Finland · Lapland Seasonal deal
Lapland Icebreaker & Snow Castle Adventure
Break metre-thick pack ice aboard the Sampo, float in the frozen sea, and sleep inside a castle made of snow.
ENQUIRE NOWNo booking fees
- Float in the frozen sea Cruise out on the Sampo icebreaker as it crushes the pack ice, then step off in a survival suit and float in the Arctic sea. Available nowhere else on our site.
- A gala inside a castle of ice Dinner in the Snow Castle, with the first course served in the ice restaurant — carved walls, an ice table, reindeer hides to sit on.
- Fixed dates, fully guided Five departures across the winter, five days each, led start to finish. You travel with a small group; we handle everything on the ground.
- An easy single fare The single suite is $456 above the twin-share adult fare — a rare thing on a group departure, where solo travellers are usually punished hardest.
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- Direct contract with the resort
I've done this trip myself, and the ice floating is what I mention first — you're in a survival suit, lying back in water the ship has just broken open, and there's nothing else on the itinerary remotely like it. — Rahul, who has travelled this trip
Why this deal
This is the one trip on our site built around two things you cannot do anywhere else we sell: floating in the frozen sea off the deck of a working icebreaker, and eating the first course of a gala dinner inside a restaurant carved from ice. Everything else — the huskies, the reindeer, the snowmobiles, the aurora hunt — a dozen Lapland trips offer. The Sampo and the Snow Castle gala, together, in five guided days, are rare.
It runs on fixed dates with a small group, which is what keeps it affordable and what makes the single fare so unusually gentle. The catch is honest and worth saying out loud: flights are yours to arrange and they are the biggest cost of getting an Australian to the Arctic. So book the land, hold the flights until the group is confirmed, and let us tell you the moment a date is certain. The 4 December departure is the first to decide — if it is the one you want, the time to say so is now.
The first hero moment
The Sampo icebreaker, and floating in the ice
Cruise out from Kemi on the Sampo — a genuine 1960s icebreaker that spent thirty years keeping the Gulf of Bothnia open — and feel it climb and crush the metre-thick pack ice beneath you. Then the ship stops, and you step down onto the ice, zip into a survival suit, and lie back to float in the open Arctic sea. It costs you nothing in body heat and you will not forget it.
The second hero moment
A gala dinner inside the Snow Castle
The evening is a gala dinner in the Snow Castle — rebuilt in a new design every winter from the frozen sea itself. The first course is served in the ice restaurant: carved ice walls lit from within, an ice table, reindeer hides to sit on, your glass a block of ice. Then you move to the warm restaurant for the rest. Nowhere else on our site does this.
Where you stay
A warm base in central Kemi
You stay in the middle of Kemi at Toivola Hotel Kemi or Merihovi Hotel Kemi, or similar — comfortable, warm, walkable, and the standard we book here. Which of the two depends on availability across the group, so we name the standard rather than guarantee the name.
Day by day
Five days, fixed dates, small group. Every departure runs the same itinerary.
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Day 1
Rovaniemi arrival
Transfer to Kemi, check in, dinner, aurora hunting by bus with sausage grilling at 21:00 if conditions allow.
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Day 2
Husky and reindeer
Reindeer farm and sledge ride, husky farm and sledge ride, transfer to Snow Castle, lunch in the Glass Villa restaurant with panoramic sea view, snowmobile on the frozen sea (2h), dinner.
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Day 3
Icebreaker and gala
SnowExperience exhibition and Winter Park, Icebreaker Sampo cruise with ice floating, gala dinner in the Snow Castle restaurant with the first course served in the ice restaurant.
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Day 4
Santa Claus Village
Orientation tour, 3–4 hours free time, optional lunch, dinner at hotel.
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Day 5
Departure
Rovaniemi Airport.
Choose your departure
Per person, land-only. Flights are not included — the trip starts and ends at Rovaniemi Airport.
Five fixed departures across the winter, five days each between Kemi and Rovaniemi. Choose a date and enquire — we hold your place while the group builds.
Confirm-by dates are provisional estimates and firm up once each departure’s cut-off is set — we tell you the exact date when you enquire.
If a departure doesn’t reach the numbers to run, we tell you at the confirm-by date — never later — and either move you to another date or refund your land arrangements in full. You are never left holding flights against a trip that isn’t going to happen, which is exactly why we say book the land first and hold the flights until the group is confirmed.
Per-person fares (any departure)
- Adult, twin share$3,604
- Child 4–12, sharing$2,368
- Child 0–3Free
- Extra bed (adult)$2,707
- Single suite (adult)$4,060
Travelling solo? The single suite is just $456 more than the twin-share adult fare — most group departures charge lone travellers far more than that. Here it is barely a surcharge.
ENQUIRE NOW Rates confirmed at time of enquiry, subject to availability. Offer terms & travel window ↓
Everything in your stay
Included
- Four nights in central Kemi and Rovaniemi (Toivola or Merihovi Hotel Kemi, or similar)
- All meals as per the itinerary, including the Snow Castle gala dinner
- The Sampo icebreaker cruise with ice-floating and survival suits
- Snow Castle and SnowExperience entry; reindeer farm, husky farm and snowmobile
- Santa Claus Village visit
- All ground transfers from Rovaniemi Airport, fully guided
Not included
- International and domestic flights — the trip starts and ends at Rovaniemi Airport
- Travel insurance
- Personal expenses and anything not listed as included
- Optional Finnair group air can be arranged on enquiry — no published fare
Good to know
- Aurora is never guaranteed — the Day 1 hunt is weather-dependent
- Departures run with a minimum group; if a date can’t proceed you’re told at the confirm-by and moved or refunded in full
- Priced per person in Australian dollars
- IATA accredited & CLIA member; Australian-owned
Questions about this offer
What happens if a departure doesn’t go ahead?
Every departure needs a minimum number of travellers to run. If a date doesn’t reach it, we tell you at the confirm-by date — never at the last minute — and either move you to another departure or refund your land arrangements in full. This is exactly why we advise booking the land first and holding your flights until the group is confirmed.
Are flights included?
No. The trip starts and ends at Rovaniemi Airport, and international flights are the single largest cost of reaching Finnish Lapland from Australia — so we keep them visible rather than buried in a headline price. Optional Finnair group airfares can be arranged on enquiry.
Will we see the Northern Lights?
Never guaranteed — the aurora is a natural phenomenon. The Day 1 evening hunt is explicitly weather-dependent. What the trip gives you is time out under dark Arctic skies with guides who know where to take you.
I’m travelling solo — how much more is that?
The single suite is $4,060, which is only $456 above the twin-share adult fare of $3,604. On most group departures a solo traveller pays a far steeper single supplement; here it is barely a surcharge.
Who is this trip for?
Travellers who want the rare experiences — the icebreaker and the ice-castle gala — done properly and guided, without arranging a thing on the ground. It suits couples, solo travellers and families; children have their own fares.
Offer terms & travel window
Prices are per person in Australian dollars, land-only, for the five-day itinerary shown, and apply to any of the five departures. Adult twin-share $3,604; child 4–12 sharing $2,368; child 0–3 free; extra bed (adult) $2,707; single suite (adult) $4,060.
International and domestic flights are NOT included — the trip starts and ends at Rovaniemi Airport. Optional Finnair group airfares can be arranged on enquiry. Aurora sightings are a natural phenomenon and cannot be guaranteed; the Day 1 aurora hunt is weather-dependent.
Each departure runs subject to a minimum group size. If a departure does not proceed, you are notified at the confirm-by date and moved to another departure or refunded your land arrangements in full. Confirm-by dates shown are provisional estimates until each departure’s cut-off is set.
Passenger data: for each traveller we are required to provide the operator with full name, gender, date of birth, nationality, dietary requirements and a rooming list, no later than two weeks before arrival. Submitting an enquiry and proceeding to book constitutes consent to that transfer of your details for the purpose of operating your trip.
Availability is confirmed at the time of enquiry. Rates are quoted and billed in Australian dollars. Mykish Travels is IATA accredited and CLIA member.