Hi all,
I am planning a 3-week trip to Scandinavia in March'25 and I am keen on exploring Finnish lapland after 5 nights in Tromso (hopefully lucky with the NL). I will be traveling alone without a car and the best way to go to Rovaniemi from Tromso seems to be the Arctic Bus that leaves Tromso at 7 AM and reaches Rovaniemi at 5:30 PM. My question is- Is it worth the long bus ride just to spend 3 days in Rovaniemi? The bus ride seems very long and I understand the scenery would be wonderful but any concerns regarding the duration and if this is really overrated? Any past experience sharing would help!
I am interested in seeing the pretty forests of the Lapland that somehow are missing in Norway and visit the very touristy Santa Claus Village (I dont mind!). After Rovaniemi, I plan to take the 7 hour train (The Polar Express, as they market it!) to Helsinki (3 days night stay) from where I travel back home to Mumbai (India).
Posted by
TX, USA
5143 posts
I wish I could help - I plan to be in Rovaniemi in Dec. 2025, also staying 3 nights, but flying in and out. I hope you’ll come back and write a report!
Posted by
Lake District, England
9196 posts
It will be interesting to see a trip report. Looking at the website for the bus is not exactly encouraging. It states specifically that only the section of route in Norway is guaranteed to have a toilet on the bus (change of bus at Kilpsjarvi) and that Finnish law allows a long distance bus to overbook by up to 30% so you could be standing for over 6 hours.
That's a huge no to me, I couldn't even physically stand for that long. There is a Finnair seasonal flight.
By contrast everyone who travels on the night train The Polar Express says what a wonderful train it is.
I've just seen a video today of someone on the day train, which was also a wonderful journey by all accounts.