The Finnish Railway company, VR is currently selling discounted tickets between Southern Finland (Helsinki, Vantaa, Tampere, Turku) and destinations in Finnish Lapland, including Kolari, Oulu and the home of Santa Claus (or Joulupukki), Rovaniemi. A downstairs sleeper cabin for 2 people costs just €49 per direction. For an additional €20 per direction, you can upgrade your cabin to an upstairs one, which offers even better views and an ensuite shower.
To find your connection, you can check out VR.fi on a desktop and tick the “Show cabin prices and night trains” button. There, you can see weekly availabilities.
If you can’t find availabilities for your exact dates, you can try changing the origin to Tampere or the destination to a stop before. While this may reduce comfort, it also opens up expensive dates in December.
Finnish Nigh Trains
Finnish night trains are famous for their comfort and relatively affordable price. The most widely known route is the Santa Claus Express running between Helsinki and Rovaniemi (two trains a day in each direction, one continues to Kemijärvi). However, there is also a route to Kolari running along the Tornio River (Swedish-Finnish border). Kolari is close to the popular ski centre Ylläs.
The company (VR) believes in private sleeper compartments (no shared couchettes), of which there are two types. On double-decker trains, the upper deck cabins have en-suite showers, while the lower deck has common showers. While there is an onboard restaurant, breakfast is not included in the ticket. You’ll get a small water bottle for free prepared in your cabin.
You can check most of the stops on our map. By clicking the zoom button, you can find smaller stops along the route.
Search & Book
The sale goes on until September 3, 2023, however, cabins sell out very quickly. While th travel period lasts until December 22, 2023, there are cheap tickets until February 2024. Unfortunately, the cheap cabins leading up to Christmas are gone already. However, you can still meet Joulupukki in January.
To book the tickets, you should check out VR.fi from a computer. You can insert the stop names found on the map into the search bar. Make sure that you tick the “Show cabin prices and night trains” button, as the seat price is often more expensive. After that, you will see prices for the whole week and – with a few clicks – the entire winter season.
Destination
Hotel prices in Lapland usually start at roughly €50, depending on the hotel category. Whichever category and hotel you opt for, make sure to get the best price! Our recommendation is to search on booking.com, or even on our own Travel-Dealz hotel search:
Cover Picture: VR-Yhtymä Oyj
Comments (2)
A very interesting deal. Thanks a lot, Miklós!
I’m glad you like it, Nicolas!