Northern Lights in Rovaniemi: Best Tours, Local Insight, & More (2026-2027)

Post overview: This is a full guide to seeing the northern lights in Rovaniemi, Finland. The popular city in Finnish Lapland has a lot of pros and cons when it comes to aurora tourism, and as a local, I am going to highlight what I think they are.

I will also discuss the best aurora tours in Rovaniemi, some independent viewing spots, and a few northern lights hotels I love here (and have personally stayed at). At the end, I list a few alternative destinations in case you think Rovaniemi may not be the right spot for your bucket list trip.

My first trip to Rovaniemi wasn’t all that long ago (2018). I came for this blog and ended up falling in love with the city and its northern lights displays. Fast forward all these years later, and I ended up buying a house here (2022) and moving here because I loved it so much. And I still attribute the northern lights in Rovaniemi as one of the top reasons why.

I will break down the pros and cons of coming to Rovaniemi for the northern lights. Yes, there are some negatives and perhaps some alternative destinations which may be better suited for you (I list those at the end of the guide). I also discuss which tours I recommend (covering all budgets), some good northern lights hotels (including glass igloos), and places to view the aurora without a tour.

Let me know if you have any questions or things to add to this Rovaniemi northern lights guide. Thanks!

Northern Lights in Rovaniemi Overview

Rovaniemi is easily the most popular winter destination in Finnish Lapland and a place many people flock to for the northern lights. The infrastructure is well-developed, and the city can handle a lot of tourists (kiitos, Santa Claus Village).

It is also accessible from other places around the country more so than the rest of Lapland, and you can find regular flights here from Helsinki, but also many seasonal flights from abroad.

The northern lights tourism has brought a lot of tourists to Rovaniemi, but not without its pain points as well. Rather than dive into those pain points, just know that I am recommending hotels and tour companies here that are not doing anything nefarious (because plenty of companies are).

With all that said, Rovaniemi is a pretty good place to see the northern lights. The geographic location and infrastructure allow for a pretty positive experience, and it is definitely one of the best places to see the northern lights in Finland.

When is Northern Lights Season in Rovaniemi?

Northern lights season in Rovaniemi runs from September until early April. Yes, you can see them faintly toward the end of August, but I would never travel here for the aurora then. Aurora tours start in September with most companies and run until around April 7-10.

I would say the end of September into October and the end of February into March are the best months. But the weather in autumn is temperamental here, so we have a lot of cloudy days compared to early spring. December and January are the worst months in terms of geomagnetic activity and cloud cover. November is often foggy and cloudy here.

One thing to note about the early September auroras, as well as the end of March into early April auroras, is that it gets dark late. So aurora viewing can be like a 1am thing around then. I find it hard to stay awake, but if you’re jet-lagged, it may be slightly easier.

Which Month is Best for the Northern Lights in Rovaniemi?

If someone made me book them a trip solely based around the aurora and nothing more, I would ALWAYS pick March (or the end of February).

Aurora activity tends to be boosted around the equinoxes (March and September) and can result in double the number of days with high geomagnetic activity compared to December, for example.

September and October are also good, but our weather kind of sucks in autumn here. It is cloudy, rainy, and foggy. We also have minimal snow and activities running in autumn. The end of February and early March ensure snow, activities running, and plenty to do beyond just seeing the aurora.

Pros & Cons of Traveling to Rovaniemi for the Northern Lights

Pros

There are plenty of pros to seeing the Aurora Borealis in Rovaniemi! Here are some reasons that Rovaniemi might be a good option for your bucket list trip.

1. Tours, restaurants, and hotels for all budgets.

Just because we experience mass tourism here doesn’t mean the city is pricier than others. Here’s the thing: Finland is expensive. And if you travel in Rovaniemi in December compared to May, you’re going to experience wildly different prices because one is high season and the other is low season.

But… we have hotels, hostels, and guesthouses here. You can find a place for Є1000+ a night or a place for Є80 a night (okay, usually a hostel, but it is still an option).

There are private northern lights tour options as well as budget ones. You get what you pay for a lot of times, but I have taken those budget northern lights tours, and you know what, I saw the northern lights on most of them.

There are also budget food options in Rovaniemi (especially our lunch buffet selections) and several grocery stores scattered throughout the city. You can read my full guide to visiting Rovaniemi on a budget here.

2. Rovaniemi is ‘easy’ to get to compared to other places.

We have a modern airport here that stays very busy during the winter season. There are direct connections to over 20 European cities, which is pretty astounding for this little city of around 65,000 people in the north of Finland!

There is also an overnight train up here from Helsinki and buses to and from Tromsø, Norway.

Getting to Rovaniemi has never been easier, and that makes it a fairly easy spot to plan a northern lights trip in the European Arctic.

3. The tourism infrastructure is well-developed in Rovaniemi.

I just touched upon accommodation and food options, but another thing that is pretty cool is that we have city buses, tons of rental car agencies, and many other tours and experiences beyond aurora tourism.

You can come here and go snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, downhill skiing, dog-sledding, ice floating, ice karting, etc. The list goes on and on. So your northern lights trip can be a full-on adventure trip if you plan accordingly!

Rovaniemi is also home to Santa Claus Village. This may not be a big deal for adults, but if you are traveling with kids, it is probably a place you’ll spend some time at.

4. We have Lapland’s best medical facilities.

While this may have no impact on the majority of visitors, it is important to others and I think it is a huge perk of visiting Rovaniemi.

Rovaniemi has one of two hospitals in Lapland (the other being in Kemi, which is quite far from northern lights tourism spots). Located at Ounasrinteentie 22, it is open 24/7 and has an ER.

There are walk-in clinics in Levi, Ruka, Saariselkä, and Pyhä, but if you, or someone you’re traveling with, has a condition that requires them to be in proximity to a medical facility, I think Rovaniemi is your safest bet.

Cons

1. The crowds.

It would be remiss of me to start with anything else. The crowds in Rovaniemi can be painstaking in December and at the height of winter.

Most of this is due to Santa Claus Village, but the tourism will overflow into the city. This can take away from the cozy vibes that you see online.

2. Seeing the aurora from the city (and SCV) is harder because of light pollution.

If there is a strong display, you can definitely see it from the city, but the light pollution makes it harder than in other places in Lapland. You can walk down to the river (particularly Arktikum), which offers clearer scenes, but there are usually a ton of tourists down there spanning a finite amount of space, and it is still not light pollution-free.

This is why I always recommend a northern lights tour (I list options in this guide) to first-time aurora hunters. An expert guide will take you out of the city into the wilderness where there are clear and dark skies.

3. Geographic location isn’t as ideal as other places in Lapland.

While you can almost always see the northern lights in Rovaniemi on a clear night with decent activity, the city isn’t perhaps the best spot in Lapland for viewing. The city’s magnetic latitude is lower than its geographic one.

A lower KP index can mean that the aurora appears low on the horizon and not overhead, which means you really need to escape the city and get somewhere with dark skies and fewer trees (our lakes work well for this).

Signing up for a tour usually helps solve this issue, as the guide will drive you to a place with clear skies and viewing opportunities.

Best Northern Lights Tours in Rovaniemi

I will soon have an entire guide breaking this down with additional details, but here are my top tour options for seeing the aurora in Rovaniemi.

🥇 Best overall northern lights tour in Rovaniemi: guaranteed aurora tour with local guides (includes photos)

💰 Best budget northern lights tour in Rovaniemi: affordable northern lights tour with BBQ

🎿 Best combo northern lights tour in Rovaniemi: Snowshoeing under the aurora with Wild About Lapland and ice floating under the northern lights with Safartica

✅ Best guaranteed northern lights tour in Rovaniemi: guaranteed aurora tour with local guides (includes photos) 

🧸 Family-friendly northern lights tour: a shorter tour that is focused on families and children with Wild About Lapland

There are a few popular companies I have left off here (Arctic GM, Book Lapland, Lapland Royal Adventures), and I am leaving them off solely for personal reasons or because I don’t like how they advertise themselves.

How to See the Northern Lights Without a Tour

If this is your first time northern lights hunting, I would absolutely not show up and try to do an independent trip. Book an aurora tour for your first night of the trip. Hopefully, you see it that night, and then you’ll know what to look out for after that.

The aurora doesn’t always appear the same to our eyes as it does to our camera, so it is good to go with an expert guide initially.

However, if you have a rental car and want to drive to some places for aurora viewing in Rovaniemi without a tour, here are a few spots I recommend:

• Ounasvaara Observation Tower
• Arctic Circle Hiking Area: I used to love the Vikaköngäs hanging bridge area, but now Halo Igloos has decided to pay money to build on this land, so I would go further along the river to get clear of the light pollution their new hotel will bring.
• Arktikum Museum by the river: You do not need a rental car for this one; it is my least favorite spot of the ones on this list, but it is still viable.
• Lake right past Apukka Resort: Tour companies have decided to start showing up here, but there are two fireplaces and an entire lake that is prime for aurora viewing. Do note that there is limited parking, and please don’t park on the main road, even if you see tourist vans do so. The exact location is here: 66.582050, 26.025571.

Best Northern Lights Hotels in Rovaniemi (& Nearby)

I have an entire guide about the best glass igloos in Finland, and many of the ones are in and around Rovaniemi.

Here are some of my favorite picks in Rovaniemi. Most of them have been selected because the area offers dark skies or the resort has an aurora focus (meaning they shut lights off, offer aurora alarms, etc):

➡️ Apukka Resort: One of the largest resorts, but the money they generate has been used to really develop the place nicely, and it is very good value for money.

➡️ Silver Birch Resort: a small northern lights hotel in Oikarainen (right outside of Rovaniemi) that has only 5 cabins, a lake, and some of the darkest skies I’ve seen around Rovaniemi. Read my full Silver Birch Resort review here.

➡️ Vaattunki Wilderness Resort: a newer resort from Safartica (one of the OG tour companies here in Lapland) that is so nice. It is located away from other places and right on the river. Read my full Vaattunki Wilderness Resort review here.

➡️ Arctic TreeHouse Hotel: I live right beside this hotel and have stayed there 3 times over the years. I have a lot of respect for them because they engage our neighborhood with changes to the resort and call meetings with us, etc. They are located in a darker area of the city and have an entire forest and viewing tower beside it that allows for prime northern lights viewing. Read my full Arctic TreeHouse Hotel review here.

Alternative Destinations to Rovaniemi

Did the pros and cons in this guide make you second-guess your decision to visit Rovaniemi? No worries at all… I get it! Here are some other places in Finland that may be worth considering for your northern lights trip:

Levi

Levi is very popular and touristy, but it offers a different experience from Rovaniemi and may be ideal for return visitors. Levi has almost all the same tours and activities that Rovaniemi does, but the scenery is more accessible (the fells are known for their tykky, or popcorn trees) and the skiing is some of Finland’s finest.

Consider staying at Levi Iglut, Levi Panorama (good for skiers), or Northern Lights Village Levi. You will fly into Kittilä.

Kilpisjärvi

Not so easy to get to, but probably the best place to see the northern lights in Finland (or just my favorite). It is right on the border of Norway, so it is best to fly into Tromsø or Kittilä, Finland… both of which are a couple of hours away.

Kilpisjärvi is quiet and one of the snowiest places in the country. The landscapes can look different than the rest of Finland, with fewer trees and wilder terrain.

Consider staying at Tundrea Resort or Santa’s Hotel Rakka.

Alta, Norway

I am hesitant to throw Tromsø on here because it is so touristy already, but Alta is such a special place that I think it is a sound alternative to Rovaniemi if your heart is not set on Finland.

Alta is in Finnmark, Norway, and quite small. One of its biggest perks is that it offers whale watching, so you can head out to sea for a day in between aurora hunting!

Alta is great for the northern lights because you have Finnmarksvidda (plateau) beside the city, and skies can be clearer there than along the coast. You can read my full guide to visiting Alta here.

Rovaniemi Northern Lights FAQ

When is the best time to see the northern lights in Rovaniemi?

The best time to see the northern lights in Rovaniemi is from September until early April. The strongest activity tends to happen around the equinoxes in September and March, but March has clearer skies than autumn.

What are the chances of seeing the northern lights in Rovaniemi?

If the skies are clear in Rovaniemi, you have a pretty good chance of seeing the aurora. If there are cloudy skies, a northern lights tour will be helpful, as it will take you to where there are clear skies within a few hours of the city.

Do I need a tour to see the northern lights, or can I see them on my own?

If it is your first time seeing the northern lights, I would absolutely book a tour to do so. The aurora can be fleeting, and it also looks different to the eye than it does on camera. An experienced guide will take you to where there are dark skies and will help you identify the aurora.

After that, you can try viewing on your own. A rental car helps because it will get you out of the city, where light pollution can hinder seeing the northern lights.

Can you see the northern lights from Rovaniemi city center?

If the lights are strong in Rovaniemi, yes, you can see them from the city center. The light pollution will hinder their visibility, though. I would head down to the river if you can’t leave the city center. The area around the river in front of Arktikum is popular for viewing.

What’s the best month to see the northern lights in Rovaniemi?

March is the best month to see the northern lights in Rovaniemi. The activity is strong around the equinox, and the weather is better in spring than in other seasons when the northern lights are visible.

Is Rovaniemi a good place to see the northern lights compared to other places in Lapland?

Rovaniemi is a great place to see the aurora, but I would also recommend the area around Levi, Kilpisjärvi, and Saariselkä as well. Utsjoki up north is also a good spot. I would avoid the east (like Ruka) because it tends to be cloudier than Rovaniemi and the other places I mentioned.

Can you photograph the northern lights with a phone?

Yes! You can photograph the northern lights with your phone so long as you have a long exposure (or night) setting on it. This requires a lot of stabilization, so don’t move when taking it. Three seconds is ideal for a good aurora photo.

Do you have any questions about seeing the northern lights in Rovaniemi? Let me know in the comments or feel free to send me a message.

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