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Author Topic: Finland, Helsinki, Rovaniemi at xmas?  (Read 8468 times)

Gregory

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Finland, Helsinki, Rovaniemi at xmas?
« on: September 12, 2006, 06:13:55 pm »

My wife and I were thinking of going to Helsinki and Rovaniemi at xmas for 2 weeks. it was an exciting idea until my wife heard that Finland gets deadly cold at that time of the year; -40°C.

I'm aware that there are a couple of members on this forum who live in Finland and hope that they can give me some information.

how cold does it get at xmas?
how much clothing do you wear?
do you stay indoors or go about your daily business as usual?
what time does the sun rise/set?
is it usual to see the northern lights around xmas?

personally, I'd love to get some clear incredibly beautiful photographs while we're there but the weather aspect is rather disconcerting.

and where might we go to see some of the local wildlife? I love animals ;-)

any information would be greatly appreciated.

regards,
Gregory
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Vihta

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Finland, Helsinki, Rovaniemi at xmas?
« Reply #1 on: September 13, 2006, 09:32:41 am »

Quote
My wife and I were thinking of going to Helsinki and Rovaniemi at xmas for 2 weeks. it was an exciting idea until my wife heard that Finland gets deadly cold at that time of the year; -40°C.

I'm aware that there are a couple of members on this forum who live in Finland and hope that they can give me some information.

how cold does it get at xmas?
how much clothing do you wear?
do you stay indoors or go about your daily business as usual?
what time does the sun rise/set?
is it usual to see the northern lights around xmas?

personally, I'd love to get some clear incredibly beautiful photographs while we're there but the weather aspect is rather disconcerting.

and where might we go to see some of the local wildlife? I love animals ;-)

any information would be greatly appreciated.

regards,
Gregory
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=76150\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


Hello Gregory!


In December in Rovaniemi I'd expect tems between -10 and -20 degrees celcius. It could be colder, though. -30°C in Lapland is not uncommon at all. Coldest ever recorded was something like -50°C.

Sun will rise around 10am and goes down at 2pm or something like that. Northern lights are common and easy to see during winter as it's almost always dark.

People go about their businesses as usual. The temps don't really affect daily life in any way. Just put on some warm clothing and you will be ok, too. Wool underwear and thickly insulated and wind proof outer layers are recommended IMO. Also wear good and warm shoes and socks as it's quite easy to freeze ones toes.

I don't really know about wildlife in Rovaniemi area. You might need to drive a bit to see reindeers etc.

If you arrive in Helsinki and don't have warm clothes you can, of course, buy them here before travelling to Rovaniemi. Many tourists do this.

Helsinki is much "warmer" place than Rovaniemi. In December the temps are propably between 0 and -10°C. We have a bit more daylight here also, but it's still dark most of the time. Northern lights are harder to see because of light pollution and they aren't nearly as colorful than in Lapland.

I hope this helps. Just ask if you have any more questions.
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Gregory

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Finland, Helsinki, Rovaniemi at xmas?
« Reply #2 on: October 12, 2006, 01:10:40 pm »

hello Vihta.

thank you for the information. it will be useful.

one question. is driving dangerous when the temperatures are that low?

we were considering staying in Helsinki. we'd get up each day, have breakfast, decide where to go and then drive there. by the time we reached our destination, the sun would be up. after seeing everything there, the sun would be coming down again, we'd drive back to Helsinki and return to the hotel, etc.

how long would it take to drive up to Rovaniemi from Helsinki?

do you know of any 'must-see' locations around Helsinki and Finland that we should consider?

regards,
Gregory
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Concorde-SST

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Finland, Helsinki, Rovaniemi at xmas?
« Reply #3 on: October 12, 2006, 02:59:40 pm »

Gregory,

I guess its too far for a one-day trip, but for getting
a grip on the distance I recommend using Google Earth...

ciao,

Concorde-SST



how long would it take to drive up to Rovaniemi from Helsinki?
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dobson

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Finland, Helsinki, Rovaniemi at xmas?
« Reply #4 on: October 12, 2006, 04:02:37 pm »

I've never been to Finland, or anywhere close, but living and climbing in the Rocky Mountains for 4 years has tought me how to deal with cold.

The trick to dressing warmly is layers, of course. At -40 you will need to stay active or put so much clothing on that staying active is difficult. If I'm gong to be moving I go with thermal underwear, fleece pants/shirt, and a warm softshell jacket and pants. When I stop I have a down belay jacket/pants to put over these. Warm gloves or mittens, a good fleece hat or balaclava, and winter boots preferably with liners are a necessity. This system should keep you warm in the worst of conditions.

Your equipment is also an issue. Batteries don't work well in the cold and many mechanical parts, will act up (my Al tripod does).

I'm sure you'll have a great time. With the right preparation, dealing with cold weather can actually be fun.


Phillip
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Vihta

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Finland, Helsinki, Rovaniemi at xmas?
« Reply #5 on: October 12, 2006, 04:39:20 pm »

Quote
one question. is driving dangerous when the temperatures are that low?


how long would it take to drive up to Rovaniemi from Helsinki?

do you know of any 'must-see' locations around Helsinki and Finland that we should consider?

regards,
Gregory
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Driving is always sort of dangerous during winter as roads can be slippery. Just drive carefully and you will be OK. All rental cars have good winter tyres here.

Drive to Rovaniemi at winter would take something like 10 hours. It's over 800km from Helsinki and speed limits are low during winter.

If you want to see Lapland I suggest that you travel by train or by air and rent a car from Rovaniemi.

For must see locations you can check [a href=\"http://www.hel.fi/wps/portal/Helsinki_en/?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/en/Helsinki/]http://www.hel.fi/wps/portal/Helsinki_en/?...T=/en/Helsinki/[/url] it should answer your question better than I can.
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kirmo

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Finland, Helsinki, Rovaniemi at xmas?
« Reply #6 on: October 31, 2006, 12:20:20 pm »

Quote
Driving is always sort of dangerous during winter as roads can be slippery. Just drive carefully and you will be OK. All rental cars have good winter tyres here.

Drive to Rovaniemi at winter would take something like 10 hours. It's over 800km from Helsinki and speed limits are low during winter.

If you want to see Lapland I suggest that you travel by train or by air and rent a car from Rovaniemi.

For must see locations you can check http://www.hel.fi/wps/portal/Helsinki_en/?...T=/en/Helsinki/ it should answer your question better than I can.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=80133\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I guess I'm the other guy from Finland!

Remember Finland is a long country and Rovaniemi is very near to article circle, so at xmas time the sunlight is radically different Rovaniemi than in Helsinki. I have a cottage north from Rovaniemi and no problems during winter. Normal warm clothes and sking and photographing is very easy. Also the current cameras work well even with these -20-30 temperatures. (Canon 1DsII and 1DmkII plus old Mamiya RB)

Even with no sun the days are worth photographing. Wild life is not easy to find as wild animals are scary. The northern lights is a must!

Easiest is to take the train from Helsinki to Rovaniemi. The weather varies and sometimes Helsinki can be colder than Rovaniemi - the wind from unfrosen Baltic see is different from the wind in the central and northern Finland.

The weather is not the problem, You just need the proper clothes. The bigger thing is the short daylight time! Of course at summer time in changes to the opposite - no darkness!

Kirmo
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Sami Kulju

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Finland, Helsinki, Rovaniemi at xmas?
« Reply #7 on: November 01, 2006, 11:02:22 am »

"we were considering staying in Helsinki. we'd get up each day, have breakfast, decide where to go and then drive there. by the time we reached our destination, the sun would be up. after seeing everything there, the sun would be coming down again, we'd drive back to Helsinki and return to the hotel, etc."

I´m the third guy from Finland :-)

If You travel to Finland and deside to stay in Helsinki and make daytrips You will mainly see an area that covers max 300 km around the city. And that means at least 6-8 hours of driving every day if You drive back to town too.

I live in Helsinki and I would not recommend that. Rush hours are rush hours here too and every morning from 7-9 and every evening from 3-6 it´s quite heavy traffic.

Southern coast has indeed very nice small towns like Porvoo, Hamina,Hanko etc but those towns are best to see in summer time. As Helsinki too.

People come to Finland at winter to see snow and silent nature. Wilderness in Lappland is totally different than the nature in south. And people in north don´t think that Rovaniemi is really North.

They say (and I agree) that Lappland begins from Rovaniemi.

Consider to go to Lappland and reserve hotels from the skiing centres perhaps? Ylläs is a very good place. Also I can recommend Saariselkä and Pyhätunturi.

If You go to those places Youll get the most out from Your experience in Lappland by combining skiing and short  daytrekkings. Since You don´t seem to have experience of polar area You´ll better join/buy guided hikes (actually crosscountry-skiing treks or snowcat-treks).

They will offer these kind of services in every skiing-centre in Lappland.

Check for example these pages:

http://www.yllas.fi
http://www.saariselka.fi

These are also in english so press the button -  and wellcome!

regards,

Sami
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