While many people choose to visit the Arctic in the warmer months, I chose to visit in the winter as the colder months are usually prime aurora viewing opportunities. Seeing the Northern Lights has been on my bucket-list ever since I can remember and when I traveled to Iceland in 2020 to see them and failed, I made a promise to myself to see them before I die… enter Finland and Norway.

Typically, prime Northern Lights viewing can be achieved between September/October and February/March and 2024-2025 were said to bring the best Northern lights in 20 years, appearing in more places than normal, but the key is to also give yourself the best chance at seeing them and this means typically staying in an area for at least 1.5 weeks to account for the various moon phases and weather.

I flew into Rovaniemi (RVN)- a city in Finland and the regional capital of Lapland and spent my first few nights camping in an Aurora Hut Igloo searching for the illusive lights. Unfortunately for me, it was cloudy both nights I stayed there, but that didn’t mean that I couldn’t partake in other activities like going snowboarding at the small ski resort of Ounasvaara Ski Oy, which is only 5 minutes outside of the city center so not only is it easily accessible, but you can also rent everything you need there for just an hour or for the entire day!

One of my favorite excursions I got to do in Finland was visiting the Porohaka Reindeer Farm Rovaniemi

This excursion was so memorable not only because they maintain a small and intimate group size of 8 people maximum, but they also open up their home to visitors and truly embrace you into their welcoming circle of reindeer farming. The owners Katja & Jukka are so warm and inviting and their main source of income comes almost entirely from reindeer herding, which their family has been practicing for decades.

Together you will visit and feed their reindeer herd of over 100 reindeer and can even go for a sled ride after- cue all of your childhood memories coming true here! You definitely do not want to miss this experience. BONUS: they offer pickup/drop-off from the city center if you don’t have transportation.

My last excursion and the ENTIRE reason I came to the arctic in the winter was to chase the Northern Lights. While you can certainly see them unguided, I figured I came this far to see them that I may as well pay for a guided excursion to guarantee a sighting…well as close to a guarantee as you can get…! and I am so happy that I decided to do this although it was a VERY long evening as the lights typically come out very late in this area compared to Norway… I didn’t get back to my hotel until about 5am- but again…so worth it, they are truly a sight to be seen and should be seen as many times as possible!

WHERE: Rovaniemi

STAY: Aurora Hut Igloo

TO DO:

• Reindeer Farm

• Northern Lights Hunt

From Rovaniemi, I took the Arctic Bus to Tromso, Norway (the quote, unquote- “Northern Lights Capital” of the world. The trip took about 7.5 hours one-way, the bus was clean, had Wi-Fi and bathrooms on board and made stops every few hours. It was definitely the most economical and least stressful way to travel through the regions here but be aware that in the winter months this bus only runs from the 1st of December until the 31st of March every year. Tromso is definitely worth the visit, it’s a larger city than Rovaniemi where visitors can explore polar fishing excursions, whale safaris, and wildlife safaris depending on the season and of course…the Northern Lights… which I was able to see immediately after hopping off the bus and I was immediately in heaven!

After spending a night and a full morning/afternoon in Tromso, I got out of town and traveled an hour west to Yggdrasiltunet, a quaint farm/BnB stay about an hour outside the city. Although there is a bus that runs outside of the city to this farm-tel, I recommend booking a rental car as the bus only runs on weekdays and you will want to have at least a full day out here to explore the beautiful fjord landscapes on your own. I rented my car from Hertz and was able to pick it up from the city center and drop it off at the airport no problem. Another thing I loved about my stay was the number of on-site activities they offered and the delicious breakfast and dinners that were included! I also can’t recommend all the activities I listed below enough, if you want to see more about each of them feel free to check out my Instagram Reels and Stories @hikinglegsmegs.

WHERE: Tromso

STAY: Yggdrasiltunet Farm Hotel

TO DO:

• Mountain Hut Snowshoe (offered at hotel)
• Hike Brosmetinden
• Dogsledding (transportation included)
• Sea and Sauna (offered at hotel)

The final leg of my trip was a last-minute addition to my original itinerary because I saw so many photos of this place and a very specific hike and knew I needed to do it. So, you’re probably asking yourself if I scheduled a trip just because of a hike that I saw on social media? and yes, yes, I did and I was so excited to see what all the buzz was about and that add on took me to the Lofoten Islands to hike Reinebringen! For this, I had to fly out of Tromso (TOS) to Leknes (LKN) with a stopover in Bodo (BOO) and pick up my rental car at the airport- this time I rented through SIXT and probably wound up with the nicest car I have ever driven in my entire life so I highly recommend them!

0nce I picked up my rental car I stayed my first few nights in Leknes so I only had an hour drive up north to visit the fishing town of Svolvaer. I can’t say enough wonderful things about this cute and quaint little town and even though it was raining on and off throughout the day, it didn’t take away from the beauty of everything here; even the drive from Leknes was absolutely stunning and I had to pull over countless times to take it all in. There is so much to see and learn in this fishing village and I easily spent a full morning and afternoon here adventuring around. On my way back to Leknes I recommend stopping into the well-known Viking Museum, unfortunately for me it was a Monday, and they were closed but I’ve heard great things about the exhibits. Since I wasn’t able to visit the museum, I decided to hike Offersoykammen which was a fun, quick and moderate (2hr) hike overlooking Leknes and offered some pretty stunning views even in the clouds.

The following day was so much better weather wise, and I set out on my hour-long drive down south towards Reine but on the way I decided to squeeze in a hike at Ryten before checking into my stay. After the hike I continued my drive south and after checking into my hotel, I made further preparations to hike Reinebringen. Normally I wouldn’t do 2 hikes in 1 day, but the weather was just too beautiful to not maximize my time outside and it didn’t look like the good weather would continue into the next day. Additionally, hiking Reinebringen in the winter should only be done in good weather (see my separate post about this hike in the winter) so that is exactly what I did! After successfully summitting my second hike of the day I was starving and grabbed a seafood burger over at Anitas. Normally I’m a big meat burger gal but this was so delicious, and you can’t beat the dinner views here. Finally, my arctic solo trip was coming to a quick end, but not without the northern lights making one last small debut on my final night. I couldn’t have asked for a better send off and I can’t wait to come back and visit in the future.

**If you only have time for a few hikes, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND Ryten and Reinebringen on good weather days.

WHERE: Lofoten Islands

STAY:

• Overnatting-Leknes (cheaper accommodations in the heart of the city center; close to the airport and a good starting off point before driving south to Reine)
• Eliassen Rorbuer Hotel

TO DO:

• Visit:
  • Svolvaer
  • Hamnoy Scenic Viewpoint
  • Reine Photo Point
• Eat:
  • Henningsvaer Lysstoperi og Café (best cardamom rolls I have ever eaten hands down)
  • Anitas Seafood
• Hike:
  • Offersoykammen
  • Ryten Overlooking Kvalvika Beach
  • Reinebringen (I wrote an entire blog post on attempting to hike this in the winter)

Good Things to Know

• Travel Insurance– I read that Finland required this before traveling there and while no one checked that I had it, it’s still always a good idea to have insurance while traveling! I also recommend using Squaremouth as it lets you compare multiple plans at one time so you can pick what best suits your needs.
• eSIM (Airalo)– I have been using eSIMs from Airalo for years now and will never travel without downloaded data beforehand. It’s the best and easiest way to ensure communication back home with your loved ones.
• Sundays – a lot of places are closed or close early so keep this in mind especially if you plan to travel on this day.
• Local currency– Most places accept credit cards but still carry local currency just in case, I went on a last-minute tour and the tour guide only accepted cash in the local currency.
• Traveling solo– it’s not always easy to travel solo here when you want to book an excursion as many places require having a minimum of 2 people to run a tour so be flexible and ask to be put on a waiting list in case others book in the future, chances are the closer you get to the excursion date the more people will book.
• Baggage: in Rovaniemi, if you’re unable to check into your accommodations (ie: you arrive early and they aren’t ready yet) you can store your luggage in lockers in the city center. The train station and certain grocery stores offer this option- I found one in a grocery store across from my hotel that charged 5 Euros for the day.
• Scandinavian countries are expensive! Whether it’s consumer goods, eating out or transportation, be prepared for sticker shock. I spent around $40USD trying to Uber 5 miles in Finland so depending on how far you plan to travel renting a car or taking public transportation may be a better option.
• Booking.com and TripAdvisor are widely used for booking accommodations and excursions. Airbnb is also pretty much frowned upon as they continue to drive up home prices in certain areas so do the locals a favor and use the right resources.