Everything you need to know about Lapland

At around 100,000 km², Finnish Lapland alone is almost 2.5 times the size of the Netherlands, yet fewer than 180,000 people live there. Swedish Lapland is roughly as big and just as empty, and Finnmark, the northernmost part of Norway, is bigger than the whole of the Netherlands at around 48,000 km², with only some 75,000 inhabitants. Sometimes you’ll drive for an hour here without passing a single house, though you will pass a herd of reindeer. There are almost as many of them roaming Finland as there are people living in Lapland. Spoiler: every single one of them belongs to someone.

Finland and Sweden are members of the EU and Norway isn’t, but all three are part of the Schengen Area. So you can simply travel with your ID card. The big difference is in your wallet: in Finland you pay in euros, in Sweden in Swedish kronor and in Norway in Norwegian kroner. Beyond that, Lapland mostly has a great deal of what we miss in the Netherlands: space, silence, snow and a starry sky that leaves you speechless.

Lapland has a subarctic climate: long, cold winters and short, surprisingly warm summers. In winter the average is between -10 and -20 °C, but -30 °C is no exception. Finland’s cold record of -51.5 °C was even measured in Kittilä, and Norway’s of -51.4 °C in Karasjok. Thanks to the Gulf Stream, the Norwegian coast is a lot milder, but inland, on the Finnmarksvidda plateau, it gets just as cold. In summer the mercury can easily climb to 25 °C. In between lies everything you can imagine, sometimes on the same day.

What makes Lapland truly special is the light. Above the Arctic Circle the sun doesn’t rise at all for a while in winter: the polar night, kaamos in Finnish. In the far north it lasts about seven weeks. It isn’t pitch dark, though: during the day the sky turns pink and deep blue for a few hours. In summer it’s the other way round and the sun doesn’t set for weeks. The Sámi don’t have four seasons but eight, and honestly, you only get that once you’ve been there.

If you can, avoid May and late October to mid-November. Everything is thawing or freezing, there’s too little snow to ski, and many accommodations and tours are closed.

The Sámi are the only recognised indigenous people in the EU. They have lived in the north of Scandinavia and Russia for thousands of years. There are an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 Sámi, most of whom live in Norway. Norway, Sweden and Finland each have their own Sámi parliament; the Finnish one sits in the beautiful wooden Sajos building in Inari, the Norwegian one in Karasjok. Nine Sámi languages are still spoken, and some of them differ from each other more than Dutch and German do.

Reindeer herding is still the heart of Sámi culture. In Sweden and Norway, herding reindeer is largely reserved for the Sámi; in Finland other Finns are allowed to do it too. In Lapland you’ll also hear the joik, an age-old way of singing in which you don’t sing about something, but evoke someone or something. And then there’s the gákti, the colourful traditional dress that tells you which region someone comes from.

Want to know more? Then head to the Siida museum in Inari, the Ájtte museum in Jokkmokk or the Sámi museum in Karasjok. You’ll learn more about Lapland there in an afternoon than in a week of skiing.

And then there are the Finns, the Swedes and the Norwegians themselves. Stand at a bus stop in Finland and you’ll see people waiting neatly three metres apart. That isn’t rude, it’s actually polite: you don’t bother other people. Small talk isn’t necessary and silences aren’t awkward. Swedes and Norwegians are a bit chattier, but love their space just as much. In Sweden everything revolves around lagom: not too much, not too little. All three have one thing in common: as soon as you’re sitting in a sauna or around a campfire, they suddenly open up.

Christmas is a big deal in Lapland, of course. According to the Finns, Father Christmas simply lives in Rovaniemi, and presents arrive here on 24 December. In Sweden the whole country watches Donald Duck at three o’clock that afternoon: a tradition since 1959, honestly. On 6 December Finland celebrates Independence Day and you’ll see two candles in windows everywhere. In Norway 17 May, Constitution Day, is the biggest celebration: in Tromsø and Alta, too, parades with flags fill the streets. On top of that, there are two days you really need to know about. Bear in mind that shops may be closed and public transport may run to a different timetable.

Lapland cuisine is honest and pure, and revolves around what the land provides: reindeer, fish from the cold rivers and lakes, and berries. Lots and lots of berries. The best-known dish is poronkäristys: thinly sliced, sautéed reindeer with mashed potato and a generous spoonful of lingonberries. In Swedish and Norwegian Lapland you’ll eat suovas, reindeer meat smoked to a Sámi recipe, often in a wrap of flat gáhkku bread. And don’t forget the creamy salmon soup lohikeitto, perfect after a day in the snow.

Lapland’s gold is the cloudberry (lakka in Finnish, hjortron in Swedish and molte in Norwegian). This orange berry only grows in bogs in the far north and is so prized that there are places where you can’t just pick it. You eat it warm over leipäjuusto, a baked cheese that squeaks between your teeth. Sounds odd, but you’ll miss it.

And then there’s the coffee. Finns drink more coffee per person than anyone else in the world. In Lapland they sometimes drop cubes of kaffeost (coffee cheese) into it, which you fish out with a spoon once you’ve finished your drink. My advice? Just try it.

In Lapland you’ll be dealing with three currencies. Luckily, paying is super easy in all three countries: you can pay contactless with your debit or credit card almost everywhere, right down to the tiniest coffee shop.

Whatever you do, bring a credit card. You’ll need it for the deposit on your hire car and at unstaffed petrol stations, of which Lapland has quite a few.

Grocery shopping in Lapland is a little more expensive than in the Netherlands. In bigger towns like Rovaniemi, Kiruna and Tromsø it’s not too bad, but in remote villages and ski resorts you’ll quickly pay a lot more. So stock up whenever you pass a big supermarket.

In Finland Lidl is the cheapest. Then there’s the S Group (S-Market and the large Prisma) and the K Group (from K-Market to K-Citymarket). In Sweden Lidl and Willys are the cheapest, with ICA and Coop in the mid-range. In the smallest villages the ICA is often the only shop, doubling as post office and meeting place. In Norway Rema 1000, Kiwi and Coop Extra are the cheapest, but expect to pay quite a bit more there than in Finland and Sweden.

Fancy a drink on holiday? Then it’s worth knowing how things work in all three countries, because you can’t just buy spirits in the supermarket.

Rovaniemi is the capital of Finnish Lapland and, with around 65,000 inhabitants, also its largest town. At the end of the Second World War it was almost completely burnt down by retreating German troops. Architect Alvar Aalto then designed a new street plan in the shape of… a reindeer’s antlers. A few kilometres outside town lies the Arctic Circle, and that’s where, according to the Finns, Father Christmas lives, in Santa Claus Village. Want to really understand Lapland? Then visit the Arktikum museum.

Other places you should know are Inari, the Sámi heart of Finland, the ski villages of Levi, Ylläs and Saariselkä, and in Sweden Kiruna and Abisko. Kiruna is a remarkable story: because the iron ore mine beneath the town keeps expanding, the entire town centre is being moved a few kilometres, wooden church and all. Nearby, in Jukkasjärvi, the famous Icehotel has been rebuilt every winter since 1989 from river ice.

In Norwegian Lapland they are Tromsø, the largest town in northern Norway with around 78,000 inhabitants, Alta with its rock carvings that are thousands of years old (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), and Karasjok and Kautokeino, Norway’s main Sámi towns. And then, of course, there’s the famous North Cape.

Everything you’ve heard about mosquitoes in Lapland is true. The Finns even have their own word for it: räkkä, the period when mosquitoes, flies and horseflies rule. It runs from about mid-June to the end of July, exactly when the midnight sun is at its most beautiful. Of course. In August the midges take over, which are even smaller and at least as annoying.

Luckily, you can protect yourself perfectly well. Wear long sleeves and long trousers, and bring a mosquito head net when you go hiking. You’ll look ridiculous, but nobody here will see you anyway. Buy your insect repellent locally: it really works much better than what you can buy in the Netherlands. Djungelolja comes from Sweden, of all places, and is my personal favourite. It smells strong and doesn’t soak in, but the mosquitoes simply fly away from you.

The secret to a great winter in Lapland? Layers. Start with a thermal base layer of wool or merino right against your skin, a warm fleece or down jacket over that, and as your outer layer a jacket and trousers that are windproof and waterproof. Avoid cotton: it gets damp from your sweat and then you actually get cold. At -25 °C you especially want to protect your hands, feet and face well: wear mittens (they’re warmer than gloves) with thin gloves underneath, thick woollen socks and a neck warmer or buff. Buy your winter boots a size bigger, so there’s room for an extra pair of socks.

Good to know: on many husky, snowmobile and reindeer trips you’ll be lent a thermal overall and boots. In summer, the tips from my Norway page apply: make sure you stay dry and can always put something on or take something off.

Lapland is closer than you think. In winter KLM flies direct from Schiphol to Rovaniemi and Kittilä (the airport for Levi and Ylläs). You’ll be there in about three hours. In the 2025–2026 winter season KLM flew to Rovaniemi four times a week and to Kittilä every Sunday. Outside the winter season, the easiest way to fly is via Helsinki to Rovaniemi, Kittilä, Ivalo or Kuusamo, or via Stockholm to Kiruna and Luleå. For Norwegian Lapland you fly via Oslo to Tromsø, Alta or Kirkenes.

If you really want to explore Lapland, hire a car. The distances are huge: from Rovaniemi to Inari is already well over 300 kilometres, and along the way you’ll mainly see forest, lakes and reindeer. Petrol stations are few and far between, so ideally fill up as soon as your tank is half empty. There are hardly any motorways; you’ll usually drive at 80 to 100 km/h on quiet, straight roads. That sounds boring, but it never is. There’s always a chance of a reindeer standing in the middle of the road and it rarely is in a hurry.

The traffic rules in Finland, Sweden and Norway are very similar to those in the Netherlands. A few things to watch out for:

For all the traffic rules, see the Dutch ANWB pages on Finland, Norway and Sweden.

There are no official tourist routes in Finnish and Swedish Lapland, but there are in Norwegian Lapland: Varanger and Havøysund are part of Norway’s Nasjonale turistveger (National Tourist Routes). And everywhere you’ll find roads that are a destination in themselves. My favourites:

Lapland by train is an adventure in itself. In Finland the night train runs from Helsinki to Rovaniemi in about twelve hours, and in season it continues to Kolari. You can even take your car on the train. In Sweden the night train runs from Stockholm to the north; for Kiruna and Abisko you change at Boden in 2026. My personal favourite is the Ore Line from Kiruna via Abisko to Narvik in Norway. You go straight from the Swedish fells into the Norwegian fjords. In summer you can also take the Inlandsbanan for a leisurely trundle through the interior to the north.

No car? You’ll get further by bus than you might think. In Finland long-distance buses connect Rovaniemi with Inari, Ivalo and Kilpisjärvi, among others, and in winter ski buses run from the airports to the ski villages. In Swedish Lapland the regional operator is Länstrafiken Norrbotten. In Norwegian Lapland regional buses link the bigger towns, such as Tromsø, Alta and Karasjok, and along the coast the Hurtigruten ship simply doubles as public transport. Do always check the timetable: sometimes there’s only one bus a day.

In Lapland you can walk for hours without meeting a soul. No jagged peaks like in southern Norway, but endless, rolling fells (tunturi in Finnish) and plateaus like the Finnmarksvidda: bare, rounded hills above the treeline with views all the way to the horizon. Whether you want to do a day hike or spend a week trekking from hut to hut with your rucksack, this is the place to do it. And in winter you simply swap your hiking boots for snowshoes or cross-country skis.

Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian Lapland are full of protected nature. In Sweden, Sarek, Padjelanta, Stora Sjöfallet and Muddus, together with two nature reserves, make up the Laponia area, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996 for its nature and its Sámi culture. Sarek is sometimes called Europe’s last wilderness: there are no marked trails and no huts. So it’s for experienced hikers only.

The best-known national parks:

Hiking is very personal. One person loves a gentle circular walk, another wants to see nobody for a whole week. Below are my favourite hikes in Lapland.

Routes are well marked in all three countries. In Finland you usually follow orange paint stripes on trees and wooden signposts. In the Swedish fells you follow red dots on stones and cairns in summer, and in winter poles with red crosses on them. In Norway you follow the red Ts of the Norwegian Trekking Association, DNT.

In all three countries the right to roam applies: jokamiehenoikeus in Finnish, allemansrätten in Swedish and allemannsretten in Norwegian. Everyone is free to go out into nature to hike, ski, cycle and camp, as long as you respect it. The golden rule: leave everything as you found it, and preferably even better.

In an emergency, call 112 in Finland and Sweden. In Norway 112 is the police, and you call 113 for an ambulance. Before you leave, install the 112 Suomi app (Finland) or Hjelp 113 (Norway): it lets the emergency services see where you are. Do make sure you set the app up properly beforehand.

For most people Lapland is simply synonymous with winter, and I completely get it. Few things are as magical as gliding through a snowy forest behind a team of huskies while the sky turns pink.

During the polar night the sun doesn’t rise above the Arctic Circle, but you’re not sitting in the dark. Around midday the sky turns soft pink, purple and deep blue for a few hours: the most beautiful light I know. For photographers it’s a dream.

A husky sled or reindeer sleigh ride is on almost everyone’s list. Do choose consciously, though: ask how the dogs live, how much they run each day and whether they get a good retirement after their working life. Reindeer farms are often run by Sámi families. There you’ll also really learn something about their way of life.

And then there’s the sauna: in Finland it’s not an outing but a way of life. There are an estimated three million saunas for 5.6 million inhabitants, and since 2020 Finnish sauna culture has been on the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage. Dare to try? Then after a good sweat, run through the snow for a moment or take a dip in a hole in the ice, an avanto. You’ll never have felt so alive.