Rovaniemi in January: Is It Worth Visiting? My Experience & Tips
What happens to “Santa Claus’s hometown” when, well, Christmas is over? Luckily, quite a lot! While Christmas itself might be done and dusted, Rovaniemi in January is still very much in the festive spirit… and will be for the next few months.
With the line for the Arctic Circle actually running through Santa Claus Village, Christmas is a frame of mind in this city. But even beyond any Christmas celebrations, Rovaniemi is a magical place any time of year, but especially January, when pastel Arctic daylight gives way to pitch-black nights, punctuate by the twinkle of stars or the unpredictable dance of the aurora.
| ⌛ Planning your trip to Rovaniemi in a hurry? Here are my quick picks: ❄️ Best Rovaniemi Winter Tours & Experiences Northern Lights Chase with Guarantee (top aurora tour, local-run, Sámi co-owned) Self-Driven Dog Sledding Tour (my #1 daytime adventure!) Snowmobile Safari Through Lapland’s Forests (for adrenaline and fun!) 🛏️ Best Rovaniemi Hotels Arctic TreeHouse Hotel (boutique cabins with potential Northern Lights views!) Apukka Resort (glass igloos for aurora lovers; lots of activities on-site) Santa Claus Holiday Village (family-friendly cabins with personal saunas) Hostel Café Koti (budget-friendly dorms, central location in city) |
While you may have missed the actual days around Christmas, that’s actually a plus in my book: you’ve skipped the extreme rush of tourists who swam the city in December, while still getting to enjoy Rovaniemi at one of my favorite times of year. Rovaniemi in January is still extremely magical and it’s definitely worth planning your trip during this time of year.
Having spent two weeks in Rovaniemi in January in 2024 (and returning in March 2024 and September 2025), here are my honest thoughts about visiting Rovaniemi in January: what to expect in terms of daylight, temperatures, and activities during this time of year.
Why Visit Rovaniemi in January?
In my opinion, January is one of the better winter months to visit Rovaniemi. You’re all but guaranteed to have enough snowfall by January. For those visiting in November or December, your trip can be a bit of a gamble.
Even though some winter tours start taking bookings in November and December, snow-dependent activities like dog sledding or snowmobiling don’t always have enough snow to operate yet. In those cases, tours may be canceled and refunded, and while you may get your money back, you may have to scramble for a last-minute replacement.
However, by January — especially late January — it’s almost a certainty that there’s already been sufficient snowfall for all the incredible snow-based activities to begin.
Another plus is that while Rovaniemi is still busy in January, it’s far less crowded than it would be in December, which can be a nightmare with day trippers (yes… day trippers. From Britain. It confuses me, too) and lots of families who want to time their trip perfectly with the Christmas holidays.
Visiting Rovaniemi in January instead of December means far better prices, more availability at restaurants, and more tour availability as well.
One small negative is that January is that it’s a bit of a mixed bag for Northern Lights. While it has plenty of long, dark nights, it can also be a really snowy and cloudy month, thus limiting your opportunities to see the Northern lights.
Another major con to keep in mind is that Rovaniemi is extremely cold in January. It can dip to -40° C (-40° F — so cold that this is the exact point where the temperature scales overlap).
I spent two weeks in Rovaniemi in January and the coldest temperature I experienced was -29° C (-20° F) and the warmest was 1° C (34° C) which was actually a bad thing, as it meant the snow began to melt and then freeze over again, creating a danger for both wildlife and humans on the road.
With the proper base layers, cold weather accessories, snow boots, and winter parka, I didn’t find it unbearably cold, but you do have to come prepared and know how to dress for this weather.
Top Things to Do in Rovaniemi in January
I have a full guide to all my favorite things to do in Rovaniemi in winter here, but here are 7 hand-picked activities to give you an idea of all that awaits you if you visit Rovaniemi in January in particular.
I hope this helps you get excited for your future trip!
Go dog sledding through the boreal forests
I’ve gone dog sledding four times, including in Rovaniemi, which I’ve written about extensively here. By January, there should definitely be enough snowfall to enjoy this quintessential Arctic activity!
Personally, I recommend doing a self-driven tour; it’s way more hands-on and fun to be able to mush your own team of huskies (I did this exact tour!). Plus, since Finland is relatively flat, mushing your dog sled team is not as physically demanding as it is in other places I’ve done it, like Abisko and Tromsø which are more hilly.
However, younger kids can’t participate in self-driving tours and you’ll need to instead opt for a musher-led tour in those instances. I go over all the suggested tours in my post on dog sledding in Rovaniemi, but I’ll quickly list my two suggestions below:
- This tour is the best adult experience for people who want to drive their own dog sled (what I did!)
- This is the best tour for families with young kids who want the dog sled experience for all ages
Chase the Northern lights
While Rovaniemi is technically an excellent spot to have a good shot of seeing the aurora borealis, there is a big caveat here: you need to find clear skies, which can be elusive in January when there is often a lot of cloud cover.
When I visited Rovaniemi in January 2024, there was a lot of solar activity. However, due to the intensely dense cloud cover, it was impossible to see the aurora most nights, despite it being extremely active in less clouded-over areas like Abisko.
My top tip? If you really want to see the Northern lights, book this tour that has a Northern lights guarantee as they don’t place a time or mileage limit on the tour, and they’ll offer you a refund if they feel like they have no shot at seeing the aurora. The guarantee is really generous and this is one of the most ethically-run Northern lights tours in Rovaniemi as it’s run by locals to Rovaniemi and the company is co-owned by a Sámi person, which is a rarity in Rovaniemi.
You can also try to see the aurora on your own! You can download an aurora forecast app (I use Aurora, which you can download here for Apple) to monitor several factors — Kp index as well as Bz, wind speed, etc. — to determine if you should go out on a walk in hopes of spotting the lights.
Visit Santa Claus Village
If you’re one of the forever-young-at-heart or you’re traveling with kiddos, the opportunity to visit Santa Claus Village is a huge draw to Rovaniemi… even in January! Santa Claus is there every day of the year. Yup, this poor man doesn’t get a break even after his busy Christmas escapades. Methinks he needs to unionize, as well as those elves of his…
Jokes aside, in Santa Claus Village, there’s a lot to do. You can meet reindeer and Santa Claus himself, eat at the restaurants in the area, and cross the Arctic Circle line and even receive a certificate for it! There are other fun things to do in Santa Claus Village, so even if you’re a Christmas Grinch like I am, I do think it’s still worthy of a visit, even if all you do is walk around.
It’s easy to visit Santa Claus Village independently (you can take a shuttle from the city center or catch a taxi for about €25 each way). If you prefer, you can book a tour like this one, which includes a visit to Santa Claus Village, reindeer sled rides, husky sled rides, and more.
Go on an epic snowmobile ride
I never knew that I would fall in love with snowmobiling as much as I did, but after snowmobiling in Svalbard, I have to say this is my new favorite winter activity (well, after dog sledding, of course).
Snowmobiling through the forests and across frozen lakes is an exhilarating way to see Lapland’s pristine landscapes.
Some tours even run at night, allowing you to chase the Northern Lights by snowmobile. Personally, this isn’t my favorite way to snowmobile; I would prioritize doing a daytime tour before opting for a nighttime snowmobile tour.
I did a snowmobile Northern lights tour in Svalbard, and I wasn’t a huge fan of the experience because you can’t see the beauty of the landscape around you while it’s that dark (and we didn’t get to see the Northern lights, which probably also colored the experience… or rather, didn’t color it!)
Take a day trip to Riisitunturi
While it’s pretty beautiful nearly everywhere you go in Finnish Lapland, one place that stands above the rest, particularly in January, is Riisitunturi National Park. Why? Its so-called ‘popcorn trees’ are an otherwordly beauty!
In order for the ‘popcorn tree’ phenomenon to happen, several factors have to coalesce, which are most likely to occur in January (and possibly into February, but as global warming increases, this window becomes shorter and shorter).
Essentially, super cold weather mixed with heavy snowfall means that the snow layers stick to the pines, creating a popcorn-like “coating” on the trees. It’s really incredible to see — it looks like something out of a wintry Dr. Seuss storybook, actually.
However, these trees are highly susceptible to two factors: warmer temperatures and strong winds. Once one (or both) of these have occurred for the first time in the winter season, the “popcorn trees” are stripped of their snow, and they begin to look like any other normal tree!
Unfortunately, the “popcorn trees” were impacted this last January by unseasonably warm weather and high winds about halfway through the month, and I visited in the latter half of the month. I’ve yet to see the popcorn trees in person yet, but my friends who live in Arctic Finland say it’s an absolutely magical experience and I look forward to returning to see them in the future.
If you have rented a car, it’s easy enough to get here independently, but I only recommend driving in Finland in winter if you are a highly experienced winter driver. For all other people, I suggest booking a guided tour like this one, which handles the icy roads for you (I love this company and have taken several tours with them!).
Visit the marvelous frozen waterfalls of Korouoma Canyon
One of my favorite things I did during my time in Rovaniemi was take a day trip to Korouoma Canyon to see the frozen waterfalls. This is a favorite day trip amongst nature lovers as well as ice climbers, who bravely scale their way up these massive iced-solid waterfalls, which are actually cliffside streams that are frozen in time!
Whether you simply hike (or rather, slide down hills on your butt, as we did) through the nature reserve or go ice hiking with a team who will help you ice climb safely, this is one of the most iconic day trips you can do from Rovaniemi in January. This is the exact tour that I took if you’re looking to do the same; I highly recommend it!
Just beware that it’s often way colder at the bottom of the canyon than it will be anywhere else, so be sure to dress extra warm!
Warm up in a Finnish sauna
There’s no better way to soothe achey muscles after a day of Arctic adventures than by relaxing in a traditional Finnish sauna. Luckily, most accommodations in Rovaniemi offer a sauna so you won’t miss out on this quintessential Finnish experience!
In the event that you don’t have access to a sauna at your accommodation, you can book an activity that includes a sauna visit and ice swimming if you’re brave! I recommend doing it at night for a chance of Northern lights.
Weather and Daylight in January
January in Rovaniemi is truly an Arctic experience, with temperatures to match. The average high temperature (yes, high!) is -8°C (18°F). Meanwhile, the average low is a frigid -15°C (5°F), and true lows can be much lower, as I personally experienced!
The plus side for people who love the snow is that snowfall is generally abundant at this time of year. It can snow several inches in a single day, which is really fun to experience (so speaks the Californian, at least).
As for daylight… be prepared to feel rather disoriented. Daylight hours in Rovaniemi in January are a bit crazy. If you’re there in the beginning of the month, you can only count on about 3 hours of daylight per day: the sunrise is around 11 AM but it sets before 2 PM, giving you a very limited window to get that much-needed Vitamin D (I recommend taking supplements before, during, and after your trip!)
However, by the end of January, you’ll get double that, about six hours of sunlight daily, with sunrise around 9 AM and sunset around 3:30 PM. Personally, I prefer the light you get around the end of January.
Honestly, don’t underestimate just how much those extra hours of daylight will impact your energy levels and overall mood, especially if you are susceptible to SAD! My trip to Svalbard in February, when there were technically no hours of daylight, made that a harsh reality for me.
The second half of January is ideal for striking that perfect balance of long dark nights with good chances of seeing the aurora while still enjoying a combination of daylight and soft twilight during the day so you can actually see the beauty of the Finnish winter landscapes around you.
Tips for Visiting Rovaniemi in January
Book early
While Christmas is the busiest season of the year, January is still a busy time in Rovaniemi. Accommodations book up especially quickly, as do tours. Especially at the most coveted places, like glass igloos, you’ll want to secure your bookings in advance rather than end up disappointed.
A trip to Finnish Lapland never comes cheaply, so I strongly recommend you check hotel and tour availability for your desired lodgings and activities before buying that plane ticket. It would be a tragedy to come all the way here and have your bucket list hotels and activities not available!
Pack smart
Rovaniemi is extremely cold in January, but the Nordic people have a saying: “there’s no bad weather, only bad clothing.” I honestly did find this to be true after getting a crash course in how to actually properly dress for the Arctic!
You’ll absolutely need to invest in a few key pieces for your trip to Rovaniemi if you don’t already have sufficient cold weather gear. Splurge on thermal layers (high-quality merino wool layers like Kari Traa or Dale of Norway are a must), wool socks, snow boots, and a parka.
You can save a little more on the accessories, like waterproof gloves or wool mittens, scarves, and hats, as well as the layers that go between your base layer and outer layer. They should still be warm (wool is ideal) but you can easily get some wool sweaters second-hand from a local thrift store if you are trying to save on your budget for the trip.
Want more tips? You can find my full Finnish Lapland winter packing list here.
Be aurora-ready
I strongly suggest you always keep an eye on the weather forecast, particularly the cloud cover (I use the Windy app) as well as the aurora forecast and always be ready to head outside, camera in hand if you have one, if the conditions are good.
The Northern lights can appear and disappear in the blink of an eye and you don’t want to miss any opportunities to see the Revontulet (‘fox fire’) as they call it in Finland.
Stay flexible
Weather conditions in Rovaniemi can change rapidly, so be prepared to adjust your plans as needed. This is why I strongly recommend booking your activities through Get Your Guide, as they have a generous cancellation policy (in general, you can cancel most tours with just 24 hours notice).
If you book direct with the provider, often, these cancellation policies are a lot less flexible. I prefer the added layer of financial protection that I get from booking with an OTA, and since the prices are the same, I can book with peace of mind that I can adjust my schedule to best accommodate the activities and weather conditions I’m faced with.
Allison Green is a former teacher who has been travel blogging since 2016, visiting 75+ countries in total. She has a Masters in Teaching and a B.A. in English and Creative Writing. As a former educator, she merges her writing and educational experience to encourage ethical, sustainable travel. She has been a speaker at the World Travel Writers Conference and TBEX. Her writing, photography, and podcasting work has appeared in National Geographic, CNN Arabic, CBC Canada, and Forbes, amongst others. When she’s not on the road, she lives in Bangkok, Thailand.
