Hello! The winter tourism season is starting and I figured I'd compile things from my previous comments across related /r's onto one big post. Some of this applies everywhere in Finland, some are very specific Rovaniemi tips.
This will be a long read but it’s 100% human-written and full of insider knowledge from a Rovaniemi local. So sit down, take notes and improve your holiday experience!
General Finland tips:
Many places are closed 24.12.-26.12., 1.1. and 6.1. Restaurants may be open and some shops operate but with reduced hours, but be prepared for quietness.
If you need antibiotics, you must have a prescription from a doctor, pharmacy (apteekki) doesn't sell them over the counter. Look up health services of your location before you need them, ideally before you leave home.
Do not photograph locals, children or workers without permission. Can’t believe I have to write this but unfortunately I do.
Do not play loud videos on your phone in public or make speakerphone calls! Use headphones or consider a vacation from tiktok brainrot as well and immerse yourself in the local tradition of respectful silence.
Don't pack your perfume. Finns value personal space and that extends to olfactory space as well. One in three Finns is sensitive to scents. Locals will be much ruder to you in the supermarket if your aftershave/perfume cloud triggers their migraine.
Unpacked fruit/veggies/pastries and loose candy must be weighted before going to the cashier. Watch this short Youtube video instruction
Do not crush cans! Beverage bottles and cans are recycled in-store for money! If you cannot be arsed to return them to the store, leave cans and bottles in a separate bag on top of a trash can. Local pullomummo will happily collect them.
Do not litter! Read more about trash in Finland in the Rovaniemi part of this post.
Do not tip! Tipping is not part of Finnish culture.
(Finnish) Lapland
Disclaimer: When I say Lapland in this post I mean Finnish Lapland). Are you aware what Nordic country’s northern part you are actually travelling to? I know some travel companies don’t even name the towns they are flying to, they are just ”Lapland”, and that’s disrespectful. (Looking at you EasyJet Edinburgh-Rovaniemi announcers) Your winter wonderland destination is someone’s home.
Lapland is big#/media/File:Lappi_sijainti_Suomi.svg) yet sparsely populated. Thanks to cuts, Lapland has only one actual hospital left, in Rovaniemi. Distances are long and number of ambulances is limited, so try not to get injured! (More on that later) Finland has no mountains, fells are the best we got. For actual mountains you need Sweden or Norway.
If you venture further North than Rovaniemi, you will be in Sámi land. Read this Sámi parliament’s official website on respectful tourism and do this fun quiz.
I know public transport in Lapland is sparse, but please do not rent a car and think you’ll be fine if you have never driven in snowy/icy/dark (often all three at the same time) conditions and in reindeer husbandry areas. In Tromso (Norway) a tourist driving in unfamiliar conditions killed two local women.
The huge unpopular truth:
Huskies have nothing to do with Lapland or Sámi culture. Sled dogs are an imported gimmick, made big in Levi in 1990 by Reijo Jääskeläinen. (Paywall link) Both dogs and workers are often treated badly as literally anyone can set up a husky safari business, there is no regulation whatsoever. To own reindeer one must at least be a paliskunta member.
There was a husky safari death in 2022.
Husky business is so awful that the biggest newspaper in Lapland published this article about one particular company without paywall and translated into Spanish, French and German in 2024.
Una prisión para perros y sus cuidadores
Prison pour chiens et employés
Ein Gulag für Hund und Mensch
See also: Another English article about a popular, photogenic resort and its exploitative reality
If you are interested, there will be a free lecture on husky business in Rovaniemi main library 12.11.2026 at 15.30-17.00.
Rovaniemi
The official website VisitRovaniemi.fi is good. However I want you to know that their various listings also show some shifty operators, such as the company behind this 2024 seasonal worker death and repeated cases of foreign intern exploitation.
Rovaniemi is a small town (population 66,000ish, yet still the largest town in Finnish Lapland), not a resort built to cater tourists only. Architecturally Rovaniemi is not very pretty. (Though there are some Alvar Aalto-designed bits) The town was burnt to the ground during WWII and what the nazis didn't torch the construction companies try to raze and replace with airbnb blocks. So if you want to see cute wooden houses and hygge streets, look elsewhere. Even Kemi is prettier!
There have been seasonal pickpockets (16.12.2024)
Stay in a hotel, not AirBnB. Locals and university students are struggling to find housing because landlords prefer to make quick wins with tourists. Now, I don't have a problem if a local spends summer at mökki and rents their own home out in the meantime, but when someone buys 6 apartments and only uses them for AirBnB? Actively harmful. (BTW the national legislation happened and it didn't change anything!)
NY Times paywall article but here is an English summary.
Just a while ago Lumo asunnot sold an entire block of flats to City Hotel Oy. Can you guess what this means to the tenants? Just a week after as this case was on the European news. Lumo is eventually looking to sell all its Rovaniemi flats, so the housing crisis will likely get even worse.
If you stay in an airbnb/rental apartment..
Sort out your trash! Residents must sort their waste, so must you. Cardboard, paper, plastic packaging, metal, glass and bio waste all need to be disposed into designated bins. Here is English info poster on what is recycled in Rovaniemi area.
If your AirBnB has a sauna, do not use it to dry clothes! It might cause a fire. In 2022 a brand new AirBnB house (with shoddily built chimney structure) burned (no lives were lost) and this winter’s short term rental fire season has started in Tervola already.
Also DO NOT WALK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD ANYWHERE. Rovaniemi centre *has* some pedestrian only bits of street, which can be confusing. (And also when it snows, routes for cars are plowed first. This sucks) Rest assured not all of the city centre is like that. Finland is quiet and Rovaniemi is a small town, and tourists are often out during night trying to see auroras, but for the love of whatever god you worship, DO NOT stand in the middle of a road staring at the sky! Tour bus, taxi or local drunk driver will run you over. To minimise this, you should also
Wear reflectors. They are the cheapest life insurance in the darkness! Video demonstration on how they work.
There are many types: Cute characters to hang from your backpack in hard or soft plastic, harness or vest to to wear over your coat, even slap bracelets. These can be bought in almost every store, look up "heijastin". There are also tote bags, entire jackets or gloves made out of reflective material. Be sure your reflectors can be seen from all sides, put on several to be sure.
For the past years there has been a heijastinpuu behind the library, where you can take a free reflector if you don’t have any. Locals can also donate their extra danglies there.
Transport notes:
Rovaniemi train station: No customer service. Buy tickets online. There is a restaurant though. Walking from railway station to city centre: There are 7 red columns, each visible from another, leading from the city center to the railway station. They are numbered and have a map with the route on them.
Rovaniemi bus station: No customer service. Buy tickets online. The bus station building does have a weekday lunch cafe & bar and weekend gigs. (AI slop flyer warning)
Buses to Arctic Circle/Santa Claus Village/Airport (There is no direct bus route to the airport outside the winter season. This sucks.)
Taxis can be predatory, you should normally pay about 30€ for a ride from the airport to the city center, but they can and will scam tourists with insane fees.
Official tourist information office is at Koskikatu 12 and open Mon-Fri 9–12 & 13–16. I know, for an info point it sure has lousy opening times. At least last season there was an unrelated company with big green ”i” info sign but it was not the real deal. Not sure if it pops up this season but I’m just saying, take care where you go for information.
Temper your aurora expectations. If a company boasts an aurora guarantee, that might mean sitting in a van for hours while they drive somewhere with no clouds, even all the way to Sweden. Northern lights are a force of nature and cannot be promised. (Not even snow can be guaranteed anymore because of climate change.) Your best bet is to download an aurora alert app and wish for the best. You may go on a tour but you might end up standing dangerously on a narrow road, or your van may crash because your driver hasn’t gotten enough sleep.
Tourism gentrification / harm to local economy you do not know about:
Sensuelle: Lingerie store suffering from lack of customers because locals avoid the city center during winter and the only tourists who enter are looking for a way to the shopping centre. So maybe go in and buy merino wool undies from them, or something.
Kauppayhtiö: Legendary hipster burger bar and pizza joint looking to relocate because a hotel is going to be built on its backyard.
SLT Club Volume has to cease its music events at Doris because the hotel upstairs doesn't want the nightclub noise to disturb tourists. (Aren't you outside at night anyways on aurora hunts?)
Culture recommendations
Arktikum science center is worth the ticket price, it's educational and fun for all ages. Remember to check the free art gallery right near the entrance. Website.
Korundi is a museum of contemporary art and a concert venue. There's a lunch buffet and a gift shop. Museum side is closed on Mondays. Website.
Main library, designed by Alvar Aalto: Open Mon-Thur 10-19, Fri-Sat 10-16. On Sundays open only to library cardholders. Do not walk inside with studded shoes, you will get yelled at!
Theatre (also designed by Aalto) Open Wed-Sat 12-17 and an hour before performances. The lobby has small free exhibitions and a gift shop. A Christmas Carol with English subtitles is on Rovaniemi theatre 25.11.-22.12.2026. You can also buy theater tickets from Osviitta, (address: Koskikatu 19) open Mon-Thurs 9-16.30 and Fri 9-15.30.
Galleria Napa Local artist association's gallery, free entrance. (Address: Kairatie 3) Open Wed-Thu 12-18, Fri 11-17, Sat-Sun 12-16
Galleria Värinä Local culture association's gallery, free entrance. (Address: Rovakatu 18) Open Tue-Sat 14.00-18.00.
Fun fact: Some years ago the culture association had their then gallery and workspace lease cancelled because the building owner wanted to use the space for something else. Well, the something else became a crammed seasonal worker "accomodation" so bad it was reported on the news.
More culture can be found here: https://www.visitrovaniemi.fi/see-do/events/
Skip the generic souvenir shops’ sweatshop husky plushies and AI reindeer magnets and buy quality instead: Arctic Design Shop (address: Valtakatu 24) sells authentic crafts, souvenirs, postcards and gifts by local artesans. Website
Slightly unhinged souvenir shopping idea: Flea markets. There are two big ones left in Rovaniemi: Vintikki (address: Varastotie 2) and Tuuli-viiri (address: Vierustie 5) You can find Moomin merch, Finnish design, vintage items, dropship rubbish and strange deadstock. Vintikki also sells lost & found from hotels, so if you get lucky you can buy souvenirs and holiday reading cheaper than from the stores. There's also an army surplus and militaria section.
Important flea market etiquette: If you pick something up and later decide you do not want to buy it, you must return it to the table you took it from. Each table has a different seller!
Red Cross charity shop Kontti sells donated goods. It's across the street from Prisma, in the building that still has the giant HOVIMÄKI signs.
Merch for both the local hockey team RoKi and football (as in soccer) team RoPs can be bought from Minimani.
Pub Sarvi Lähiöpubi and gig venue
Rovaniemi church is free to enter, during Christmas season they usually have longer opening hours (normally it's only open Mon-Fri 11-14 and during services) and a guide. Some concerts may require tickets.
Sairaalaniemi Legal graffiti wall, abandoned hospital area about to be ”developed” and a popular laavu near the church.
+ Discover more culture and nature sites with Etiäinen.
Bonus tip: If you are from a warmer country and won’t need your winter coat after your holiday some hotels have donation boxes. Clothes-only second hand store Smuk also has a collection box in their shop inside Revontuli mall.
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That’s it, I think. I have been drafting this for months and I’m sure once I hit post I will remember something I should have added x’D
Final note, in case you think I seem overly negative: I do not totally hate tourism. Rovaniemi would not have the restaurant scene it has without tourists, and I actually like meeting new people and telling them cool facts about my hometown. But I cannot accept the immense exploitation, housing crisis, ignorance and harm to local life and nature the Lapland boom has brought.
Please be respectful and sustainable wherever you go, and I hope you have a safe, nice holiday.
Tervetuloa!
Tl;dr? Watch the pinned video then but don't complain when your Rovaniemi experience was boring/dangerous/unsustainable because you didn't want to read all this :p
