10 Reasons to Travel to Lapland During Springtime
In the first week of my arrival, I asked all the Finnish natives the same question: What is your favourite season of the year? Almost all of them answered me: Spring!
Spring had arrived here in Rovaniemi, and I can see why all of them are so keen on the season. In this article I will give you my personal 10 reasons to come to Lapland during springtime.
1: The sun
The days here in Finland start to lengthen and the sun starts to shine! The sunny days here are beautiful. You can see the light reflect on the crispy white snow and it sparkles like a thousand little diamonds. A magic winter wonderland everywhere. Not only are there less clouds in Spring, the days are getting longer and longer quite quickly! This means you have more daylight to go and explore the beautiful outdoors.
One morning I got op for my morning walk, and experienced the most stunning views with the sunrise. The cold night made the melting water evaporate resulting in this almost apocalyptic view.
2: Less cold
Not only are there more sunny days in spring, but the temperature is also getting a bit milder. We leave the extremer temperatures under -10 degrees Celsius behind as the sunny days grow in its numbers. Another advantage of the rising temperatures is that you need a bit fewer specific clothes to battle the cold here.
Although in the evenings it still can be shivering cold in the beginning of spring, during the daytime you can perfectly manage without tons of clothing and layers.
In the beginning of spring the temperatures here rose to 10 degrees on some days. Whenever I went on hikes or do activities, I got so warm and took off my jacket! I even didn’t always wear my woolen base layers. Now, April is here and it’s getting back colder. The nights are approximately -10 degrees Celsius, and the days are in between -3 and 1 degrees.
I am for some reason more cold now with -10 degrees, than I was with -20 degrees in February. So be aware the temperatures can be cold as well! SO don’t pack only your bikini’s just yet!
3: The northern lights
You can see the northern lights until the beginning of April, and as they say the lights are the strongest in the beginning of end of the seasons.
The beginning of Spring therefore is a really good time to visit Lapland if you want to try to seek for some northern lights at night! There are less clouds in spring, and because a clear sky is essential to see the light, the spring weather most definitely helps in your quest to search for the Aurora Borealis.
When I arrived In February, I wasn’t that successful in seeing lots of good northern lights. (I was very lucky on my first day but didn’t see loads of other lights in the moth after!)
However, the end of March arrived at our doorstep and so did some amazing Aurora Borealis! I can honestly say; if you have really good chances and the statistics give really good northern lights… Don’t hesitate! We drove 3hours to escape the clouds to see them… But it’s more than worth it! Pictures will not do the magic you see dancing in the sky when the lights really grow big and bright!
4: The melting snow and ice
Some may see the melting snow and ice as something negative when visiting Lapland, but I personally think the melting rivers here in Lapland are incredibly stunning!
Nothing is more calming than the rippling rivers bubbling and trickling over the melting ice. You can hear the melting ice drip in the water while you’re walking trough the crisping snow with the sun on your face.
5: The roads are clear
I have never been afraid of driving on snow or ice although I surely was not used to it. The Belgium winters don’t result in the snowy white roads you experience here in Finland. I personally didn’t mind driving in the snow or ice but let’s be honest…Nothing drives as easy as a clear road.
Although the first few days of melting snow can be slippery because of the mushy snow, as soon as the roads are cleared up you have a non-icy road to drive on! The smaller roads may not immediately be clear from the start of the spring, but the bigger roads are clear and very easy to drive on very quickly!
6: Less crowded
Do you want to meet Santa Claus? Perfect! Santa Claus village in Rovaniemi, Finland is open all year round and during the springtime there are no long lines! In Spring the big tourist season is over. This means it is less crowded and you can visit most of the touristic attractions calmly and more in peace. There are more availabilities for the winter activities, and they mostly stay open if there is enough snow.
From November until February it can be quite challenging to book accommodation and activities. The most popular hotels and resorts are fully booked more than a year beforehand. Although COVID-19 maybe made it a bit easier this year, I am quite sure next year all the resorts will be back fully booked for next year in no time.
The most popular activities can be hard to get a hold of in the high season. Short term availabilities are rare during that period. The end of March and beginning of April are way easier to book. My parents come to visit in the first week of April and I booked the activities for them only a week beforehand!
7: Flexibility
Want to have more snow? Experience the cold in spring? No problem! In the north of Lapland there’s still plenty of snow and cold to find. You can go more north to do snow activities like husky mushing and reindeer sleigh rides even in April. This means you can travel more north if you want the colder weather, and head more south for a bit more milder temperatures.
We went to on a small trip to Inari. I sunk in the snow until my middle (, and I’m 1m77 so that says something,) while looking to the Northern lights at Lake Inari. There was more than enough snow to find in the North! Some roads even were still covered in it, the lakes still frozen and the ski slopes are open until May!
8: Nature is waking up
Mid winter the deafening silence in the wilderness is memorisable. But nothing is more magical than magical than the sound of chirping birds on a sunny morning in spring while walking trough the crispy snow. Later in spring more and more animals start to wake-up and be visible throughout the wilderness! You can see more and more wildlife appearing while discovering the beautiful nature Lapland has to offer.
I was very surprised myself when I heard the birds on a snowy day in March. the temperatures were rising but the trees were still covered in a thin layer of snow from the snow that fell the night before.
9.Skiing season
I was surprised to hear the stories about the completely empty ski slopes in January here in Finland. Only my fellow Erasmus students and some fanatics were crazy enough to go skying with temperatures like -26 degrees. Most of the Finnish don’t go out to ski until spring! And I mean… Can you blame them? It’s a nicer experience to go on your skis with -10 degrees and some sunshine to welcome you while you glide down the slopes.
Spring is the best season to ski! You can find places to ski in Lapland even until the beginning of May, whilst in southern Finland the snow by that time is gone.
Go and discover the northern ski destinations like the seven fells of Ylläs, go and try the Finnish Apres-Ski in Levi and see the beautiful views of Saariselkä!
10.The price
Spring is one of the cheapest seasons to go and Visit Lapland. You often pay only half of the price for your flight tickets during spring. Also other things like car rental and accommodation are cheaper in this period.
In my experience January and February are a bit less expensive compared to November and December. I only paid 150€-160€ including 2 suitcases from Milan to Rovaniemi. Prices got a bit more expensive in March but in April and especially in May the prices are good!
The tickets to Helsinki are even more cheap during this period, and there is a train that goes straight from Helsinki to Rovaniemi! A few of my friends went to visit the capital city and only paid 50-60€ retour! If you’re interested in visiting both it is a great way to see both Helsinki and the beautiful nature in Rovaniemi!
⇐By: Kaat Vandeweyer/Visit Lapland⇒
