Best time to visit Finland
Finland is a land of extremes; each month is wildly contrasting.![]()
Finns describe their country as having eight seasons, and as the days swing from eternal midsummer sunshine to December darkness, it's clear this is a land of extremes where each month contrasts wildly. Our climate charts show typical averages but temps may soar to 30°C in summer, and plummet to -30°C or lower in the Arctic winters, so come prepared. Deciding what you want to do will help you pick the best time to visit Finland. Aurora and snow activities occur in winter, but consider how many hours' daylight you'll need. Equally, summer days are glorious for hiking and kayaking, but holidaying Finns and swarms of mosquitoes might make spring preferable.
Finland, month by month
Our Finland Holidays
Finland Northern Lights holiday, Wilderness Auroras
Winter activities & Aurora hunting in Finland
From
£1785 to £2345
5 days
inc UK flights
Winter holiday in Finnish Lapland
Log fires, lakeside trails and a range of winter activities
From
£2235 to £2895
8 days
inc UK flights
Northern Lights family holiday, tailor made
A mix of Lapland family activities and a relaxing spa hotel
From
£1675 to £2010
4 days
inc UK flights
Finland winter activity holiday & Northern Lights
Discover this Finnish winter activity wilderness week
From
£2649 to £3149
8 days
inc UK flights
Husky safari in Finland
Sled with huskies through spectacular Finnish scenery
From
£2730 to £3235
8 days
inc UK flights
Finland wildlife short break
Bear, wolverine and elk widlife short break in Finland
From
€750
5 days
ex flights
Helsinki Weather Chart
MIN °C
MAX °C
RAIN (mm)
JAN
-10
-4
43
FEB
-10
-3
33
MAR
-6
1
35
APR
-1
7
37
MAY
5
15
33
JUN
10
19
42
JUL
12
21
67
AUG
11
20
77
SEP
7
14
73
OCT
3
9
72
NOV
-2
3
70
DEC
-7
-1
58
PLAY
Our top Finland Holiday
Finland Northern Lights holiday, Wilderness Auroras
Winter activities & Aurora hunting in Finland
From
£1785 to £2345
5 days
inc UK flights
Small group travel:
2022: 28 Nov, 5 Dec, 12 Dec, 19 Dec, 26 Dec
2023: 2 Jan, 9 Jan, 15 Jan, 23 Jan, 30 Jan, 6 Feb, 13 Feb, 20 Feb, 27 Feb, 6 Mar, 13 Mar, 20 Mar
2022: 28 Nov, 5 Dec, 12 Dec, 19 Dec, 26 Dec
2023: 2 Jan, 9 Jan, 15 Jan, 23 Jan, 30 Jan, 6 Feb, 13 Feb, 20 Feb, 27 Feb, 6 Mar, 13 Mar, 20 Mar
Travel Team
If you'd like to chat about Finland or need help finding a holiday to suit you we're very happy to help.
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Best time to visit Finland
Aki Käräjäoja began working with sled dogs after he finished studying, and fell in love with them. He founded Routa Travel, one of our suppliers, as a way to be around the dogs and live the life he wanted. Here’s his best time to visit Finland: “The dog sledding season starts in December and ends in early April, but for this and other winter activities, February and March are the best times as there’s more daylight. If you come at the end of December it has its own mystical feel as it’s dark all the time, which can be really great – but I prefer the sunshine.”
Our culture pick: The summer solstice
Known as Juhannus, midsummer is celebrated on the Saturday between 20 and 26 June. Toast the midnight sun Finnish-style, with lakeside bonfires, cooking, drinking and saunas.Festivals & events
Tangomarkkinat
As you’d expect, Finland hosts plenty rock and heavy metal festivals – but also the tangomarkkinat – the world’s biggest tango festival, in Seinäjoki each July. Up to 100,000 attend – although the 'tango-free zone' still has plenty of rock for non-aficionados.Wife Carrying World Championships
“All participants must enjoy
themselves” is one of the rules of
Finland’s famous Wife Carrying
World Championships. Believed to
have originated in the 1800s when
men would steal women from
villages, the contest now attracts
thousands of spectators each July.
A lighter wife is not necessarily
an advantage; the prize for
the winner is the wife’s weight
in beer.
The Annual Mobile Phone Throwing Championship
Finns proudly celebrate their best-known brand, Nokia, with the annual Mobile Phone Throwing Championship in Savonlinna each August. Open to individuals, teams and children, the phone thrown the furthest wins – although the freestyle competition also gets judged on the choreography of their throwing styleMore about Finland
Our Finland travel guide lets you into long and light summer days, for trekking and kayaking, as well as Northern Lights watching, snowshoeing and cross country skiing in the snow covered, darker months of winter.
Click on our interactive Finland map and highlights to discover some of the best places to visit in both summer and winter, whether you're seeking wolverines, wild bears, snowshoeing, Santa or Sami hospitality.
If you’re looking to put a bit of colour into the darker depths of winter there’s no better place to start than Finland and if you’re also looking for more info on the best time to go then read as you keep watching the skies.
From snow shoeing and cross country skiing to husky safaris, Northern Lights and warming fires, Finland in the winter abounds with things to do so slip on your woolly socks, grab a glass of Glögi and read on for more info.
There’s no more exhilarating and rewarding way to discover the snowy Finnish wilderness other than on a husky safari, with a team of dogs pulling you through pure white landscapes and across vast frozen lakes.
Finns grow up learning about jokamiehenoikeus: every man’s right to roam. The Finnish landscape is everyone’s, including yours, to explore and forage – so long as you do so carefully.
You don’t need to travel to Alaska to see brown bears; the Wild Taiga region of Finland is home to these fascinating creatures and a supporting cast of other animals, too, from wolves and wolverine to elk and reindeer.
Travelling in Finland with kids is a wonderful experience for families of any age, with snowshoeing and canoeing on the cards for older children, and snowmen, sledging and reindeer-nuzzling delights for younger ones.
If you think that Lapland is just about snow and Santa then think again as summer holidays in Finland help to create a far more accessible and affordable outdoor experience. including self-drive tours and hiking holidays.
Rail holidays in Finland are far more relaxing than driving. They also encourage an element of destination-hopping, so you will be able to visit Oulu and Kemi instead of heading straight to busy Rovaniemi in Lapland.
Although traditionally semi nomadic reindeer herders, the Sámi are adapting to a changing world with responsible tourism playing a role in keeping alive the languages, music and folklore tales from around the Arctic Circle.
Holidays in Finland don’t have to mean Santa. You could exercise huskies in autumn to help them get fit for sledding season or visit the country in summer, when far fewer people think to come, and try holidaying like a Finn in a log cabin.
The first eSleds have made their debut in Finland, and in the responsible travel stakes, electric beats traditional snowmobiles hands-down, but how can you make sure your snowmobile safari is good for Finnish Lapland?
Finns prize privacy and remoteness above all else, and many choose to holiday in their home country, fleeing to their family cabins in search of solitude. Just like Finns, honeymooners appreciate a bit of alone time – just replace that family cabin with a place for two.
Our specialist holiday companies and travellers have shared their Finland travel advice on everything from cross country skiing and the best time to see wildlife, to packing for the cold and eating locally sourced food.
It's hard to know where to start when planning a trip to Finland but we've picked out our top activities to get you started - from admiring the Aurora to mushing huskies, tracking wolverines and thawing out in a sauna.
If you fancy fat biking in Oulanka National Park, these mountain bikes with big chunky tyres are a great way to enjoy some Arctic exercise and have fun as part of a small guided group without damaging the environment.
When you stay in a log cabin in Finland, you’re often staying in a family’s second home – sauna, open fire and a cupboardful of kayaks and snowshoes included.
Helsinki is the cool capital of Finland – a southerly peninsula city surrounded by lakes, islands and forest parks.
It's hard to go wrong when travelling in this nature loving nation but there are a few things to be aware of including hunting, Sami rights and huskies vs snowmobiles; read our thoughts on responsible tourism in Finland.
Find all our Finland guides in one place, from Husky safaris to the Northern Lights and everything in between.
