Hello! I am planning a trip in October primarily to see the northern lights. Planning to start in Rovaniemi, up to Saareselka, then to Levi, on to Kiruna/Abisko, and ending in Lofoten Islands. Everything is a drive away, but not terrible - however, when I went to rent a car, I suppose because it’s going from country to country it is extremely pricey. Has anyone done this trip? Any recommendations or suggestions?
Posted by
Uppsala, Sweden
6968 posts
Yes, if you rent a car in one country, drive through a second country and return it in a third country, it's going to be expensive.
But there are other options as well.
Posted by
OP
6 posts
What other options can you recommend?
Posted by
Uppsala, Sweden
6968 posts
Buses and trains. Or maybe not move around as much.
Posted by
Lake District, England
7827 posts
What Badger probably meant was that there are buses which link Rovaniemi, Saareselka and Levi.
The latter is on the Arctic Bus Route from Rovaniemi to Tromso.
There may be other companies as well but for starters see this website- https://www.eskelisen.fi/en/
From Rovaniemi there are trains across the top of Finland into northern Sweden and thence to Kiruna/Abisko.
Thence from Abisko to Narvik by train and then buses from Narvik to Bodo and Tromso for the ferries to the Lofotens or buses direct to the Islands
That is all before we have looked at flights.
I don't want to put a detailed itinerary together for you, but rather in the language of this forum, give you the tools to fish for yourself.
For the trains look on Vy Noortag (on the Swedish/Norwegian side)- https://www.norrtag.se/
and VR in Finland- https://www.vr.fi/en
The Narvik to Bodo/Tromso also direct to the Lofotens transport details are here- https://www.reisnordland.no/
All this will be more economical than an international car rental, and allow you to concentrate on the scenery, not the driving.