Helsinki and Rovaniemi Holiday Tour

Today you will do a city tour of Helsinki centre. Tour includes everything there is to know about the Finnish culture and history and focuses especially on the life of the locals. Helsinki is a compact city and best approached on foot. Walking tour is also by far the most sustainable and environmentally friendly way to conduct sightseeing. 

Today you visit a totally new country and go on a day trip to Tallinn, Estonia. Tallinn is a lively yet peaceful, photogenic and charming city full of wonderful sights and rich culture. A city that combines the modern world with ancient churches, medieval streetscapes and noble merchants’ houses. The UNESCO listed Old Town is one of the best preserved Hanseatic town centres in the world. Cobble stoned streets, narrow alleyways and charming courtyards, all can be seen during your 2-hour city tour included in the Helsinki and Rovaniemi holiday package. After the tour you have some free time to explore Tallinn independently. A stone’s throw away you’ll find the city’s business centre with modern towers, trendy bohemian neighbourhoods, manicured 18th-century park and promenades.  

In the evening it’s time to head back to Helsinki to catch your Santa Claus Express Train to Lapland. Travelling by an overnight sleeper train is an experience on its own. Besides being the most sustainable way of travelling, overnight train also lets you spend the day to do actual touring, while saving money on your accommodation. The journey takes about 12 hours. After your arrival, the next morning, in Rovaniemi, a driver will meet you at the train station and take you to your accommodation. As you will arrive early in the morning, the check in won’t be possible yet but you can leave your bags at the hotel and go out to explore the magical Lapland. 

Free time: We know that one of the highlights of Rovaniemi is visiting Santa Claus in his village office. Today you will have a chance to travel to the official village of Santa Claus on your own. There you’ll finally get to meet Santa Claus and visit the Official Santa’s Post Office where you can write and send letters to friends and family. You can also receive your certificate of crossing the arctic circle there and of course you will have plenty of options for souvenir shopping, there are a lot of shops there. As visiting Santa’s village is free and it’s very crowded there during winter months we don’t offer this as a tour but we suggest you visit this on your own. 

A lot of people travel to Finland to see northern lights and in the evening it’s time for the best Rovaniemi northern lights tour. Remember that the Northern Lights are wily and unpredictable, but this tour will give you the best possible chance to see them. Your professional guide will determine where the highest possible chance for aurora sightings is. You will visit a few different locations unless your guide knows for sure that Northern lights will appear on a certain location, then you’ll go there. All you have to do is sit back and enjoy the show. Duration of the northern lights tour is about 4,5 hours. For an additional fee you can upgrade to a tour with a professional photographer. 

Your day will start with a visit to an authentic reindeer farm. We have carefully chosen one of the most traditional reindeer farms where you will meet the reindeer herder family. You will explore everyday life in the farm, get to feed the reindeer and hear some great stories and facts about reindeer herding in Lapland and how it is an integral part of the nature and culture in Northern Finland. During winter months, when there’s snow, you can also do a short reindeer sleigh safari. Herder will also be happy to answer your questions around a warming open fire where a delicious home-made salmon soup will be served with hot drinks (vegan option possible on request), and pancakes cooked over the open fire.

After that you will continue with a drive to the Husky park where you get to meet the photogenic dogs. Huskies are born to run, and they are happy to take you on a little safari. During winter months, when there’s snow, you can glide through the snowfields of Lapland on a husky-pulled sleigh! Just sit back and snap some excellent photos. After the safari, you can spend some time with the dogs: they love cuddles and photos! This is a premium experience with visits of two authentic family-sized places, not crowded touristic places. Duration of the reindeer and husky tour is about 5 hours.