All you need to know to reach Finnish Lapland from abroad
Have you ever been under the impression that a journey is meant to be? Isn't it an exhilarating feeling?
Tasks like planning and booking are a breeze, and puzzle pieces such as flight timetables, hotel availability, or connecting travel fit perfectly in your desired schedule and well within your budget.
Well, organising a visit to Lapland never gave me such joy. In the space of fifteen months, I planned two visits and both times I almost threw in the towel. I was determined to make it happen, and eventually I did, but I always had to reshuffle travel dates and schedules multiple times before I could finally make all the parts fit.
The main stumbling block for me was reaching Lapland and leaving it.
Only a handful of worldwide cities are blessed with direct flights to one of the four Lappish international airports, which means that the majority of us will need to either (a) book a non-budget flight with one or more layovers or (b) buy at least two low-cost flights both ways.
Sure, the option to catch a non-budget flight with one or more stops may sound like the simplest, most sensible choice, but if you are a last-minute planner like me, that option can also claim a significant chunk of your travel budget. I had no choice but to get creative and spend quite a lot of time analysing the European airline network to find a more budget-friendly solution.
But it was worth it. And to maximise the usefulness of what I learned I am here to share it all!
Contents
What are the main points of entry in Lapland?
First and foremost, you should have a fair idea of where in Lapland you would prefer to be, if possible. Most of you will probably arrive via plane or train, so it’s helpful to know which of these arrival points provides the best start to your itinerary.
The below map displays where all Lappish airports and railway stations are located. Airports marked by a magenta pin are international, while the blue pins are for national ones. Railway stations are identified by the orange pins. You can click on any of the pins to open a side panel with the details on the location. You can also click on the rectangle button on the top-right corner to view the map in Google Maps as a separate tab of your browser or in the relevant app if you are using a smartphone.
International airports
Rovaniemi
The busiest city and airport in Lapland, Rovaniemi sits right on the Arctic Circle and is often considered the gateway for the rest of the region. With a rental car you can easily continue the journey east towards Riisintunturi National Park and Oulanka National Park or north towards the ski resorts of Levi and Pyhä-Luosto, the Pyhä-Luosto National Park, and the popular Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park.Ivalo
The northernmost airport in Lapland, Ivalo airport is the best choice for the remote north, for the Sami cultural area, for the resort city of Saariselka, and for the beautiful Urho Kekkonen National Park.
Kittilä
Bang in the middle of Lapland, Kittilä airport is extremely convenient for the ski resort of Levi and the Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park. It is also the closest international airport to the remote northwestern corner of fell (hill) Lapland and to the Swedish border.
Kuusamo
Technically not part of Lapland, Kuusamo airport is your best option if planning to spend all your time in the magical Oulanka and Riisitunturi National Parks, in the southeast corner of Lapland.
National airports
Kemi-Tornio
Serving the southwest corner of Lapland, and the only airport by the coast, Kemi-Tornio is handy if you are planning to go on an icebreaker cruise or to visit the Kemi Snow Castle. Both attractions can also be reached via a less than two hour-drive from Rovaniemi.
Enontekiö
Quite on the edge of northwestern Lapland, this national airport serves the important Sami centre of Hetta (Enontekiö) with seasonal charter flights. It is mainly useful for those interested in hiking the Hetta-Pallastunturi Trek in summer.
Railway stations
Rovaniemi
Again, a convenient entry point providing access to all central Lapland.Kemijärvi
Handy for Pyhä-Luosto National Park and for the southeastern Oulanka and Riisitunturi National Parks.Kolari
Arriving at the northernmost railway station in Finland, trains to Kolari will deliver you near the Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park and just over an hour drive away from the ski resort of Levi.
How I reached Finnish Lapland...
I flew from Edinburgh to Helsinki with SAS on December 13th:
Departure time: 2 pm
Arrival time: 7:55 pm. There was a short layover in Stockholm.
I spent one night in Helsinki.
The following evening (December 14th) I caught the overnight Santa Claus Express train from Helsinki to Rovaniemi:
Departure time: 11:13 pm
Arrival time: just after 11 am the following day (December 15th)
... and how I left
On December 20th I flew from Rovaniemi to Edinburgh by booking two Ryanair flights:
1) Rovaniemi - Brussels
Departure time: 12:05 pm
Arrival time: 2:25 pm
2) Brussels - Edinburgh
Departure time: 6:10 pm
Arrival time: 6:55 pm
How to reach Finnish Lapland
No matter where in the world your journey is starting, any visit to Lapland will either involve a brief stay in Helsinki or start directly at one of the four Lappish international airports.
In fact, the majority of non-budget flights to Lapland have a layover in Helsinki, so for some of us it could make sense to turn the layover into an actual visit.
Finally, don't forget that reaching Lapland one way doesn't necessarily mean leaving it the same way: you may want to stop in Helsinki and catch the north-bound Santa Claus express train, but return home by flying directly out of one of Lapland’s airports. Or vice versa!
‣ Reaching Lapland from Helsinki
HOW
It won’t come as a surprise that Helsinki has a wide array of very good options to reach Lapland:
By plane. In winter, Finnair has up to six daily direct flights to Rovaniemi and Kittilä, and up to four daily direct flights to Ivalo and Kuusamo. They also operate two weekly direct flights to Kemi-Tornio airport.
Norwegian has biweekly direct flights to Rovaniemi.During the rest of the year there are fewer options, but the four international airports always are at the receiving end of at least one direct flight per day.
Book early for the best deals.
By train, your most environmentally friendly and relaxing option. In winter, VR, the Finnish national railway company, operates multiple daily trains (quite a few direct) and at least one overnight train to Rovaniemi (around 12 hours). Trains to Kolari (around 14 hours) and Kemijärvi (around 13 hours) travel overnight only.
And the coolest thing? Those travelling with their own vehicle or renting one from Helsinki can actually drive it onto the train and hit the Lappish highways right after their arrival.
Book early for the best prices.
WHY
I have always included a short visit of Helsinki on my way to Lapland, and below are the reasons why.
Being a capital city, Helsinki is much easier to reach internationally than Lapland. There is at least one direct flight to Helsinki from Europe’s largest cities and even from some major Asian and US airports. Ferries crossing the Baltic Sea link the city with Tallin (Estonia), Stockholm (Sweden), and Travemünde (Germany).
Helsinki has numerous connections to Lapland and offers transport options that are not limited to flights and are often more sustainable and budget friendly. And more fun! My favourite by far? The overnight train (here is all you need to know about it) from Helsinki central station.
Helsinki provides a very comfortable start to a visit of Finland, especially after a long day spent on planes and inside airports. It is a delightful small capital that lacks the chaotic nature of larger urban centres, and it won’t bust your budget: accommodation has extremely high standards and is better priced than in Lapland. It always feels quite comforting to hop on the convenient train from the airport to the central railway station, check into an excellent hotel, and head out for a walk or for dinner. I have written a guide with my favourite things to do in town, and you can find it here.
Most flights to Lapland tend to land late in the day. This may not be an issue for those of you planning to stay in the area near the airport, but in any other scenario it would usually mean either picking up a rental car and start driving after dark or booking accommodation near the arrival airport/station for the first night. I much prefer spending that night in Helsinki.
WHY NOT
The main reason not to stop in Helsinki is to save time. If you are on a tight schedule, it probably doesn’t make sense to visit anywhere but Lapland, your core destination.
‣ Reaching Lapland from outside Finland
Disclaimer - The purpose of this guide is to assist you in finding a budget-friendly way to reach Lapland. Several national airlines operate flights that include one or more stops on the way, but I won’t mention those here. They can be easily found via Google Flights, Expedia, or any other flight search engine, and they have always worked out as too expensive for me - partly because of my last-minute planning. I will instead give you a full list of direct flights that you can consider individually or as part of a journey (I will explain how a little further down) to try and keep your travel costs down.
HOW
A few airlines, including various low-cost ones, fly directly to one of the Lappish international airports from overseas. The schedules are much busier in winter, and several airlines suspend their flights to Lapland at the arrival of spring. Rovaniemi has the busiest airport, but some creative flight combinations can make the other international airports also quite accessible.
Below is a list of all the direct connections to and from Lapland in winter. Keep in mind that these are hardly ever operated with daily frequency and, in some cases, may even be monthly only (that’s the case for the Swissair flights for example).
If you reside near or can easily reach one of the listed airports, lucky you: you have a convenient, and perhaps budget-friendly, direct connection to Lapland.
If you aren’t near any of these airports, here is how the above table can help you in finding a way to reach Lapland that keeps costs down:
1) Find out if you have a direct flight to any of the airports in the table.
For example, I live in Edinburgh and have direct flights to Vienna, Brussels, Berlin, Munich, Dublin, Milan Bergamo, Riga, Amsterdam, London Stansted and London Gatwick.
Even if you are coming from outside of Europe and don’t have a direct connection to any of the airports in the table, it may still be convenient for you to book your transcontinental flight to one of the airports in the table rather than all the way to Lapland. That’s because these are the best connections to Lapland from outside of Finland.
2) The tricky bit – find out if you can combine the schedules of:
- the flight to one of the listed airports (leg 1), and
- the flight from one of the listed airports to Lapland (leg 2).
These will be two separate bookings and you will need to collect your luggage after leg 1 before you can check it in again for your second flight.
Also, you will need to go through security twice.
Bottom line? You will need enough layover time at the connecting airport.
On my first visit to Lapland I returned home by booking one Rovaniemi ➞ Brussels flight and one Brussels ➞ Edinburgh flight.
The first flight from Rovaniemi landed in Brussels at 2:25pm and the second flight to Edinburgh left Brussels at 6:10pm.
That gave me enough time to collect my luggage at Brussels airport, move to the Departures area, drop my bags off again, and go through security for my second flight. Also, I felt confident that there was enough time in between flights to prevent any delays from the first flight to make me miss the second flight.
This flight combination cost less than £130 per person (less than $160 or €150), including seat selection and a 20-kg hold bag. At that point it was around half the price I would have paid with a non-budget airline and multiple stops.
WHY
Reaching Lapland from outside Finland is more efficient than stopping in Helsinki, and it allows you to commit the bulk of your precious holiday time and budget to the core destination.
WHY NOT
Reaching Lapland this way could be expensive. Flights tend to quickly increase in price during the Christmas season and in the peak months of January and February. Book early!
Also, by flying both in and out of Lapland you will miss the chance to catch the wonderful overnight train. As a train lover, I couldn’t do that to myself.