How To Spend ONE Day In Rovaniemi Lapland

The capital of Lapland – Rovaniemi, even though one of the biggest cities in the Arctic, is relatively small. Its city center is quite compact, making the city extremely walkable, also in sub-zero temperatures. Even if you’re only using Rovaniemi as the beginning to your Arctic adventure, you should not miss exploring what the city has to offer. We’ll give you an idea of how you can spend ONE day in the city. We found that to be enough when we were there ourselves last January. It was an amazing experience, getting our first peek into the Arctic lifestyle and culture in Rovaniemi.

Depending on if you are renting a car or not, I have two suggestions on how to spend your morning.

Option 1: Morning with car – Drive to Santa Claus village

If you don’t have a car, you can jump straight to option 2 here.

Rovaniemi is the official hometown of Santa Claus – I’m not kidding, they have literally registered a trademark saying so. Santa lives in a small holiday village on the outskirts of Rovaniemi, just across the airport. It is definitely touristy, but if a Christmas feel is one of the reasons why you’re visiting Lapland, you shouldn’t miss it. It’s a short drive from the city and you have ample parking space for your car there. If you’re not renting a car but nonetheless want to visit it, you have two options – taxi or public transport. Given that the bus takes more than 30 minutes to get there, operating just every 45 minutes, I’d suggest skipping Santa Claus village if you can’t get there by car or taxi. If you insist on meeting Santa, though, I have a tip for you – Santa also has an office in the city center! You can read more about it in Option 2 here.

How to get to Santa Claus village:

How to get to Santa Claus village by Car

Starting in Rovaniemi you need to follow the signs for Road E75/ 4, drive on Koivusaari bridge (one of two big bridges in Rovaniemi, the other being Ounasvaara) and then follow the road for about 7 km. The village will be on your right-hand side. Driving in, just follow the signs to one of the free parking lots.

Worried about driving in snowy Lapland? Check this out:

How to drive safely in the Winter in Lapland!

How to get to Santa Claus village by Taxi

There are two official companies that operate in Rovaniemi – Meneva taxi and Lahitaksi. Both have similar prices. We tried both of them when we were there and were satisfied. The cost of the trip to the village from the city should be around 20 EUR. Please bear in mind that as of January 2024, companies like Uber or Bolt don’t operate in Finland.

How to get to Santa Claus village by public transport

Bus 8 is the one that goes from Rovaniemi to the village. It has several stops in the city, but if you board it at the railway station, it takes roughly 35 minutes to get there. A single ticket costs 3.60 EUR and you can buy it directly from the driver. Just be aware that the bus has a relatively limited service, and even more so on the weekends.

What to do in Santa Claus village?

You have plenty of options, as the village, though compact, has everything you need for a stay there. It also has a couple of hotel complexes, which we found to be on the more expensive side, so decided against sleeping there. You can find a map of the whole place here.

A few highlights from us:

Meet Santa in his Main Office

It’s free to get in and meet the old man. You might need to queue for a while, though, especially if you’re visiting during the high season. We were there at the beginning of January and it took about 20 minutes before we were greeted by the elves. When your turn comes, you’ll have a brief chat with Saint Nick, possibly in one of the 12 languages that he speaks (or in English) and then you’ll be escorted out. Upon leaving, you’ll get the chance to purchase a memento from your meeting. This, however, is completely optional, so you can just walk past it and leave immediately.

Send a Christmas Card from the official Santa Claus Post office

There is an official working branch of the Finnish Post in the village, operating under the name Santa Claus Post Office. You can send a normal card from there to friends and family that will be delivered without any delay. The other option, which I think is great, is to put it in a box that will be emptied and delivered to them in time for next Christmas, with a stamp from the North Pole! You can also find some souvenirs and jigsaw puzzles in there.

Take a picture of yourself crossing the arctic circle and get a certificate that you have done so

One of the main attractions for me, that was also free, was crossing the Arctic circle. You can’t really miss it, as there are a few giant pillars indicating the spot. You can then also get yourself pictured in front of a large thermometer, which if you’re visiting on a particularly cold day, makes for a lovely picture. If you want to check it out before your trip, you can have a look at the live feed coming from there on YouTube. Afterwards you should get up the stairs in the tower next to the post office, where you can get a certificate that you’ve successfully traversed into the Arctic for 5 EUR.

Doing all that should easily get you to lunchtime, for which I have two suggestions below.

Option 2: Morning without a car – Explore the city center

If you don’t plan on renting a car and don’t want to pay for a taxi to get to Santa Claus village, you should walk around the city center.

It is nothing special or unusual and can be walked in no more than 30 minutes, but I can suggest some landmarks and important things to see and do on the way.

Go to Lordi’s square

This is one of the main squares in Rovaniemi. It’s named after the hard rock band Lordi, which actually comes from Rovaniemi, and won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2006. You can tell you’re in Lordi square by the big television tower in the middle.

Visit Santa Claus City Office

If you wanted to see Santa, but were not able to plan a visit to Santa Claus village, do not despair. Santa has an office in the city, a stone throw’s away from Lordi’s Square. The visit is free of charge, but expect to be offered to purchase the photos and videos from your meeting with the old Saint Nick.

It is supposed to be open all year round, but on their website, it says that they’re only open for the winter season, from November til April, so you might want to double-check that if you’re visiting at another time.

Go to Lauri Handicrafts

Lauri’s house is on the end of the main city center, but that should not throw you off of visiting, as it is merely 10 minutes away from Lordi’s Square. It is both a guesthouse and a handicrafts shop with all their products made locally, many even in their own workshop! You could also book a handicraft class, starting at 69 EUR per person. While you’re there, I’d recommend buying a bag of chaga chai. It’s a mushroom that grows mainly in the arctic circle and China. It is said to have many beneficial properties, ranging from improved mood to cancer prevention. Whatever the case might be, it is something the Sami and Finns have been drinking for generations and we found it quite pleasant.

Finish your morning with a walk to the Arktikum park

Rovaniemi has a lot of parks, so it’s worth exploring some of them while in the city. You can start at the Angry Birds park (the game was invented in Finland) and walk from there following the river promenade to the Arktikum, where you can also have lunch, but more on that in a second.

The park next to the Arktikum museum is also your best bet to see the Northern Lights in Rovaniemi, but it’s a nice park to walk around during the day, too. You could also take a leap of faith and go on the frozen lake (super safe in the cold winter months, but just to be on the safe side, see if there are any locals on the ice before trying it yourself, as I did in the picture below)

Lunch

If you went to Santa Claus village:

If you want to stay a bit longer in Santa Claus village, there are a couple of places I can wholeheartedly recommend. Lapland Restaurant Kotahovi (n.13 on the map) and Santa’s Salmon Hut (n.14 on the map). The restaurant is in a traditional Kota (like a tepee), not very big, but with constant turnover, so you shouldn’t have to wait too long, if there are no places available. They have soups, mains and desserts, with prices between 10 and 20 EUR per dish.

Santa’s Salmon Hut offers just one thing – salmon, grilled on a wood fired grill. It is just incredible and definitely worth trying!

If you stayed in the city or want to get back to it for lunch:

If you’ve had enough of Santa’s village and want to get back into the city, head for the Arktikum. It’s a science center devoted to Arctic life and culture. It also has a café, that offers an all-you-can-eat buffet lunch service. You don’t need a museum ticket to get into the café, as it is just to the left after the entrance. The buffet costs 15 EUR per person and gives you free tea and/or coffee refills, as well. We found the food quite delicious and very diverse. You have something for vegans, vegetarians, as well as, for omnivores. It is open 10.30am – 2 pm on Mondays and 10.30 am – 3pm on the other days. You can check their current weekly menu here. It is an amazing value for money and a great secret if you’re on a budget!

Afternoon

I would reserve the afternoon for exploring some of Rovaniemi’s museums. There are three main museums in the city – the Arktikum museum; Pilke science center and Korundi museum of modern art.

The Arktikum and Pilke are right next to one another, so that’s quite handy if you want to visit them both. Korundi on the other hand is some 20-minute walk away from them, but very close to the railway station.

Arktikum

The Arktikum is split into two very distinct sections. When you enter the building, the science center will be on the left-hand side and the museum on the right. In the science center you’ll find out more about the Arctic ecosystem, the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis), as well as the Arctic flora and fauna. It was illuminating for us. In the museum part, you’ll learn about the culture and history of Lapland. It was a nice exhibition, but the highlight of the place for us was definitely the science center. Something else you can do, is to book a guide either on AirBnB or GetyourGuide to walk you through the different halls, giving you even more insight into the Arctic.

Entry ticket costs 18 EUR for adults or 40 for a family.

Pilke Science Center

In Pilke you’ll learn more about Finland’s forests. 74% of the land area of Finland is defined as a forest and they have provided Finland’s population with valuable resources and food for centuries. So it is only fair that they’ll get a museum of their own. You’ll discover the secrets of the forests with all of your senses. The museum is extremely interactive and great for kids, too!

The tickets are 7 EUR for adults and 5 EUR for kids.

Korundi museum of modern art

Korundi offers a glimpse into Finnish art culture. It’s a modern art museum with regularly changing exhibitions. I’m personally not really big on modern art, so can’t comment on the quality of the pieces, but if you like this kind of thing, it’s worth checking Korundi out.

Tickets cost 11 EUR and a family ticket is 25 EUR.

We went to all three of them and have to say that the Arktikum is by far our favourite and will go back there again on our next trip to Lapland.

Should you get the culture pass in Rovaniemi?

The culture pass is a great idea if you plan on visiting all three museum. Actually, you break even, or even profit slightly, even if you just visit two of them. It’s a multi-entry ticket that gives you access to all three of Rovaniemi’s museums mentioned above, for a WHOLE week. You read that right! If you have it, you can visit all the museums as many times as you want for 7 days.

The culture pass costs 25 EUR, which makes it an awesome value for money!

Dinner

After diving into the culture of Rovaniemi, there’s one more thing left to do, and that’s to explore the food scene. Rovaniemi has a lot of different restaurants, but we found the following two to be the best, both in terms of quality of the food and service. So you can’t go wrong picking either of them.

Check this out if you want to learn more about Lappish cuisine

Nili

This is the more fancy of the two options. Its focus is on the traditional Finnish cuisine. You have the option to pick a menu or order à la carte. It offers some quite special seasonal things, too, like bear meat or wild porcini (cep) mushrooms, for instance. You should try to reserve a table, as the place is usually quite busy. That being said, we didn’t plan on going there, so just walked in, and they were able to accommodate us.

Tip: If you don’t have a reservation, it’s best to try your luck a little bit after the hour mark, as this will give you an opportunity to grab the table of people that didn’t show up for their reservations.

You’re looking at prices of 20-40 EUR for mains, or you can get what I got – the Chef’s surprise menu – it’s a four-course meal for 62 EUR and you’ll most likely get salmon and reindeer meat in different forms. You can also ask for a vegetarian option.

Roka

It is a bistro type of restaurant. It’s cheaper than Nili and the mains vary between 15-30 EUR. They offer both traditional, as well as some more modern takes on many of Lapland’s specialties. They also serve more elaborate burgers and sandwiches. We went there for lunch and the place was half-empty, but walking past in the evening it was usually pretty busy, so again might be a good idea to book a table in advance.

Wrap-up

And when you’ve finished exploring Rovaniemi, do check out those 5 amazing day trips you can do from there:

I hope I was able to help you plan your day in Rovaniemi, which, even though not so big, still packs a lot to discover. This is just an example itinerary, but feel free to plan more time for any of the places I mentioned or spread your visit onto multiple days. Have fun at the gate of the Arctic and safe travels!