finland
The idea of Finland began developing in my mind when I learned of the variety of activities all my kids could enjoy despite their age ranges (10, 12, 14, 17), as well as reading that a bucket list item of mine, seeing the Aurora Borealis, could have enhanced
chances of shining brightly in 2024. We considered Alaska because that remains uncharted territory for us, but when we began pricing out flights, Finland won! It is crazy
that once again, planning an international family trip panned out to be more budget friendly than a domestic trip.
When should i visit?
I researched best times to go, particularly for the prime chances of viewing the Aurora Borealis and found my ideal window would be winter to early spring.
While crossing the arctic circle and visiting Santa Claus and his reindeer would undoubtedly be magicalduring the Christmas season, I did not want to fend with the crowds and my kids are old enough that their priorities did not include visiting Santa Claus.
Spring break proved to be the ideal time for our visit, and since my birthday is the first day of spring and fell during our spring break, I was fortunate to experience a Finnish birthday! We loved visiting in late winter-early spring and would recommend this time for anyone with similar priorities. We were able to enjoy many of the unique winter activities Finland offers, without the crowds and extra frigid temperatures. Our average daily temperature was around 30 degrees Fahrenheit.
packing tips
Please click here and let me know you want my late winter Finland packing list. The coat I wore kept me perfectly warm. I packed short and long boots because I didn’t know how deep the snow would be and which option would be best, and that was unnecessary. Don’t make some of my rookie mistakes!
our itinerary
Use the links above to view the daily summaries of our 7-day visit. Though it included a decent amount of traveling and we covered a lot of ground for a week, we felt it was doable, still enjoyed some down time, and were able to see a lot of the country! We rented a car with Sixt and found it easy to navigate from place to place. The driving conditions, even with some remaining snow and ice on the roads, were manageable with caution and experience driving in the snow.
We drove five hours to the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and caught flights to Atlanta, Paris, Helsinki, then Rovaniemi via Finnair. Finnair was a positive experience for us. We experienced a slight delay, but otherwise it was a seamless process. We purchased all flights in advance. This was the longest flight path the kids have endured to date, and while everyone was a bit delirious by the end, we made it!
We explored Rovaniemi and surrounding areas for our first 2.5 days. During this time, we stayed in an adorable Airbnb on a frozen lake. This home fit us well, was very cozy, and the highlight for the kids were the chocolates left on each of the beds for our nightcap. We then traveled north to Levi and Kilpisjarven for the next few days before making our way back to Helsinki.