Finnish Lapland
A mystical setting with a chance of seeing the northern lights, Finnish Lapland’s changing landscapes are a call to the wild that’s finally being heard. It’s also the jolly home of Santa.
Before the silver lakes frost over and snow dusts the forests and fells of Finnish Lapland, the short lived season of ruska takes hold of the land. Fall colours set the arboreal landscape ablaze, with the leaves of birches and mountain ash trees rusting into amber, gold and scarlet.
This, however, won’t be the only spectacle to catch your eye this season, as the northern lights make a comeback, swinging a curtain of pale green light over a sleepy land settling down for a long peaceful snooze.
It’s a time of year that attracts all sorts of visitors to the region, all in the hope of capturing both experiences. The hiking trails at Pallas Yllästunturi National Park offer a fitting introduction to the changing colours, before winter makes the routes treacherous by around mid October. Trek the 55km long Hetta Pallas Hiking Trail and you’ll find fells, ravines and panoramic views across the park. On your way, you’ll discover open wilderness huts, where you can rest up for a night and take advantage of the Finn’s ‘right to roam’ law.
Heading south, not far from Lapland’s capital Rovaniemi aka Santa’s HQ you can hang out with blue eyed huskies on therapeutic retreats, join them on bumpy cart rides as they train for the upcoming winter season, or canoe your way up to a (nonflying) reindeer farm.
Continue north to Lake Inari however, and you’ll come across the Sámi indigenous seminomads who herd vast numbers of reindeer through Scandinavian forests. Guided tours at the Siida museum offer an insight into their culture, while boating trips along the River Lemmenjoki lead you into their ancient homelands.
Inari is also where you’re likely to have your best encounter with the aurora borealis, known here as ‘fox fire’. Tales of an Arctic fox sparking snow with his tail may be popular folklore, but if you gaze upwards, you can almost hear the real story, the whisper of distant solar storms happening well beyond our reach.