As a Finn myself, what I appreciate most is the feeling after a sauna. So relaxed and good. Happiness is made up of small things and when you notice them, you realize that they are the most precious things in your life.
All tap water is drinkable in Finland so you could have just gone to restroom and filled your bottle. No need to buy overly expensive bottled water. The snow situation has been very flexible this year, now there is good amount of snow but it is melting again because there is +5C weather around Rovaniemi over couple of days. And then it is going to freeze again so icy conditions coming.
Haha yeah I was drinking tap water all over Finland, the problem was I lost my actual bottle so that's what I needed 🤣 glad to here there is more snow but that's really warm! 😬 Do you think it'll be colder in January?
@ Propably yes but I really do hope it is not going to be like last winter (beginning of this year) when there was like two weeks from -23 to -36 C. Absolutely horrific amounts of money went to keeping houses warm. It would be ideal if it would stay around -5 to -12 lets hope for that!
If you plan to use a bus in Finland, definitely figure out which app you should use for it and just enter the location you want to end up and allow the app to use GPS to figure out where you are. Then it will tell you which bus stop you have to go and which time. The app also shows realtime tracking so you know when the bus is going to appear on the stop so you don't need to be watching the traffic carefully all the time to identify the bus. And unless you're sure, swing your hand when you see the correct bus because some busses stop on most stops only if somebody is entering or exiting the bus.
If you come to Finland on a budget and are staying in a bnb with an oven, there are decent quality frozen cinnamon roles and Karelian pies/coctail pies sold in most grocery stores. Just some coffee and butter egg mix on top and that's your breakfast etc. fixed. [Egg butter is just boiled egg mixed with a bit of butter and salt. If not that, butter and cheese are excellent on top of Karelian pies too.]
1:55 "Little moments of magic." I have not lived in Rovaniemi. However, I connect this atmosphere with my school trips. By the way, by bike even in the winter. And -12°C was quite ordinary. -30°C was something bad. So, being sleepy, on a bike becoming harder and harder to pedal, freezing and in a hurry was... well, who can say that there was no magic in that? But maybe not like what you were experiencing. Ordinary Finnish school trip stories goes always like this. "We had to ski 10 kilometres, winters and summers, wolves and bears were snapping our most delicate parts, it was cold like in Russian hell and the teacher was a bastard..." But yes, that freezing morning atmosphere was, politely put, horrible! :D
@@ClairesFootstepsYes. It's not valid in every single museum but most of them. Plus the webpage is useful for seeing what museums are close to you, what exhibitions are going on, what their opening times are etc.
Nice video again. It was a great moment when you went into the avanto (Finnish word meaning a hole in the ice) and the man took your camera and filmed when you dipped yourself into the cold water 🙂 I have been once there in the Santa Claus village, but it was September, the temperature was like +15°C and of course no snow. I can tell you that I couldn't get to the "Christmas mood" 😆 Here's a little secret: The real arctic circle isn't there, but about 2km north. The Santa village was built there because the place where the circle actually is next to Rovaniemi is mostly on a swamp. Actually the runway of Rovaniemi airport crosses the real arctic circle where it is now. Because the axle of Earth is wobbling, the arctic circle moves about 14.5 meters per year in a 41000 year cycle.
Thankyou ! The sauna was great! I would love to visit in summer as well for the long days ☀️ haha I didn't know that about the arctic circle, that's really interesting! So not sure if I went above it at all on this trip 😅
@@ClairesFootsteps I have usually given a travellin hint for Finland to foreigners that in winter go to Lapland because it's the winter wonderland. Just like you did! Southern Finland is totally a summer destination. In winter it's just boring and miserable here, but in summer Helsinki, Turku, Tampere, Porvoo, Rauma etc. are very nice to visit.
Detachable spikes on shoes are essential when it is icy!! 😁 And a good tip is to walk like a penguin, with weight slightly forward and taking short steps with the main weight on the ball of the foot. It is lethal when the snow melts and the slush freezes over again. In the south it has been terrible!
@@anttitaskinen7178 Rubber (kitka) soles can help, but not with the recent conditions. There has been water on top of solid ice and grit doesn't stick to the ice either, or sinks inside it. Even dogs have been injured here in the south. Today will be easier as a lot of the ice is melting.
Rovaniemi, located in the Arctic Circle, is the gateway to Lapland. This is where the journey to the north of the Arctic Circle begins. It's in the southern border of northern Finland in that sense and not a typical part of it.
@Knappen82 City dwellers in Helsinki are likely to have a very biased idea of Finland. Lahti region - just about 100 km inland - has usually fairly good winter weather unlike miserable southern coastal places like Helsinki.
@Knappen82 Helsinki is such a small place 715.48 km² compared to Rovaniemi 8,016.75 km². 😊 Rovaniemi is the largest city in Europe by land area. It's comparable to the London Metropolitan Region or the London Metropolitan Agglomeration.
@@just42tubeSO TRUE! I live in Helsinki metropolitan area and even HERE you see a remarkable difference if temperature is in Helsinki +1 and just lush and darkness, you may have in Espoo -1 and beautiful snowy scenery and forests! I also visit regularly in countryside a bit north from Hämeenlinna! Such a winter wonderland with trees covered with snow, when in Helsinki we have terrible icy and slippery conditions - or no snow atall! Like we say here: Finland is a long country! And you see the difference even just getting from Helsinki 50 or 100 kms inland!!❤
If you slide, imagine having skates all the time and forget that idea of walking on ice, or use spikes as many do, it's much easier. Though you might complain that it is not reliably slippery everywhere.
Thankfully NORMAL Finnish winter is not like that! But if you live near southern coast line in Finland, as I do,you need to wait until New Year to get "a real winter". And with the climate change and + temperatures even that is not something to take granted. SADLY SO! Our own fault, that we destroy this beautiful planet bit by bit..😢❤
@@ClairesFootsteps No, Suomaki is confused. The Arctic Circle does indeed run through the Santa Clause Village - the Village was purposefully built to be exactly on it. What he must have been thinking is that the Arctic Circle doesn't run through the Rovaniemi city center, but a few kilometers to the north of it.
I guess..you are too close to it mentally and physically. I understand the magic of Santa Claus Village TOTALLY, even I propably would not get the same magical feeling as people from abroad. That is because I meet Santa Claus in my own home every 24th December, if I want and need it! 😉🤭🎅 This Christmas I spent away from home in a spa near my husband's relatives. They were "number 1 enchantment and joy" of this Christmas. But.. I met ANYWAYS Santa and even Mrs. Santa, when I bumbed into them by the frontdoor when they were coming in bringing presents to all the people in the spa!😂 Got some to take with me, too.❤🎅🤶✨️
Korvatunturi is pure tourist trap. I am finnish dude and never visited in lappland.. nor swam in icy water.. but I love good sauna :). As southerner.. the summer is the thing for me here, especially when there are rarely good snowy winters these days.. mostly wet dark... all the shades of black and grey from october till it snows.. also.. wet dark.. is so dark, it eats all the light. Day is at its shortest now.. and they get longer again. Only good thing about snow is that it brings light even the nights arent so dark when there is snow about. But yea.. I suggest you visit here during july or sumething.. I am very little travelled person, never had much genes or need for it.. I am pretty happy where I am living in my modest home with the ppl I know. I do however like to watch yt and other ppls adventures :)
I was a bit unsure but they aren't kept in the same place for a long time, they get lots of exercise + can socialize loads so I don't think it's all that different to a dog being in a house
It is nor SantaClaus, it is Joulupuukki (Christmas Buck) and Julgubben (Christmas Geezer- i Swedish), While Sweden has Jultomten (Christmas Fairy), Denmark had Julemanden (christmas Man) , England has Father Christmas, Holland has Sinter Claas, amd Norway has Julenissen( Christmas Nick). so Norway is the only Nordic country that actually has Santa Claus, nisse (Nick being short for StNicholas). In Norway there is a tradition of not commercilaizing Santa, and the US Post Office stille sends letters to Santa Claus, Noprthpole, to Norway, whilst the Finns hav peruaded Royla Mail to send their letters to Finland, the Finns tried the same thing with the Americans, bit the Americans kept their traditions. My finnish girl friend sent a letter to Joulupuukki inmy name, and I got some advertising back about Santa Claus using Finnair and such shit, even Mari (my Finnish girlfriend was apalled), the Norwegian PostJulenissen Office, sends out a neutral letter to American kids, no advertising. Rovaniemi is south of the Arctic Circle as well, it is basicallly a scam!
I would say in UK we say Santa more than Father Christmas these days 🙂 but thanks for the information, very interesting! Haha a few other people commented about the Arctic circle, I didn't know that 😅 it's touristy, but there is a certain magic to it for sure!
I really like the way You talk ! As I would recommend that every Kid in School should watch & LISTEN to these Videos ! Have You ever heard of The race to Anartica - The Brits vs The Norwegians ! Mr Shackelton etc etc vs Norwegians ?
Use my FREE Lapland travel guides here -
clairesfootsteps.com/lapland-travel-tips/
clairesfootsteps.com/is-lapland-expensive/
As a Finn myself, what I appreciate most is the feeling after a sauna. So relaxed and good. Happiness is made up of small things and when you notice them, you realize that they are the most precious things in your life.
All tap water is drinkable in Finland so you could have just gone to restroom and filled your bottle. No need to buy overly expensive bottled water. The snow situation has been very flexible this year, now there is good amount of snow but it is melting again because there is +5C weather around Rovaniemi over couple of days. And then it is going to freeze again so icy conditions coming.
Haha yeah I was drinking tap water all over Finland, the problem was I lost my actual bottle so that's what I needed 🤣 glad to here there is more snow but that's really warm! 😬 Do you think it'll be colder in January?
@ Propably yes but I really do hope it is not going to be like last winter (beginning of this year) when there was like two weeks from -23 to -36 C. Absolutely horrific amounts of money went to keeping houses warm. It would be ideal if it would stay around -5 to -12 lets hope for that!
If you plan to use a bus in Finland, definitely figure out which app you should use for it and just enter the location you want to end up and allow the app to use GPS to figure out where you are. Then it will tell you which bus stop you have to go and which time. The app also shows realtime tracking so you know when the bus is going to appear on the stop so you don't need to be watching the traffic carefully all the time to identify the bus. And unless you're sure, swing your hand when you see the correct bus because some busses stop on most stops only if somebody is entering or exiting the bus.
Congratulations of a nice and informative video 🙂
Merry Christmas!
Thankyou, Merry Christmas to you too!
@@ClairesFootsteps nice video. but dont pay 3 euro for water. . tap water is the shit😁 and merry chrismas
If you come to Finland on a budget and are staying in a bnb with an oven, there are decent quality frozen cinnamon roles and Karelian pies/coctail pies sold in most grocery stores. Just some coffee and butter egg mix on top and that's your breakfast etc. fixed.
[Egg butter is just boiled egg mixed with a bit of butter and salt. If not that, butter and cheese are excellent on top of Karelian pies too.]
That's a great idea, thankyou! I loveee cinnamon rolls so much 😍
1:55 "Little moments of magic." I have not lived in Rovaniemi. However, I connect this atmosphere with my school trips. By the way, by bike even in the winter. And -12°C was quite ordinary. -30°C was something bad. So, being sleepy, on a bike becoming harder and harder to pedal, freezing and in a hurry was... well, who can say that there was no magic in that? But maybe not like what you were experiencing.
Ordinary Finnish school trip stories goes always like this. "We had to ski 10 kilometres, winters and summers, wolves and bears were snapping our most delicate parts, it was cold like in Russian hell and the teacher was a bastard..." But yes, that freezing morning atmosphere was, politely put, horrible! :D
I used to work at Arktikum and was one of the team making that war exhibition. Hope u liked it.
Oh cool, thanks for that! I did like it a lot, so interesting 🇫🇮
12:00 buy museokortti =museum card, 79 euro. valid for many museums
Ah is that for museums all over Finland?
@@ClairesFootsteps not all, but best of them.
Mikkeli päämajamuseo is good and so on.
surf in net...pls
Happy clitmas!
@@ClairesFootstepsYes. It's not valid in every single museum but most of them. Plus the webpage is useful for seeing what museums are close to you, what exhibitions are going on, what their opening times are etc.
@@ClairesFootsteps Yes it is
Nice video again. It was a great moment when you went into the avanto (Finnish word meaning a hole in the ice) and the man took your camera and filmed when you dipped yourself into the cold water 🙂
I have been once there in the Santa Claus village, but it was September, the temperature was like +15°C and of course no snow. I can tell you that I couldn't get to the "Christmas mood" 😆
Here's a little secret: The real arctic circle isn't there, but about 2km north. The Santa village was built there because the place where the circle actually is next to Rovaniemi is mostly on a swamp. Actually the runway of Rovaniemi airport crosses the real arctic circle where it is now. Because the axle of Earth is wobbling, the arctic circle moves about 14.5 meters per year in a 41000 year cycle.
Thankyou ! The sauna was great! I would love to visit in summer as well for the long days ☀️ haha I didn't know that about the arctic circle, that's really interesting! So not sure if I went above it at all on this trip 😅
@@ClairesFootsteps I have usually given a travellin hint for Finland to foreigners that in winter go to Lapland because it's the winter wonderland. Just like you did! Southern Finland is totally a summer destination. In winter it's just boring and miserable here, but in summer Helsinki, Turku, Tampere, Porvoo, Rauma etc. are very nice to visit.
Detachable spikes on shoes are essential when it is icy!! 😁 And a good tip is to walk like a penguin, with weight slightly forward and taking short steps with the main weight on the ball of the foot. It is lethal when the snow melts and the slush freezes over again. In the south it has been terrible!
That's a great tip and yes I needed the spikes, can't quite believe how many times I fell over 🤣
Another thing is that the soles of the shoes don't contain plastic. They have to be rubber.
@@anttitaskinen7178 Rubber (kitka) soles can help, but not with the recent conditions. There has been water on top of solid ice and grit doesn't stick to the ice either, or sinks inside it. Even dogs have been injured here in the south. Today will be easier as a lot of the ice is melting.
Next travel : ferry from Bari to Corfu ❤?🎉
Oooh yes it's on my list!
Not much snow, even in nothern Finland it seems 😐
Rovaniemi, located in the Arctic Circle, is the gateway to Lapland. This is where the journey to the north of the Arctic Circle begins.
It's in the southern border of northern Finland in that sense and not a typical part of it.
Everything north of Tampere is northern Finland to me 😆
I live in Helsinki.
@Knappen82
City dwellers in Helsinki are likely to have a very biased idea of Finland.
Lahti region - just about 100 km inland - has usually fairly good winter weather unlike miserable southern coastal places like Helsinki.
@Knappen82
Helsinki is such a small place 715.48 km² compared to Rovaniemi 8,016.75 km². 😊
Rovaniemi is the largest city in Europe by land area. It's comparable to the London Metropolitan Region or the London Metropolitan Agglomeration.
@@just42tubeSO TRUE!
I live in Helsinki metropolitan area and even HERE you see a remarkable difference if temperature is in Helsinki +1 and just lush and darkness, you may have in Espoo -1 and beautiful snowy scenery and forests!
I also visit regularly in countryside a bit north from Hämeenlinna! Such a winter wonderland with trees covered with snow, when in Helsinki we have terrible icy and slippery conditions - or no snow atall!
Like we say here:
Finland is a long country! And you see the difference even just getting from Helsinki 50 or 100 kms inland!!❤
Winter is okay but I really dislike the slipperiness. It's hard to get a good walk done when you have to continuously watch you step.
If you slide, imagine having skates all the time and forget that idea of walking on ice, or use spikes as many do, it's much easier. Though you might complain that it is not reliably slippery everywhere.
Thankfully NORMAL Finnish winter is not like that!
But if you live near southern coast line in Finland, as I do,you need to wait until New Year to get "a real winter".
And with the climate change and + temperatures even that is not something to take granted.
SADLY SO! Our own fault, that we destroy this beautiful planet bit by bit..😢❤
In reality Arctic circle runs about 2 kilometers to north. In the middle of Rovaniemi airport runway... 🤫
I did not know this! So not sure if I was in the arctic at all 🤣
@@ClairesFootstepsyour plane crossed arctic circle when taking of from Rovaniemi... so you were in arctic 😊
@@ClairesFootsteps No, Suomaki is confused. The Arctic Circle does indeed run through the Santa Clause Village - the Village was purposefully built to be exactly on it. What he must have been thinking is that the Arctic Circle doesn't run through the Rovaniemi city center, but a few kilometers to the north of it.
I've lived here 43years. I still don't get the fuss about visiting Santa....😟
I guess..you are too close to it mentally and physically.
I understand the magic of Santa Claus Village TOTALLY, even I propably would not get the same magical feeling as people from abroad.
That is because I meet Santa Claus in my own home every 24th December, if I want and need it! 😉🤭🎅
This Christmas I spent away from home in a spa near my husband's relatives. They were "number 1 enchantment and joy" of this Christmas.
But.. I met ANYWAYS Santa and even Mrs. Santa, when I bumbed into them by the frontdoor when they were coming in bringing presents to all the people in the spa!😂
Got some to take with me, too.❤🎅🤶✨️
I understand taking money from tourists, but €19 for a meal like that is already a robbery.
Yes it was expensive! Although much cheaper than anything else 🤣
Rovaniemi ain't the home of Santa,he lives in Korvatunturi. Korvatunturi is in East-Lapland near Russia.
New video idea for next Christmas possibly 💡
No he doesn't. Santa is just fiction for kids. Grow up dude.
yes its my cop of te to 👍❤ but no...
Korvatunturi is pure tourist trap. I am finnish dude and never visited in lappland.. nor swam in icy water.. but I love good sauna :). As southerner.. the summer is the thing for me here, especially when there are rarely good snowy winters these days.. mostly wet dark... all the shades of black and grey from october till it snows.. also.. wet dark.. is so dark, it eats all the light. Day is at its shortest now.. and they get longer again. Only good thing about snow is that it brings light even the nights arent so dark when there is snow about. But yea.. I suggest you visit here during july or sumething.. I am very little travelled person, never had much genes or need for it.. I am pretty happy where I am living in my modest home with the ppl I know. I do however like to watch yt and other ppls adventures :)
How do you know its a tourist trap if you never visited? :D Watched plenty of videos from tourists saying its pretty cool.
I'm Finnish and born in Lapland. Don't know if Korvatunturi is a tourist trap more like Rovaniemi is one
@Tedger Korvatunturi is so remote practically no one visits there. And you need a permission to get there
Well the pukinpaja thingie @@cinnamontea326
@@Kerppu68as if i was talking about the hill rather that the pukinpaja attraction.
I really see they are taking money off from tourist in Lapland, holy heck...
Welcome uae
Have You ever seen snow ?
Noooo
Poor huskeys
I was a bit unsure but they aren't kept in the same place for a long time, they get lots of exercise + can socialize loads so I don't think it's all that different to a dog being in a house
It is nor SantaClaus, it is Joulupuukki (Christmas Buck) and Julgubben (Christmas Geezer- i Swedish), While Sweden has Jultomten (Christmas Fairy), Denmark had Julemanden (christmas Man) , England has Father Christmas, Holland has Sinter Claas, amd Norway has Julenissen( Christmas Nick). so Norway is the only Nordic country that actually has Santa Claus, nisse (Nick being short for StNicholas).
In Norway there is a tradition of not commercilaizing Santa, and the US Post Office stille sends letters to Santa Claus, Noprthpole, to Norway, whilst the Finns hav peruaded Royla Mail to send their letters to Finland, the Finns tried the same thing with the Americans, bit the Americans kept their traditions.
My finnish girl friend sent a letter to Joulupuukki inmy name, and I got some advertising back about Santa Claus using Finnair and such shit, even Mari (my Finnish girlfriend was apalled), the Norwegian PostJulenissen Office, sends out a neutral letter to American kids, no advertising.
Rovaniemi is south of the Arctic Circle as well, it is basicallly a scam!
I would say in UK we say Santa more than Father Christmas these days 🙂 but thanks for the information, very interesting! Haha a few other people commented about the Arctic circle, I didn't know that 😅 it's touristy, but there is a certain magic to it for sure!
Try to put something else than your face in the videos, too.
Try to not leave comments with unsolicited and unnecessary advice on people's videos, too.
Well, the floor is yours, of course, but I think that most of the viewers in travelling videos want to see the locations.
@Pfaltzgraf yes, did you watch the video? It's about the location and full of location shots 😅
@@ClairesFootsteps It was a very good video and of course you can show your face
Too much talking!
Why don't you watch with sound off then?
@jattikuukunen No information at all
It's a vlog, that means there will be talking 🙂
I really like the way You talk ! As I would recommend that every Kid in School should watch & LISTEN to these Videos ! Have You ever heard of The race to Anartica - The Brits vs The Norwegians ! Mr Shackelton etc etc vs Norwegians ?