1. Getting Ready for the Cold

Winter in Rovaniemi lasts from late November to early April. Temperatures average around -12°C (10°F) but can drop as low as -30°C (-22°F) on some days, especially in December and January, the coldest months of the year. Traveling to Lapland in winter therefore requires proper preparation for the cold, especially since the region’s beauty lies primarily in its wild, remote nature. You probably already know this — and you’ve been mentally preparing for it for weeks: you’ll need to spend hours outside in the cold and snow!

That’s why safety and comfort in extreme cold are essential considerations — especially when traveling with young children. Their fragility due to age, lack of experience with harsh climates (and the inability to recognize their own physical limits), as well as a different perception of cold compared to adults, all make children more vulnerable to freezing temperatures. Depending on your child’s age, you’ll need to limit their time outdoors. This might mean giving up certain activities that require being outside too long without easy access to a warm shelter.

While on an excursion, it’s important to check in regularly with your children about how they’re feeling. Ask them often if they’re warm enough, make sure their clothes are dry, and check the temperature of their hands and feet — those are the first areas to get cold. Also, put away the chemical hand warmers! The best way for kids to warm up is to get their blood flowing. Run, wave your arms, jump, dance the Macarena — whatever works, just move! Good circulation brings warmth back to the extremities. Expect some tingling or stinging in fingers and toes, which can lead to a few tears — but that’s a good sign: the warmth is coming back!

2. WHAT TO PACK FOR YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN

In our practical guide to Rovaniemi (free to download here), we’ve dedicated an entire page to the question of clothing. You’ll find all our tips on what to pack in your suitcase, along with some additional recommendations.

Important! Being well prepared for the cold doesn’t mean overpacking! Wearing 18 layers, two hats, and five pairs of socks will only lead to two things: first, you’ll sweat excessively (which means you’ll get cold), and second, you’ll restrict your blood circulation (which also means you’ll get cold). Instead of piling on layers, make sure your clothes stay dry! Moisture — which freezes quickly in extreme cold — is your worst enemy, especially for kids.

If you don’t want to invest in expensive winter gear or worry about extra luggage fees at the airport, renting proper Arctic clothing can be a smart and budget-friendly solution.

3. RENT YOUR EQUIPMENT

Renting your gear on-site lets you travel lighter and with peace of mind. However, we recommend booking well in advance, especially during school holiday periods (Christmas and February), to ensure your equipment is reserved in the right sizes for your stay.

We rent Arctic-grade cold-weather suits (adult and children’s sizes), consisting of a thermal overall designed for temperatures down to -20°C (-4°F), along with winter boots. The suits are waterproof and worn over your own clothing (they serve as the outer layer). So, choose flexible and comfortable clothes underneath — but still warm, of course! The boots feature thick soles to insulate you from the cold ground and removable thermal liners that are easy to dry. For health and hygiene reasons, we do not rent socks, hats, or gloves. For children, we also rent specialized equipment such as strollers, car seats, and child-sized snowshoes.

To reserve your equipment, simply contact us by email (info@nordicodyssey.net), phone, or WhatsApp, specifying sizes and rental dates. You can find all the rental details and pricing here.

4. CHOOSING YOUR ACCOMMODATION

Rovaniemi offers a wide variety of accommodations to suit all budgets. Hotels generally provide family rooms, connecting rooms, or the option to add an extra bed.

However, if you’re traveling with two or more children, it may be more cost-effective to rent an entire independent lodging:

– Cabins are a great choice if you want to be more remote and closer to nature. Keep in mind that you’ll likely rely on taxis or public transportation, as cabins are often located more than 2 kilometers from the city center.

– Apartments in town: Many private owners offer reasonably priced accommodations downtown or within a short distance. Airbnb has plenty of options to suit all tastes! These rentals are often of good quality, with Nordic-style apartments frequently equipped with a sofa bed for your child. Some even feature a small sauna in the bathroom!

For hotel, cabin, or other accommodation recommendations, we invite you to check out this post.

Should you stay in Santa Claus Village? We don’t necessarily recommend it. Located 8 km from the city center, the village can feel frustratingly isolated, with a strong dependence on transport. In the evenings, shops close by 6 PM, leaving a quiet (though illuminated) village that even the quietest places envy. Instead, stay in town and set aside a half or full day to visit Santa Claus Village.

5. SHOULD YOU RENT A CAR? 

Unless you’re staying very far from Rovaniemi (more than 8 km), renting a car is generally not recommended. Besides the cost, it won’t add much convenience since Rovaniemi is a small city and all main services are within reasonable walking or stroller distance from the center.

On top of rental fees, you’ll have to budget for insurance, fuel (currently about €1.75/L), and paid parking spots in town (parking fines can be very expensive!). You will likely need a guide for excursions anyway, and in that case, transfers from your accommodation in Rovaniemi are usually included.

Finally, if you do rent a car, remember to prepare it well in advance (snow clearing, plugging in the engine block heater a couple of hours before driving) and to drive carefully in challenging conditions (icy roads, limited daylight, wildlife on the road). Cars are well-equipped (studded tires, heating), main roads are regularly cleared, and rental agencies provide effective assistance in case of trouble (e.g., going off-road).

Admit that this is one of the reasons why you have decided to come to Lapland. It’s also what made your choice go precisely to Rovaniemi: to perfect the magic of Santa Claus by offering your children meeting him directly at his place!

A visit to Santa Claus village is obviously an unavoidable trip once on a family holiday in Rovaniemi. Once you arrive on the spot, you will surely find the village a little small and the crowd a little too big. The place will be a bit too touristy for your adult taste, but your children will love the snowy scenery, houses with pointed roofs like in the books, big packages of (false) presents at the entrance of the office of Santa Claus. They will sing Christmas carols that resonate on the speakers with all force, while having the heart tight upon the discovery of the famous post office of Santa Claus, where their last letter came last year… And without a doubt the meeting with The Santa Claus will stay an impressive memory in the childrens’ memory for a long time! Until you have something to maintain the myth next Christmas…

Half a day is enough to visit the Santa Claus Village, especially in the afternoon to benefit from the last lights of the day and the first illuminations (the morning/middle of the day can then be free for outdoor activities). The entrance is free of charge, regular city buses will take you there from the city centre (30min of road), and you will find refreshments on the spot. In all cases, you absolutly don’t need a guide for this activity and look out for big unscrupulous agencies that offer guided visits at exorbitant prices!

And for those who wish to follow the Christmas spirit, we recommend the theme park Santa Park, situated 2km from Santa Claus Village. In the heart of the hill, the ‘’cave’’ of Santa Claus (entrance is paid, about 35-45€ per ticket) is dedicated primarily for children, proposing workshops and elf plays in well-decorated sceneries. The only problem, you will need to explain why the same Santa Claus is in two different places… seems like he knows some secret tunnels…

Observing northern lights is surely on your list, written at the very top and with capital letters. Because of its altitude up north, Rovaniemi is situated in the famous auroral zone, in which the phenomenon of the northern lights mostly, and is visible. In Rovaniemi, you can then observe northern lights from the end of August until middle April.

However, to go northern lights hunting in winter means most of the time to cover long distances and spend hours outside in the cold. In Lapland, temperatures can go down up to  -30 degrees at night, and the best places for observation are very often open places (frozen lakes, tops of the hills and so on), difficult to access and very exposed to the freezing wind. It’s not rare to go back late, in the middle of the night…

All in all, it’s neither practical nor comfortable for families with young children…

This is why, based on our long experience, we have imagined and designed a northern lights hunt especially dedicated to families, to offer all the parents the possibility to chase the precious dancing lights, thanks to the one adapted to their children!

During this excursion, your guide will take you out of Rovaniemi in the most promising direction, based on the weather maps and spatial forecasts. You will stop as many times as you need, under the advice and expertise of your guide. During the experience, everything is planned for the comfort of children: a campfire with a Finnish snack to warm you up, the blankets will be available if needed, the distance will be optimised and the explanations will be easy to understand.

And on top of that? Your guide will be equipped with a professional camera to immortalise these moments!

Among local activities that you might want to discover with your children, ice fishing is without a doubt the most adapted. Traditionally, this was one of the few ways to get food in winter. Nowadays, a lot of Finns still like to spend hours on frozen lakes, either to catch a good dinner or simply to recharge their batteries in front of the immense landscapes.

Ice fishing is a relaxing family activity, ideal to balance the emotionally charged programme or to fill a free afternoon without breaking the bank. With your guide, you will find a good fishing sport and an easily accessible nature for the children. He will show you basic techniques to ice fish, and how to make your hole (by hand!). And after that? Your turn to play!

Here as well, you need to choose your sled dog trip. Firstly, you need to make the difference between the tours where you are driving yourself, and those where there is a musher that will drive the sled for you. The first ones naturally offer a more complete and memorable experience: you will manage your own sled, which can host up to 2 adults (so 1 driver and 1 passenger) and 2-3 children (always passengers).

Moreover, you will need to choose the trip depending on the age of your children. The husky adventure of 6-10km is dedicated to older children (8+ years old), as they require to stay up to one hour in the cold.

For children from 4 to 8 years old, we recommend a shorter trip, from 2 to 5 km (8 to 20 minutes), which will be interesting to combine with a reindeer farm excursion for a special ‘family animal trip’.

Note that on both the excursions you are driving your sled dog team yourself.

Below 3 years old, go for a very short circuit (<2km) or simply just a visit to a husky kennel, without the ride, during which your child will meet the dogs.

Let’s be honest, snowmobiles are for adults.

Even if they are officially accessible for everybody, snowmobile tours are not really adapted for children and respond more to the personal wants of the parents. While you are enjoying yourselves on the snowmobiles, your children will be stuck in the sleigh behind the guide, tossed around on bumpy trails, in extreme cold accentuated by speed, and caressed by the sweet smell of diesel (except electric snowmobiles, of course). 

NB: If the children are over 140 cm tall, they can be passengers of one of the adults and sit behind them because their feet will then touch the footrests.

If you still wish to try out snowmobiling, don’t opt for too long circuits (2 hours maximum!) and privilege private tours, where the guide will be able to adapt to the news of your family. Don’t forget that children will not have the opportunity to move to warm up, the reason for which we strongly recommend not go for snowmobile tours with children younger than 3 years old!

So how do you please your children? Why not offer them a mini-snowmobile circuit? In Santa Claus village, Arctic Snowmobile Park organises mini tours in snowmobiles for children accessible from 4 years old. Count 22€ for 10 minutes of the tour.

Here is an experience difficult to live outside of arctic regions: visit to a hotel made entirely out of snow and ice! Beyond the remarkable technical prowess since the hotel is functional (that’s right, you can rent a room for the night or get married in the chapel), the inside offers beautiful artistic expressions. Each room is decorated with ice sculptures made by independent artists while the common rooms (restaurant, chapel, ice bar, etc.) follow a theme that is renewed each year.

Visiting the hotel has a double advantage to not expose yourselves to extreme cold (the temperature inside is maintained at -5C) and to not being exposed to the cold for too long (1 hour is enough). It is then ideal for children from 3 years old. We recommend to schedule this excursion to the beginning of the afternoon to benefit from the illuminations (and to keep the day for a tour outdoors) before the crowd comes around 17:00.