How Much It Cost For A Bucket List Winter Trip to the Finnish Lapland

Do you have plans to visit the Finnish Lapland during the winter, and are you also wondering how much it costs?

Lapland is a dream destination, offering unparalleled winter magic and unforgettable adventures. While this incredible destination offers a unique experience, it can become quite expensive if you don’t budget accordingly.

We spent 12 days in the Finnish Lapland at the end of January through the beginning of February in 2025. We traveled as a couple, two adults.

In this article, I will list our trip costs, including flights, food, lodging, and activities. The currency used in the Finnish Lapland is euro, but I have listed the costs in USD.

Note: If you’re looking for a breakdown and total cost of how much we spent, skip to the bottom!

Accommodation

The outside one of our AirBnB stays in Saariselkä, Finland

Prices can vary based on the location and the time of the year to visit. As of 2025, this is the general costs of what you can expect:

Budget: $60 – $100
Mid-Range: $100 – $350
Luxury: $350+

What we did: We booked our accommodations mostly through AirBnB and Booking.com, with prices ranging from $90 to $450 per night.

We stayed in a private cottage, apartments, and a mobile glass cabin. Most of our accommodations were around $100 per night; but we splurged on a one night stay in a unique accommodation (glass mobile cabin) at a cost of $450 a night. The total cost we spent for 12 nights was $1,903, or an average of $158 per night.

It is not uncommon for some accommodations to add bed linen and towels as an extra cost so keep that in mind. A couple of our stays had bedding as an add-on item, which added to our total cost.

Transportation

Taking the Santa Claus Express train from Helsinki to Rovaniemi

To get to Lapland, you can fly into several airports such as Rovaniemi Airport (RVN) or Ivalo Airport (IVL). If you are flying internationally, you most likely will be flying into Helsinki Airport (HEL) and taking a second flight to an airport in Lapland. You can also take the train to Lapland.

To travel between towns in Lapland, you can take the public transportation (bus) or rent a car. Renting a car is the easiest option to travel in Lapland due to flexibility and access to remote locations.

Renting a car: Car rental costs can range depending on what type of car and when you book the rental, but on average it costs $50 – $120 USD per day.

Fuel costs: The cost of gas in Lapland is pricey in comparison to the United States. It hovers a little over $7 per gallon; however, the cars have great mileage which evens out the cost. Our car rental, a Skoda Kamiq, had an mpg of 50 miles per gallon. We only had to fill up our tank 2 times during our ~650 mile road trip.

What we did: We flew from Los Angeles Airport to Helsinki Airport. From Helsinki, we took the Santa Claus overnight train to Rovaniemi. In Rovaniemi, we rented a Skoda Kamiq (a compact SUV car) for 12 days. Afterwards, we took the overnight train back to Helsinki.

Transportation costs for 2 people:

Roundtrip flights from LAX to HEL: $1,197
Overnight train from Helsinki to Rovaniemi w/ cancellation insurance: $249
Overnight train from Rovaniemi to Helsinki w/ cancellation insurance: $168
Rental car: $686
Fuel: $148
Local bus ticket for toboggan: $12

Total transportation costs for 2 people: $2,460, OR $1,230 per person

Food and Drinks

Sit down meals can on average range from $10 to $25 per plate in many restaurants, with upscale restaurants costing more. Touristy areas also tend to cost a bit higher. Tipping is not expected.

What we did: For lunch, my husband and I cooked homemade meals when we had access to a kitchen to help cut costs and save money. However, for dinner, we had sit down meals at restaurants in order to try new foods and explore traditional Finnish cuisines. We also indulged in alcoholic beverages and beer. We did not eat full breakfasts (we’re not breakfast people) and only snacked in the mornings.

Food, drinks, alcohol, and groceries for 2 people cost $1,016.

Activities and Entertainment

Activities can be quite expensive in Lapland, especially in tourist towns. Prices can often climb higher during the winter holiday season.

What we did: We booked most of our tours online in advance, as some tend to sell out. We did a variety of popular activities.

These were the costs of our activities for 2 people:

Finnish sauna and ice swim: $58
Ski lift ticket and rentals: $253
Reindeer feeding and sleigh ride: $174
Reindeer feeding #2: $36
Husky safari: $329
Climbing gym: $82
Toboggan: free (AirBnB host kindly let us borrow some!)

Total activity costs for 2 people: $932, OR $466 per person

There is an abundance of other activities such as snowmobiling, icebreaker cruise, ice skating, and ice karting, but we prioritized finding a balance between our top choices and staying within our budget.

Souvenirs

Popular souvenirs are reindeer jerky, reindeer antler pieces, wool mittens, ornaments, and wooden kuksa cups. Photos and experiences are also the best souvenirs you can take home with you.

I splurged on Finnish wool and other popular items to bring back for ourselves, friends and family.

Here are the souvenirs we purchased:

Reindeer jerky, cloudberry jam, wooden kuksa cup: $69
Traditional Sami oven mit: $27
Ornaments: $10
Postcards from Santa Claus Village for friends and family: $43
Lapland sticker: $3
Mittens: $16
Finnish yarn: $210

Total cost of souvenirs: $378

Data and Travel Insurance

For phone data, we purchased 10 GB for $12, a total of 4 times. All of our accommodations provided wifi, but my husband likes to watch videos during waiting periods which consumes a lot of data. Of course, the cost for phone data can be much cheaper by staying off your phone unless necessary.

We purchased travel insurance through Safety Wing and paid $64 to cover our entire trip in Finland. The travel insurance covered unexpected medical emergencies and travel-related costs for both of us.

Grand Total

So, if you add up all these individual costs, how much does it cost to spend 12 days in the Finnish Lapland?

Category	Cost (USD)
Accomodation	$1,903
Transportation	$2,460
Food	$1,016
Entertainment	$932
Souvenir	$378
Data + Travel Insurance + Misc.	$112
GRAND TOTAL:	$6,801 for 2 people, OR $3,401 per person

These costs reflect a mid-range travel style. We saved where possible, but still prioritized unique experiences.

You can certainly visit the Finnish Lapland with much less than what we spent. For instance, cutting souvenir costs, not splurging for a unique accommodation, eliminating alcoholic beverages. By doing this, you could save more than $1,000.

Here are some factors to note about our trip to the Finnish Lapland:

We flew from Los Angeles to Helsinki
My visit was at the end of January and beginning of February
I booked our accommodations in November

Our trip to Lapland was one of my favorite destinations. If you’re planning on visiting the arctic circle in Finland, I hope you have an amazing time – it’s an experience truly worth saving for!