Traveling to Finland during winter was so far outside our comfort zone. We’re from the Pacific Northwest, where we have moderate weather and a Mediterranean climate — nothing like the snowy, cold weather you’re guaranteed traveling north into the Arctic Circle.

We’re sharing our pre-trip fears and post-trip reflections with the hope of educating others, calming travel anxieties, and inspiring others to try new things!

Disclosure: We’ve included affiliate links with recommended hiking gear in this post. If you click through and buy something, we’ll receive a small portion of that sale. You won’t be charged more, and we haven’t been paid by any of these retailers to share their information. These are all our genuine preferences.

1. The cold weather

Meghann’s biggest concern was how cold the weather would be. She has Raynaud’s Syndrome, so numb fingers and toes are the norm in moderate temperatures, with pain in colder temperatures.

Post-trip thoughts

This is a legitimate fear! We chose to visit during early December knowing that the heart of winter could be much more extreme. The coldest weather we encountered was -19°C (with wind chill making it -26°C) but it’s the windy days that are the worst.

What worked for us

Layering was essential. We wore base layers, mid layers, insulating jackets, and outer layers every day in Lapland. On days with activities that were especially cold, such as the icebreaker tour, we doubled or tripled up socks as well. There were still excursions that we got cold on, but we almost always opted to endure knowing these experiences were once-in-a-lifetime moments. We also always had the opportunity to go inside and get warm drinks, so that was reassuring.

Along with the layers mentioned above, we’d read that we needed windproof hats and buffs. Finding these items was difficult since most pieces aren’t labeled as windproof. We found that wool hats lined with fleece did the job, as well as wool scarves and fleece-lined buffs. Much to Zach’s amusement, Meghann tested how effective the windproofing was on our hats with her blow dryer on the cool setting before we left.

Find our clothing recommendations here.

Bring ski goggles for dogsledding (pictured here), tobogganing, and skiing!

Our fur-lined parka hoods were extremely helpful as well. Not only did they help retain body heat, but the fur helped block wind from reaching our faces. This was a huge game-changer!

We were also happily surprised at how quickly we adjusted to the colder temperatures. Just a few days into our trip we found ourselves leaving coats unzipped on quick jaunts outside.

By the end of our trip, we were eating ice cream outside!

2. Driving

Zach’s biggest fear was driving in Lapland (Meghann’s usually a spoiled passenger princess). We debated using public transit and adding pickups to tours but decided on renting a car to have more flexibility.

We both have experience driving over Washington’s mountain passes in extreme weather and snow. If you’ve never driven in snow or aren’t comfortable doing so, Finland isn’t the place to begin.

To combat our fears and ensure our safety we researched road conditions, routes, Finnish road signs, opted to rent a vehicle with all-wheel drive, and purchased insurance. All rental cars are required to have studded tires throughout the winter months as well, so we felt well-equipped to handle snowy roads.

Post-trip thoughts

The roads were just as snowy and icy as we anticipated. Based on our research before the trip, we were also concerned about and learned more during our trip about the following:

1. Reindeer

Like deer in the Pacific Northwest, reindeer roam throughout Lapland. You’ll find them on the side of the road, and they move quickly and randomly. We saw them on the road each day we drove outside of town — about 20 in all.

Elk (we know them as moose in America) are also found in Finland, but on the roads less often. If a driver hits one, they’re so large they usually cause a fatality.

If oncoming drivers turn on their four-way flashers when approaching, this is similar to Americans flashing their high beams as a warning. Slow down and expect reindeer ahead.

2. Snowplows

We were warned that you should not pass snowplows traveling in the same direction as you. We never had to follow one, but we did drive past one going in the opposite direction. It was spreading dirt and rocks to give the highway more traction. By the time you see it’s throwing rocks, it’s almost too late to get out of the way. If you see a plow with lights on, slow down and edge over to the shoulder to prevent getting showered by rocks and dirt.

3. Speed cameras

Finland is full of speed cameras! They’re placed on highways outside towns, especially between popular tourist destinations, and anywhere that has a change of speed (particularly near junctions). Sometimes there are camera signs posted along the road as a warning, and others are marked on Google Maps or Waze. Tickets start at €115 and go up based on income so pay attention and go the speed limit.

4. Car heaters

We’d read that some cars need to be plugged into electric heaters to prevent fluids from freezing during the cold months. Although we witnessed this being done, our rental car came with an engine heater. We were told to turn it on 30 minutes before using the car, and it was so nice to have.

3. Cell reception

We were worried we wouldn’t have cell reception throughout Lapland and had planned on purchasing an eSIM card to ensure we had access to GPS throughout our trip. We had a difficult time figuring out which carriers offered this and finally resorted to purchasing it when we arrived.

Post-trip thoughts

As it turns out, Finland does not sell eSIM cards – only physical SIM cards (which our phones don’t support). Thankfully, we had reliable cell service throughout Lapland.

If you’re interested in purchasing SIM cards or want to look into Finland’s cell coverage, check out this map here.

Case and point. We had enough cell reception to find pastries wherever we went.

4. Cell phone batteries dying quickly

We’d read so many posts and blogs about batteries dying quickly in Finland. Some people even mentioned tips like keeping your phone close to your body or putting it in a wool sock to help keep it warm.

Post-trip thoughts

We weren’t too concerned about this since we had car chargers, but we were surprised that the batteries only dropped a bit faster than normal.

What worked for us

Since we had limited data, we kept our phones on airplane mode as much as possible — about 75% of the time we were in Finland. This likely helped immensely, but we didn’t do anything extra beyond that. Our phones stayed in our outer jacket pockets without any extra insulation.

5. Allergy-friendly food

Meghann has celiac disease, so finding restaurants that cater to the gluten-free diet in America can be trying. Doing this abroad, potentially in another language, is always stressful.

Post-trip thoughts

Finland is the most accommodating place we’ve ever been! ALL restaurant menus had common allergens like lactose, gluten, and sometimes vegan or vegetarian meals marked with plenty of options for all needs. This made it so easy to eat out, and if we ever had any questions, the staff knew what gluten free meant and were more than happy to make accommodations. Every restaurant and cafe even brought gluten free bread out as an appetizer, which rarely happens in America.

6. Northern lights

One of the goals of the trip was to see the aurora borealis. The odds of seeing them in Lapland are high — between 50 and 75% during December and January when daylight hours are limited.

Post-trip thoughts

Seeing the northern lights is totally up to chance! You’ve got to have clear, dark, skies, and be in the right place, at the right time, to see them. There are things you can do to give yourself better odds, like staying outside of cities to avoid light pollution, but in the end, it’s not under your control.

We were lucky enough to see the northern lights on our own, twice during our trip. Once in Rovaniemi, when we were so jet lagged we thought we were delusional for seeing purple in the sky, and once in Ivalo when we didn’t have a camera on us!

You’ll want to check out this blog to know what to look for while you’re aurora hunting.

Our favorite lodging — Aurora Village Ivalo

What worked for us

Although it was cloudy for our entire trip, we did end up seeing the northern lights twice during our nine days in Lapland. However, we wouldn’t suggest booking a trip to Lapland just to see the northern lights. Instead, focus on activities and sights you’d like to see and think of seeing the aurora as a big bonus.

We did not book a specific tour to attempt to see the northern lights either. If we were to do it again, we would consider booking a tour on short notice based on the forecast, but otherwise, we’re happy prioritizing stays outside of cities where we’d have low light pollution.

7. Limited daylight

Limited daylight was part of the reason we visited Finland in December, but Meghann was concerned that we wouldn’t have daylight to see the sights.

Post-trip thoughts

There is no need to worry about seeing sights during daylight hours. Tours that need it, like dogsledding, will be scheduled appropriately, but other activities, like visiting Santa Claus’ village in Rovaniemi often look more beautiful after dark!

Overall, we’re so happy that we explored Finland during winter. The entire trip felt unreal as if we were walking through a snow globe. Winter will never feel the same anywhere else!