday, and the flight was fully booked. Arriving in Helsinki, I took the 4€ train into the city center, then hopped on a tram to my hotel (lesson learned, that 4€ ticket takes you all the way into the city, no need to buy a separate tram ticket!). I booked the Bob W Koti Ullaninna because the reviews were great, it was (relatively) affordable, and its location was very central. I would absolutely recommend it!
I got to my hotel rather late, around 9pm, and because I’d been a very prepared traveler, I’d made a wrap to have on the plane. Instead of hunting for dinner, I went to a cocktail bar, Liberty or Death, down the street from me and had a drink while reading a book.
Years ago when I’d travel, I would make a detailed itinerary of what I wanted to do and when, I’d buy tickets ahead of time, and I’d be disappointed if I didn’t make it to something that I wanted to see. These days, I search for good coffee shops (check out my Helsinki map here - basically bakeries, coffee shops, and museums because what more do you need?) and may do some light research (for example, I found Christine’s excellent blog about her trip to Finland, and drew inspiration from it - funnily enough, I ended up booking the same resort as her in Lapland!). All I’d fully planned on for this trip was a very fancy dinner at Grön - otherwise, Helsinki was my oyster!
What I did in Helsinki:
First things first: Coffee at home, major bundling up, then a walk down to Café Succès, which the internet told me had the best korvapuusti (cinnamon roll, a treat I take very seriously) in Helsinki - it was excellent and huge, I had leftovers
Admiring architecture: I’d arrived pretty late the night before but knew the train station was a beaut. I walked up to that area and admired the building, stepped inside to briefly warm up, and carried on. Kamppi Church is a short walk away, a silent chapel made of curved wood, emerging from the ground in the most unexpected way. Then to the Oodi Library, all glass and wood, sleek (and very warm) with great views of the surrounding area (and, of course, many books). My next stop was the Temppeliaukio Church, a hidden gem that you’ll miss if you don’t know it’s there. It’s a church built into a rock - yes, really! I was treated to a mini piano concert as they were setting up for some event.
I walked up to Sibelius Park, but it was closed, so I opted for a coffee at Regatta Cafe. I love that Finland is all about filter coffee, with the carafes just like the US, warming on a hot plate. By the cafe, I could WALK ON THE LAKE and it completely blew my mind. Like, in the summer there are boats here?! WHAT??
Meandering museums: There are two main art museums in Helsinki, and they are a) small and b) quite close to each other. First, I went to Helsinki Art Museum (HAM) which had a small permanent collection (so small that as I left, I asked if I’d seen the whole thing…) and a large exhibition by Haegue Yang. The art was interesting and unexpected and sometimes disturbing, but I enjoyed it overall. Then I headed to Amos Rex which had some excellent Neo-Impressionist paintings by artists I’d never heard of, and a huge immersive digital installation by Ryoji Ikeda. I preferred it to HAM!
While at Amos Rex, I learned about the architect of the Stockmann department store, Sigurd Frosterus, so I walked down there and checked it out. It is, indeed, a very nice department store, with a grocery store and a liquor store in the basement. Quite impressive but I didn’t spend much time there.
I had dinner plans for 8pm, so I headed home to warm up, do yoga, and read. Dinner was at Grön, a fine dining restaurant with local, seasonal ingredients and excellent food. It is expensive (148€ for too many plates to count!), but it was so incredibly well worth it. The attention to detail, the service, the warm atmosphere and the faultless food all made for an incredible experience, and I would definitely recommend if you’re willing to treat yourself!
LAPLAND
Onto Ivalo: When I was researching places to go in the north, I felt completely overwhelmed. Ivalo? Rovaniemi? Inari? In the end, I found that the best prices for accommodation were around Ivalo, especially for staying in a glass igloo. In the end, I booked Kakslautten Arctic Resort, which had everything I wanted and more. Glass igloos, breakfast and dinner included, sauna access, and Northern Lights excursions.
Since there is never any guarantee that you’ll see the Northern Lights, I decided to pack my trip with excursions, too - a reindeer “safari” on Saturday night, a husky “safari” on Sunday morning, a snowmobile sleigh on Sunday night. Every outing was at least 2 hours long, included warm beverages and the extra warm clothing (a very warm jumpsuit, hat, gloves) for spending so much time outdoors.
I booked everything via their online portal (including airport transfers). When I arrived, the front desk confirmed my bookings and told me to meet at the front desk 15 minutes before the start of my outing. I was staying at the East Village, and because there is a West Village where other guests stay and can sign up for the same outings, we would be picked up in the East and taken to the West, since that was also where the equipment was and the outings occurred. Everything was incredibly well organized and all of the guides I encountered were great!
As you can imagine, all of these things really add up, especially with the accommodation. I paid for two nights for two people, and I couldn’t find any single traveler accommodation - so I sucked it up and paid double. Some of the outings were minimum two people as well, so I only booked ones that were open to single travelers. They were still at least 130€ each.
Reindeer safari: We got bundled up and seated in little sleighs that were pulled by a line of reindeer. Reindeer, it turns out, are quite sensitive, they don’t like bright lights, and they can’t be pet because their fur is hollow, so when they’re pet they lose heat. They were so cute and smaller than I expected!
Despite the clear skies, there were no Northern Lights to be seen. I headed back to my igloo to relax, and throughout the night would peep through my eye mask to see if there was any activity. This is completely unnecessary though, because every room is equipped with an Aurora Alarm that goes off if the lights are visible!
Husky safari: I slept SO well and let myself sleep in a little bit since the husky outing wasn’t until 11:30. I had a great breakfast at the buffet and read before it was time to head over to the huskies. We got a safety and instructional briefing and then we were off! I was paired with another solo traveler and we took turns driving the husky sled. The dogs were SO eager, strong, fast, and very very loud lol. They were so well behaved and loved being pet afterward. It took a lot of body strength to drive the sled, but it was an absolutely magical experience. I loved it. Especially when the other woman took over and I got to sit.
Snowmobile sleigh: I’d never been snowmobiling before, and while I was very interested to try it, I couldn’t since it was a two-person activity. Instead I opted for the snowmobile sleigh, which involved a person in a snowmobile pulling a sleigh behind out into the middle of a field with nothing around. Before we even left, I spotted the Northern Lights.
When I first arrived, the receptionist warned me that the Northern Lights can be difficult to see with the naked eye, that they were much more visible through a phone’s camera lens - and wow, she was right! I held up my phone and BAM there they were!
We went out into the middle of nowhere, and while we could faintly see them, they weren’t very strong. The stargazing, however, was top notch. In the meantime, I got an alert on my phone that there was a good chance I’d be able to see aurora in the next hour, thanks to the app I downloaded (My Aurora). We headed to a tepee where there were biscuits and tea, and our guide stood outside looking for the Northern Lights. He came in at one point and told us to come outside - and there they were.
We had plenty of time to stand with our mouths open in awe before we headed back to the resort. It was unreal, awesome in the most literal sense of the word. I feel tremendously lucky to have seen the Northern Lights, and I hope to come back again one day.
I flew back to Paris full of appreciation for the world we get to live in, the beauty of nature, the joy of being able to experience this natural wonder.
10/10, would recommend Finland.
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The snow covered trees with the northern lights in the sky looks magical!