My personal must-see’s here in Lapland
I’ve lived in Lapland now for a few months. I wouldn’t consider myself a local but living in Finland for sure gives you a different insight in a destination.
Therefore, I will list my personal see’s and can skip’s. To help you find out if my experience will be helpful to you, I will shortly tell you something about myself. Everyone likes to travel differently and that’s why what I like might absolutely not be what you like! I always feel like a short introduction helps deciding if I’m someone you can relate to or not.
Who am I as a traveller?
My name is Kaat Vandeweyer, I’m from Belgium and I’m 24 years old and study Tourism and Hospitality Management. As a final stage of my education, I do an internship for Visit Lapland. That’s why I’m here, writing to you!
I love travel and I love adventure. I grew up with a big garden, lots of ‘walking’ in Belgium, travels to ‘France ‘and the Belgium coast. I love nature, am in love with searching for beautiful sunsets and landscapes and not afraid for daylong hikes to get to the prettiest views.
I ‘m interested in fashion, will always try to create a good-looking outfit no matter what I’m doing and like when accommodation and bars are aesthetically pleasing. I lived half a year in Milan, Italy before this. I’m very interested in sustainability; I eat vegetarian at home and look for the more sustainable options if I can everywhere I go.
I love to travel more lowkey, stay in cheap hostels, hike, and have a backpack as luggage… But I also love travelling while staying in nice Airbnb’s and take my matching suitcase sets packed with suits and nice dresses and go to fancy restaurants.
I hope this gives you a better idea of who I am and if my advice will suit for you!
Let’s get to it!
1. Frozen falls- Korouoma
I would definitely recommend going to the frozen falls in Korouoma Nature Park if you have to chance! This especially in winter of course! Although not everyone seemed to be as enthusiastic about this experience, I personally oved it. The frozen waterfalls are something that I haven’t ever seen before and the hike to them is as beautiful. It’s relatively easy to get to. To do the full hike you do have to have a bit of an endurance, but you can easily just go to the closest waterfall and just turn back after. I’m going back soon to the Korouoma National Park to see the waterfall unfrozen. I will write about it too because I’m super excited to see the difference.
2. Santa Claus Village
Unless you have kids or are very into themed parks, I don’t find Santa Claus Village a ‘must see’. If you have time left and you are close, definitely go! But otherwise, I don’t find it necessary to go all the way to Santa Claus Village. It’s cute, and it was nice to have seen and take a picture, but further you’ve seen it in less than an hour. I think kids would love it though! I ate some lunch there and really liked it but wouldn’t go there just for that. Further than walking around and sending an early Christmas card there wasn’t anything else for me as a young adult to do there.
3. Levi; restaurant Saamen Kammi
I personally loved this! The restaurant is built partially underground! My parents came to visit me end March and I went there with them. Me and my parents where the only foreigners in the whole restaurant! Every one else was Finnish, which for me made the experience even more fun. The food is based on the traditional food of Lapland. The restaurant is named after an overnight shelter the Sami People built. The table formation made it feel like we were attending a big family dinner. The waiters made sure t come and explain everything to us in English. The food was good, but it was may more the experience that makes this restaurant special and a must see on my list. I can definitely recommend the salmon that was served.
During the meal you get a very enjoyable performance of Yoik’s which is a Sámi form of singing. It honestly was an amazing experience where you get to sing along and listen to the very unique songs and music.
4. Gustav’s in Rovaniemi
If you love a finer dining experience and a good glass of wine, I would definitely recommend going to Gustav’s! A lot of dining experiences in Lapland are buffets. If you want to escape te buffets and eat some really good food, Gustav’s is the place to go. I’ve been 2 times now and it doesn’t disappoint. I definitely can recommend their red house wine as well!
5. Go watch the sunset and make a fire at a fireplace
Oh, and take sausages or marshmallows! There are multiple spots to go and see the sunset while building a fire in a fireplace all over Lapland. It’s honestly the best thing ever. Food tastes better when shared so gather your friends, bring a guitar or some music, get some sausages or marshmallows and enjoy the outdoors like in those dreamy movies. Some moments around the fire are one of my most cherished memories of my time here in Lapland. When my parents came to visit, we did this as well and they loved it. It’s also perfect as a start for northern light hunting at night. The fire keeps you warm and entertained while you’re waiting for the northern lights to flare up and appear in the sky.
Don’t forget to look up and see the beautiful starry sky in the darker months! I miss them already now that it’s light outside 24/07.
6. A husky ride?
So… This is a bit of a controversial subject lately. I grew up with dogs myself, so animal wellbeing is the most important to me and as someone in tourism I really care for sustainable tourism.
I try to look up and research the best companies that are ethical and care for our planet and nature. During the winter here in Lapland there are a lot of companies existing just for Tourism reasons and to make profits of it. Lapland has and is growing more and more a lot as a popular touristic destination. From the moment the tourism industry includes animals there are some concerns and thin lines that can be easily crossed.
My personal opinion and experience
I’m not going into it to deeply in this article, but one thing I want to recommend is to really make sure that you’re booking with a company with a heart for their dogs and that not just exist to make profits of tourism. Seek people that are genuinely passionate about husky mushing.
Dogs and huskies genuinely love the work, they love to pull the sledges! It’s just very important they’re living in the best circumstances possible and being cared for even after the age that they cannot pull sledges anymore and don’t ‘regulate profit’ anymore.
I personally think booking and going on a sleigh ride is not worth it if not with happy and cared for dogs pulling the sleigh!
A few personal tips to find these: Look for smaller husky farms with less than 70 dogs approximately. Look in the schedule; it’s better if you’re not able to book a ride ‘every day’. It most of the time means the dogs get some rest days as well! Look for people that have a passion for mushing, did competitions before or have their dogs at their homes. Always look up reviews and ask around! If you know locals, ask locals! Look for companies that keep and care for their older and retired dogs!
Don’t just assume all places really take care for their dogs, make sure of it!
And than most importantly: Enjoy!
7. Kayaking
It’s very high on my bucket list to do here in Finland, Lapland. This of course is something you can only do in spring and summer. After kayaking in Norway, I’m determent to do it here in Finland. It is such an amazing, fun, and unique way of discovering the nature. You can see everything from a different perspective. Follow Visit Lapland on our social media channels to see if I end up going kayaking and how it was!
8. Eat ice-cream at Bar/café 21
The ice cream there is so good! And that means something because I come from living in the country with gelatos on every corner all year round! I’m not saying the ice cream here in Finland top the best gelato in Milan, but it’s for sure as good for different reasons. Gelato and the ice cream here are something different. The ice cream at Café/Bar 21 is very tasty! It has lots of flavour and is worth the try if you love ice cream like me.
9. Stay in a glass igloo?
I haven’t tried this myself so I can’t speak from experience on this subject. I’m a solo traveller so staying in a glass igloo is just not something I can afford alone or would see worth the experience while travelling alone. I speak from what I’ve seen here and heard while living here in Lapland. I personally love all the beautiful videos and content in those glass igloos. The reason I put this specific thing on my list is because of the following reason: a lot of people forget the weather circumstance and importance of location.
If you want to see the northern lights, you preferably must be far away enough from light pollution like the street and city lights. Besides that, you must have a clear sky, which is not always the case. It can snow loads and loads causing your igloo to be covered in snow. Normally the glass should be warmed so the snow melts of the roof, otherwise you won’t be seeing lots anyways! So keep these things in mind when booking your glass igloo stay.
10. Reindeer ride
Yes and no, a must do and a can skip for different reasons! Here me out here! I doubted a lot myself in the beginning if I wanted to do a reindeer sleigh ride. I knew I for sure wanted to see reindeers, but is that ride really necessary? I don’t think ‘touristic’ necessarily a bad thing, but when animals are involved in it, I do tend to think about it twice. Even in Finland.
I ended up booking a reindeer ride anyways and I didn’t regret it for even a second! I really enjoyed it. I loved feeding the young reindeer after as well. I think the location/company when booking a reindeer ride really makes or breaks your experience. I think it’s the nicest when you book with smaller reindeer farms and people with some connection with the Sami culture here in Lapland. It makes a reindeer farm visit so much more a cultural experience.
Hopefully this list helped some of you. Enjoy your stay in Lapland!
⇐ By Kaat Vandeweyer/Visit Lapland ⇒
