What to Know BEFORE Visiting FINLAND - Clothes, Booking Igloos, Transport, Costs

In this video we'll be sharing 10 things you should know before visiting Finland. Tips such as using transport to get around the country, or whether driving yourself in the snow is a good idea. Things to keep in mind when booking its more unique accommodation options, and how to easily beat its cold climate. These tips are all based on our previous holiday where we visited Helsinki, the capital in the winter activities, and Kakslautonen, a famous glass igloo and log cabin resort, for a countryside snowy getaway. Do check out the main Finland vlog for what we got up to whilst we were there. So first, let's discuss some options arriving into Finland, and then getting around the country itself. Now, most international flights will land into Helsinki, at the very south end of the country. Being the capital, it's a great base to start, with cathedrals, museums and parks. Helsinki also has a great domestic setup for flights, with numerous routes then heading north towards Lapland for the more open countryside holiday. For our trip we used the Rovaniemi and Ivalo airport, which were both only then a 30 minute drive to all the major hotspots, after a quick 90 minute flight. It is worth mentioning that if you only want to experience Lapland, there are some routes that will take you straight there, so it's worth checking your local airport. But flight availability will be much more limited than landing straight into Helsinki. And just as a by the by, we found Finnair to be excellent on every single flight we took with them, so I definitely recommend them if you have the choice. As an alternative, if you do start in Helsinki, it's also good to know that the bottom half of Finland is covered really well by train. But this does become less of an option the further north into Lapland you go. As one example, there's a direct train route to Rovaniemi that takes between 8 and 12 hours, and can either be booked as a normal seat or an overnight cabin. For travel then around Lapland itself, buses would be the easiest option, and I've linked a couple of companies in the description below and the pinned comment. A company called Onibus seems to be the budget option, but since we didn't use them I can't comment on their reliability. It is worth noting that although this video isn't sponsored by JEE Travels as the previous video was, they would be another easy option as all their packages include private transfers from A to B, and again I've linked them in the description and pinned comment. Outside of taking a ride on a reindeer, the last option would be renting a car and driving around yourself. Specifically talking about the winter season, I would only recommend this if you're comfortable driving in snowy conditions. If you have experience driving in lots of snow in a country like England for example, then you'll probably be fine here given that the roads are better taken care of and the cars are more likely to be built for these conditions. But if you are still on the fence though, just be aware that there are some extra hurdles when driving here. For one, you're often driving with little light given that the sun only pops up for a few hours. When cars overtake or trucks pass, they will tend to blur your vision for a decent amount of time. There will be ice at some point on the road that you'll need to deal with, and in Lapland you should also always keep alert for deer running out into the road. If anyone has driven abroad in Finland, then please do let me know how you found it in the comments as I'd be really interested to hear. In terms of when to visit Finland, the country can generally be broken down into north and south, so feel free to pause now for an overview. But if you're looking for the winter wonderland that we had, Lapland is usually snowy from November to April, and Helsinki from late December to March. A high peak for hotel prices is the week that we visited, which was around Christmas and New Year. This is a busy time as people obviously want to meet Santa while he still suffers a hangover. The key here though is that meeting Father Christmas is a year-round activity, so my overall suggestion for a winter holiday would be February or March. The days are longer so you have more light to enjoy the activities, the snow is still abundant, there's a better chance of seeing the northern lights, and Santa will still be there to greet you whether it's Christmas day or Valentine's. That then will make June to August the best months for quote a summer holiday, and after visiting in the winter I am now really curious to visit again during that time of year to experience what would undoubtedly be another side of Finland. Next, accommodation. In our previous vlog I wasn't able to feature the Helsinki hotel that we stayed in, which was a shame as we really loved it, and I'd really recommend this hotel if you want to be super central. The room was cozy, it had a heated floor in the bathroom, the staff were all great, the breakfast was enjoyable, both by serving good food but also the dining room itself looking out into the harbour. Big recommendation all round, and the prices start from around 160 euros for two adults with breakfast. Also on our last night we had an early flight back to London, and we stayed on the Helsinki airport grounds itself, so a 10 minute walk from baggage claim starting at around 130 euros. So if you were considering a connecting flight either domestically or back to your home country as we did, I'll link this one below also which all support the channel at no extra cost to you so thank you in advance. The glass igloo was a bucket list type of accommodation for me and an enjoyable night, even though we didn't get to see the northern lights. But it is worth saying that if we had have experienced hours of light activity whilst laying in bed, it would probably rank as one of the best hotel experiences I'd ever had. So be prepared that you will be paying for that potential, and prices do reflect this, with the igloos starting in the late 500 euros per night. Now that is for two adults and does include breakfast and dinner also, which was both buffet and were okay. Although this resort was the first in the world to create the glass igloos for tourists, there are countless similar resorts all over Lapland. The one we stayed in was their small one, but there are larger ones here you can book also. There's also super luxury ones such as this one in Levy, which is a popular resort town two hours north of Rovaniemi and gets the best review scores that I've found. Also just to note, all of these igloos around the country do sell out, so book early if this is something you're specifically interested in and then you can book your holiday around that. The log cabins we stayed in started at a similar price and in the end we much actually preferred these over the igloos as it was larger, felt much more cozy, and the built-in sauna was lovely. Public saunas are usually single sex, so for us having our own private sauna was the best way to enjoy the heat together. Overall I'd say although the igloos are a unique novelty that do get better with the northern lights, these cabins will always deliver, so I think that's an important thing to keep in mind when choosing. Just one extra point I wanted to cover considering costs. In general we did find Finland to be on the more expensive side, especially when say compared to London. We also found that prices could vary massively across the country. For example the starting price for a husky experience at the Santa Claus Village was 40 euros per adult, that being compared to being four times greater at our hotel two days later. To be clear though this isn't a like-for-like comparison. The 40 euro version was a 10 minute ride next to the busy Santa Claus Village and the 160 euro version is a one hour ride in a much more open peaceful countryside location. But my point is maybe you only want the 10 minute version, so just check your activity options ahead of time and not just being stuck with whatever's in front of you. For the itinerary our trip was broken down into three sections with two nights at each Helsinki, Rovaniemi and Kakslautonen. This breaks down nicely into city, snowy town with lots of wintry activities and then snow-filled countryside with built-in relaxation. I think this itinerary works really well but if you did want more relaxation time I'd just add an extra night on at either or both of Rovaniemi and Kakslautonen or just spend all of your time in Lapland so you aren't moving around as much. Again if you haven't seen it do check out our full Finland vlog which will show you more of how we spent our time here. In hindsight it's hard to judge Helsinki properly as a destination since we were only there on Christmas Eve when all these shops and museums that we'd normally be visiting were all closed. But since it's a fairly small capital I reckon a full day here would be sufficient but please do comment below to share your experiences. One area I couldn't cover as much as I wanted to in that vlog was our Helsinki day trip to Tallinn, Estonia which if you do have time I wanted to put this on your radar. Tallinn is one of the best preserved medieval cities in Europe that we probably never would have seen and provided a great contrast to everything else we did on this trip. We were also really impressed with the ferry journey and port experience in itself. Now maybe it's just because we had zero expectations but what we actually got was closer to a mini cruise liner with restaurants, shops, bars and viewing platforms. I've linked both the tour guided trip we took below along with the ferry company itself. So depending on how much you enjoy shopping for clothes this is either the fun section or the not fun but still incredibly necessary section. What to wear for a winter holiday when you're looking at minus 10 to minus 15 degrees. First of all don't worry too much if you aren't warm enough when you're here. Both Helsinki and Rovaniemi had loads of clothes shops where you could buy the right gear if you were missing something. They almost certainly would be more expensive buying here than back home but my point is you do have a backup. Also it's good to know that lots of the activities we did provide you with extra clothes as part of the package. So having said all that the number one general tip is layering with a base, mid and outer layer working best. This spread here represents all my layers which I would mix and match from but sometimes double up if the activity called for it. Again some of these items will be linked in the description and pinned comment below. So starting like a cat burglar we begin with the base layer. Thermal leggings and a long sleeved shirt. For these merino wool is the most recommended. It's sweat absorbing, quick dry, odour resistant and is naturally insulating and a breathable fabric. It will cost more but it is worth it and it's what Chiaki had. Outside of merino wool synthetic or blended base layers such as viscose or polyester are also a good option and that's what I was using. For those who live in a country where this is relevant we found the Decathlon store to be the best mix of both value and quality and most of our stuff was from there. But other outdoor activity stores would also work. Next you have the mid layer which keeps the heat in. For the upper mid layer you want something like a fleece, wool top or insulated puffer jacket. Because I'm a wuss I was sometimes wearing all three but it does depend on how good each item is on its own. For the lower mid I was just using these Uniqlo trousers with an inside fleece that I typically just wear in England but work really well. The outer layer then needs to protect you from the elements so either a waterproof hiking jacket like this one, a big down or puffer coat or ski jacket. Something that would be good against the rain, wind or snow. You can get down jackets that are also water resistant like Chiaki has here and that would be ideal. But again I already owned a great puffer coat as well as a waterproof jacket so I just put them on top of each other when necessary. For the bottom outer layer I just wore waterproof trousers which are especially helpful if you sit down or get wet. Oh and by the way jeans are an absolute no-no so just leave them at home. Other obvious items such as gloves and scarves are maybe even more important as your head needs to be kept warm. For more than a decade I've sworn by these 180 ear warmers which pull tight around your ears and reduce cold airflow. I also found these amazing gloves on Amazon that let me still use my phone for filming whilst keeping my hands warm. They do have the option to expose your fingertips but it was still so cold that I ended up mostly keeping my fingers inside. Finally make sure to wear a warm pair of snow boots or hiking boots as you may be walking in deep snow and you do not want cold wet feet. Wool socks again are great and for the reindeer ride I used these toe warmers which really helped and are an easy cheap purchase which can make all the difference. Do check out the pinned comment and description below for all links mentioned in this video as they'll act as a helpful resource for you going forwards. If you found any of this useful please do leave a thumbs up as it really helps us and let us know your thoughts below. What are your biggest takeaways from this video and Finland in general? Unless something else comes up the next video I'll be working on is Canada so do expect radio silence for a while as it's going to be a big one. So until the next one, thanks for watching! Suitcase Monkey