An adventure into the Arctic Circle
As a self-professed geography nerd, I’ve got to admit, there’s something that feels exhilarating about being at some sort of geographic extreme or anomaly.
Some highlights I’ve experienced so far include:
• Countries that I know are not frequently visited: Suriname, Burundi, Guyana
• Unusually small countries: Vatican City, Eswatini, Liechtenstein
• Countries that are pretty isolated: Iceland, Australia, Zimbabwe
• Unusual meeting points of borders: The Golden Triangle of Laos-Thailand-Myanmar, Iguazu Falls in between Argentina-Paraguay-Brazil, The Four Corners
• Places that are very far north or south: Iceland, Alaska, Chile
Well, I got another one to put on that final list. I recently made it to my northernmost destination thus far… and this one’s not going to be easy to surpass.
So… earlier in the year, I took a father-son trip with my oldest kid, four at the time. We found amazingly priced flights between San Diego and Helsinki, and spent a bit of time there. While I was in search of accommodations for our time there, I discovered that one of our better options would be to spend a night on a sleeper train.
Part of what drew me towards Finland was the way the country is designed to be extremely child-friendly, and the trains equipped with playground and library cars were one of the best examples of that.
With trains already on my mind, I soon came across the Santa Claus Express, a high-speed route between Helsinki and Rovaniemi. The price of an overnight ticket was not too different than most hotels in Finland, but it came with the bonus of waking up in a completely different part of the country.
I splurged on the best sleeper cab I could, which meant it came with its own private bathroom, a big advantage when traveling with a four-year old. We had a cozy night of getting settled into our sleeper bunk beds, and we did our bedtime routine knowing that we would wake up for a new day that would be anything but routine.
When Rhys woke up, he made a direct route to the window without saying a word. By that point, the sun was up and we had entered the northern part of the country. Structures were few and far between, most of what we saw consisted of forest or wide open tundra. Watching Rhys stare out the window at all the snow with a big look of wonder was an instantaneous core memory.
I let him take it in as long as I could… why disrupt a moment like that? But eventually, I had to accommodate all the time it takes to get properly suited up in all the layers and layers of snow gear we brought in anticipation of the Arctic. Rovaniemi officially sits at the rim of the Arctic Circle, so very low temperatures were in order.
When we pulled into Rovaniemi, I immediately got curious about what it would be like to live in such a northern town. Already it was a larger town than I anticipated, complete with a fairly robust downtown area. I spotted a Vietnamese restaurant, as I tend to do wherever I travel, as well as a Burger King and McDonald’s… the most northern locations for both of those franchises.
The main attraction in Rovaniemi was Santa Claus Village. Rovaniemi takes its geography and absolutely runs with it, embracing the North Pole identity at any given opportunity. Their football team, playing in the fourth or fifth tier of the Finnish league, plays as Santa Claus FC.
Initially, I thought Santa Claus Village might be a collection of niche shops and a “Meet Santa” pavilion, but upon visiting, I found that the attraction was closer to a theme park. There were several restaurants on site, ranging from a quaint cafe to a dim sum spot, to a couple high end restaurants. There were reindeer rides and arctic safaris to be booked, and lots of open spaces for snowshoeing. We managed to get a buffet breakfast in one of the hotels at Santa Claus Village, sampling a great variety of Finnish breakfast items.
The whole day felt dedicated to play. How else are you supposed to spend a day at Santa Claus Village? And of course, we went through the extensive gift shop walk all en route to meeting Santa himself.
With our previous night being spent on what was essentially the Polar Express, it seemed like staying anywhere else would be a let down. Except, we managed to book another incredibly unique sleeping experience for that night.
The Arctic Snow Hotel allowed us to stay in a glass igloo, small in size but with a window-paneled roof allowing for uninterrupted views of the Northern Lights… if we should be so lucky. To make sure we didn’t miss our aurora opportunities, the igloo itself was equipped with an aurora alarm- a switch to flip so that if one was overhead, the staff could nudge us awake with a vibrating wall.
Rhys and I spent the evening exploring the site, including its ice cave. The ice cave actually had hotel rooms carved out of ice where one could stay, each with its own unique theme. Ice sculptors had managed to make hotel rooms inspired by graffiti, egypt, or rats, and they were equipped with thick blankets and lighting to make an overnight stay possible, if not totally comfortable. Considering my roommate was four years old, I think I made the right decision in simply opting for the cozier igloos.
This hotel was actually well equipped with all sorts of amenities. There were a couple of bars and nicer restaurants. A large snow pit area led to an open field for sledding, tobogganing, and other kinds of play. A reindeer who lived on site was available for petting and feeding. And there was a sauna, which goes without saying. This was Finland after all.
After a whole day of trains, Santa Claus, and snow play, Rhys was ready for a really satisfying night’s sleep. And we would get that in our igloo. At least for a couple of hours, until the aurora alarm went off.