Book the plainest version you can get to on your own, unless the extras are the point. The heat and the cold water are the same in every one of them; what the higher prices add is transport, a meal, a private sauna or a lake. Wear a swimsuit unless you are told otherwise, keep the first dip short, and stay out of the ice hole if you have a heart condition, have been drinking or are unwell.
In Finland a sauna is an ordinary room, in the flat, at the cottage or in the
hotel. A visitor in Rovaniemi usually meets it as something to book, with a
price attached, and the prices are far apart. The heat is the same in all of
them. What changes is everything around it.
What the money buys
These are the published starting prices for a few of the sauna offers around
Rovaniemi, read from the operators’ listings. They are “from” prices, and most
do not say whether they are per person or for the
group.12
Offer
Length
From
Lapland Safaris, polar sauna, make your own way there
1 h 30 min
€47
Lapland Safaris, polar sauna with transfers
2 h
€74
Hotel Metsähirvas, barrel sauna and ice dip in the Kemijoki
Not stated
€80
SUMA Sauna & Lounge, sauna and brunch
2 h
€129
SUMA Sauna & Lounge, sauna and dinner
3 h
€149
Soul of Lapland, private lakeside sauna with ice swimming
Not stated
€170
Apukka Resort, lakeside sauna and a dip in Lake Olkka
Not stated
€199
Hotel Metsähirvas, private riverside sauna for 1–20 people
Not stated
€450
Read down the list and the pattern is clear. The cheapest line is the sauna on
its own, with you arranging the ride. Transport adds most of the difference to
the second. Then come food, then privacy, then a lake or a resort setting, and
finally exclusive use of a whole sauna building for a group. None of those is a
better sauna; they are different evenings.
Tripadvisor ratings, 18 Rovaniemi operators
Highest first
Snowtrail Safaris 5.0
Nordic Odyssey 5.0
Nordic Adventures 4.9
Arctic GM 4.9
Book Lapland 4.9
Bearhill Husky 4.9
Arctic Attitude 4.9
StayLapland 4.8
Wild About Lapland 4.7
Wild Nordic 4.7
Lapland Winter Park 4.6
Safartica 4.5
Nordic Unique Travels 4.5
Apukka Resort 4.4
Lapland Welcome 4.3
Arctic Circle Snowmobile Park 4.3
Arctic Circle Husky Park 4.2
Raitola 3.4
<44.04.55.0
Ratings read from Tripadvisor. The shaded compartment left of the divider holds any score below 4.0. We record the score only; review counts and review text are not part of our comparison.
How it goes
Showering first is the rule in any shared sauna. Sit on a towel or a seat
cover, and stay as long or as briefly as feels good: there are no rules about
how hot it should be or how long you
spend.4
What you wear depends on the place. In Helsinki, the city’s own advice is that
you do not have to be naked and that most mixed public saunas let you wear a
swimsuit or a towel, while the single-sex saunas at public pools forbid
swimsuits.4 A booked experience in
Rovaniemi is mixed by nature, so bring a swimsuit and ask if you are unsure.
The ice hole
The cold dip is the part people come for and the part with rules. Never go into
cold water after drinking. Do not dive in or put your head under. Go with
somebody, breathe slowly before and during the dip, and wear socks for the ice
around the hole. A quick plunge, or even just your feet, is a perfectly good
first time.3
The one group that should not simply try it is anyone with a heart or
circulation condition: the advice is to talk to a doctor before
starting.3 Cold water is a shock
to the body, and a holiday evening is the wrong moment to find out how yours
responds.
None of the listings we read publishes an age limit, so ask the operator before booking. In practice the sauna itself is a family thing in Finland, while the ice hole is a decision for the parent and the guide on the night: a child can sit in the warm and skip the dip without missing much of the experience. Ask, too, whether the price is per person or for the group, because the listings rarely say.
Do we need to bring anything?
Check what the booking includes, because the listings mostly do not say whether towels or robes are provided. A swimsuit, a towel and a pair of wool or cotton socks for the walk across the ice cover the basics. Bring warm clothes to put back on quickly afterwards, and something to drink that is not alcohol: the heat dehydrates you, and alcohol is the one thing every safety source agrees has no place near cold water.
Is the ice hole safe if I cannot swim?
A dip at an organised site is not swimming: you go down steps or a ladder into a hole cut for the purpose, stay briefly and climb out, and nobody expects you to let go of the rail. Tell the guide before you start, keep your head above the water, and never go in alone. If the idea of deep cold water frightens you, stopping at the knees is a perfectly respectable dip.
Lapland Handbook is written by its editorial staff in Rovaniemi. Every price, age limit and group size in a comparison is read from the operator's own page and marked "Not stated" when the operator does not publish it. Each guide names who should not book, and names the operator that suits each kind of group, whichever it is.
Rovaniemi's winter tours do sell out – December and the week around New Year first, and the small-group ones before the rest. Booking here goes straight to the operator at their own published price, and the code LH10 takes 10% off it.
We would like to count visits, so we can see which guides get read. That needs a cookie. Nothing else on this site does, we show no advertising, and refusing changes nothing about what you can read or book. What we measure and why.
