Rovaniemi functinos here as a starting point for tourists of all kinds heading beyond the Arctic Circle. That lies 8 km north from the city and leads through a commercial village of commercial Santa Claus, where carols are played and each cottage has a plastic Christmas tree even in the summer. Beyond the Circle there is no larger town (if you do not consider area as a measure of size, as for example the village of Inari formally covers an area of 17 333 km²) and the small ones lie 100 km from each other. If someone is looking for solitude, I can highly recommend this place. Basically, there is absolutely nothing here, only trees and water, sometimes mosquitoes and horse-flies – and yet it is somehow terribly beautiful here and entire caravans of camper vans are coming because of it. I hope at least a small hint will be captured by the photos.
Theoretically, while Norway at the seaside is among the most rainy areas in Europe, Finland is one of the driest. I managed to verify this in practice – here beyond the Arctic Circle I enjoyed the sun and tropical temperatures exceeding 30°C, ideal in combination with the clear waters of the lakes. I admit that by midnight the thermometer dropped to a cool 20°C.
