Lapland Magic – Finland and the Northern Lights
At the border of Finland and Norway sits the magical land of Lapland, Finland’s finest landscape. This area involves the most amount of mountains in the whole country and some of the cleanest snow possible for as far as the eye can see.
They say that this area is better for getting clear skies as the snow comes down and much like a rain storm, allows the clouds to dissipate into nothing. I woke up to clear skies after it snowing at night, but no northern lights to see, unfortunately.
On the drive you can spot reindeer on the sides of the road, although you probably don’t want to see these animals anywhere close to where you are driving. It’s quite dangerous on the snow and ice covered highways. But still, if they are close to the side and you have a good spot to pull over, then this is one animal encounter that you’ll remember for a long time.
The skies are supposed to be magical, but perhaps we were too early in the winter months and still on the tail end of the last few days of polar nights. The sun didn’t rise, but we were treated to pastel pinks and blues – colors that you normally don’t see and for not as long either. Here the sunrises and sunsets are the day and last for hours at a time.
But then comes night and if you are lucky, the sky will explode in different colors too. On my second visit to Lapland this wasn’t the case, but it wasn’t the best forecast and things could be different.
Very faintly could you see the outlines of the northern lights across this frozen lake.
Or you could be driving along the road and have to pull over just to see the lights dancing in the sky.
Lapland and its magic is something you need to see.
Location:
Kilpisjarvi is a small town on the Finnish and Norwegian border, only 2.5 hours drive from Tromsø. Read more about Tromsø and what to do here.
