How to Get to Lapland: Ivalo, Rovaniemi and the Road North

Our part of Lapland sits about 300 km above the Arctic Circle, at the very top of Finland, where Lake Inari opens out and the fells of Urho Kekkonen National Park begin. It is a long way past most people's mental map of Lapland, and the distance is not something to get through on the way to the holiday. It is the reason the forest stays this quiet. It is also the first thing our sales team is asked, every week of the year: how do I actually get there?

The most useful thing to know is this: the journey here can give you two quite different sides of Lapland in one trip. You can fly to Ivalo, the nearest airport, 35 to 45 minutes from our hotels. Or you can fly to Rovaniemi, spend a night in the lively capital of Lapland, and drive north into the quiet. Both are good ways in, and the second is part of the holiday rather than a fallback.

This guide covers both, along with the train, the bus and driving yourself, and it is honest about which option suits which kind of traveller. For what waits at the far end of the road, start with our guide to Inari and the great lake.

The two airports that serve Inari and Saariselkä

Ivalo Airport (IVL) is the closest airport to our hotels, 35 to 45 minutes away by road. Rovaniemi Airport (RVN) is about 260 km from Saariselkä and about 320 km from Inari, a three to four hour drive, and it has far more direct flights from Europe. Those are the two realistic gateways. Everything else is a variation on them.

Finland has other Lapland airports, and one of them is a genuine third way in. Kittilä (KTT) serves the western fells around Levi and Ylläs, and we arrange direct transfers from there as well, about a three hour drive. The one difference is that there is no public bus link between Kittilä and Ivalo the way there is from Rovaniemi, so from Kittilä the last leg is our transfer or a hire car. Kuusamo and Kemi sit well to the south and are not practical for this corner of Lapland.

Flying to Ivalo Airport, the short way in

Ivalo is the northernmost airport in the European Union, and it is small in the best sense of the word. You walk off the aircraft, cross the apron in the cold, collect your bag in a hall not much bigger than a village hall, and you are outside inside ten minutes. Our driver is waiting in arrivals with a hotel sign, and the last part of your journey begins with the forest already pressing up to the road.

The backbone of the service is Finnair's Helsinki route, daily all year, about an hour and a half in the air. In winter, Ivalo also takes direct flights from a good spread of European cities. Our own FAQ page lists the recent ones: Düsseldorf with Eurowings, Munich with Discover Airlines, Frankfurt with Lufthansa, Paris Orly with Vueling and with Transavia, Amsterdam with TUIfly, Zürich with Edelweiss, London Gatwick with British Airways and Vienna with Austrian Airlines. Schedules change from season to season, so check the current routes with Finavia and book directly with the airline rather than a reseller.

Transfer times from Ivalo Airport to each of our destinations are short and predictable:

Direct airport transfers are included in most of our ready-made packages. If your booking does not include one, we can arrange it in advance through our online store or by email. One thing catches people out more than anything else: we cannot book a transfer without your flight details, so send them as soon as you have them.

The one thing to know about Ivalo is capacity. It is a small airport serving a large area in a short, busy season, and December seats in particular go early. Winter fares themselves are often perfectly reasonable, and it is the summer and autumn months when they climb, so what you are watching is availability rather than price: if you want to fly into Ivalo, book the flight before you book anything else.

Flying to Rovaniemi and travelling north

Rovaniemi is a great alternative, and more of our guests choose it every year. It has direct connections from more than twenty European cities across the winter, with more frequency, more airlines and often more choice on price, so if Ivalo is already full for your dates, Rovaniemi opens the trip up again.

Zürich shows how well connected this corner of Lapland is. In winter Edelweiss flies direct from Zürich to Ivalo, and both Edelweiss and SWISS fly direct to Rovaniemi Airport, so Swiss and central European travellers can take either gateway without changing in Helsinki. As with every seasonal route, confirm the current dates with the airline and book direct.

From there you carry on north on the E75, the main road that runs Rovaniemi, Sodankylä, Saariselkä, Ivalo, Inari. It is a good road, ploughed and gritted through the winter, and the drive is one of those slow, quiet ones that resets your sense of scale. Saariselkä is about 260 km and roughly three hours away. Inari is about 320 km and roughly four. Ivalo sits between the two.

You have three ways to cover it:

Our own private transfer. We arrange a private direct transfer from Rovaniemi, and it is the most convenient way to cover the last stretch: door to door, no changes, and someone who knows the road at the wheel. Ask our sales team for a quote.

The public bus. Daily coach services run north from Rovaniemi, and many of them are timed to meet the trains. Tickets and timetables are on Matkahuolto. Journey time is around three hours to Saariselkä and around four to Inari.

A hire car. All the usual companies operate at Rovaniemi Airport. Read the section on winter driving below before you decide.

Two sides of Lapland in one trip

There is a real reason to choose the Rovaniemi route beyond seat availability, and it has nothing to do with logistics.

Rovaniemi is the capital of Lapland: a proper city, on the Arctic Circle, with the Arktikum museum, a good restaurant scene and Santa Claus Village just outside town. It is lively, easy and genuinely good fun, and plenty of families have a fine day there before they come north. What it is not is quiet. The Arctic Circle at Rovaniemi is where most of Lapland's visitors arrive, take the photograph by the arctic circle line, and stay.

Two hundred and sixty kilometres further north, the traffic thins, the forest closes in and the villages grow further apart. By the time you reach Lake Inari you are somewhere else entirely. This is a working landscape of reindeer herding and deep forest, national park on one side and Finland's third largest lake on the other, and a fraction of the visitors. The snow is deeper, and the loudest thing most evenings is your own boots.

Arriving through Rovaniemi lets you have both. A night in the city at one end of the trip, then the road north into the part of Lapland that stays still. Some of our guests plan it that way on purpose every year, and the drive between the two is not dead time. It is where the trip changes register, and quite often where it truly starts.

Arriving by train and bus

You can reach us from Helsinki without flying at all, and in a country this shape the overnight train is a wonderful way to do it.

VR runs sleeper services from Helsinki to Rovaniemi, including car-carrier trains if you want your own vehicle at the northern end. You board in the evening, wake up in Lapland, and pick up the bus north from the station. Coaches from Rovaniemi run daily and many are timed around train arrivals.

Which stop you want depends on where you are staying:

For Nellim and Nangu the simplest way in from Rovaniemi is the coach as far as Ivalo bus station, where we pick you up: our transfers run from the bus station exactly as they do from the airport. Tell us your coach or flight times and a driver will be there.

Driving yourself in a Lapland winter

Plenty of guests drive, and in good conditions the E75 is a pleasure: long, empty and beautiful, with the low sun colouring the snow for the few hours it is up. A few things are worth knowing before you commit.

Driving yourself here is straightforward. Hire cars in Lapland come properly equipped as standard, winter tyres included as Finnish law requires, and the E75 is ploughed and gritted right through the winter. Reindeer wander onto the road and take their time about leaving it, so ease off and enjoy the wait. For many guests it is the first reindeer they have ever seen.

During the polar night around midwinter you drive in blue light all day in Inari. There are still a few hours of blue daylight around noon, and the snow gives back far more light than people expect, so the drive is never as bleak as it sounds. Fill up in Sodankylä or Ivalo rather than running the tank down between them, and give a winter drive from Rovaniemi four hours rather than three.

Which route suits you?

What a Rovaniemi arrival often looks like

Every arrival is its own, but the shape of this one has become familiar enough to set down.

You land in Rovaniemi in the early afternoon, in December. You stay a night in the city, cross the Arctic Circle at Santa Claus Village, eat well and sleep. The next morning you pick up the bus or the car and head north on the E75. Sodankylä comes and goes, the forest gets deeper and the villages grow further apart.

Somewhere past Vuotso you stop noticing other cars. By mid-afternoon you are at the hotel and the outdoor gear is being handed out. What families tell us afterwards is that the drive turned out to be part of the holiday rather than the price of it: seeing the lively side of Lapland first made the quiet side land all the harder. The road north is where the noise falls away, and by the time you arrive you are already somewhere the rest of Lapland does not reach.

How we handle transfers

Direct transfers between Ivalo Airport or Ivalo bus station and our destinations are included in most of our ready-made packages, and can be added to any booking that does not already have one. We also run transfers from Kittilä and Rovaniemi airports. Rates and booking are in our online store, or you can email the sales team and we will arrange it.

Three practical points. Send your flight numbers and times as early as you can, because we cannot confirm a transfer without them. Tell us if a connection changes, even at short notice. And if you are arriving very late or leaving very early, say so when you book rather than on the day, so that the driver and the kitchen both know.

For guests coming through Rovaniemi, ask us for a quote on a private transfer at the same time as you ask about rooms. It is easier to plan the whole journey once than to solve the last 260 km later.

How we help you plan the last leg

Coming this far north takes one decision more than a city break, and it is the part our sales team enjoys most. A few things make it simple.

Start with the flight. In December the seats are the scarce part, not the room. Tell us your dates and we will tell you what is still open at each hotel.

Count the drive from Rovaniemi as part of the trip. Three to four hours north is an ordinary distance to your final destination anywhere in the world, and this one happens to be beautiful. We will tell you exactly what it looks like on your dates.

Let us take the last leg. From Ivalo Airport, Ivalo bus station, Kittilä or Rovaniemi, we have a driver who knows the road. Ask when you book and it is arranged.

Send your flight numbers early. They are the one thing we cannot arrange a transfer without.

Allow a little extra in midwinter. Snow and low light make for a slower, lovelier drive. Add an hour and stop for coffee in Sodankylä.

Plan the journey with us

Tell us where you are flying from and we will find you the best way here: which airport to aim for, what the connection looks like and what the last leg costs. If Ivalo is full for your dates, we will build the trip through Rovaniemi or Kittilä with you, and make the two sides of Lapland work in your favour.

Plan your Arctic adventure with our sales team.

Contact us: sales@wildernesshotels.fi · +358 10 212 3990

Wilderness Hotels & Safaris, Inari and Saariselkä, Finnish Lapland

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Frequently asked questions

What is the nearest airport to Wilderness Hotels?

Ivalo Airport (IVL). Every one of our destinations is 35 to 45 minutes away by road, and direct transfers are included in most of our ready-made packages.

Can I fly to Rovaniemi instead of Ivalo?

Yes, and it is a great alternative. Rovaniemi has direct flights from more than twenty European cities in winter, so there is usually availability even when Ivalo is full. From there it is about 260 km to Saariselkä and about 320 km to Inari, which you can cover by private transfer, by public bus or by hire car.

How long does it take to get from Rovaniemi to Saariselkä?

Roughly three hours by road in good conditions, on the E75 through Sodankylä. Allow four in deep winter. The bus takes about the same time and runs daily.

How do I get from Rovaniemi to Inari?

Continue north past Saariselkä and Ivalo, about 320 km in total and roughly four hours. The daily coach goes the whole way and stops beside Wilderness Hotel Inari and Wilderness Hotel Juutua.

Is there a train to Lapland?

There are sleeper trains from Helsinki to Rovaniemi, including services that carry your car. There is no railway further north, so the last stretch is by road. Coach departures from Rovaniemi are timed around train arrivals.

Can I reach the hotels by public transport?

Inari, Juutua and Kieppi are all walkable from a bus stop. Saariselkä and Muotka need a short pre-booked transfer from the Holiday Club and Kakslauttanen stops. For Nellim and Nangu, take the coach to Ivalo bus station and we will collect you there.

Do I need a hire car once I am there?

No. Activities, transfers and meals are organised from the hotel, and most guests never miss having a car. Hire one if you want to explore the region independently, and only if you are comfortable driving on packed snow.

When should I book flights to Ivalo?

As early as you can for the Christmas and New Year period, which sells out first. If you are booking late, put Rovaniemi in the same search rather than assuming the trip is off.

Expert info

Written by: the Wilderness Hotels guide team, Inari & Saariselkä.

We have been meeting guests at Ivalo Airport since 2004, and arranging the last leg of the journey is a daily part of our work across our hotels in the Inari and Saariselkä region. Wilderness Hotels is a family-owned company; our founders, Mari and Jouko, were named National Entrepreneurs of the Year in Finland in 2024. All locations hold Green Key (since 2022) and Sustainable Travel Finland (since 2024) certifications.

📞 Contact: sales@wildernesshotels.fi · +358 10 212 3990

Sources:

Finavia, Ivalo and Rovaniemi airport information (finavia.fi)

Finnair, Edelweiss and SWISS, airline timetables and direct booking (finnair.com, flyedelweiss.com, swiss.com)

VR, timetables and sleeper services to Rovaniemi (vr.fi)

Matkahuolto and Eskelisen Lapin Linjat, coach timetables and tickets (matkahuolto.fi, eskelisen.fi)

Lapland North, distances and connections in the Inari region (laplandnorth.fi)

Wilderness Hotels, own transfer operations, Inari and Saariselkä

More on this topic

• Inari, Finland: travel guide to the great lake and the far north ← pillar

• Saariselkä travel guide

• Visit Santa in Lapland: private Santa experiences

• What to wear and pack for a Lapland winter

• Things to do in Lapland in winter

• Contact us / check availability