7-Day Northern Finland and Norway Trip Multi-day tour
Our partner: NORDIC UNIQUE TRAVELS
Description
Explore the diverse culture and the natural heritage of Finnish Lapland as you travel to the northernmost part of Europe.
Along the way, you will visit the Amethyst mine, the Sami people’s museum - Siida and the largest lake in Lapland, and enjoy the local reindeer cuisine. While in Norway, you will see the breathtaking beauty of the country’s mountainous coastlines, feast on the King Crab, and watch the Northern Lights. During your trip, you can also fall asleep on a frozen lake, watching the magical Aurora in your own glass-roofed cabin, visit an ice hotel, say hello to wolves and polar bears at Ranua Zoo, and even go for a ride with huskies! We will also visit an incredible Sami Art Workshop to learn the best of arts and crafts production! And of course, you’ll have the opportunity to hunt for the Northern Lights every night.
What´s Included
- Transportation between your hotel/accommodation and the activities' locations
- Guide in English (other languages available on request: Dutch, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Chinese)
- Winter clothes (overall and winter boots)
- All the activities mentioned in the itinerary
- 5 nights stay in Hotel Aakenus / Scandic hotels or similiar (subject to availability)
- 1 night accommodation in a Holiday Club Saariselka or similar - subject to availability
- 1 night stay at Aurora Nest Glass Eco Glass Igloo or similar
- Breakfasts
- Airport or train station pick up and drop off on the first day of arrival & last day of departure.
Additional information
- At least 4 people are required for this trip to take place and confirmed.
- Children under 14 must be accompanied by adults.
- Please be ready and wait in your hotel lobby at least 10 minutes prior to your scheduled pickup time.
- Product may be canceled or rescheduled if the group size is smaller than 4 adults.
Itinerary
DAY 1
Santa's Homeland - Rovaniemi
Santa's Homeland - Rovaniemi
On arrival in Rovaniemi, your guide will pick you up from airport or train station and bring to our Safari Office for providing winter clothes. When you are ready, set off to meet a genuine animal in Lapland - Reindeer. You will have a short sleigh ride in the Reindeer farm. After the ride, you will be served with gingerbread cookies and warm drinks while listening to herder's stories.
You will be taken to Santa Claus Village, located in the Arctic Circle. First of all, greet Santa Claus in his office! Visit Santa's post office to send a greeting postcard to your family and friends, and explore Santa Claus Village with a lot of Christmas and Lappish products to take back with you. At lunch time, you will try a traditional meal with local reindeer meat.
Strap on the snowshoes and walk on deep and fluffy snow around a Lappish forest. After the enjoyable snowshoeing, you will have time to rest before the night safari. In the evening, chill by a campfire in the wild but safe forest and try to hunt Northern Lights while a guide is preparing a BBQ.
DAY 2
Amethyst Mine in Luosto & Saariselkä
Amethyst Mine in Luosto & Saariselkä
After breakfast at your hotel, set off to the Lampivaara Amethyst mine, which you can reach by hopping on a snowcat, a large treaded snow vehicle. You will get the tools and guidance to dig out your very own rare, hidden amethyst and take it with you! Relish in tasting the Finnish fish soup, reindeer meat sandwich and sausages during the campfire lunch. When you are warmed up and ready to continue the journey, your guide will drive you up to the North to Saariselkä. Saariselkä village is one of the most popular locations among nature lovers for hunting Northern Lights.
DAY 3
Sami Experience in Inari
Sami Experience in Inari
Start your day with breakfast at the hotel and husky adventure! At the local farm, you will have an opportunity to greet lovely husky and have a long husky sleigh ride. After, you will be guided to spot the best gold in Europe. Let’s enjoy the gold rushers’ feeling by gold mining in the wilderness surrounded by the forest and the lake. Later, you will be served with Reindeer meat burger for lunch.
Know more about Sami people and their unique culture in the Sami museum "Siida", and in Inari, the small and lively village on the edge of Inari lake. Inari considers as the center of a Sami culture and Arctic nature.
DAY 4
King Crab & Fjords & North Cape
King Crab & Fjords & North Cape
After delicious breakfast, set off to King Crab Safari. Learn from the expert divers how to catch and cook the delicious king crab and sea urchin. Savor a feast of fresh seafood on the boat in the ocean! Afterward, put on a survival swimming suit and head to float in the refreshment Arctic Ocean waters. On your way to North Cape, take a delight in inimitable landscapes and fjord-sightseeing. Later on, enjoy a breathtaking view at the North Cape and Northern Lights above if the sky is clear enough.
DAY 5
Alta
Alta
Alta is the most populated town in the county of Finmark, northern Norway. It is home to more than 6000 carvings on rocks, some of them dating as early as 4200 BC. Some areas have been turned into open-air museums, and we will have the chance to visit the main one! Afterward, we will visit the Northern Lights church. Then we will taste a local delicatessen, cod fish, for lunch. Alta also has an Ice Castle Hotel, where we will be amazed by the architecture and ice sculptures.
In the night, we will rest in a cozy Four-star hotel. (Double room).
DAY 6
Pello
Pello
Today we will return to Finland. To the nice and wild area of Pello, a town surrounded by wilderness but with all the comfort for travelers. Here we will undertake in one of the most iconic activities, practiced broadly in the area. Ice fishing is a relaxing and fun experience. We will drill a hole in the frozen surface of a lake, and we will try our luck with the fish! Whether we catch something or not, we will make a barbecue in the snow and we will cook salmon.
After all the adventure, we will experience another iconic activity. We will enjoy a traditional sauna, that we can combine with some ice swimming! (Only for the bravest). At last but not least, we will take you in our Aurora Nest and pull you around with snowmobiles, while you relax in the cabin looking at the sky and hopefully, spotting some Northern lights!
DAY 7
Departure Day
Departure Day
In our last day, we will visit Ranua´s Arctic Wildlife Zoo, where we will meet more than 50 species of arctic animals, including of course the polar bear. After a delicious lunch, we will visit a Sámi Art Workshop, where the artisans will teach us how to make crafts and souvenirs! This will be the last activity of the tour, so we will take you to Rovaniemi and sadly, say goodbye.