Lapland
Lapland Travel Guide — Swedish & Finnish Lapland: Kiruna, Abisko, Rovaniemi & beyond
Let's start with the thing most guides skip: Lapland isn't a country. It's not even a single region with clean borders. Lapland — or Sápmi, as the Sámi people have always called it — is a vast Arctic territory that stretches across four countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. The political lines are recent. The reindeer herding, the languages, the joik music, and the deep relationship between the Sámi and this landscape go back thousands of years.
This page covers Swedish and Finnish Lapland. For Norwegian Lapland — Alta, Tromsø, Finnmark — we have a dedicated Norway page.
We've been to both sides of the border multiple times, in every winter month, in summer, and once in autumn. Kiruna, Abisko, Jukkasjärvi, and Luleå on the Swedish side. Rovaniemi and well beyond on the Finnish side. We've visited the Icehotel 7 times, watched the aurora from Abisko's legendary Blue Hole, admired the tykky trees, done dog sledding every time, and shared what a real Finnish sauna and ice dip actually feels like when the temperature outside is doing something unreasonable.
And since we're here: Swedish Lapland is very different. Kiruna and Abisko are wilder, quieter, and less packaged. Finnish Lapland has its own particular magic — but definitely go beyond Rovaniemi to find it.
Both are worth it. Here's everything we've written about them.
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Finnish Lapland Travel Guides
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Frequently Asked Questions
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Lapland is not a country and it doesn't have clean borders. It's a vast Arctic territory — also known as Sápmi, the traditional homeland of the Sámi people — that stretches across Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. When most travelers talk about Lapland, they mean Swedish Lapland (Kiruna, Abisko, Luleå) or Finnish Lapland (Rovaniemi and beyond). This page covers both. For Norwegian Lapland, we have a dedicated Norway travel guide.
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Both Swedish and Finnish Lapland have their own airports. Kiruna Airport serves Swedish Lapland, and Rovaniemi Airport is the main gateway for Finnish Lapland. From most of Europe, you'll connect through Stockholm or Helsinki. There's also a night train from Stockholm to Kiruna if you prefer the slower, scenic route. If you're combining both sides in one trip, we've written a guide on doing exactly that. And if you want help figuring out the logistics for your specific dates, our 1-hour consultations are a good place to start.
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In Swedish Lapland, the Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi near Kiruna is the original and still one of the most spectacular stays in the world — we've been there seven times and it hasn't gotten old. Finnish Lapland has its own options, including the Arctic Snow Hotel, glass igloo resorts near Rovaniemi, and aurora cabins further north. We have detailed guides to most of them, written from actual stays.
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Very different. Swedish Lapland, centered around Kiruna and Abisko, is wilder, quieter, and far less packaged than the Finnish side. Abisko in particular is one of the best places in the world to see the northern lights, thanks to a phenomenon called the Blue Hole — a microclimate that keeps the skies clearer than almost anywhere else in the region. Finnish Lapland has its own magic though, including tykky — the extraordinary sight of trees so heavily coated in snow and ice they look like something from another planet. It's unique to Finland and one of those things you can't photograph justice. If you want Lapland without the crowds and the Santa tourism, Swedish Lapland is where you go. If you want tykky forests and a wider range of accommodation, Finnish Lapland is the place.
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Husky safaris are the most popular activity in Lapland and for good reason — driving your own sled through a frozen forest is as good as it sounds. Beyond that, you've got snowmobiling, reindeer sleigh rides, ice fishing, snowshoeing, and of course northern lights hunting. In Finnish Lapland, a traditional sauna followed by an ice dip is something you have to do at least once. Summer brings hiking, fishing, and the midnight sun.
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Abisko in Swedish Lapland has a strong argument for being the single best spot in Europe — the Blue Hole microclimate gives it statistically clearer skies than almost anywhere else at the same latitude. Finnish Lapland, particularly north of Rovaniemi, is also excellent and has the advantage of more accommodation variety.