Silence reigns. A white wonderland extends. The aurora plays and the huskies sing. Humbled by scale, enlivened by details, your journey into Finnish Lapland is one of beauty and serenity. For one week, you’re immersed in the ever-changing wilderness, traveling by reindeer sled and snowmobile, sleeping in a glass igloo beneath the Northern Lights. Ice fishing, smoke sauna evenings, riding huskies through the wild...there’s no place like it. Are you planning your once-in-a-lifetime dream vacation...
Customizable Itinerary
Day 1
Äkäslompolo – Dreamy First Impressions of Finnish Lapland
Kittila is an hour’s flight north of Helsinki, window seats providing a glorious idea of how remote Lapland really is. There’s nothing down below, nothing but snow and forest, a wonderland that is more surreal once you land. Except in early winter, the snow tends to be soft and powdery; jump into it and when you emerge the snow brushes off. Snow covers the white spruce and Douglas fir trees, forming peculiar shapes along the waxy needles. Pines and hemlocks also have their winter coverings, each tree a distinctive work of art that rises many meters above you.
Touch down and transfer by road – snow chains on the wheels – to a boutique hotel on the Äkäslompolo lakeshore. From here you look out across a frozen expanse, then onwards, out towards the sense of infinity that the Arctic Circle creates. At first, it all looks the same, snow and trees and wilderness from every angle. But even on this first day, you start to realize that every angle is different. This is a silent land and while some people escape to tropical beaches, there’s nowhere better than Finnish Lapland for resting and recharging your batteries. So discover the smoke sauna and hot tub on the lake, go for a walk or ski in the surrounding landscape, and appreciate the solitude of a first night in the Arctic.
What's Included:
Day 2
Äkäslompolo – Husky Safari Through the Snow
Day 3
Äkäslompolo – Ice Fishing and Snowmobile Safari
Day 4
Äkäslompolo – Reindeer Sledding and Another Evening in the Smoke Sauna
Day 5
Levi – Sleeping in a Glass Igloo Beneath the Lappish Skies
Day 6
Levi – Immersed in a White Wilderness
Day 7
Kittila – Departure
Trip Highlights
- Cruise through a white wonderland on a husky safari, an intimate connection to a remote Arctic Circle world
- Sleep beneath the Northern Lights with two nights in a glass igloo, the aurora weaving a spell through the nighttime sky
- Ride snowmobiles through the wilderness, a superb impression of Lapland’s scale
- Spend an afternoon ice fishing on a frozen lake; a tradition kept alive in this remote corner of the world
- Savor the warm serenity of an outdoor smoke sauna and hot tub, the most classic of all Finnish experiences
- Dine on locally sourced Lapland food, increasing your immersion in an inimitable land
- Ride through the wilderness on a reindeer sled, a journey of nature and silence
Detailed Description
At first, it seems that everything looks the same. The white world extends in all directions, and it looks as if the wilderness never ends. Silence. Serenity. Solitude. The snow is marked by prints of huskies and a sled that came this way. Look in another direction and find different prints; reindeer passed here. Soon you learn that no two angles are ever the same in Finnish Lapland. Everywhere you look there’s a new detail, yet everywhere you go there’s the same thoughtful impression of silence. When you leave Finnish Lapland after a week, you realize that it’s the feeling of the wilderness that stays the same, an escape from everything else in the world.
This one-week vacation is the iconic Lapland getaway. You travel to the Arctic Circle and lose your senses in a wild world, reindeers and snowmobiles, and huskies taking you around. Brightening the nightly sky is the aurora, viewed around 150 nights per year in this part of the world. With six nights in Lapland including two in a glass igloo, you should witness the northern lights on multiple occasions with multiple colors swirling through the sky. There’s more to the evenings than this spectacle though, outdoor smoke saunas and hot tubs maintain the inimitability.
Handcrafted as the complete Finnish Lapland escape, this itinerary is designed for travel from November to April. The first snow falls in October and stays on the ground into May. December and January see little daylight but have a frosty, ethereal real, with dusk colors extending for four or five hours during the day. February and March tend to have clear nights and the spring equinox is generally the ultimate time to witness the aurora borealis. The nights brighten quickly after this, but snow continues to cover the ground, so many different adventures are possible.
You land in Kittila and spend several nights on Äkäslompolo’s lakeshore, where a smoke sauna stands on the frozen water. Then travel by reindeer to Levi and spend two nights in a glass igloo, the prime aurora viewing experience. The first days are relatively active with soft adventures in the snow. Take a husky safari through the wild, a very pristine connection with nature. Drive snowmobiles to get a sense of the land’s scale, stopping to go ice fishing on the route. Try reindeer sledding and craft your own path through the virgin snow. From Levi, you can ski and snowmobile as well, each day a chance to find your own way in Finnish Lapland. There are also options for fat bikes, cross-country skiing, kick sledges and tobogganing, even downhill skiing from nearby Levi.
Traditional foods are featured throughout with locally sourced ingredients given a fine-dining twist. Think berry juice, cured fish, pea soup, game meats and soft cheeses. Special winter suits are provided depending on the season, essential for a day of exploring when temperatures are regularly in negative Fahrenheit. While the safari-style activities are guided for the rest of the time, you can make your own exploration here, feeling the escapism and exclusivity of this white land. The silence is breathtaking, the solitude can be absolute, and the setting seems likes a place of magic.
Finland is a region unlike other; learn more by seeing how our Finland travel companies can personalize the experience for you.
Starting Price
$4,000 per person (excluding international flights)
Your Zicasso trip is fully customizable, and this sample itinerary is a starting place for your travel plans. Actual costs are dynamic, and your selection of accommodations and activities, your season of travel, and other such variables will bring this budget guideline up or down. Throughout your planning experience with your Zicasso specialist, your itinerary is designed around your budget. You can book your trip when you are satisfied with every detail. Planning your trip with a Zicasso travel specialist is a free service.
What's Included
- Accommodations
- In-country transportation
- Some or all activities and tours
- Expert trip planning
- 24x7 support during your trip
Your final trip cost will vary based on your selected accommodations, activities, meals, and other trip elements that you opt to include.
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