Rovaniemi

Understand

thumb|350px|Santa's Village at the Arctic Circle in the winter

Rovaniemi is a transport and tourist hub for Finnish Lapland. Sitting on the Arctic Circle does not harm the latter role, and Joulupukki, presenting himself as Santa Claus to foreigners, has understood that this is the place to meet people. Tourist businesses have also flocked here. Easily reachable, Rovaniemi still has rivers, a fell, mires, vast forests, Midnight Sun and Northern Lights: much of what Lapland means to most people.

As the capital of Finnish Lapland, the city has several important museums, cultural venues and educational institutions. It has the feel of a university town when you get to the right venues. The University of Lapland and Lapland University of Applied Sciences have about 10,000 students in total.

In 1960, Rovaniemi became a city, and in 2006, it merged with the surrounding municipality. With the resulting area of , nearly the size of all Cyprus, it became the largest city in Europe. With 63,500 inhabitants it is also among the ten most populous cities this north, globally. Some 52,000 live in urban areas. The population is Finnish-speaking (96%). The original Sámi population has integrated with the Finns and disappeared; there are some Sámi here, but not significant numbers. The first Sámi village is 175 km to the north.

The Finnish Air Force maintains a base (Lapland Air Command) which is situated at the city's airport. Therefore spotting some military aircraft above the town is da…

Get in

thumb|Rovaniemi railway station

Get around

Being not too big of a town, the best way to get around the city quickly is on foot. However, some of the main attractions are far away and buses are sparse; most households have a car.

See

thumb|Santa Claus Village, the most popular tourist attraction. thumb|The Science Centre Arktikum has more than 100 000 visitors each year.

Most tourists come to Rovaniemi for precisely one thing: Santa.

The famous midnight sun, when the sun doesn't set at all, is seen between June 6th and July 7th (even though the city centre is south of the Arctic Circle). There are white nights from May until mid-August. In winter auroras are seen on most nights if the sky is clear.

Buy

thumb|Main entrance of Sampokeskus on the Lordi's Square

There are some souvenirs and fur products for sale at the , on the pedestrian street, and — of course — at the Santa Claus Village. At the once famous there are mostly berries for sale in the summer and Christmas trees before Christmas.

There is a fancy and popular event Rovaniemi old-style market fair (Rovaniemen Wanhat Markkinat) during the weekend in mid-August with lots of local products and delicacies for sale. These are arranged at the , near the Jätkänkynttilä bridge.

Eat

Considering the size of the city, Rovaniemi has a remarkably wide range of restaurants. You will find anything from sushi to bear meat and from hamburgers to traditional delicacies.

As elsewhere in Lapland, the traditional restaurant meal is sautéed reindeer (poronkäristys), consisting of slices of reindeer meat stewed in a frying pan with butter and water. A "bowl" of mashed potatoes is placed to the dish and the hole is filled with stewed meat. This is garnished with lingonberry jam and sometimes slices of pickled cucumber. It's worth trying once at least – you should be able to find this dish in most better restaurants around town. Salmon (lohi) and lavaret (siika) are other common ingredients.

You can find the light greyish flatbread called rieska from any grocery store. Those are usually made of barley (ohrarieska), sometimes potato (perunarieska). A comb-shaped, slightly sweet pastry kampanisu is eaten with a cup of coffee. It is a true speciality of this area but much harder to find.

If you are about to buy some reindeer cold cuts from the market, make sure there is a word poro on the package. Horse meat looks the same but is much cheaper.

Sleep

There are many apartments available on short-term rental sites. There is also an abundance of conventional lodging options, although in peak season availability may be scarce. If you intend to work here in season, check housing arrangements before accepting, as rents may be high on anything that is available.

Stay safe

Rovaniemi is a safe city. You're unlikely to face any major dangers. For hiking or off-the-beaten-path destinations, follow common advice: tell somebody about your plans and a hard deadline, and know what you are doing.

Respect

thumb|upright|"Private area – no trespassing"

Note the limits to the right to access: do respect people's privacy and don't disturb farm animals, reindeer or wildlife. If you see a sign which says yksityisalue, it makes clear that somebody here has had issues with people trespassing.

Go next

Downhill (and cross-country) skiing from November to April in Levi (near Kittilä), Luosto (near Sodankylä) and Pyhä (near Pelkosenniemi). Ranua with an Arctic wildlife park Inari, the Finnish capital for the Sámi, 315 km farther north