Where to base yourself in Lapland
Ten bases, in three groups: the city (Rovaniemi), the fell resorts (Levi, Ylläs, Pyhä-Luosto, Ruka, Salla, Saariselkä) and the far north and the coast (Inari, Kilpisjärvi, Kemi). Each page says which airport it uses, how many nights it earns and who it does not suit.
The city
One place in Lapland works like a city, with buses, shops and something to do when a tour is cancelled.
Rovaniemi
Lapland’s capital and its easiest base, 10 km from its airport. It suits short first trips and families, less so skiers.
The fell resorts
Built around their slopes, with the activities and the restaurants in one place. The trade is that a resort is not a town.
Levi
Finland’s biggest ski resort by its own account, 15 km from Kittilä airport. It suits skiers and short winter breaks, less so a quiet trip.
Ylläs
Calls itself Finland’s largest by slope length, between Äkäslompolo and Ylläsjärvi. Good for skiers and hikers, poor for nightlife.
Pyhä-Luosto
Two small fell resorts with a national park between them, about 133 km from Rovaniemi. Good for hikers and a quiet trip, wrong for nightlife.
Saariselkä
A ski resort village in Inari, 25 km from Ivalo airport, on the edge of Finland’s second-largest national park.
Ruka
A ski resort in Kuusamo, which is in North Ostrobothnia rather than the Lapland region. Sold as Lapland, and good for skiing either way.
Salla
A small resort in eastern Lapland, for a quiet trip rather than a busy one.
The far north and the coast
Darker, quieter and further from an airport. The far north is where the polar night is real; the coast is where the sea freezes.
Inari
A village on Lake Inari and the cultural heart of the Sámi in Finland, home to the Siida museum and the Sajos centre.
Kilpisjärvi
Finland’s most remote road-linked village, under the tabletop fell Saana, wedged between Norway and Sweden.
Kemi
Sea Lapland’s town on the Bay of Bothnia, known for its snow castle and its icebreaker.
Across the border
Two of Lapland’s best known bases are not in Finland, and the owner asked us to cover them. We have, and these pages say plainly where they run thinner than the Finnish ones: our sources here are Norwegian and Swedish institutions we have no history with, and neither country publishes the thirty-year snow-depth normal every Finnish page above carries.
Tromsø
Norway’s Arctic city, milder than inland Lapland and far bigger than any Finnish base, with its own pages on when to go, things to do, where to stay and the Northern Lights.
Kiruna
The Swedish mining town that is moving itself three kilometres east. Its church was lifted whole and driven to a new site in August 2025.
Abisko
The driest weather station in Sweden, on the railway west of Kiruna, and the reason people argue about which side of the border has the clearer sky.
How to choose between them
Three questions settle it faster than a list of resorts. Which airport can you actually fly to, and how long is the transfer at the other end: flights to Lapland sets out which airport serves which base. What are you doing during the day, because a skiing week and an aurora week want different places: experiences covers what each activity involves. And which month are you going in, since that decides the light and the snow more than the base does: when to go.
If it comes down to two, we have written the comparisons people get stuck on: Rovaniemi or Levi, Finnish or Swedish Lapland and Tromsø or Rovaniemi.
What is missing here
We have not written a page for every village in Lapland, and we will not: a page with nothing checked behind it is worse than no page. The bases above are the ones people ask about most, and each one was written from the destination’s own sources. If you are considering somewhere that is not here, tell us your dates and a planner will say whether it is worth the journey.
Who this is not for
This page will not tell you which base is best, because that depends on what you came for. If you already know the month you are going, start with that month instead: it rules some bases out faster than any list can.
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
- Regional Council of Lapland, information about 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: Rovaniemi in December by Sadenäyttely, CC BY-SA 4.0, colour-adjusted. Each is cropped and resized here, and our versions carry the same licence as the original.
