New Year in Finland. Train timetable: Lapland From Helsinki to Lapland how many km

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New Year with children in Finland - this can be said to be a real Russian New Year, unlike Central Europe and especially Asia. Sparkling snow, saunas, delicious food and Santa Claus - all the attributes are brought together here, plus you can get there by your own car. The only downside is that it's not cheap. Last year I developed a route for four, but had to postpone it due to the high cost. New Year's Eve in Paris turned out to be much more budget-friendly. But I decided to write down this route so that someday I would definitely travel along it. The trip promises to be fabulous. What if you also dream about exactly this? Go along the route: you will see the Northern Lights, go down into a real amethyst mine, climb on an icebreaker, and then put on a thermal suit and swim in the Gulf of Bothnia, among the white cold ice floes.

How to get to Lapland.

The first thing to do is to obtain a Schengen visa to Finland and decide how to get there.

First option- in your own car, this is the most convenient way for many to move around: you can take all the necessary things, drive to any corner, stay in a cottage on the lake with your family or a whole group. Moreover, this is the cheapest option. By car from St. Petersburg to Rovaniemi 1000 kilometers. Once you cross the border, it will take at least 2 days there and another 2 days back. If you come from Moscow, then we’ll add another day of travel in each direction and remember that every overnight stay is also money for the trip. Ultimately, not so cheap, but very long.

Second option- by plane - much faster, even with a transfer to Helsinki. It is advantageous to buy tickets for Christmas, New Year and school holidays as early as possible.

Third option: by car/ferry/train/plane get to Helsinki, and then by train to Rovaniemi. Finland has very comfortable railway transport. Transportation is carried out by the state monopolist - the company VR Group. http://www.360hosting.biz/vr/pages/intercity/perhematkustamo.htm

You can travel from Helsinki to Rovaniemi by day or night train. The daytime express train takes 9.5 hours, the night train takes 13 hours, the night train is more convenient - it saves money on the hotel. In addition, you can transport your car (!) by night train to Rovaniemi. This is how Finns travel to the ski resorts of Lapland from the southern cities of the country. Please note that the Helsinki auto loading terminal is located in Pasila. Loading begins 2 hours before and ends an hour before the train departs. The price of the car package includes transportation of the car and sleeping places for 1 - 6 people.

From Moscow to Helsinki, the Lev Tolstoy train (Moscow - Helsinki) now also includes car transporters, so if plane tickets are sold out or you are afraid to fly, buy a car package from Moscow to Lapland and continue traveling in your car through the northern Finnish cities and ski resorts. You can view tariffs on the Russian Railways website http://pass.rzd.ru/static/public/ru?STRUCTURE_ID=5254 or VR Group https://www.vr.fi/cs/vr/ru/etusivu_ru. Approximately for a family of 4 people, a trip from Moscow to Helsinki with a car will cost 400 euros one way. A car package from Helsinki to Rovaniemi costs the same.

New year's night

I want to spend New Year's Eve especially brightly and interestingly; in Rus' they say “how you celebrate the year is how you spend it.” I especially liked two options, I’m sharing:

Option 1: Celebrate the New Year on a huge, comfortable Helsinki-Stockholm ferry. Ferries from several competing companies offering New Year's tours depart from the pier: Viking Line http://www.vikingline.ru/find-trip/winter/helsinki-stockholm/, Tallink Silja Line http://www.tallinksilja.ru/new- year-cruise. A two-day cruise from Helsinki to Stockholm with a New Year's program will cost 400 euros for a family of 4 people. There is an additional charge for food and a car (if you plan to spend several days in Sweden), but if we are just celebrating the New Year, we will leave the car in the parking lot at the port and will not overpay for it. It is better to order food immediately when booking a cabin, otherwise the “tickets” to the buffet restaurant will run out, and even if not, they will definitely cost more on the ship. There are restaurants on the decks, but even there you need to take seats in advance; they will have a special concert program.

Option 2 : Celebrate the New Year in Lapland, in Rovaniemi. Visit Santa with your children, take a steam bath in the Finnish sauna in the evening, and if you’re lucky, see the Northern Lights on New Year’s Eve. You will never forget this moment.

The Arctic Circle passes near Rovaniemi - 66° 33" 07", right through Santa Claus Village. I have already described this route: . It’s especially great to celebrate the New Year here with a large group of friends, families with children. Santa Claus's New Year is a real holiday of childhood!

Cottages must be booked six months in advance; they sell out quickly. Especially interesting ones right next to Santa Claus:

cheaper apartments:

The Lampivaara amethyst mine in Lousto is the only active mine in Europe. Moreover, tourists can get their own amethyst using only manual labor and take it with them. The mine is located 130 kilometers north of Rovaniemi in the Pyhä-Luosto National Park. You will have to leave the car at one of the parking lots - Ukkoluosto or Ryukimäkero and cover 2.5 km along the ski track using the skis you have stored, admiring the beauty of untouched nature. If the New Year finds you in the summer, you can use a bicycle. The park has free barbecue areas, so you can go with the whole family for a picnic. If it’s still winter and you don’t have skis, then there is another option for extra money: the all-terrain vehicle picks up tourists from the Ukko-Luosto parking lot half an hour before the excursion, which makes tickets more expensive in winter. Tours are available in English, Finnish or Russian. You can take with you only one found amethyst, which will fit in your fist; if you want more, you will have to pay extra. Searching for amethyst is a fun and exciting activity, especially for children.

Arctic icebreaker "Sampo"

And now south from Rovaniemi - to the world's only tourist icebreaker. It is moored in Kemi, on the shores of the Gulf of Bothnia, 120 km southwest of the capital of Lapland. Sampo is a fairy-tale country where harmony and prosperity reign from the famous Karelian-Finnish epic "Kalevala". This is the name of the icebreaker, which worked for 30 years in the harsh northern latitudes, guiding ships through the ice. When the icebreaker was decommissioned, it was a pity to destroy and melt it down, and the Sampo found use in the tourism industry. Now he rides in the winter for those who wish, from mid-December to mid-April, cutting the ice in front of an enthusiastic audience. In summer In summer it functions as a restaurant and conference venue. It’s more interesting in winter, because this is a real, functioning icebreaker! During the cruise, there is a tour of the ship and ice swimming in special thermal insulating wetsuits, after which each passenger receives a certificate of sailing in harsh polar latitudes. There are programs that include snowmobile rides on the ice of the bay and a visit to a Sami village.

Passenger capacity on board Sampo is 150 people. Cruises run three times a day:

• Brunch cruise (4 hours, 9-13) Watch the sunrise and have a late breakfast on board the ship. 300 euro/person
• Blue twilight (4 hours, 14-18), lunch on board, including for vegetarians 300 euros/person
• Northern Lights (4 hours, 19-23) dinner on board 335 euros/person

The minimum height for swimming in a thermal suit is 145 cm.

If you see a stamp in the form of “Father Frost” or “Santa Claus” in your passport, you know that you are in Lapland! Lapland is the most famous region of Finland.

Capital of Lapland - Rovaniemi, a small and cozy town.

Rovaniemi is a northern city, so in winter it is still dark here at 11 am, and the sun sets by 1 pm, and this is where you can see the famous Northern Lights.

But in summer the sun shines here almost all night. Lapland is an unusual place - New Year's miracles and fairy tales are born here, there are dense forests, deer and beautiful wildlife.

How to get to Lapland

The city of Rovaniemi has its own airport. Direct flights fly there from Moscow and St. Petersburg. You can also get there with a transfer to. You can get from Rovaniemi airport to the city (only 10 km) by bus for 7 euros.

You can view the flight schedule and book tickets to Lapland yourself using the search form:

What to see in Lapland

There are few attractions in the city, but they deserve attention:

1. Bridge over the river - Yatkan Kunttilä, "Raftsman's Candle" - one of the symbols of Rovaniemi
2. Arktikum Museum
3. Central square of Lordi - “Lordi” (in honor of the winners of Eurovision 2006)
4. Rovaniemi Art Museum
5. And finally, the main attraction, the place where everyone wants to go - the residence of Santa Claus.

The residence of Santa Claus is located just 8 km from Ravanieme. You can get there by bus - for €5.

Santa Claus Village consists of 7 shops, 3 cafes, a post office and the house of Santa Claus himself (Youlu-pukki). According to local legend, in the village there is a huge mechanism that slows down the movement of the earth so that Santa has time to distribute all the gifts to the children. You can visit Santa absolutely free, talk to him and ask for a gift. But, if you want to immortalize this meeting, you will have to pay €30 for a photo.

Nearby there is a post office, which receives up to 700 thousand letters annually; the elves help Santa deal with the correspondence.

Not far from Santa’s village there is “Santa Park” - a kind of answer to “Disney Land”. A ticket to Santa Park will cost you €28. This is a rock that has a long tunnel with elves, an elf school, a panic room, the Snow Queen's Palace, a magic train and all kinds of entertainment.

From entertainment in Lapland, except Santa:

1. You can ride a snowmobile
2. You can ride a reindeer sleigh - the Arctic Express, the speed can be up to 60 km per hour. But tourists are usually driven at low speed
3. There is also the Luosto Amethyst Mine (located 130 km from Rovaniemi to the north), the only one in the world, and you can even go down into the mine to get a pebble yourself. Just €60 and you can find an amethyst yourself.

Lapland is an expensive place, so it's best to plan your budget in advance.

Among the unusual restaurants we can highlight “ Nili", where Lapland delicacies are served - wild meat - bear meat, wild boar, venison. The exact address of the restaurant is Valtakatu 20, Rovaniemi, Finland. Website: http://www.nili.fi/

Where to stay in Rovaniemi

Rovaniemi is a very small town, but, in principle, there are enough hotels here. However, with inexpensive housing, everything is not so simple. Judge for yourself - there is only 1 hostel in Rovaniemi - Santa's Hostel Rudolf, a bed in which costs from €48 per night and places in it must be booked z-a-r-a-n-e!!!

Finland and New Year's mood are almost synonymous. From late November to early March, this country most closely resembles old Christmas cards: dense spruce forests are covered with dense caps of white snow, lights glow in the windows of small wooden houses, thousands of lakes and rivers are covered with silvery ice, small cafes serve dark Christmas beer and hot mulled wine, in special farmsteads tourists are offered reindeer and dog sledding rides, and the northern lights bloom every now and then in the dark sky. We have compiled a hit parade of the most interesting New Year's routes in Finland.

New Year's routes in Finland

• - from 5500 rubles
• - from 11,300 rubles
• - from 5500 rubles

1 place. Rovaniemi city, Lapland

Remember the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, where the cruel and beautiful Snow Queen took the boy Kai to distant, cold Lapland, and the brave girl Gerda went to save him? New Year and Christmas are a great reason to visit Lapland and see everything with your own eyes. Moreover, the atmosphere here is still fabulous. Moreover, you can find yourself in Lapland at the same time not in one, but in several magical stories at once:

The Tale of Santa Claus.

You may be surprised, but the Finns believe that the private house of Santa Claus, whom Suomi residents call Yolupuuki, is not in Lapland at all, but on the Korvatunturi hill, not far from the border with Russia. But Santa's working residence is actually located in Rovaniemi. That's what it's called - Santa Claus Village. Here you can explore his cozy home, take photos and even talk to Santa himself. Another place to visit in the village is Santa Claus' post office, from where tourists send letters with a special New Year's stamp to family and friends. By the way, sending letters costs the same as with regular Finnish post offices.

A tale of underground inhabitants.

Not far from the residence of Santa Claus is Santa Park, which is located underground, at a depth of several tens of meters. There you can watch elves dancing in pointed hats, try gingerbread cookies in Mrs. Santa's bakery, take pictures with ice figures of deer, elk and bears, and even go to the School of Elves, where everyone will be told how to become a real helper of Santa Claus.

The Tale of the Northern Lights

The green-blue flashes of the northern lights can be seen in Rovaniemi almost all year round, although the best chance of seeing this natural wonder is from August to April. And so that the “hunt” for the northern lights will certainly end in success, remember a few simple secrets. Firstly, most often it appears in the sky from nine in the evening to midnight. Secondly, to see the northern lights, you need to go to a dark place, away from city lights. Residents of Rovaniemi love to watch the “colorful sky” from the banks of the Kemijoki River next to the Arktikum Museum. It's about a 5-7 minute walk from the city center.

How to get there?

• There are several ways to get to Rovaniemi. By car (12 hours from St. Petersburg and about 20 hours from Moscow). By train from Moscow and St. Petersburg (travel time 10 and 14 hours respectively, tickets can be purchased on the website www.vr.fi.) By bus from Helsinki (travel time 13 hours, tickets can be purchased on the website www.matkahuolto. fi). By plane from Helsinki (travel time 1 hour 20 minutes, tickets can be purchased on the website www.finavia.fi).
• You can get from Rovaniemi to Santa Claus Village by local bus number 8 (price 3.8 euros) or by taxi (25-30 euros one way). You can also get to Santa Park by bus number 8 or by taxi (price about 15 euros one way).

2nd place. Ski resorts in Finland

Tour operators sometimes joke: “If a “Finnish” tourist doesn’t go to Lapland to see Santa Claus for New Year’s, it means he’s going to a ski resort.” And this is not without reason. Ski resorts in Finland are not just places where you can ski, but full-fledged resorts for. Firstly, the best of them are located far from large cities, so here you can fully enjoy the silence, and even see a fluffy squirrel or fox in the forest. Secondly, most ski resorts are located in the most beautiful places in Suomi: from the tops of the hills here you can admire a sea of ​​snow-covered forests and a scattering of lakes bound by silvery ice. Thirdly, each resort has trails of varying difficulty levels. For those who do not know how to ski at all, there is a ski school. Fourthly, even if you don’t like skiing, you won’t be bored at such a resort; there are bars and restaurants, shops, spa centers with Jacuzzis and saunas. Which ski resorts do Suomi residents love most?

Vuokatti

Here you can ski and get a light golden tan at the same time. The fact is that the temperature in Vuokatti, even in winter, does not drop below 10 C. You can also ride a reindeer sled quite inexpensively - there are several large reindeer breeding companies not far from the resort.

How to get there?

• By plane or train from Helsinki to the small town of Kajaani, and from there by local bus to Vuokatti.

Levi

This is a real alpine resort - with a charming Lapland village at the top and cozy wooden cottages at its foot. The Alpine Ski World Cup stage is taking place on one of the tracks.

How to get there?

• By plane from Helsinki (the journey is about an hour and a half) or by train from Helsinki (the journey from the Finnish capital is 13 hours) to Kolari station. From there it’s another 80 km by local bus to Levi.

3rd place. Ferry from St. Petersburg to Helsinki or from Helsinki to Stockholm

How to get there?

• Almost every small town in Finland can be reached by regular bus from the bus station in Helsinki (it is located on the underground floor of the Kamppi department store).

Magnificent nature, excellent tourist service, ample opportunities for active recreation... It is best to come to Lapland in winter - go downhill and cross-country skiing, go on a reindeer or snowmobile safari - and just breathe in the crystal air and admire the Northern Lights. How to get into this snowy fairy tale?

By plane
There are 5 airports in Lapland - in Kemi, Rovaniemi, Kittilä, Enontekio and Ivalo - where several flights arrive daily from Helsinki, the flight duration is 1-1.5 hours. The cities of Oulu and Kuusamo (located near Lapland) also have airports.
Blue 1 offers direct flights from Helsinki to Kittilä, Rovaniemi, Kuusamo and Oulu. Finnair flies passengers from Helsinki to any airport in Lapland, as well as to Oulu and Kuusamo.
Regular buses and taxis run between airports and tourist sites.
Example. The popular Levi ski resort is located 18 km from Kittilä. Airfare Helsinki–Kittilä–Helsinki: Blue1 – 214.73 euros (including taxes), Finnair – 227.18 euros (including taxes).

By train
From any region of Finland you can reach Lapland by rail. The journey from Helsinki takes approximately 12 hours. The most convenient are night trains, which include seated and sleeping cars (single, double and triple compartments), a dining car, and platforms for transporting cars.
Routes: Helsinki–Rovaniemi–Helsinki, Helsinki–Kolari–Helsinki, Helsinki–Oulu–Helsinki, Helsinki–Kemijärvi–Helsinki, Tampere–Rovaniemi–Tampere, Tampere–Kolari–Tampere, Turku–Rovaniemi–Turku, Turku–Kolari–Turku ( only in season*).

Example. Cost of a night train trip on the Helsinki–Rovaniemi route (one way): package in a regular sleeping car (compartment (1–3 people) + car) – 218 euros, per season*– 319 euros; package in a double-decker sleeping car (compartment 1–3 people + car) – 232/242 euros, per season*– 334/344 euros. Passenger ticket (without a car) – from 12 to 74 euros.
*Season: in all directions – 12/19/2008–01/4/2009, 02/20–04/19/2009, 04/9 and 04/13/2009; from south to north – December 22–23, 2008, February 13–15, 2009, April 7–8, 2009 and December 21–23, 2009; from north to south – 12/29/2008, 01/5–6/2009, 04/14 and 12/28/2009.

By car
If you are traveling with your whole family (or a group of several people), a car is the most economical way to travel. The shortest route from Helsinki to Lapland by road passes through Lahti, Jyväskylä and Oulu, to Rovaniemi. Other popular routes are along the E 75 north through the coastal towns of Western Finland, and in the eastern part of the country through Lappeenranta, Joensuu, Kajaani and Kuusamo. The roads are kept in good condition thanks to the use of modern snow removal equipment.

The distance from Helsinki to Rovaniemi is 815 km, to Kemi – 715 km, to Kittilä – 963 km, to Enontekio – 1077 km, to Kuusamo – 796 km. Be careful: moose and deer often come onto the trail!
There are regular buses from Southern Finland to Lapland (Saariselkä Express from Helsinki and Turku, Ylläs Express from Helsinki, etc.).

Example. Cost of travel by regular bus on the route Helsinki–Ylläs/Levi. Round trip ticket: adult ticket – 140 €, child ticket (under 17 years old) – 74 €. One way: adult ticket – 82?, children (under 17 years old) – 41?.
Departure is from Helsinki Bus Station every Friday, return is on Sunday. Reservations are made one week before departure.

…By ski?!
For tourists dreaming of a ski trip to Lapland, we inform you that you will have to cover about 755 km from Lappeenranta to Rovaniemi. Moving along the route without stopping at the speed of a well-prepared skier (15 km/h), you will be there in 50 hours and 20 minutes.
By the way. On the website www.ski.fi (there is an English version) you will find information about all ski resorts in the country, incl. Lapland.