Rovaniemi is surrounded by a great deal of forest and not many roads, which keeps the list of day trips short and the quality high. Three stand out — Korouoma, Ranua and the icebreaker from Kemi — and each takes most of a day. Several shorter outings fill a morning or an afternoon.
Public transport to most of these places is thin or non-existent, and winter driving in the dark is not everyone’s idea of a holiday. For that reason nearly all visitors go on organised tours with pickup, a guide and, usually, lunch by a campfire.
Korouoma canyon: the frozen waterfalls
The best day trip from Rovaniemi, and one of the best-value things to book in Lapland. A hundred kilometres east, a deep gorge fills each winter with icefalls up to 60 metres high in shades of blue, green and amber. A five-kilometre trail leads down into the canyon and along their foot. It is a proper walk, with steep steps, so wear good boots. Full details in our Korouoma guide.
Ranua Wildlife Park: polar bears and Arctic animals
An hour south, Finland’s Arctic zoo keeps polar bears, lynx, wolverines, wolves, moose and owls in large forest enclosures along a boardwalk. It is open every day of the year and needs no fitness at all — the natural choice for families and for a rest day between safaris. See the Ranua guide.
Kemi: the icebreaker Sampo and the SnowCastle
The most expensive and most extraordinary: a cruise through the frozen Gulf of Bothnia on a veteran icebreaker, with a chance to float in the sea in a survival suit. It makes a long day of ten or eleven hours from Rovaniemi, and it sells out months ahead. A lower-priced icebreaker alternative sails from just over the Swedish border. Details in the Kemi guide.
Day trip with guided hike from €70 Rovaniemi: Korouoma Canyon Frozen Waterfalls Hike & BBQ
The best-rated day trip from Rovaniemi and remarkable value. After a drive of about an hour and a half, you descend into a gorge where seeping water freezes into icefalls tens of metres high, and follow a circular trail of roughly five kilometres with a sausage-grilling stop. Expect steep steps on the way down and back up.
- Walk beneath towering walls of ice
- Barbecue lunch in the canyon
- Rated 4.9 by over 1,600 guests
Small-group day trip from €145 Rovaniemi: Korouoma Frozen Waterfalls Small-Group Tour
The same canyon with fewer people. A smaller vehicle and group make for a calmer walk and more flexibility over the pace and photo stops. Costs more than the bestseller, and is worth it if you dislike walking in a crowd.
- Smaller group, more time with the guide
- Winter gear for the trail (see listing)
- Campfire lunch
Day trip with entry ticket from €99 Rovaniemi: Ranua Wildlife Park Ticket with Transportation
An easy half-day to the Arctic zoo at Ranua, about an hour south. A boardwalk winds through the forest past some 50 northern species kept in large, natural enclosures. Animals are generally livelier in the cold, so winter is a good time to go.
- Finland’s only polar bears
- Lynx, wolverine, moose and owls
- Return transport and ticket included
Full-day trip to Kemi from €506 From Rovaniemi: Icebreaker Sampo Cruise with Ice Floating
The big-ticket day out. You are driven to Kemi on the Gulf of Bothnia to board the Sampo, which kept shipping lanes open in this sea from the early 1960s until 1987. The ship stops in the pack ice so you can walk on the frozen sea and float beside the hull in a survival suit. Sailings are limited and sell out far ahead.
- Cruise on a real former government icebreaker
- Float in the sea among the ice floes
- Transfers to Kemi included
Icebreaker cruise from €325 Icebreaker Cruise with Ice Floating and Walking on Ice
The main alternative to the Sampo: a cruise on another icebreaker that sails from a small harbour on the Swedish side of the Gulf of Bothnia, with shuttle buses from Kemi and Rovaniemi. The programme is similar — breaking ice, floating, walking on the sea — and fares are lower. Bring your passport or ID card.
- About three hours at sea
- Ice floating and a walk on the ice
- Lower price than the Sampo
Guided visit with transfer from €37 Rovaniemi: Arctic SnowHotel Visit
A visit to the hotel that is built from snow and ice each winter beside a lake at Sinettä, about half an hour from Rovaniemi. You tour the carved rooms, the ice restaurant and the chapel, and can try the ice bar. Open only in the snow season, roughly mid-December to the end of March.
- Snow rooms, ice sculptures and an ice bar
- Rebuilt from scratch every winter
- Transfer to Sinettä included
Guided day hike from €139 Rovaniemi: Auttiköngäs Waterfall Hike & Wilderness BBQ
A day in one of the finest patches of old forest near Rovaniemi. A circular trail of about three and a half kilometres climbs past the falls and the timber chute once used to float logs around them, to a lookout tower above the gorge.
- A 16-metre waterfall in old-growth forest
- Historic log flume
- Lunch over the campfire
Guided nature walk from €105 From Rovaniemi: Vikaköngäs Forest Hiking Tour with BBQ
A short guided walk in the Arctic Circle Hiking Area, about twenty minutes’ drive north of town. Duckboard paths follow the Raudanjoki rapids through pine forest to a fire shelter. Easy enough for most ages.
- Rapids, hanging bridge and old pine forest
- Sausages grilled at a lean-to
- Easy trails
Shorter outings
The Arctic SnowHotel at Sinettä
Half an hour north-west of the city, a hotel is rebuilt in snow and ice every winter. Visit for the carved rooms, the ice bar and dinner in the ice restaurant, or stay the night in a snow room or a glass igloo. Evening visits double as an aurora watch over the frozen lake. See the SnowHotel guide.
The Arctic Circle Hiking Area
Twenty minutes north on the main road: rapids, a suspension bridge, duckboards over the bog and fire shelters in old pine forest. Free, open all year and manageable on your own with a rental car, or on a short guided walk. See the hiking area guide.
Auttiköngäs
A 16-metre waterfall, a historic log flume and a nature trail through ancient forest, an hour east on the road to Korouoma. Drivers can combine the two; some guided hikes come here on its own. See the Auttiköngäs guide.
Further afield
- Riisitunturi National Park (about two hours east, beyond Korouoma): the fell famous for tykky — spruce trees so thickly crusted with snow and rime that they look like white sculptures. At its best from January to March; visited on full-day tours from Rovaniemi.
- Luosto and the amethyst mine (about an hour and a half north-east): a small fell resort in Pyhä-Luosto National Park, with a working amethyst mine where visitors dig for their own stone.
- Levi and Ylläs (two to three hours north-west): Finland’s largest ski resorts. Too far for a relaxed day trip; better as a second base.
- Sweden for lunch: the twin border towns of Tornio and Haparanda, near Kemi, let you stand in two countries and two time zones.
Tour or rental car?
- Take a tour if you are visiting in the dark months, are not used to winter roads, are travelling alone or as a couple, or want the campfire lunch and a guide who knows the trail. For Korouoma in particular the group tours cost little more than a day’s car hire and fuel.
- Rent a car if you are a family or group of four, are confident on snow, and want to combine places — Auttiköngäs with Korouoma, say, or the hiking area with Santa Claus Village — at your own pace.
- By public transport, only Kemi (by train) is straightforward. Buses to Ranua exist but are infrequent.
