Things I Learned in Lapland

Visiting Lapland was not on the top of my bucket list when I first started traveling. However, after seeing the Northern Lights for the first time, I was addicted to traveling to destinations where I could view them. While researching, I was in awe of the beauty of Lapland. Here are some things I learned during my travels in Lapland.

My first assumption was that Lapland was the northern most part of Finland. However, it is a region that actually stretches across parts of Sweden, Finland, Norway, and even Russia. The Lapland area is inhabited in part by the Sami people, one of the last indigenous minority groups.

I was a little worried about a possible language barrier in Lapland when I first started researching the trip. Conveniently, everyone spoke enough English that I did not have difficulties throughout my visit to Lapland.

This is very convenient as the roads get pretty snow covered and icy due to the nearby sea. This allows for transport between places without having to worry about a closed down road due to the ice.

Even in the smallest towns we had internet service. This included our accommodations, restaurants, airports, and even gas stations.

It’s probably because it’s cold in Lapland. If you want ice, you have to ask for it. Sometimes they didn’t have ice.

Rovaniemi is the capital of Lapland, home of Santa Claus, and is Europe’s largest city in terms of land mass. The streets of Rovaniemi were designed to look like reindeer antlers from above. Talk about being creative! Take a look at the design below.

Being from Tennessee, I assumed that reindeer were wild animals. They can be seen roaming the Lapland area. However, they actually belong to reindeer herders. Every one of the reindeer is marked by their owner. There are fences set up so that they cannot cross certain areas.

Mini hot dogs that is. I’ve never seen so many little hot dogs for breakfast. I didn’t even know it was a breakfast food until I visited Lapland.

The climate is such that it provides for many clear skies for winter viewing of the beautiful Aurora Borealis.

I am not sure what the deal is with Finnish beds, but they are different from what I am used to here in America. Most of the places I stayed in had 2 twin beds pushed together with personal blankets. Even if there was a queen size bed or bigger, personal blankets were folded on top on each side of the bed.

Coming from the south, where we open doors for each other and generally are polite, I was shocked at how much the people reminded me of back home. Literally everyone we came in contact with went out of their way to answer questions and simply be good human beings that some places should strive for. 😉

Many of the hotels in popular cities, like Rovaniemi, are booked up almost a year in advance for peak times, such as Christmas. If a visit to Santa in December is on your list, make your travel plans as early as possible.

I’m not sure why, but none of the hotels in Lapland had wash cloths. There were hand and body towels, but that was it.

I didn’t even know what berry juice was until I visited Lapland. It is served hot or cold, but my favorite version was when I had it hot while outside on our cold Adventures. We had it while riding snowmobiles, snowshoeing, and after mushing with the huskies.

I was not a wild game fan until visiting Lapland. I am usually skittish about trying new foods. However, the reindeer steak was better than any other steak I have ever eaten.

While visiting one of the restaurants in Rovaniemi, we noticed a warning on our menu about the possibility of lead in our food. 🙂