A trip to Finland is incomplete without visiting Rovaniemi, home to Santa Claus. Besides taking a domestic flight, the Santa Claus Express Night Train is also a hassle-free way to get from Helsinki to Rovaniemi.

Travel HANter

02 Sep 18

Santa Claus Express Night Train

The Santa Claus Express Night Train runs daily from Helsinki to Rovaniemi. Spend your day in Helsinki and your night on the Santa Claus Express Night Train, then arrive in Rovaniemi the next morning. Simple.

• Helsinki Train Station

We arrived in Helsinki early morning and spent the day shopping around the city center, which can be easily accessed by the train that connects the airport to the city center. We are taking our Santa Claus Express Night Train at 23:19 pm and will arrive in Rovaniemi the next day at 10:52 am.

HAN-dy tip: The train station has lockers where travelers can deposit their pieces of luggage so that they can go explore the city before their boarding time. The rental costs €2–6 per locker per day, depending on the size of the locker. Check out VR Train’s website for more details.

Klook.com

• The Santa Claus Express Night Train

The train has both seats, which are found on the lower deck, and sleeping compartments, which are found on both decks. Since we wanted to avoid hearing the noises from passengers alighting and boarding the train, we chose the upper deck.

The Sleeping Compartment

The sleeping compartment has a double-decker bed, a small table, and a seat for one to look outside of the window. There’s also its own bathroom, which is perfect after a day of sight-seeing. It is small but clean and definitely sufficient for one to spend a night in.

The Bathroom

Space is very well utilized in the small bathroom, where there is a divider that can change the bathroom into a shower room (check out the video below).

The View

We slept really well on the beds and could barely hear any noises. Although it might not be a fair statement as we were extremely tired from our overnight flight and day trip in Helsinki.

Come early morning, we finally got a chance to look out of the window and were pleasantly surprised by the gorgeous scenery that greeted us.

• Rovaniemi Train Station

After a well rested night on the Santa Claus Express Night Train, we arrived at our destination, Rovaniemi. SO MUCH SNOW, SO MUCH COLD! It’s amazing! Especially for someone coming from a sunny island. 

• Details

Duration: ~11.5 hours

Price: EUR175 for a sleeping compartment for two

Book on VR Train’s website.

HAN-dy tip: Book early and keep a look out for their promotional prices. Tickets can get as low as EUR98 for a sleeping compartment for two.

• Conclusion

The Santa Claus Express Night Train was a great experience for us to travel from Helsinki to Rovaniemi. The sleeping compartment was clean and had everything a traveler needs for a good night rest. Also, it is an affordable add-on to a normal train ticket and surely a must if you are taking an overnight train to Rovaniemi, the home of Santa Claus.  HO! HO! HO!

Have you taken the Santa Claus Express Night Train before? Drop a comment to let us know about your experience!

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