6 Unusual Lapland Tips and Tricks You Need to Know

Every post about Lapland tips and tricks will tell you the same stuff:

• Dress like an onion aka use a layering system to stay warm.
• Book activities in advance and early.
• Prepare to be disappointed by the Northern Lights. Either they won’t show up, or they won’t look like you saw in pics.

So in this post? We won’t tell you any of this common advice.

We want to share the 6 unusual tips and tricks we discovered on our trip to Lapland, so you have a stress-free holiday (and avoid the mistakes we made).

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Here’s a little bit about our journey, if you are new here! If you know us, feel free to skip this part.

After leaving our old life in Scotland in March 2022 (it rains too much there), we travelled full-time for almost 2 years. Sounds fancy, doesn’t it? Well, it was. If you think that carrying overpacked backpacks in 45°C heat around streets that aren’t even on Google Maps is fancy. And that’s just 1% of all the fun we had! 😆

During the 2 years we volunteered in Italy and Bulgaria (free travel while learning new skills, anyone?), explored other amazing European countries and backpacked Southeast Asia. Btw, even our secret wedding was more of an expedition than a wedding. 😅

And, of course, we researched and planned everything ourselves, because you gotta keep the budget low, right? If you are like us, you’ve come to the right place, because we want to share all the useful travel tips and info with you!

Excited? Good. Let’s get into it so you can go on your own epic adventures too!

6 unusual Lapland tips and tricks

We’ll start with a little bonus. 

Want to know how you can save money on your Lapland holiday?

We did our trip on a budget – you can see exactly how much we spent here.

And if you want to steal our money-saving hacks, make sure you check out our Lapland on a Budget guide.

Now, here are the 6 unusual Lapland tips and tricks we discovered during our trip.

#1 Watch out for snowmobiles 

2 tips here:

1. Pay attention to where you are walking

One thing we noticed when we ventured outside our (amazing) aurora hotel in Saariselkä, Finland?

Each snowy path had a little sign telling you who it was for.

Snowmobiles?

Walking?

Snowshoes?

Skiing?

Same in the Urho Kekkonen National Park, which Saariselkä is the gateway to.

Make sure you check these before you set off down a path.

3 reasons why:

• Safety. You don’t want to realise you’re in the way of a snowmobile as it comes at you from around a bend at full speed.
• Comfort. You don’t want to struggle trying to walk in ski tracks. You also don’t want to be getting in the way of people skiing through the Lappish landscape, swearing at you.
• Maintenance. Each trail is maintained for the specific sport. Don’t be a Grinch prior to his heart growing in size, and don’t destroy the effort the maintenance team puts in.

2. Be extra careful at night

Let us illustrate with an example from our Lapland trip. Because we think the best Lapland tips and tricks are the ones that come from personal experience!

We were staying at the amazing Northern Lights Village hotel in Saariselkä during our Lapland holiday.

The hotel was perfect – and so cheap!

The one issue we had with it? There were motion sensor lights all around, creating light pollution. Not ideal when you’re trying to watch the Northern Lights! (Although, being able to see them straight from a bed really is as awesome as it sounds.)

The first night the aurora appeared for us, we struggled with the outdoor lights. The second night we were smarter. We packed up (tips for that here, btw) and rushed into the forest just behind the Aurora Cabins.

The one problem?

The path leading into the forest was for snowmobiles.

And we knew a group of snowmobiles was out there, chasing the Northern Lights (this is one of the activities offered by Northern Lights Village).

The thing is, when you’re standing in the middle of the night, in a pitch black forest, your senses can trick you.

You hear things that aren’t there.

Sound carries.

But also snowmobiles are fast and pretty quiet.

And you can’t just easily step off the path, because the snow all around you is thigh deep and dangerous (make sure you have good travel insurance, btw!).

So what did we do?

• Stay alert. This is super hard when you’re mesmerised by the most amazing Aurora Borealis display above you, though.
• This wasn’t a solo adventure. We went out as 3 adults – more people means higher chance someone will hear or see something.
• As soon as we saw any lights or heard any noise, we got ready to grab our tripod and get out of the way, if a snowmobile was coming in our direction. (Re our comment on deep snow. In some spots, you can stamp down the snow beside the path to create a more solid step if you need to move quickly. Just be mindful that not all snow will hold your weight.)
• We didn’t venture too far into the forest. Just enough to get away from the light pollution and to find a break in the trees to watch the Northern Lights.

Ideally, don’t walk on paths that aren’t meant for pedestrians. But if you do, be aware of this and stay alert.

#2 Don’t stand still too long waiting for aurora

Speaking of aurora watching safety. 

It’s easy to lose track when you’re waiting for the Northern Lights to appear. 

Or when watching the spectacular show, if aurora dances for you for a long time (we were lucky enough to get a stunning performance that lasted for HOURS, for example!).

Make sure you are:

• Dressed well, to survive hours in the Arctic night temperatures. If you need help figuring out what to wear, here is an easy-to-follow guide for aurora outfits.
• Moving regularly. Walk around a bit. Stretch. Exercise your neck. It might seem trivial, but a sore neck was our biggest issue when watching the Northern Lights for hours.
• Checking in on your travel party frequently, especially kids and elderly travellers.

If you are still in the planning stage of your Lapland holiday, also consider whether staying in a glass igloo might be worth the price, so you can watch the Northern Lights straight from your bed.

We stayed in an amazing Aurora Cabin which was sooo worth it!

One more tip? Get a very good travel insurance, so if anyone does get ill following your aurora watching adventures, you’re not panicking about medical bills. We recommend True Traveller – their customer service is unbeatable (as are their prices).

#3 Snow reflects more light than you expect for photos

Depending on when you visit, you might luck out with beautifully sunny days.

We travelled to Lapland at the very end of March, and experienced all types of weather, including amazing sunshine.

If it’s a super sunny day and you’re doing a DIY photoshoot or just capturing memories:

• The quick check: Snap a few pictures and check them (ideally indoors where you can actually see your screen). Does the snow look crisp white or muddy grey? Are people visible, or are they just shadowy silhouettes?
• The fix: Don’t be afraid to manually slide the brightness up on your phone while you’re taking the pic. The camera is often tricked by the bright snow and tries to make things darker than they should be.
• The hidden hazard: If you’re spending hours outside because the weather is gorgeous, wear sunscreen. The snow acts like a giant mirror, reflecting UV rays back up at you. You can get a nasty sunburn in the Arctic way faster than you’d think!

#4 Husky rides are not what you see on Instagram

We are all about romanticising life, but some experiences need the opposite – a healthy dose of reality.

Husky rides look like so much fun on social media, right? Just you and a pack of huskies, flying through the snowy landscape.

In reality? 

• The huskies sometimes can’t even make it up a slight hill. 
• You’ll be worrying about a €2,000 fine during the whole ride.
• And the only thing flying will be pee and poop – straight into your face.

We wish we were exaggerating. But it’s all true. You can read about our experience here.

One of the tips we share there is waiting to book your husky ride once you’re in Lapland. And, ideally, checking the activity out beforehand, so you know what you’re getting yourself into.

This is why it’s worth staying in a resort like we did, where activities are done onsite, so you can ask any questions, get your concerns addressed, and check the activities out prior to booking (and wasting a lot of money, because let’s face it, activities in Lapland are pricey).

#5 You can avoid crowds in the Santa Claus Village

The no. 1 thing people worry about when visiting Santa Claus Village?

The crowds!

And it’s true, it does get mega busy at the Arctic Circle.

Here are a few tips that will help:

• This is an obvious one, but visit outside the festive season, to avoid the main madness.
• Go early in the morning. We got to Santa’s Village at 7:30am and were the only people there for quite some time! And it was pretty empty when we were leaving at 5pm too!
• Want to see how busy Santa’s home is at any time of the day? And on any day? Check out the webcam that is livestreaming 24/7 straight from the Arctic Circle! Make sure you read about how to use this free hack when planning your Lapland trip.

#6 Snowsuits are bulky – plan bathroom breaks

Planning on wearing a snowsuit?

Maybe you’re bringing your own. 

Or renting. 

Or, our favourite option, staying at an awesome hotel where you get them for free (yes, really).

The one thing you should always think about, though?

That snowsuits are a pain in the butt to take off! (And put on too, for that matter.)

Which means you should plan your bathroom breaks well – especially if you’re a bigger group and have kids.

It might seem like a silly issue, but you can easily lose an hour of your time waiting for people to shuffle to the bathroom, battle the snowsuit and shuffle back, if bathroom breaks are not discussed.

And the one thing worse than wasting an hour of your time in Lapland?

Missing the Northern Lights, because you had to rush back to your cabin and fight the snowsuit, because you forgot to pee when the aurora alert went off! (Easily done in the excitement of the moment, btw!)

Don’t forget this when going to Lapland

The one thing that’s easy to forget in the middle of all the Lapland planning?

Getting good travel insurance!

And you really want someone reliable to cover you when you’re exploring the Arctic, with its thigh-deep snow, -20°C temperatures, icy paths, reindeer jumping in front of your car and much more fun and joy!

We recommend True Traveller, having picked them out of a list of 23 travel insurance providers when we went full-time backpacking. And not only are their prices insane, so is their customer service.

So check them out—you can get a quote for your trip within seconds on their website, without having to give up any personal details.

We hope these 6 Lapland tips and tricks will help you stay safe and sane on your holiday.

Remember to check out our Lapland on a Budget post – that’s the mothership of all our Lapland content, so you’ll find all the goodies there.