There’s a real winter wonderland in Finland—here’s how to visit

This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK).

Picture Arctic Finland in winter and you’re picturing Levi. Or rather, Levi’s the destination that delivers what you’re envisaging — an atmospheric dead-of-winter dose of cosy wildness. Without the bustle of Rovaniemi, the ‘official’ home of Santa, or the isolation of northern outpost Saariselkä, this small resort manages to strike a sweet balance. You get the log cabins, frozen lakes and the endless, snow-bowed conifers. Revving snowmobiles and yowling huskies. Christmas lights and — hopefully — Northern Lights, too. Santa, obviously. But you also get a spa, a choice of supermarkets, a good selection of restaurants, a fully fledged ski resort clustered around a hill and even a tattooist (if that’s your thing).

That all of this is crammed into a tangle of streets home to a year-round population of just 600 makes Levi quite a find on a practical level. It’s also very accessible, only 15 minutes from the little airport at Kittilä and two hours from Rovaniemi. But none of this practicality is at the expense of Nordic winter magic at its most elemental. Its fairy lights peering idyllically out into the polar night, Levi and its surroundings have charm in spades.

Day 1: Huskies, walks & saunas

Morning
Levi is chilly in winter — an average day is around -15C. So, make a pit stop at Perhesafarit equipment rental store if you need to stock up on cold-weather clothing before your first snow excursion. Husky tours operate from several farms around Levi, which offer quintessential Lapland outings from an hour to two days. The dogs, usually wiry Alaskan huskies rather than fluffy malamutes, will energetically yowl and gallop their way through snowy forest trails at an exhilarating clap. Headquartered in a forest and with its own grillkota (‘grill house’) hut where you can warm up afterwards, Polar Lights Tours runs dog-led itineraries, from night-time aurora hunts to brisk ‘safaris’.

Afternoon
Grab lunch at Pannukakkutalo, a bistro that serves pancakes with toppings such as smoked reindeer, then go on a DIY walking tour of Levi. The village itself — with a centrepiece of a grand spruce festooned with lights — is called Sirkka; Levi is the name of the ski resort that can be seen above the village, on piste-etched Levitunturi hill (1,742ft). Wander up Sirkka’s main street, watching out for snowmobiles, and browse pedestrianised Keskuskuja for products like Sámi shamanic drums and Lappish charms. Grab a walking trail map from the tourist info centre and follow the two-mile loop to the lake of Immeljärvi, Levi’s three-quarters-of-a-mile-long frozen landmark.

Evening
For a taste of the local cuisine, head to Ravintola Ämmilä, a cosy wood-panelled restaurant that serves up traditional Lapp food with a modern flair. Menu options are likely to include dishes such as reindeer and Arctic berries, as well as a Finnish sweet fortified wine called lakka, made from cloudberries. After that, head home for a sauna. It’s a quintessentially Finnish ritual and there are more than 2,000 of them in Levi alone — virtually every accommodation will have one. This cultural tradition is meant to be enjoyed communally rather than alone, and will leave you feeling elementally both at odds and entwined with your chilly new surroundings — in a good way.

Day 2: Reindeer, cable-cars & secret cafes

Morning
The traditionally nomadic people who call this region home are the Sámi and they’ve herded the local reindeers for centuries. Spend the morning at a farm such as Ounaskievari, a historic roadhouse a 15-minute drive from Levi, for a unique opportunity to learn about the deep relationship the Sámi have with this resilient animal, as well as local predators such as bears, wolverines and wolves. Tours include a meditative reindeer sled ride through a forest, a pit stop at a lavvu (traditional tipi shelter) and the opportunity to observe the Sámi-reindeer bond. A lake behind the main farmhouse, frozen in winter, offers atmospherically frigid views, with picturesque cabins dotted around the shore.

Afternoon
Get a cable-car from Zero Point — Levi’s buzzing ski hub — to the Hotel Panorama. Positioned on the hillside ski slopes, it offers spellbinding views across the region; the white streaks and patches you’ll see from up here are frozen rivers and lakes amid endless subarctic taiga forest. Grab a light lunch of salmon at the hotel’s Restaurant Panorama, then take in the adjacent Samiland Exhibition to learn more about the Sámi people. There’s also a wooded trail west of the hotel that leads to the Cafe Panorama Laavu — the ‘secret cafe’. Here, in an intimate cabin with a firepit, enjoy hot chocolate and a vista of a frozen landscape that disappears into ever-deeper blues.

Evening
Grab your dinner at cosy Classic Pizza Restaurant — part of Levi Hotel Spa Resort, just on the outskirts of town. The pizza is very decent (the restaurant does takeaway, too), but it’s also ideally located as a jumping-off point for one of Levi’s best nighttime activities. Take the underpass next to the hotel and head south along the Levintie road, back towards Immeljärvi Lake. It’s just as beautiful at night as it is during the day — and it also happens to be one of the best places in town to see the aurora borealis. Even if the lights don’t make an appearance, it’s a novelty to walk on the ice: during winter, the lake’s surface is crisscrossed by walking, skiing and even snowmobile trails.

Three more essential Lapland experiences

1. Aurora hunting

The Northern Lights are notoriously mercurial, but Levi’s extreme northern latitude increases the chances of seeing the phenomenon. Displays can range from a faint glow, best recorded on a camera, to a dancing spectacle of greens and reds. The solar activity that causes auroras is currently enjoying an 11-year cyclical peak, meaning brighter displays. Download the My Aurora Forecast app, which can help gauge the likelihood of catching one. The more committed may want to hire a professional aurora hunter through a company in Levi such as Juki Tours. Local guides are experts on the microclimate and will drive you out to remote locations to increase the chances of a sighting.

2. Meeting Santa

Fittingly for a place synonymous with Christmas, Finnish Lapland doesn’t shut up shop on 25 December. Excursions still happen, shops stay open and, with enough festive atmosphere supplied by the authentic ambience, chintz is at a minimum. But a family trip to meet the man himself is often an intrinsic part of the Lapland experience. You can go to Rovaniemi for the day, but it’s a four-hour return journey from Levi. A better option is to head for Tonttula, the Elves’ Village, a half-hour drive from the resort. Here, you can meet reindeer, bake gingerbread, make decorations and explore the occasionally creepy mythology surrounding Lapland’s most famous resident; pre-book if you want to meet Santa himself.

3. Staying at an ice hotel

Each year, more than 20 million kilos of snow and ice are used to create the Lapland Hotels SnowVillage, around 45 minutes from Levi. Festooned with sculptures, an ice bar, a restaurant and surreal accommodation, it’s a unique — if pricey — experience to stay here. It’s also possible to explore on a day trip. Visitors can marvel at the artistry on show and experience just how intrinsic and beautiful snow is to the landscape of northern Finland by touring its various nooks and crannies. Book a ticket for the Ice Exhibition, which will allow access to the hotel rooms, the ice sculptures and the ice bar — an enchanting space that’s dimly lit in a mix of ethereal blues and purples and stays open until late.

Published in the Jan/Feb 2025 issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK).

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