Finland > Lapland > Rovaniemi and Santa Claus Village
Rovaniemi and Santa Claus Village
N 66°32.612', E 25°50.806'
2019-07-23
https://santaclausvillage.info/
Our rating: 7.20
Overall rating: - Rate this place - 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Rovaniemi is the capital of Lapland and the northernmost place in Finland, where tourists usually travel. The city itself is not of particular interest, but seven kilometers to the north there is a village where lives Santa Claus.
Rovaniemi ©Yuriy Buriak
The village is a collection of Christmas-themed souvenir shops, a snow transport museum and an office of Santa Claus (Yolopukki) with post-office (https://my.posti.fi/en/santa-claus-main-post-office ).
Santa Claus Village ©Yuriy Buriak
As you may guessed from the pictures, we arrived in the summer, when there are no tourists here. Next time we will arrive in the winter.
Santa Claus Village ©Yuriy Buriak
Santa Claus Village ©Yuriy Buriak
The place for the village was not chosen by chance; here is the line of the Arctic Circle.
Santa Claus Village ©Yuriy Buriak
Santa Claus Village ©Yuriy Buriak
And now the funniest thing. You probably always imagined Lapland as a harsh northern country? Then pay attention to the thermometer.
Santa Claus Village ©Yuriy Buriak
This was our second attempt to hide from the summer European heat in the north. A year before this trip, we went to the Lofoten Islands , which are located even further north, but there was also very hot. We spent the night in the village, where many wooden houses were built. True, soon here will be a whole city, not a village.
Santa Claus Village ©Yuriy Buriak
Chose a Chinese hotel NOVA SKYLAND Hotel (booking.com ).
Santa Claus Village ©Yuriy Buriak
The city of Rovaniemi has many of the northernmost institutions in the EU, such as a university or McDonalds. Of museums, the the interesting one is Arktikum Science Center. The architecture of city is not interesting, though you can walk along the main street and along the promenade.
Rovaniemi ©Yuriy Buriak
Rovaniemi ©Yuriy Buriak
In October 1944, the Germans completely destroyed the city. The population was evacuated.
Rovaniemi ©Yuriy Buriak
The city began to rebuild in the late 40s, and in 1950, the Goodwill Ambassador Eleanor Roosevelt flew here. To meet her, authorities built a wooden cottage in the forest, which became the first building of the future village of Santa Claus.
Rovaniemi ©Yuriy Buriak
The central square is called Lordi in honor of the local hard rock band that won the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest.
Rovaniemi ©Yuriy Buriak
Rovaniemi ©Yuriy Buriak
Rovaniemi ©Yuriy Buriak
In addition to Lordi, the city has dozens of other rock groups, a summer rock festival is held here.
Rovaniemi ©Yuriy Buriak
Guess the name of the best hotel in town.
Rovaniemi ©Yuriy Buriak
Jätkänkynttilä or Lumberjack's Candle Bridge.
Rovaniemi ©Yuriy Buriak
Promenade.
Rovaniemi ©Yuriy Buriak
Rovaniemi ©Yuriy Buriak
Rovaniemi ©Yuriy Buriak
Standing benches?
Rovaniemi ©Yuriy Buriak
Despite the northern location, there is a beach in the city. Which is not surprising when the temperature is 32 degrees.
Rovaniemi ©Yuriy Buriak
Getting there: Rovaniemi has an airport, located near the village of Santa Claus. There is a railway station, from Helsinki it takes 9-12 hours to go by night train, you can take a car with you. The cheapest option is a bus (https://www.koivistonauto.fi/ , https://www.matkahuolto.fi/en ), but you have to sit for 14 hours.
Tags, Finland: amusements , city Tags, all countries: amusements , city
- Rate this place -
Location : ------------ 1 - Far beyond the settlements, you must spend minimum a day 2 - Near the small town, you need to walk long distance 3 - Can be reached only by car 4 - A small town with a poor public transport 5 - Outside the settlements, but with excellent transport links 6 - A small town with excellent transport links 7 - Medium-size city 8 - Suburb of the capital or major city, the ability to reach by public transport 9 - Big city 10 - Capital
Impressions : ------------ 1 - No point in visiting 2 - Boring, wasted time 3 - You can visit, if you have a lot of free time and nothing better to do 4 - A lot of things, but not so interesting 5 - It seems to be interesting, but hard way to spoil the impression 6 - There is something interesting, but the rest is not worth the attention 7 - Probably interesting, but for everybody 8 - Very cool, but difficult to see everything and long-distance trails 9 - Very cool, but there are similar facilities in other locations 10 - Very cool, this is not anywhere else
Number of tourists (weekend afternoon) : ------------ 1 - Crowds, impossible to see everything normally 2 - A lot of tourists, a long wait 3 - A lot of tourists, the organization is lame 4 - A lot of tourists, but good organization 5 - There are many tourists, but they are concentrated in one place and you can walk freely 6 - Many tourists everywhere, but the large space is compensated 7 - The average number of tourists. To photograph, you must wait 8 - Tourists are, but they do not interfere 9 - There are few tourists 10 - You are alone
State : ------------ 1 - Only title left 2 - Dull ruins 3 - On restoration 4 - The picturesque ruins 5 - Have not been restored, the state is poor 6 - Partially destroyed, but the rest of the normal state 7 - Have not been restored, good condition 8 - OK, but it is possible to make better 9 - Looks good from the outside, partial repair inside or without repair 10 - In excellent condition, well-groomed area
Picturesque (for the photographer) : ------------ 1 - - 2 - - 3 - Horrible background, normal pictures only from the top 4 - wires and cars do not allow make normal photo 5 - Interfere with foreign objects 6 - In the city, but more or less normal photo can be made 7 - Beautiful, but you can take pictures with just one point 8 - Very nice, but you can only shoot at a certain time 9 - Very nice, but hard to get to the good weather or permanently interfere with tourists 10 - Very nice, but occasionally interferes with the weather or tourists
* - Note: Description of the evaluation is not always appropriate for a particular object, it's just a little help
Our rating - 7.20
Location : ------------ 1 - Far beyond the settlements, you must spend minimum a day 2 - Near the small town, you need to walk long distance 3 - Can be reached only by car 4 - A small town with a poor public transport 5 - Outside the settlements, but with excellent transport links 6 - A small town with excellent transport links 7 - Medium-size city 8 - Suburb of the capital or major city, the ability to reach by public transport 9 - Big city 10 - Capital
Impressions : ------------ 1 - No point in visiting 2 - Boring, wasted time 3 - You can visit, if you have a lot of free time and nothing better to do 4 - A lot of things, but not so interesting 5 - It seems to be interesting, but hard way to spoil the impression 6 - There is something interesting, but the rest is not worth the attention 7 - Probably interesting, but for everybody 8 - Very cool, but difficult to see everything and long-distance trails 9 - Very cool, but there are similar facilities in other locations 10 - Very cool, this is not anywhere else
Number of tourists (weekend afternoon) : ------------ 1 - Crowds, impossible to see everything normally 2 - A lot of tourists, a long wait 3 - A lot of tourists, the organization is lame 4 - A lot of tourists, but good organization 5 - There are many tourists, but they are concentrated in one place and you can walk freely 6 - Many tourists everywhere, but the large space is compensated 7 - The average number of tourists. To photograph, you must wait 8 - Tourists are, but they do not interfere 9 - There are few tourists 10 - You are alone
State : ------------ 1 - Only title left 2 - Dull ruins 3 - On restoration 4 - The picturesque ruins 5 - Have not been restored, the state is poor 6 - Partially destroyed, but the rest of the normal state 7 - Have not been restored, good condition 8 - OK, but it is possible to make better 9 - Looks good from the outside, partial repair inside or without repair 10 - In excellent condition, well-groomed area
Picturesque (for the photographer) : ------------ 1 - - 2 - - 3 - Horrible background, normal pictures only from the top 4 - wires and cars do not allow make normal photo 5 - Interfere with foreign objects 6 - In the city, but more or less normal photo can be made 7 - Beautiful, but you can take pictures with just one point 8 - Very nice, but you can only shoot at a certain time 9 - Very nice, but hard to get to the good weather or permanently interfere with tourists 10 - Very nice, but occasionally interferes with the weather or tourists
* - Note: Description of the evaluation is not always appropriate for a particular object, it's just a little help
Visitor's rating - 0.00
Location : ------------ 1 - Far beyond the settlements, you must spend minimum a day 2 - Near the small town, you need to walk long distance 3 - Can be reached only by car 4 - A small town with a poor public transport 5 - Outside the settlements, but with excellent transport links 6 - A small town with excellent transport links 7 - Medium-size city 8 - Suburb of the capital or major city, the ability to reach by public transport 9 - Big city 10 - Capital
Impressions : ------------ 1 - No point in visiting 2 - Boring, wasted time 3 - You can visit, if you have a lot of free time and nothing better to do 4 - A lot of things, but not so interesting 5 - It seems to be interesting, but hard way to spoil the impression 6 - There is something interesting, but the rest is not worth the attention 7 - Probably interesting, but for everybody 8 - Very cool, but difficult to see everything and long-distance trails 9 - Very cool, but there are similar facilities in other locations 10 - Very cool, this is not anywhere else
Number of tourists (weekend afternoon) : ------------ 1 - Crowds, impossible to see everything normally 2 - A lot of tourists, a long wait 3 - A lot of tourists, the organization is lame 4 - A lot of tourists, but good organization 5 - There are many tourists, but they are concentrated in one place and you can walk freely 6 - Many tourists everywhere, but the large space is compensated 7 - The average number of tourists. To photograph, you must wait 8 - Tourists are, but they do not interfere 9 - There are few tourists 10 - You are alone
State : ------------ 1 - Only title left 2 - Dull ruins 3 - On restoration 4 - The picturesque ruins 5 - Have not been restored, the state is poor 6 - Partially destroyed, but the rest of the normal state 7 - Have not been restored, good condition 8 - OK, but it is possible to make better 9 - Looks good from the outside, partial repair inside or without repair 10 - In excellent condition, well-groomed area
Picturesque (for the photographer) : ------------ 1 - - 2 - - 3 - Horrible background, normal pictures only from the top 4 - wires and cars do not allow make normal photo 5 - Interfere with foreign objects 6 - In the city, but more or less normal photo can be made 7 - Beautiful, but you can take pictures with just one point 8 - Very nice, but you can only shoot at a certain time 9 - Very nice, but hard to get to the good weather or permanently interfere with tourists 10 - Very nice, but occasionally interferes with the weather or tourists
* - Note: Description of the evaluation is not always appropriate for a particular object, it's just a little help