Total Days: 8
Days That it Didn’t Rain (or snow in this case): maybe 1, but it turns out snow is much easier to deal with than rain.
Average Temperature: 26 F- practically a heat wave I’ve been told!
Expensive? Definitely. While still cheaper than Norway or Sweden, prices in Finland are some of the highest in Europe.
Place Visited: Helsinki, Inari, Saariselka (Lapland)
Most Memorable Moment: Walking out into the middle of a frozen lake covered in snow and really feeling the emptiness and the silence of Northern Lapland.
Biggest Misconception: Hard to say that people really have any conceptions about Finland, but the one surprising fact I learned is that technically- Finland is NOT part of Scandinavia!
Coolest Discovery: Moomin! I fell a little in love with these bizarre cartoon characters. I have no idea really what they are about, everytime someone tried to explain I would get extra confused, but they sure are cute.
Favorite Food: I ate some really great food in Finland, but my favorite meal was the warm and meaty Karelian stew.
Least Favorite Food: Bland chicken and rice with gravy seems to be a popular lunch staple up north. Didn’t do much for me.
Biggest Feat of Willpower: I promised I’d go for an icy post-sauna dip and against every piece of common sense in my brain I did it… then screamed and ran right back in the sauna.
Coolest Souvenir: A vile of gold that I panned myself at the Tankavaara Gold Village.
Biggest Regret: Not seeing the #$#%@# Northern Lights. Luck just wasn’t on my side this time around.
Best Advice: Mike published some great packing advice for going somewhere as chilly as Lapland and it’s all true. The more big wooly socks the better.
Would I Go Back? Yes- the insane beauty of the snow more than made up for the cold. Next time though I think I’d prefer to go in warmer weather, for comparison’s sake.
I visited Inari as a guest of Visit Finland and Northern Lapland Tourism in conjunction with Navigate Media Group.
