Discover the Other Side of Rovaniemi

If you have been following conversations about Lapland on social media, you may have come across claims that Rovaniemi has become too busy, crowded or touristy.

We understand where this impression comes from. If you visit the busiest tourist areas during the peak Christmas season, you will certainly meet plenty of other travelers.

But there is something important missing from this picture:

Rovaniemi is much, much more than its city centre.

In fact, Rovaniemi is one of the largest cities in Europe by area. Beyond the centre, it stretches across a vast landscape of forests, rivers, lakes and small villages.

For those of us who live here, this countryside is just as much Rovaniemi as the city centre is.

Rovaniemi is a city of villages

Rovaniemi is sometimes described as a city of villages – and for good reason.

Scattered across this enormous area are numerous small villages and rural communities, each surrounded by the landscapes of Finnish Lapland.

This is also where you will find us.

Reindeer Journey is located about an hour from Rovaniemi city centre, in the middle of the peaceful Lappish countryside. We have no neighbours next door. In fact, our nearest neighbours are several kilometres away.

Around us, there are forests, open landscapes and the changing Arctic sky.

There are no crowds passing by. There is no traffic noise or glow from city lights.

Most of the time, what you hear is simply the sound of nature – and, of course, our reindeer.

And yes, this is Rovaniemi too.

You don’t have to choose between Rovaniemi and peaceful Lapland

This is perhaps one of the things we wish more visitors knew when planning their trip.

You don’t necessarily have to choose between the convenience of Rovaniemi and the feeling of being somewhere remote in Lapland.

You can have both.

Stay in Rovaniemi or one of its villages, and you can spend part of your holiday surrounded by forests and silence, meeting local people and experiencing rural Lapland. Then, when you feel like visiting the city, it is easy to make a trip into the centre.

You can go shopping, have dinner in town, visit Santa Claus Village or explore Rovaniemi’s museums and cultural attractions.

And afterwards, you can leave the lights behind and return to the quiet countryside.

For many travellers, we think this combination offers the best of both worlds.

What about the crowds in December?

December is exceptional in Rovaniemi.

Christmas is the busiest time of the year, and during the peak weeks the city centre and the most famous attractions can feel very different from the rest of the year.

But it is worth remembering that this represents a very small part of Rovaniemi – both geographically and in terms of time.

Travel a little further into the surrounding villages and countryside and the atmosphere changes completely.

The villages remain villages.

The forests remain quiet.

There is space around you.

And even Rovaniemi city centre is a pleasant and relatively small northern city for most of the year. The intense Christmas season that people often see on social media is only one moment in the annual rhythm of life here.

Look beyond the most famous attractions

There is nothing wrong with wanting to meet Santa Claus or visit Rovaniemi’s best-known attractions. They are part of the experience, and many of them are well worth seeing.

But we encourage visitors to look a little further too.

Explore the villages. Visit small local businesses. Spend time outdoors. Discover places where tourism is only one part of everyday life.

Visit Arktikum to learn about Arctic nature, history and northern cultures, Korundi for art and culture, or one of Rovaniemi’s smaller museums. Drive through the countryside and notice how quickly the urban landscape disappears behind you.

We’re also happy to be featured in momondo’s Rovaniemi Guide. Check out momondo’s Rovaniemi Guide for travel inspiration.

Come and experience our Rovaniemi

At Reindeer Journey, the Rovaniemi we know is a place of forests, villages, changing seasons and long distances.

It is waking up on a winter morning with no traffic outside.

It is darkness and stars without the glow of streetlights.

It is reindeer in the landscape, snow-covered forests, quiet roads and small communities where people still live close to nature.

Our family-run reindeer farm is part of this Rovaniemi.

So if someone tells you that Rovaniemi is simply a busy tourist city, remember that they may have experienced only a tiny part of it.

Venture beyond the busiest places, and you may discover a completely different Rovaniemi – quiet, spacious and wonderfully Lappish.