Travel · 9 February 2024
From Kuusamo via Helsinki and Oslo to Bodø
-33 °C at the petrol pump, a cancelled flight and two de-icing stations later: a whole day of travelling for a route a direct flight would do in an hour.
Finland
Finnish Lapland in February is another world: temperatures down to -33 degrees, powder snow like we had never seen before, and forests whose snow-laden trees look like frozen sculptures.
Around Kuusamo and Ruka we slept in glass igloos and design cabins, hand-fed reindeer, rode snowmobiles at -30 degrees and hiked through a pink dusk in Riisitunturi National Park. All posts from our Finland trip are collected here.
Photo spots in Finland
Posts from Finland
Travel · 8 February 2024
Snowmobile tour at -30 degrees
Full-body overalls, a Lynx Adventure LX and 30 kilometres through frozen forests and lakes, an arctic adventure ending with warm food in a snow tipi.
Travel · 7 February 2024
Riisitunturi National Park at dusk
A second hike up Riisitunturi rewards us with a surreal pink spectacle: fog, setting sun and frozen eyelashes at -25 °C.
Travel · 6 February 2024
Reindeer farm & Riisitunturi National Park
Hand-feeding reindeer their lichen dessert at -25 °C, then hiking through Riisitunturi's candle spruces, a day that feels like another planet.
Travel · 5 February 2024
Oulanka National Park
Powder-snow forests, the old Myllykoski mill and a sunset drive home, followed by a faint but real northern lights show over our cabin in Finland.
Travel · 4 February 2024
Out of the glass cabin, into the villa!
A snowshoe trail through wintry forests, lunch in Ruka and a stunning modern cabin with a glass front, sauna and forest view, plus another night waiting for the aurora.
Travel · 3 February 2024
Of Magical Ponds and the tripod hunt
Snowshoeing past a reindeer and husky farm, cosy hours in the glass igloo, and a frantic search across Ruka and Kuusamo for the very last tripod in town.
Travel · 2 February 2024
Zurich to Kuusamo
First-ever Edelweiss flight to Kuusamo, spike tyres on the rental car and a first night in a glass igloo at Magical Ponds, our Finland winter trip begins.