Northern Light Trip in Finland - Final Part with total travel cost

Day 5

It is almost the last day.

Today we have a chance to visit the Snow Village. The way from Kittila to snow village was covered totally by snow, same like everywhere in Lapland. I saw the only one colour which is white. This visit is included in the trip so it was for free. The Village has the exhibition area which displayed the art created out of snow and ice, the reindeer farm area, husky farm area and snowmobile drive. I discovered the village with a few friends I met from the group: Jess (Australian), Priyanka (Indian), Jennifer (Taiwanese) and Sandra (Spanish). We checked every corner of the Ice hotel, the bar, the room, the public area... The bar is located in the middle of the exhibition area, you can take shots here with the ice glasses. The art works were created both for public area like lobby, cinema... and for bedrooms as well. You can see the art in the following photos. The Finlandia one was next to the bar. The hotel area which for hotel's guests is separated, you cannot enter if you are just a visitor. Although, it showed that they have husky farm around the village, my friends and I could not find them.

All the artworks displayed in the exhibition were very outstanding, but my friends and I were a bit dissapointed because we could not see the Game of Thrones theme though they promoted (and I am a big fan of Game of Thrones). Eventhough, we had a very good time here, at the Snow Village. You deffinitely should visit. You can also try to drive snow mobile outside of the hotel.

In the afternoon, we could choose between staying at the hotel or participating in the ice-karting activity. It is not an activity for me, so I decided to stay at the hotel and got some sleep, took shower and gained some energy for the last Northern Light hunt in the evening. The cost for ice-karting activity is just 65euro, and I heard from Jess that it was very fun. So, if you want to experience, I deffinitely suggest you to do it.

In the evening, we took the bus to went back to the coffee shop on top of the mountain - Tuikku Levin Vanhin to wait for Northern Light. Tuikku was closed in the evening, so we had to wait for Northern Light outside. In the beginning, it was dark, and very cold since we had to stay outside but doing nothing. In the Aurora app, it showed that we have around 3% to see Northern Light and it was increasing. My friends and I decided to build a snowman while we were waiting. Till 10 pm, we had to head back to the hotel, we couldn't see Northern Light, but we finished the snowman and had the best time ever with each other.

Day 6

The last day of the trip, I was about to wake up around 4:30 am to check the Northern Light with others in the group. However, I was exhausted and the aurora app also showed that the Northern Light was not with use, it moved to Iceland already. So, I just slept till late, had breakfast and got ready to check out.

Today, the only activity was to visit Samiland exhibition. By the way, sami is the ethnic group who lived here long time ago. Janita (cofounder of Eanan Levi, she was our tour guide in the afternoon of Day 4) is half sami. The ticket to enter the Exhibition is 25 euro. After the exhibition, we went back to the bus and were ready for a long trip head back Helsinki.

The trip was end when I arrived Helsinki airport on the next day at 5:30 am. It was a short trip but enough for me to experience so many new things, to meet new friends and get to know them. I appreciated the talk we shared with each other at the dining area of the hotel, the fun time we shared with each other at the farms and while we were waiting for the Northern Light.

My total cost for this trip.

- The tour booked for Wanderlust: 450 euro (I was an early bird)

- Flight from Zurich to Helsinki: 195chf ~ 170 euro

- Flight from Helsinki to Budapest: 105 euro

- Accommodation in Helsinki: 45 euro

- Expenses during the trip: 130 euro

- Husky and Reindeer activity: 130 euro

=> Total: 1030 euro

Please note that: I ate at the restaurant only one time cause I am not a big fan of local restaurant food. The total expense was included souvenir and public transportation. I bought one-way flight ticket cause I wanted to visit my friend in Budapest during New Year, so if you buy return ticket it would be even cheaper. Also this is the cost if you travel similar to me, if you do different things or different route, it would be different.

I hope by reading these 3 blogs, I can help you to have a picture of the trip with Wanderlust. Please share with me you trip if you have done it or your plan, I would love to chat with you guys.