Are you wondering what to do during your summertime stay in Rovaniemi? Whether you want to join a guided tour or excursion, or explore the city on your own, here are our best Rovaniemi travel tips for you! We want you to have a memorable summertime stay in Lapland!
Rovaniemi is a mid-sized Finnish city with approximately 63 000 inhabitants. Whether you love spending time in the untouched nature or enjoy the hectic city life filled with good restaurants and cultural events, the city has something to offer to everyone!
In this article we want to share our best insider travel tips for your summertime stay in our home town and tell you about our favorite things to do in Rovaniemi, whether they’re related to cultural experiences or outdoor life.
Landmarks and sights in Rovaniemi
The city might be quite small when it comes to the amount of inhabitants, but the land area of the city is large! You might find that interesting things that are “located in Rovaniemi”, are actually tens of kilometers away from the city! Rovaniemi has a public transportation network but buses only operate between cities and most densely populated neighborhoods. Luckily, the terrain is rather flat, and you can get far by renting a bike!
Our TOP 5 suggestions for landmarks and sights are things that you will be able to do in the summertime without renting a car or a guide. Local bus no. 8 operates between the Santa Claus village and the city center.
Our Top 5 travel tips for landmarks and sights
- Santa Claus Village. Located at the Arctic Circle, about 8 km North of the city center, Santa Claus Village has Christmas throughout the year. Here you will visit Santa Claus at his office, shop for Finnish design (check out the Iittala and Marttiini stores) but also take a picture of yourself crossing the Arctic Circle. The founding building of the village, a small log cabin, was built in 1950 when Eleanor Roosevelt visited Lapland as a part of a post-WWII Unicef project. You can still find the cabin standing in the middle of buildings that have risen around it.
- Arktikum. Rovaniemi is not all about Santa Claus and reindeer. The most famous museum in Rovaniemi offers you more information on the history of the region, Lapland and the Arctic. The museum hosts changing exhibitions as well.
- Riverside sightseeing walk. Take a walk along the riverside to learn about the everyday life of the locals. During your walk you can see the Jätkänkynttilä Bridge, the public beach of Rovaniemi where locals and reindeer go sunbathing together, a public lean-to with a fireplace and a small island called “Kotisaari”.
- Alvar Aalto architecture. For architecture-lovers, there is a lot of Alvar Aalto heritage in town. The reindeer head-shaped city plan of the city center and the Administrative cultural center (which includes the city hall, city library, Lappia-hall and the city theater) are designed by the famous Finnish architect.
- Culture House Korundi. Located in one of the only buildings that were not destroyed in the Lapland War, The Culture house of Korundi houses the Rovaniemi art museum, the city’s chamber orchestra, a small ship and a café
Food culture
Finland and Lapland are not yet renown for their food culture, even though the region has a lot to offer when it comes to delicious dishes. The Finnish cuisine is about clear, simple flavors and fresh, local ingredients, and you can expect to find berries, mushrooms, fish, game and root vegetables on your plate here. Sauteed reindeer and blazed salmon (or trout) are some of the most well-known dishes of the region, but there is a lot more to discover beyond these two!
You can experience the local food by visiting local restaurants, joining food-related activities arranged in the city or by doing a discovery tour at the supermarket and cooking by yourself. Below are our best tips for local food in Rovaniemi:
Restaurants in Rovaniemi
During the last couple of years, several really good restaurants have opened in the city. Some of our favorite restaurants offering dishes with local ingredients include:
- Ravintola Roka: This small and cozy restaurant offers two different kinds of menus. One is a down-to-earth street food menu, but the other one is a seasonal bistro menu on which you can find local flavors. The staff is super friendly and will tell you about the dishes and help you pair a local beer with your meal if you like.
- Arctic Restaurant: Arctic Light Hotel’s fine-dining restaurant offers dishes with local ingredients. We especially love their carefully built menu packages.
- Kahvila Konditoria Antinkaapo: If you would like to have a snack and enjoy a traditional sweet treat with your coffee, you can head here for a very Finnish experience. The bakery serves sweet buns and other traditional delicacies.
Cooking classes and local food tours
If you are interested in seeing where your food comes from and how local ingredients become dishes using traditional methods, you can consider joining a food tour or a food-related activity like a cooking class.
With Frost Fell Adventures, you can learn about the art of outdoor cooking and join a tour to prepare a traditional three course meal on open fire.
Cooking Finnish food at home
Whether you want to make a culinary trip to Finland in your home kitchen or continue enjoying Finnish food after returning back home from your trip to Finland, food blogs with Finnish recipes can help you recreate your favorite dishes at home! Wind from the North is a Finnish food blog with traditional Finnish recipes as well as stories about life in the North.
If you are visiting Finland and want to purchase local ingredients at the supermarket, don’t hesitate to ask for help! Most Finns speak very good English.
Restaurant culture on a budget
The Nordic countries are rather expensive and you might notice that restaurant prices in Finland are higher than what you’re used to in your home country. If you want to try different dishes without blowing your budget, try eating out during lunch time! Lunch deals are a very typical Finnish thing and many restaurants offer a special lunch menu consisting of 2–5 lunch dishes from Monday to Friday. The dishes are the same size as normal main courses, but cost only around 10 euros each, often including coffee and a salad buffet.
Nature Activities
One of the best things that you can do in Rovaniemi is to enjoy the clean and beautiful nature that surrounds the city. There are also plenty of outdoor activities to choose from in the region. In this article we will cover both arranged tours and activities that you can do on your own. There are several benefits to hiring an experienced guide, but we also want to encourage people to have an adventure all on their own!
Nature activities that you can do on your own
Nightless night picnic
Go on a picnic at midnight! Rovaniemi is located at the Arctic Circle, and in the summer can be hard to tell which one is day and which one is night.
Ounasvaara hiking area and view towers
Ounasvaara is a large hill within a walking distance from the city center. It is the center for sports in the city and there are a lot of hiking trails in the area. Take a meal along and, go for a day hike and be sure to climb to a view tower to get a perfect view over the city.
Riverside walk
Take a walk along the riverside to learn about the everyday life in the city. If you start at the walking street, in the heart of the city and head south, you will first see the Jätkänkynttilä Bridge behind you and the public beach of Rovaniemi on the opposite shore. As you keep on walking, you will find a popular public lean-to with a fireplace and see a small island in front of it. The island is called “Kotisaari” and it’s one of the most photographed spots in Rovaniemi (mostly with a drone). IWhen you arrive at a T-crossing, you can take a turn right, visit the church of Rovaniemi and find yourself back in the city center.
Kuninkaanlaavu
Packing tips for summer
You can focus on enjoying the outdoor life in Rovaniemi when you have the right gear with you! The word “summer” doesn’t autimatically mean warm weather here, even though it is possible to experience very warm summer days ( +25°c ) in Lapland. Here is our small Lapland packing tip checklist:
- Layers. In general, the Lappish summer weather can be almost anything, so it’s a good idea to prepare for everything! Just like with our winter clothing tips, we recommend that you pack layers with you!
- Mosquito repellent. One extremely important thing to remember is mosquito repellent. The Lappish mosquitos don’t spread diseases but their bites are itchy! That’s why long sleeves are a must in the evenings.
- Swimsuit. There are plenty of rivers and lakes to swim in, and if the weather turns hot, what would be a better way to cool off! Also, you might want to go swimming during a sauna evening.
- Sleeping mask. The sun doesn’t set at all in the summer, so take a sleeping mask with you to make sure that you get enough sleep and stay well-rested during your holiday!
Guided Tours
If you are not very familiar with the northern nature, there are several benefits to hiring a professional guide for your summertime activities.
With an experienced guide, you don’t have to worry about safety issues, like getting lost, figuring out emergency numbers or simply struggle with renting a car. Hiring a local guide will also help you to reduce the amount work that you have to put into travel preparations beforehand, because a professional is planning your outdoor adventure for you. A local guide will also be a valuable source of information: you will hear a lot of stories and get insider tips of the region that you would not be able to find online!
Several companies offer guided outdoor tours in the area, and not all tours are the same. There are companies that specialize in small groups and then there are others that sell tours for masses. Group sizes can vary from two travelers to a whole big busload of tourists. Also the quality of guiding varies. Some companies use only experienced guides and others use foreign workers or volunteers with very little knowledge of the region.
The midnight sun
Many travelers visiting Lapland in the summer have a life-long dream to see the Midnight sun. This picture was taken at Kuninkaanlaavu at midnight in Midsummer.
We hope that you find these tips helpful! If you didn’t find what you were looking for on this page, be sure to check out our FAQ section as well.