Finland & Norway 2026

Ok… it was now time to venture yet again into the Arctic and to do this, we needed to go from Salzburg via train to Frankfurt for a one night stay and then a flight to Helsinki, Finland.

As an aside, our short stay in Frankfurt was pleasant with a walk to the old town around sunset and it seems to be a very nice city with a blend of old and new.

Sunset in Frankfurt

 

Main square Old Town of Frankfurt

Modern city of Frankfurt

Traditional building Frankfurt

 

So why the arctic areas of Scandinavia yet again, and especially in the middle of winter having been there twice before?

Previously we had travelled into the arctic in part to see the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights.  Last year we managed to see the Aurora Australis in Tasmania, but they are not quite the same light show as in the north.

In the arctic however… we had not been successful!

The desire to get this done was further reinforced by the trip to Lapland, Finland and Tromsø, Norway by or UK & Queensland family members 2 years ago and they had delighted in sharing their Aurora sighting pictures from the night before... 5 nights of it!!

Good Aurora activity goes in cycles provoked by the Sun and we were currently in the downside of good cycle, so our planning for the Scandinavian itinerary started forming, but it also began growing each time our Queensland son rang us to offer yet another idea or suggestion.  These were both welcomed and very useful.

So to kick this off, below is our route map showing the extent of our travels within Finland and Norway during their winter and as you will learn through this post, it involved trains, buses, ships and planes.

It was quite the journey through both Finland and Norway

Having only 1 night in Helsinki in -6°C temperatures worked fine due to the time the plane landed giving us time that afternoon and then most of the following day to explore this city, one we had visited before in 2013.

Went walking through Helsinki our first night

Quite the spectacle at night

Small challenge however as we had arrived here on New Years Eve which was both good and bad.  Bad in that most restaurants were already booked out but good because of the energy in the city that night and the fun the locals had, letting off their own fireworks constantly before midnight.

So this time in Helsinki had a different vibe and we actually got to see more than the first time we visited and enjoyed it quite a bit.

Helsinki Cathedral

City mall in Helsinki

Our Scandinavian travels were broken into 2 primary areas, the first being Lapland in northern Finland and then the high arctic areas of Norway.

With snow on the ground... locals using public saunas
before then dipping into nearby cold water pool!

Lapland

Our starting destination in Lapland was Rovaniemi and to reach it we boarded the train in Helsinki called the Santa Express at around 7pm for a 12 hour overnight trip in a sleeper cabin.  It is called the Santa Express because Rovaniemi is the home of Santa located in the very popular Santa Claus Village.

         

We boarded the Santa Express for our 12 hour overnight trip into the arctic

The train was quite full, especially with a lot of children on board and the trip quite uneventful, but we had to be ready to disembark on schedule in Rovaniemi with a few hundred others at 7am into the pitch black, snow and icy conditions into a temperature around -15°C.  Bit of a change!

Very quiet in Rovaniemi at 7am in winter

Being this far north at this time of the year meant we only had about 4 hours of good light and there was no sunrise or sunset.

Nothing much was open, including our accommodation, so we dragged our luggage along snow covered icy paths to a service station where we had breakfast and waited a few hours before then walking further to our accommodation to drop luggage off.

With only one night in Rovaniemi, first priority was to visit the place most people go to, Santa Claus Village.  We weren’t overly interested in catching up with the big fella in red, but were impressed with what this tourist Mecca had to offer people.

The village and its range of activities is quite extensive

So this is where Santa can be found

Christmas decorations still on show in the village

Apart from meeting Santa, at the village there is an Arctic Circle crossing point, Santa Post Office, animals like reindeers, alpacas, plus husky and reindeer rides, all sorts of shops, sliding down snow rich slopes and accommodation options of different types.  It is big enough for some people to spend a full day there.

Standing at the Arctic Circle in the village

Santas reindeers waiting to take visitors for a ride

Also in Rovaniemi is Santa Park, an underground Christmas theme park built inside a former air-raid shelter, which has multiple attractions.  You pay to enter this park and its really designed for kids and we were advised Santa Village would be better for us.

After a few hours at the village, we caught a bus back into town where we spent more time just wandering around, including reaching the river where the sun was at its highest.  By now the temperature was down to -18°C, so we found somewhere to enjoy hot chocolate, lunch and simply to warm up.

The sun stays very low in the sky for only a few hours

It was getting colder!

Ice sculptures on show in downtown Levi

After checking into our accommodation, we rested and eventually headed back out again for dinner before enjoying a good nights sleep, tackling even lower temperatures in the morning to walk to the bust station to catch a bus.

Now from this morning till the end of our time in the Arctic, every time we got dressed to go out anywhere, a tour, sightseeing or simply to a supermarket, meant it would take each of us at least 15 minutes to put everything on to stay warm!

Walking to the bus station with
the moon shining brightly

It was around -21°C as we trudged our way along some deserted back streets in the dark to the bus station to a cafe and a warm seating area to enjoy breakfast whilst watching the number of other people also intent on catching a bus.

Our bus trip would be a 2.5hr trip further north to a town called Levi, still in Lapland, where we would be staying for 3 nights.

In Finland, it is not a legal requirement to have everyone seated on a bus, so were advised when our bus arrived for Rob to take our 2 backpacks and head straight to the bus to board and grab seats whilst my job was to drag both suitcases to be loaded underneath.  Very good tip!

Catching our bus further into Lapland

It is quite interesting to be on a bus doing 90-100 kph through snow laden forests of pine trees on roads covered with snow and ice.  This trip was also uneventful and we arrived into Levi on time and found our accommodation for the next 3 nights.

On our way to Levi by bus

The further north we travelled, the colder it got

View from the bus to Levi

The temperature was -22°C in Levi and after visiting the supermarket for food it was now time to try and tick off one more goal.

Camper-van parked out from of our accommodation in Levi

You may have seen videos of people throwing boiling water above their heads and it instantly freezes into a cloud but to achieve this, temperatures need to be lower than -10°C.

Temperatures definitely below 10°C

So we boiled some water and took the kettle outside, poured some into a coffee cup and made a test throw in front of me. We both did it and it certainly worked.

First off, we put boiling water in a cup
then threw it away from us as a trial

Then it was time to throw it over my head

It was a lot of fun

Levi is also home to ski, snowboard and toboggan fields, which happen to be located right next to the town, so we took ourselves up on the gondola to get a birds eye view of Levi and to follow a path through a forest.  

The ski fields right next to the city of Levi

Looking back at Levi after the gondola ride

The reason, to reach a hidden, small, smokey, eclectic cafe, where an old lady makes pancakes, coffee or hot chocolates on an open fire.  It was also very popular!

Following the path through the
forest to the 'Secret Cafe'

Inside the cafe with the owner cooking
and making hot drinks on an open fire

There are a few other primary activities we had booked, the first being an ‘Aurora Hunt’ tour involving being picked up at 7:30pm by a van with 5 other tourists and guide in it and driving off into the wilderness.

This is our route during the 'Aurora Hunt'

Our hopes were low because of cloud covered skies but the word ‘hunt’ was the key word!  So we drove and drove and drove, the guide stopping frequently to check his mobile for tips from other guides and look at cloud and his aurora apps.

Stretching our legs during our drive into
the wilderness... cloudy skies above

After a few hours and the skies still covered in clouds, we stopped at a heavily snow covered parking bay, the guide gave us a hot drink, then lit a fire to enable everyone to cook a tasty sausage at the end of an extendable fork.

Waiting to start cooking something in the middle of nowhere

Then the hunt continued with more driving and eventually, there was a clear patch in the clouds and the faint light grey hint of the aurora showing.  Everyone piled out of the van and we had literally around 30 seconds to take a few photos of the aurora whilst hand holding the mobile before the clouds closed over again.

Our very brief glimpse of the Aurora!

That was it, but it was something, so we turned around and drove back to Levi, said our goodbyes to everyone and fell into bed around 1:00am.

Next day was set to do some snowmobiling and this time we were taken to the tour company’s premises to be kitted out with new gloves, boots, helmets and blue thermal overalls worn over all our existing clothing.

We were briefed on all the rules to be followed before heading off into some remote areas near Levi for 2 hours, riding 2 up on the snowmobile, me driving out to the turning point then Rob driving back.  

It was great fun but cold at a now very chilly -31°C, but very beautiful.

All dressed properly and being
briefed on snowmobile 'road' rules 

Ready to get going

Riding snowmobiles is not a smooth experience as the skis want to follow any ruts made by previous riders, so you're constantly jerking sideways but it is great because there was snow covering everything, the track, paddocks and trees.

It really is very beautiful

Stopped to have a nice warm drink

When we stopped for a hot drink to try and warm up, Rob delighted in walking over to a heavily snow laden tree and shaking it whilst standing underneath it.  The result… large volumes of snow falling all over her and very funny.  

Find a tree with snow on it and start shaking it

Oh... the snow falls out of it...

...and you disappear!

It did set off a few others in the tour group doing the same thing but I was spending my time trying to get snow out from her clothing, especially down the back of her neck.  So funny!

Now was time for Rob to take over the driving with me behind trying to take video with the mobile, again with the wind rushing past and with those -31°C temperatures.

Rob driving us back to the starting point

There was traffic to deal with

To use the mobile meant taking off the supplied glove and using a thinner glove with touchscreen capabilities, but this meant my hands were soon freezing and very painful.

Sitting higher than Rob behind her, meant my face also got extremely cold and I could feel the moisture in my noise freezing and the photo below might provide a sense of this.

It was very f*&#ing cold!!

The ride back also meant learning that Rob is a snowmobile hoon, using the accelerator frequently when she thought she needed to catch up to the rest of group.  We had a fabulous time but it did take us both some time to warm up again.

There was one final Levi tour to complete which involved visiting the Lapland Hotel Snow Village located about 40 minutes drive from Levi.  

Every year, they redesign 300,000 kgs of ice into themed individual attractions we walked through with inside temperatures ranging between -2°C to -5°C.  It also features an ice hotel, themed hotel suites, an ice bar, a restaurant, and a chapel.  Hopefully some photos explain what we experienced a lot better.

Looking at a section of the Snow Village from outside

Example ice carving display inside

The Ice Chapel where people can be married... all made of ice

The Ice Bar inside the Ice Hotel

Norway

With our time in both Levi and Lapland over, time to catch another bus from Levi to near the border with Norway for a change to a Norwegian bus for the drive to Tromsø.  

We followed the same approach as in Rovaniemi, secured seats and as we progressed, we watched the temperatures continuing to fall until it was time to change buses, including moving all our bags from one to the other in -34°C temperatures.

No words...

The trip to Tromsø took about 3 hrs and was a surprise because we learnt Lapland was at a much higher altitude, hence the very low temperatures, but those temperatures soon began to rise and by the time we reached Tromsø located on the island of Tromsøya reached via the Tromsø Bridge, the temperature had reached a ‘balmy’ -14°C.

We were quite familiar with Tromsø having visited in 2009, but it was only a brief visit, so this time our goal was to experience even more which we did by walking all around the city trying to also avoid the large amounts of ice on the footpaths that many people slipped over on.

Patchy ice like this was all over parts of
the roads and footpaths in Tromsø

The are memorials and interesting architecture in Tromsø

The main mall style street

The harbour area with Tromsø Bridge in the background

First day and night in Tromsø we did some typical sightseeing by walking around this very nice city and then at night caught a public bus then a gondola to reach Storsteinen a mountain overlooking Tromsø , providing spectacular views of the city.  There is also a cafe up there and yet another hot chocolate before we ventured back out into the cold to try for some aurora photos.

The view of Tromsø and beyond from Storsteinen at night

Unfortunately they were doing massive renovations of the structures on top of the mountain and had a many spotlights shining onto the construction site.  After trying to walk away from the light pollution into darker areas covered with knee high snow, we did manage to see and get some photos of some aurora but not good ones but it was a start.

To see it with all the light
pollution was a good omen

After taking the gondola back down to ground level and whilst waiting for a bus, we also managed to get some more aurora photos as it streamed across well lit homes.  Remember… a primary reason to be back in the arctic was to see the aurora and these were at this point some of the best we had seen.

There was even a hint of red!

Our very specific planned activities started with a whale watching tour in the middle of winter.  In this part of the world, the herring arrive in mass numbers to the top of Norway and they are followed by orcas, humpback and some fin whales.

Small issue though was available daylight which at this time of the year is around 4 hours of dusk type light and still no sunrise or sunset… actually no view of the sun at all.

We left the harbour at 8am for a 3-4 hour cruise north in amongst islands to reach the herring grounds, the salt water spray freezing on the decks as we progressed.

Our ship was identical to this sister ship

Not snow but ice all over the deck and external walkways

Time on site would only last 1hr due to rapidly fading light and we enjoyed watching for the entire time a pod of orcas feeding very quietly.  We enjoyed it as orcas are one of our favourites and after the hour had passed it was time to head back.

In amongst them were some young orcas

Cruising for food

Back in Tromsø and after 3 nights, we re-packed and headed for the harbour to board the ship Capella for a Havila Voyage cruise on the ship north to Kirkeness located at the border between Norway and Russia then a return back to Tromsø.

The Capella berthed during the cruise

We were aboard the ship for 3 nights but our arrival back into Tromsø was at midnight on the 4^th day and during the total trip we stopped at 23 small towns, some for only 10-15 minutes whilst cargo supplying each was loaded/unloaded.

The cruise route to/from the border with Russia

One of the small towns we briefly stopped at near the top of Norway

The ship was very comfortable and the food on board was really good, a little like a normal cruise line and there were many areas where we could sit and watch the world go by when there was some dusk style daylight available.

The dining area on the ship

One of the numerous lounge style areas aboard

The ship also offered in ports where they deliberately stayed longer, off-ship excursions and we booked 2 of these.

The first was to North Cape, which is the northernmost point in Europe that can be accessed by car and is located on the northern coast of the island of Magerøya in northern Norway. Here there is the North Cape Globe where people doing this excursion took photos of themselves standing next to it, plus a very good visitors centre explaining the history of the area.

The North Cape Globe at the top of Europe

Had to do it

An extremely good visitors centre at North Cape

Our 2^nd excursion happened after reaching Kirkeness located 400 kms north of the Arctic Circle and also 16 kms from the Russian border, which we visited, after also going underground into a WWII bomb shelter.  

Kirkeness received 328 air raids from the Russians against the Germans during the war and was one of the most heavily bombed cities in WWII.  Russia was trying to protect attempts by the Germans to capture Murmansk a mere 223 kms away.

Part of the underground and cold bomb shelter

There wasn’t much to see at the actual border apart from barriers and buildings, but we did walk out onto a frozen lake and probably came within 300 metres of crossing an invisible border line.  Russians and Norwegians used to cross quite freely at this border, with Murmansk in Russia not being too far away, but that had all stopped after the war in Ukraine started.

The border with Russia

Walking out onto the frozen lake near Kirkeness

One of the other prime reasons for also being on this cruise was the aurora because the ship would be away from the influence of land, a prime driver of cloud creation or so we hoped.

It worked and for the entire time during our cruise from around 5 pm onwards, the lady aurora came out to dance.  Photographically it was a bit of a challenge because the decks were covered in ice, the sea had a roll to it and we were travelling at 25 kph.

Everytime the aurora was visible
the energy rose in the ship

It was quite a show

The aurora would reach right across the sky

So from almost as soon as we had left Tromsø to our return, every night we were able to stand or slide on deck and look at the dull green of the aurora across sections of the whole sky from horizon to horizon with the naked eye.  It was amazing and some 300-400 photos later by mobile and camera we had truly achieved our aurora goal.

Out on deck watching the show

Sometimes it seemed to spread
right across the sky

Normally when you see the aurora at night, it appears like a dull grey cloud in the sky, but camera sensors pick up the colours better than our eyes do.  This time though, they were strong enough to allow us to see a dull green colour especially.

Back into both Tromsø and our original Airbnb, we did more sightseeing, this time visiting the Arctic Cathedral over on the mainland which we reached by public bus before walking back across the beautifully curved Tromsø Bridge.

The Arctic Cathedral with Storsteinen behind it
where we got the night views of Tromsø

Inside the very simple
Arctic Cathedral

Below the bridge on the Tromsø side pointing back to the cathedral is something called ‘The Gateway to the Arctic’ which we had learnt about and could see looking down from the bridge.  It is a handmade mosaic arch, created by a 90 year old artist and only inaugurated in 2024 and it perfectly frames the Arctic Cathedral on the other side of the water.

View of Tromsø from the bridge

The Gateway to the Arctic

We still had a few things to complete in Tromsø which included visiting a nearby beach which was interesting considering everything was covered in snow and also going for a walk onto another ice lake with locals walking their dogs.  Here we got an extremely brief glimpse of the sun rising for the first time again.

What a beach near Tromsø in winter looks like

Standing on a frozen lake near Tromsø

Talking about dogs, did manage to try one of Tromsø reindeer hot dogs, bought from a very small stand in the main street of Tromsø and having waited in a queue to get one.  They’re very popular and tasted delicious.

Me waiting in a queue for a reindeer hotdog

Delicious!

The final major activity before leaving Tromsø was yet another aurora tour and again we were picked up by a van, our guide being a professional local photographer called Barbora.  Again the sky was cloudy as we headed off but Barbora was confident of finding clear skies which we did after heading south of the city for a few hours.

Where the Tromsø aurora tour drove to find clear skies

Her approach was first to find clear skies, find a good north facing location and then wait for the aurora to appear.  Well the location was on the side of yet another frozen lake and when we arrived, the aurora was already reasonably active.

We never tired of watching the aurora

So from a photography point of view, no moving and rocking ship to contend with, the camera was set up to take a photograph every 2 seconds with the hope of getting a reasonable shot out of it.  Rob in the meantime was taking photos using the mobile and doing a very good job of it.  

Actually took 163 photos here in order to try creating a time-lapse of the aurora .

Again we were provided with warm drinks and a fire lit on the lake in a steel drum so that more sausages could be cooked by us all and enjoyed.  Barbora in the meantime was taking her photos of the aurora and of her guests to provide to us the following day.

Barbora's photo of us enjoying a fire on a frozen lake

As time progressed, that steel drum with the fire in it started slowly sinking into the ice of the frozen lake until the fire was extinguished and the drum moved.

It was time to return to Tromsø but Barbora ask if we were willing to stay out a little longer and visit a location next to a fjord, something she doesn’t do very often.  Everyone was happy to do this, so with a slight detour we were back out of the van and oh boy!

Not only was the aurora still active but the other side of the fjord had these magnificent snow capped pointy mountains which appeared almost magically each time a photo was taken.  Again Barbora got very busy taking photos of the spectacle in front of us and also taking photos of the scenery behind us… see below!

These mountains were not visible
before taking the photo

Another of Barbora's photos

For us our time back in the arctic had been a major success, not just for the range of other progressive activities we experienced but because naturally by now, we could well and truly tick the Northern Lights off our bucket list.

Thank you Barbora for a photo we cherish

Our time in the arctic however was at an end as we boarded a plane taking us way back south to Oslo where we would spend a night in a hotel near the airport. On arrival it was snowing, something we had hardly experienced either in Lapland of arctic Norway because it had been too cold and dry.

Every time a plane landed these would clear the runway of any snow

View from hotel window near the airport

Next day having boarded the plane, we taxied to a specific location on the runway. With two praying mantis type mechanical arms attached to a truck, they very carefully de-iced the plane for 20-30 minutes to ensure a safe take-off, yet another interesting experience provided by this part of the world.

The de-icing units at work

Flying out of Tromsø for most likely
the last time and heading towards home

Our time in Scandinavia on this occasion had certainly exceeded our hopes as our plane started its journey southwards towards home at long last, but not before one more stop along the way.

CLICK HERE for more photos of Scandinavia 2026

CLICK HERE for video of Lapland & Norway

CLICK HERE for some Aurora time-lapse & video

There will be one… yes only one more post to complete this very long overall trip and it was something very different for us so till then... go well!