Traveling from Helsinki to Lapland by train is the most convenient way to get from Southern Finland to Lapland if you have even one of the following:
- loads of stuff
- kids
- pets
- a car
- a limited amount of time
We Finns often drive to Lapland. So did my family too but then we decided to try the train. We booked the night train with a car because we wanted to explore Lapland on our own once we were there.
And oh, the easiness of packing one week’s things in the trunk of our car, parking the vehicle into the car-carrier, walking to our compartment and waking up the next morning in Lapland… After that one time on the train, I knew I was never going to drive to Lapland again!
I have gathered this mini-guide to help you make the best trip to Lapland using the train.
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Okay, so let’s go! Here’s what I’m going to be covering with this post.
Table of Contents
Helsinki to Lapland Trains: Your Options
There are a couple of Lappish railway stations: Rovaniemi, Kolari, and Kemijärvi.
From Kolari, it’s the easiest for you to explore the western Lapland. There are buses leaving for Lappish resorts (for example Ylläs and Levi) from the Kolari railway station. From Kemijärvi station, you’ll get to the eastern Lapland. Rovaniemi is the central hub of Lapland.
If you want to find out more about traveling by train in Finland, be sure to read also my helpful guide about using trains and buses in Finland!
On my trips, I have traveled from Helsinki to both Kolari and Rovaniemi. When using the train, my recommendation is to travel from Helsinki to Lapland using the night train. It’s the most efficient use of your time and if you book early, not so expensive as you might think.
Departure time is always around 7-9 pm from Helsinki. The arrival time is either in the morning or before noon at the last destination.
By the way, the Helsinki – Rovaniemi Night Train connection is sometimes called Santa Claus Express because Rovaniemi is the official hometown of Santa Claus.
Check out here the timetables from Helsinki to Lappish railway stations.
Helsinki to Lapland Train – How Much It Costs?
You can buy a seat, a berth, a private compartment and take a car with you if you want. A lot of options! If you are traveling on a budget, I recommend booking 2-3 months before your trip. You can easily score a cheap berth ticket (for example, 50€/one-way in a Helsinki Rovaniemi train).
In August 2017, the price of Helsinki-Rovaniemi-Helsinki tickets including a car and two persons in a private compartment with own toilet & shower was around 450 euros.
In April and September 2018, the price of Helsinki-Kolari-Helsinki tickets including a car, two persons and a baby in a private compartment was around 650 euros on both times. Kolari is further north compared to Rovaniemi.
In March 2019, the price of Helsinki-Kolari-Helsinki tickets including a car, two persons and three kids (two of them under 10 and thus free of charge), in a private compartment was around 800 euros.
Waiting at Pasila railway station in Helsinki to hop on the train and go to our compartment. The car is already on board.
The Older and Newer Lapland Night Trains
There are older trains and newer trains shuttling between Lapland and the south. I have traveled in both. The older train model doesn’t have private toilets in the compartments.
However, the cabin and bed are slightly bigger in the older model. So, as we travel with a kid or kids, we have chosen the older train model, if there was a possibility to do so. Both train types have their pros and cons. In both, the bathroom facilities are tidy.
A Lapland Night Train with a Car
You are able to take a car with you to the Lapland night train. As it might sound a bit tricky (it’s not!), I try to describe how it works.
- Buy the tickets.
- The driver (most likely you) drives the car into the car-carrier. Others wait aside as that happens. This area is somewhere close to the regular station.
- Walk to the regular station platform and board the train as usual. (Car-carriers are attached separately to the ordinary train.)
- Go to your compartment and get comfortable.
- Don’t get too comfortable because you will hear a knock on your door and tickets are checked.
- Get really comfortable.
- Wake up at your destination.
- Walk to the car-carrier platform. The driver gets the car.
- Continue your adventure!
The car-carrier station in Pasila, Helsinki looks like this. There’s a short walk to the main station of Pasila where you get on board.
The car-carrier about to be opened so that the drivers can fetch their cars in Rovaniemi. Behind on the left, the sleeping cars of the same trains.
Seven Important Tips to Lapland Night Trains
Here are my helpful tips from several train rides so you know how to book and what to expect on board!
Book your Lapland train tickets early!
Remember to book early in advance, in all seasons! Especially wintertime is crazy busy! We buy our tickets online. Finland has only one state-owned railway company, so you can’t go wrong.
Usually, you can buy night train tickets three to four months before the actual date. If the search is not able to fetch your dates, then the tickets haven’t been released.
If you have any questions about trains and tickets, I highly recommend the Finnish train company’s chat customer service on Facebook. They are very quick to reply. I’ve used it with all my questions. So quick to reply. Another option is to call the customer service.
Pack the minimum!
The cabin is comfortable but understandably tiny. Pack a separate bag with overnight essentials for the train trip only.
The train price includes towels, linen, and a tiny water bottle. Remember to take earplugs and an eye mask if you are a light sleeper!
Bring at least a big water bottle with you!
There is a cafeteria on board with extended opening hours. On our first train trip, we chose to bring our snacks to maximize the unsocial bliss of our private compartment. Later (read: after the baby), we have used the cafeteria as it is so easy to eat there.
Anyway, my recommendation is to take at least a big bottle of drinking water with you! You cannot drink tap water on the train and the free bottles in the compartment are minuscule.
Take a pill if you get easily nauseous
If you get seasick, the side movement of the train when lying may cause you the same feeling. Have a pill (you can get it from a local pharmacy without a prescription) and feel better.
Kids aged 10 and under are free!
At the moment, children aged 10 and under travel free of charge if they sleep in the same berths with the parents.
It is a great deal but not a good night of sleep. If you would like to have separate berths for kids but be close to them, you can ask for adjoining compartments. In that case, remember to make your booking via phone or consult your booking in the chat before booking.
If you are just booking one compartment and have young kids who travel for free, you can do the online booking this way: Buy private compartment tickets for the adult/adults.
Then, go to the VR Facebook chat and say you have young kids traveling with you. They will ask your ticket number and send free kids’ tickets into your email.
Compartment tips for the new Lapland train
The cabin with a private bathroom looks like this.
One berth is comfortable for one person and belongings. These two pics are from the newer train model.
Compartment tips for the old Lapland train
Here are some helpful pics of the older compartment style.
The compartment.
The orange table of the compartment is a sink too!
The upper bed tilts with the use of the ‘wall spike’ so that you fit to sit straight on the bed below.
Will you travel from Helsinki to Lapland by train? Was this guide helpful? Let me know in the comments below!
Looking for more tips on visiting Lapland and Helsinki? Check out some of my other guides:
- Lapland Packing List: What to Wear in Winter Finland!
- Helsinki in Winter: 50 Wonderfully Special Things to Do
- Best Time to See Northern Lights in Finland: The Make-No-Mistakes Guide
- 7 Things to do in Rovaniemi: From Lappish Cuisine to Ice Floating
- 100 Authentic Things to Do in Helsinki to Explore it like a Local
Warm wishes from Finland,
Varpu
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Hello there!
I’m Varpu. One blonde,
travel-loving,
Finnish engineer driving this site.
Good morning, Varpu,
My wife, adult daughter and I are considering a trip to Finland NEXT May (13 months away). We’d really like to do the overnight Santa Claus Express to Rovaniemi. We are a party of three and I’d think we’ll want to book a double sleeper and a single sleeper. Do you believe it’s possible to have them close together? (My daughter is special needs – very independent, but probably doesn’t need to be three cars away from us) Also, is it possible to book a double sleeper for single occupancy?
Please feel free to email me privately, I’d love to meet you and learn from your experience. Our family does like to travel, we’ve proudly touched all seven continents.
Hei Peter! Happy to help and so awesome that you are considering Finland as your travel destination. Yes, it’s definitely possible to have the sleepers close together and to book one for single occupancy. To do this, to my understanding, you would need to make a phone call for the reservation. You could reach out to the chat service on Facebook to doublecheck how to make the perfect reservation for your needs. The chat is great. May is an off-season month for many Lappish operators, as the snow is/has melted and it’s not summer yet. Rovaniemi is a big town so the museum etc. are open for sure. If you want to explore winter activities & sun in Lapland, I suggest traveling March – Mid April. The summer season tends to start in June but, of course, it all depends on what kind of exploring you are planning. Hope this helps a bit!
Hi Varpu,
I’m so happy found your blog here after about a week frustrating been seeking information about Lapland. I have a question: Can we travel from Lapland to Tromso Norway?
Hei Sumastri! Yes you can! Here is the provider: https://www.thearcticroute.com/route/tromso-rovaniemi/
Varpu, your blog is “mahtava”!!! thanks for sharing
Hi Varpu,
Your blog is extremely helpful…. just starting to plan our April/May trip to Finland and I’ve found wonderful advice here! For the train from Helsinki to Lapland area, would you recommend round trip or maybe getting a car to return south (so we can stop at various places along the way)?
Hei Jen, thank you for your comment! There’s a lot to think about when making this kind of decision but personally I would take round trip by train and do the road-tripping in northern Lapland. It’s just breathtaking there. <3
Hello Varpu!
Thanks so much for this detailed blog!
I am planning a week in Finland for a whole week during Christmas, and I’m super excited.
We will get to Helsinki and then will take a night train to Kemijarvi, unfortunately, we did not find any private compartment online for three people and we had to reserve separate seats 🙁
I do live in Europe so I have basic winter clothing, however my mom is coming from Costa Rica (tropical weather) to visit me, and we wouldn’t really like to spend a lot of money on winter clothing since she will use it just for a week. Do you know any place in Helsinki where we can rent winter clothing? I think a good jacket and shoes would be enough, as we can buy the other smaller things.
Hei Nathalie, I’m so happy to hear you have found my blog helpful. Your Christmas plans sound amazing, you will have so much fun. Yes, you could check out this rental: https://winterwear.fi/ Hope this helps!
Hi Varpu
My Finland trip is going to be in March 2020 but I am already super excited. Your blog is very informative and i’m loving all the helpful information with personal touch.
Just thought if you could advise, should I take the 6pm train or 9pm train to reach Helsinki from Rovaniemi? I’ll either reach at 6am or 9am. I’m worried to reach Helsinki too early and have nothing to do!
Hi Polly! Such a good question. You’re right, nothing is open at 6am in Helsinki, you might be better off with the 9am train. March is a fantastic time to visit Lapland, you’re gonna have so much fun and snow! <3
Hi Varpu,
I am enjoying reading your blog in preparation of our family’s trip to Lapland at the end of this year. I plan to take the night train from Helsinki to Rovaniemi. Do you recommend the early night train (departing around 19:00) or the late night train (departing at around 23:00)? Is either one may be better to see the Northern Lights?
Hei Vincent, I’m so happy to hear that! So awesome that you are visiting Finland soon with your family. Either one of the train options is good. Unfortunately, I haven’t heard of anyone seeing the auroras while on the train. Hope this helps!
Hi, thanks for all the great tips. sorry if this is a stupid question but I’ve been told that there are two train stations for the night train to Lapland. We’ll be coming into Helsinki from the airport T2. Which station do we go to please. (I did look at Venturi website but they are only contactable by phone). Thankyou.
Sue
Hei Sue! Yes, there are two railway stations in Helsinki that the Lapland train uses: Pasila and Helsinki main railway station. It starts from the main and continues to Pasila. You can pick either one! Hope that helps. The train company has awesome chat service on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/VRmatkalla/
I’m back 🙂 Thanks so much for your previous answer 🙂 My new ? is are there day trains from Helsinki to Rovaniemi? We purchased our night train ticket but I’m a little nervous about all of our flight connections. I’m just wondering if we don’t make it would we have to wait until the next evening or would there be a day train we could take. Thanks for your help!
Hei Cynthia! There are day trains too, yes! You can find all train connections on their search engine, just pick the date and time. Also, you might want to reach out to their chat service (available on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VRmatkalla/) and ask how you can transfer the tickets if your flights are delayed. Usually, they ask to call them if one cannot make the train but I’m wondering if they have another method for international customers stuck on planes. 🙂
Hi, does the night train takes you directly from Helsinki to Lapland or to Rovaniemi, please? And if you travel from Rovaniemi by car in Winter is it difficult because of the snow?
Hei! You can travel to Kolari, Kemijärvi or Rovaniemi. Those are the three final stations depending on the train. It’s not hard to drive in winter Finland, even if you aren’t familiar with snow! 🙂 Hope this helps a bit!
This post was very helpfull. I will be traveling with the night train from Helsinki to Rovaniemi in September. I am super exited, but also a little nervous, as I don’t know how it all works and how it looks.
The pictures helped a lot.
Thank you for this helpfull post 😉
Yay, so happy to hear that Roos, thank you! I was also nervous when it was my first time so I know the feeling. The train is awesome. So excited for your upcoming trip!
I feel like I read somewhere that you can watch a movie in your room on the train? However, I haven’t really seen anyone feature that in their movie tours on youtube. Is this a possibility-is there a tv in your room? Also am I correct to assume they take credit cards on the train? Thank you for the post it was very helpful!
Hei Cynthia! I’m so happy to hear that you have found this post helpful. Credit cards work great on the train! There’s no tv in your room. You would have to download movies on your mobile/pad beforehand so that you can watch them. We have certainly done that and it’s so nice to watch a movie to pass the time.
Great info.. We are planning a trip from Ireland to Rovaniemi with kids (6&8) in December. Originally I was planning on just flying to Rovaniemi, but now I think it might be an idea to fly to Helsinki and get the train. It’s no cheaper but I think the idea of sleeping on the train will be great. Both my kids love the polar express!! Although I’m not sure how cramped a 2 berth compartment will be for 2 adults and 2 kids..
Also what is the best way to get from the train station in Rovaniemi to Santa village?
Hei Lydia! You can take the bus from Rovaniemi city center to Santa village. The train station is a bit of a walk away from the center considering you have kids. So if you have a hotel in the city center, I’d take a taxi to get there. As for the Santa village, this page is useful for you closer to your dates (they update the info regularly)https://santaclausvillage.info/info/connections-rovaniemi/
Oh and we traveled with 3 kids + 2 adults in one compartment and yes, it’s no sleep. 😀
I have allergies and products like scented laundry soap and air fresheners are really bad for me. Do they use scented detergent on the sheets and towels on the trains, in your experience.
Hei Jennifer, this is a great question! They use unscented detergents with the sheets and towels. AND they even have allergy compartments. Our family has these kinds of issues too and I always book the allergy compartment, just in case. But the detergent is the same throughout the train. It’s super easy to select the allergy compartment when you do the online booking and it doesn’t cost any extra. The soap in the train toilets is scented so that I wouldn’t use. And there are no air fresheners!
I am traveling with my two kids and th their families
In total we are6adults and 5 children
It is our first time in Finland
Not much experience in Europe
We live in Bethlehem most of us
Want to see northern lights
We are going mid February
Any recommendations are greatly appreciated
Oh my gosh, Olivia, I have totally missed your comment! I’m so sorry! How is your travel planning going? Did you find my post about northern lights in Lapland? It is there in the recommendations what other posts would be good to read.
I think I have almost read your entire blog, thank you! We are traveling to Levi in december from Australia!!
Do you happen to have any photos of the 3 berth cabins on the Kolari train? I haven’t been able to find any and trying to visualize fitting all 4 of us plus luggage worries me!
Hei! Wow, you guys will have awesome time! I went through all my pics but no.. sorry! I’ll try to describe them: They are very orange in decor and the floor space is 75 cm x 150 cm (I’ve actually asked this on their chat and they are so wonderful that I got a prompt reply). There are also storage shelves on top of window and door. I think it will be tight but you’ll manage! If it’s impossible, I’d ask the staff if they could find some room for the biggest item you’ve got. The staff is lovely and super helpful on the train!
Thank you! I’m so excited, I have always wanted to do this trip and now I can with my children!
Awesome! I’m so excited too that you are soon in Lapland!!
hi. i want to do the night train too kolari. we will be staying in levi. how do we get from kolari to levi? would it be another train? if i book on release dates how much roughly would it cost me for 1 adult 1 child. thankyou.
Hei Liane! You would take a bus from Kolari to Levi. There’s always a bus to Levi when the train arrives at Kolari, but of course, it’s a good idea to double-check that from matkahuolto.fi – site which has all the bus connections. The train tracks end to Kolari. It’s really hard to estimate what the price is for you guys as I don’t know the season nor the age. I recommend testing dates that are far ahead via the search button on VR site to see what the price would be. Hope this helps!
Hi Varpu,
I have 2 kids and 2 adults, I could not find a private compartment in the booking page. May I know where can i find it. Tks!
Regards,
Shane
Hi Shane! You find it in the middle of making a booking. As a default, the site offers a seat positions for you guys. When you go on with your booking, you are able to switch them to a compartment and update the price. For further information, I really recommend the Facebook chat service. It is wonderful! 🙂
The first time my family went to Oulu for a sukujuhla we took the day train from Helsinki so we could see the county side (we also did not have a car). I was not disappointed! Very beautiful countryside. Finland is such a wonderful place and I can’t wait to come back!
Hei Brian! Yes, traveling by train is such a great way to explore the Finnish countryside! Also, driving makes me sometimes quite tired. When I take the train, I have a ton of energy at my destination. Hope to see you soon back in Finland!
Hi, thanks! Información so useful! We are 2 adults and 2 babies from Montevideo Uruguay and we will be traveling from Helsinki to Rovaniemi on march. How can i chosse between the old and new trains? There is a wagon with entertainment for kids on Santa Claus express?
If the train name starts with P, it’s the old style and if it’s intercity or IC, it’s the new train. I strongly recommend contacting the Facebook chat of VR to double-check before you book if this is very important for you. The link is in the blog text. I have never seen an entertainment wagon for kids on the night trains I have been in. Hope this helps!
hi,very informative. I was wondering if you had extra charges for reservation fee when booking onlin. I used eurail and had to pay only for the reseravation fee about 49 euro, both of us at 99. I was wondering maybe I could have saved more by purchasing online without buying eurail as I think resevation fees was almost the same with the price if there was no reservation fee. thanks
Hei! I’m so glad that you found this post useful!! Hmmm.. You know what? The Finnish Railway has awesome customer service chat in Facebook. I use it all the time 😀 It’s super fast and helpful. Here’s the address: https://www.facebook.com/VRmatkalla/ If you ask them, I’m sure you’ll get the correct answer!
I see every day trains passing near to us in Oulu from our balcony. LOL.
I can vouch for it not being a great night’s sleep with a child in the tiny bed with you 😀
But your experience sounds ideal! Definitely a much less stressful way to get to Rovaniemi.
Hehheh, I can only imagine. 😀 Yep, the train is so easy!