Helsinki to Rovaniemi by train
VR’s Santa Claus Express is an overnight train from Helsinki or Turku to Rovaniemi, Kolari or Kemijärvi, covering the roughly 820 km to Rovaniemi in about 8 hours 22 minutes at its fastest. A seat starts at 22.90 EUR, a two-person sleeper cabin at 49 EUR, and a car space, booked separately, at 39 EUR.
Helsinki to Rovaniemi, 820 km, while you sleep
VR calls its overnight service to Lapland the Santa Claus Express. It runs from Helsinki or Turku to Rovaniemi, Kolari or Kemijärvi, and a separate night train runs from Tampere to Kolari. Kolari is the end of the line for Ylläs and the western fells; Rovaniemi is the stop for the city itself and for onward buses further north.
Helsinki to Rovaniemi is about 820 km, and VR gives the fastest journey as 8 hours 22 minutes, so you sleep through most of it. On the busiest nights of the ski season VR says up to five night trains leave Helsinki: two to Kolari and three to Rovaniemi. Outside those peak dates, expect fewer departures a night. There is a restaurant car, and VR offers breakfast delivered to your seat or cabin. You can bring a bicycle, and pets travel for 4.10 EUR to 8.30 EUR depending on the length of your journey.
Seats, cabins and what they cost
You choose between a reclining seat and a private cabin. VR’s cabins come in three types: a two-person cabin on the lower deck, a two-person cabin with its own shower on the upper deck, and what VR calls a nostalgic three-person cabin. If you are bringing a car, book its space separately. It does not ride along on your own ticket.
| Option | What it is | From |
|---|---|---|
| Seat | A reclining seat, no bed | 22.90 EUR |
| Two-person cabin | Private cabin, lower deck, shared washroom on the carriage | 49 EUR |
| Two-person cabin with shower | Private cabin, upper deck, its own shower and toilet | 74 EUR |
| Three-person cabin | VR’s “nostalgic” three-berth cabin | Not separately published when we checked |
| Car space | A place for your car on the car-carrier wagons | 39 EUR |
| Motorcycle space | A place for a motorcycle | 29 EUR |
| Pet | Any pet, in the cabin or with you | 4.10 EUR to 8.30 EUR, by journey length |
These are the lowest fares VR publishes, not a fixed price: a cabin plus a car space can come to as little as 88 EUR (a 49 EUR cabin and a 39 EUR car space) if you book early, and both seat and cabin prices rise as the train fills or the date gets closer. VR was selling tickets for journeys up to 25 April 2027 when we checked, so this is not a Christmas-only service, whatever the name suggests.
The train stops short of every resort
No fell resort has a station. Not Levi, not Ylläs, not any of them. From Kolari station, VR’s own advice is a 35 km bus to Ylläs, or 85 km to Levi by bus or by a car you have brought or hired. From Rovaniemi station, VR says the alternative is a 2.5-hour bus to Levi.
Build that last leg into your arrival time before you book anything else around it. Getting around Lapland covers the car hire and the buses once you are there.
What people get wrong
Expecting the train to reach the resort. It stops at Kolari or Rovaniemi, and Ylläs and Levi are still a bus ride beyond that.
Reading the name as a Christmas special. The Santa Claus Express is simply VR’s name for its regular overnight Lapland service, and it runs across the whole season.
Leaving the car space until the last minute. On the busiest ski-season nights up to five trains leave Helsinki, and car-carrier space is part of what sells out.
Booking a seat and expecting a bed. The lowest fare buys a reclining seat. A bed means a cabin, from 49 EUR.
And expecting the pet to travel free. VR charges 4.10 EUR to 8.30 EUR depending on how far you are going.
If flying suits your dates better, flights to Lapland covers the airports and the direct routes from the UK.
Who this is not for
This page covers VR’s own overnight trains from southern Finland to Lapland. It does not cover local buses and car hire once you are in Lapland (see our guide to getting around Lapland), or flying, which our flights to Lapland guide covers. We do not quote a fixed fare beyond VR’s own published starting prices, because seat and cabin prices change with demand and how far ahead you book.
Tell us your dates and we will plan the trip
A planner replies within 2 business days, with one page: which base, which week, what to book first and what we would skip.
Sources
- VR, Santa Claus Express, checked 18 September 2026
- VR, night trains, checked 18 September 2026
- VR, trains between Helsinki and Rovaniemi, checked 18 September 2026
- VR, an active winter holiday in Lapland, checked 18 September 2026
Last checked 18 September 2026. If something here is wrong, tell us and we will correct it and date the change.
Photographs, all from Wikimedia Commons: Near Kolari, Finnish Lapland, on the line VR’s night trains use in March by Kabelleger / David Gubler (http://www.bahnbilder.ch), CC BY-SA 3.0, colour-adjusted. Each is cropped and resized here, and our versions carry the same licence as the original.
