And what about all the tours whose title highlights food as if to prepare you for the disappointment of not seeing the Northern Lights…

These tours are often much cheaper than real aurora hunts with a specialised guide and photos (around €65 versus around €120). And for good reason: they have nothing to do with a real Northern Lights chase.

If you fall into this tourist trap when booking your holiday to Rovaniemi, you’ll be taken on packed buses to a field owned by the agency, 15-20 kilometres from the town centre. You’ll be served a sausage around the fire or salmon soup from the supermarket (the famous “picnic”), and you’ll stand there for two hours waiting for something to happen (and too bad if it snows!)… before going back to Rovaniemi on the same packed bus.

It’s true that it’s possible to see the Northern Lights on these excursions (as it is everywhere else in Lapland, if you’re slightly lucky!). However, these “Lappish picnics” and “Lappish barbecues” offer no services that could optimise your chances of seeing the Northern Lights: no weather analysis, no checking of spatial conditions, no hours-long chase in the most promising directions, few explanations, no photography, and huge groups (which further increase the light pollution emitted by cell phones, headlamps, etc.).

In short, run away!

If you’re interested in a good dinner, head to one of the many restaurants in town (e.g., Nili, Gustav, Taiga, etc.), which offer typical and delicious menus for a much better price!

And if you want to maximise your chances of seeing the auroras, opt for a real Northern Lights hunt with a camera (and as a bonus, a typical barbecue snack around the fire is included!). The price and quality of this tour are the best in Rovaniemi!

And you will get nice photos of you under the Northern Lights!

Snowmobile tours are one of the most popular tours that people book on their holiday in Rovaniemi. On the agenda: hop on your snowmobile and explore the vastness of Lapland with your guide! The excursion is definitely worth it, and you’ll get to discover even more of the snowy landscapes!

Here are some tips to avoid the tourist traps when booking your snowmobile tour: first be careful when choosing the company you go with! Large tour companies (them again!) don’t hesitate to gather large groups of 10, 20, 30… people on the same tour. You risk finding yourself travelling at 20 km/h behind an endless queue of snowmobiles (probably the only traffic jam in Lapland) on overcrowded (and therefore not at all pleasant!) trails.

Also, beware of unscrupulous companies who will take advantage of the slightest accident to charge you full price! Read the terms and conditions carefully before committing and take out the insurance offered (even if it adds 20 euros to the final bill). Be careful; it’s not uncommon for a skid to go off-piste or a minor accident to occur. If you’re less confident driving, you can be a passenger on the snowmobile.

How can you avoid choosing the wrong tour company?
The best way is to go with our partner guide specialised in snowmobile safaris who offers private tours for a price similar to open group tours. This way, you’ll go at the pace you want and can enjoy the tour in complete privacy! Don’t hesitate to contact us to discuss a tailor-made offer.

The other option is to venture out on a longer excursion (be careful, these are also more difficult and tiring) or an electric snowmobile safari, since the groups are smaller. Here are three examples we recommend:
– Snowmobile safari to the Ice Hotel
– Morning electric snowmobile safari
– Afternoon electric snowmobile safari

Our tourist trap #4 is to avoid peak season when booking your holiday in Rovaniemi. Indeed, the capital of Finnish Lapland is a popular winter destination, and hence particularly busy during the holiday season (remember, this is where Santa Claus officially lives!). In fact, the period from the December 15th to January 10th is extremely popular, with hotel prices skyrocketing, some tour operators raising their rates, and the crowds saturate tourist attractions everywhere. You’ll sometimes even have to book several months in advance to enjoy activities with limited availability (such as reindeer or dog sledding safaris)… Not exactly what you imagine when you think of the white, peaceful and wide-open spaces of Lapland…

Also, December is far from ideal natural conditions: it snows a lot (so not the best time to observe the Northern Lights) and daylight is reduced to only 2-3 hours per day.

So when is the best time to plan your winter holiday in Rovaniemi?

The second half of January is usually the “low” part of the high season and therefore a very good time to visit if you want to enjoy winter activities in peace. The only problem is that it’s also the coldest time!

As for the months of February and March, they offer very good conditions: there’s plenty of daylight (8-13 hours of daylight per day depending on the season), and the sky is clearer. March in particular is less crowded than at the end of the year.

But if you really want to go around December, choose the first half of the month instead.

And why not go to Rovaniemi in summer or autumn?

Lapland is a playground for outdoor enthusiasts, whatever the season! In fact, each season offers its own unique atmosphere! Coming to Rovaniemi in summer means admiring the golden light of the Arctic during the Midnight Sun period (from mid-May to late July), when the sun never sets and the days seem endless. Do you love the pink colors of sunsets? Come in late July/early August when sunsets and sunrises are very close together, and you might just be able to admire this beautiful show for hours on end! Summer is truly the perfect time to explore the rivers and lakes (did you know there are 187,888 lakes in Finland?). Canoeing, cycling, or hiking… the possibilities are endless!

In autumn, Rovaniemi is bathed in a soft light as the birch leaves turn gold and crimson. This explosion of colour occurs in September during the season Finns call “ruska.” It’s Lapland’s best-kept secret and a favourite time of year for Finns travelling north from all over the country. And ruska also means the return of the Northern Lights! Indeed, this natural phenomenon can be seen as early as late August (and as late as early April)!

October and early November are also generally excellent months for observing the Northern Lights, due to increased activity after the autumnal equinox, longer nights, and relatively stable weather. Depending on the year, snow may already be present at this time, making it perfect for enjoying winter activities without the crowds!

Read our article on the best times to observe the Northern Lights here. 

Getting off the beaten tracks and going to Rovaniemi outside of the winter season has a lot of advantages: tranquillity, the unexpected beauty of the landscapes in summer and autumn, mild weather (yes, temperatures can reach up to 25°C in summer!), and great deals (like the package deal for direct Ryanair flights from Milan).

However, we do not recommend the period from mid-April to mid-May: the weather is unstable (the famous second winter!), and most travel agencies are slow or even closed.

In short, as you can see, Lapland is a destination worth experiencing at least twice: in winter and in summer/autumn!

The calendar shows natural conditions and the different activities possible according to your holiday period

Dog sledding or reindeer safaris are very popular on a holiday in Rovaniemi, and you’ll find a plethora of offers of all kinds. Be careful, however, to do your research before booking your tour, as it is easy to find safaris which are not truly authentic or ethical: our pitfall #5.

To accommodate ever-larger tourist groups, some agencies have set up safaris with infernal pace for both the animals and the tourists themselves, with continuous and timed departures (the reindeer at Santa Claus Village are unfortunately a good example). Sometimes, they have even created their own “farms,” to which they transport their packed buses every morning and afternoon. While the trompe-l’oeil setting often works, the experience ultimately lacks authenticity.

So how do you choose your dog sledding or reindeer safari?

Make sure the farm or kennel you choose is a reasonable size, has a long family history, and respects the welfare of its animals by adapting the safaris. There are ethical, family-run kennels near Rovaniemi that offer high-quality services: you can often take your time and enjoy with the dogs, who will be just as excited to meet you as you are.

Similarly, traditional reindeer farms have been established for generations in the Rovaniemi region; the herders will be happy to share their craft, lifestyle, and passion by answering your questions.

Generally speaking, by asking a few questions, you’ll quickly know if you’re dealing with an authentic place or if it’s just a tourist scam.

We only work with traditional, family-run farms/kennels that offer quality safaris. So you can safely take a look at our 10km dog sledding adventures and our reindeer farm experiences!

Choosing your tour well also means enjoying a better experience with the animals!

It’s no secret: Lapland (and Rovaniemi) is an expensive holiday… A trip often dreamed of for a long time and for which one sometimes saves for years. And rightly so: flights, hotels, restaurants, but also tours and guided activities quickly increase the budget, even if we don’t necessarily have luxurious tastes!

It might then be tempting to turn to cheaper tours that, on paper, seem to offer similar services to the more expensive tours. A good deal? Not really. The case of “night barbecue” tours has already been mentioned above. They are symptomatic of a destination that is attractive for the beauty of its landscapes and which, inevitably, encourages mass tourism and scams…

Unfortunately, tours with overly attractive prices often hide a very disappointing reality: crowded buses that unload their tourists onto unattractive parking lots, tours that take place without any consideration for the conditions in the field (cold, snow, low chances of seeing the Northern Lights, etc.), little concern for safety (especially for children!), an experience that is in no way personal, untrained “guides” who are new and often know nothing about the region, poorly treated and poorly paid seasonal employees, outdated and poorly maintained equipment..

Before booking your tours, be sure to do some quick research on the company, read some recent traveller reviews, carefully read the descriptions (and if there is no precise description, be wary!), and don’t fall for the pretty photos (often borrowed from stock photos)…

Also, don’t hesitate to book your tours directly with the tour company rather than through resale sites (Viator, GetYourGuide, Musement, Airbnb, etc.), which are simply intermediary platforms that take their commission along the way. By booking directly with guide agencies, you ensure a fairer price, one that isn’t inflated by an unnecessary intermediary; and communication with your hosts will be that much simpler and more enjoyable!

Finally, if you’re looking for good deals, you can always take advantage of special offers that are occasionally applied to certain tours. Here, we list tours that we feature, based on the time of year, with reduced prices.