Lapland is not one place.

It stretches across Finland, Sweden, Norway and Russia, and each side behaves differently. Different snow patterns. Different temperatures. Different landscapes.

If you’re asking:

• Will there be snow in Lapland in December?

• Is Lapland warmer in Norway than Finland?

• When is snow guaranteed?

• Is November too early?

• Is April too late?

You’re asking the right questions and will find an answer in this guide!

We’re unapologetically in favor of slow travel. Fewer places, more time. Staying somewhere long enough to notice how the light shifts, how silence settles in, how weather quietly dictates the pace. In the Arctic, less is often more: winding down in a sauna after a day outside, waiting for the northern lights, watching the snow fall, enjoying a “fika” by the fire.

But we also know reality.

Time off is limited. Flights and hotels aren’t cheap. And winter travel in Lapland adds friction whether you like it or not. So this guide is about experiencing Lapland well in one week — without rushing, without backtracking, and without pretending the Arctic is smaller or easier than it is.

If you’ve got more time, perfect. Stay longer.
If you’ve got seven days, this is how to make them count.

Norway is where the Northern Lights feel bigger, sharper, and somehow more alive. Yes, you can see aurora all across Lapland — Sweden, Finland — but, while we love every corner of Sápmi, Norway has something the others don’t: those insane fjords and steep mountains that turn every aurora into a full-blown cinematic event.

When the sky clears (and it does, especially in Alta and Finnmark), the lights don’t just appear overhead — they spill across ridges, dance along black-water fjords, and frame themselves perfectly behind peak after peak. It’s why so many aurora photographers swear by Norway. You don’t just see the lights here. You get foregrounds that make your jaw drop.

We’ve watched the aurora across the whole Arctic — Kiruna, Abisko, Iceland’s coast, Greenland’s wild ice — and nowhere gives you scenery like Norway on a clear night. This guide breaks down exactly where to go, when to go, how the weather works, and how to make the most of the landscape that makes Norway the superstar of aurora chasers.