Levi vs Rovaniemi - Which Finland City is Best For You?

We traveled to Levi and Rovaniemi in Lapland, Finland and loved both places. Here's what we learned about each city and wanted to share any advice we could so you could decide which one would be your favorite.

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We are Jacob and Jenny, a husband and wife passionate about traveling the world. We started uploading in May, 2021 with a goal to see as much of the globe as possible. After visiting Costa Rica and French Polynesia, the time was right to quit our full-time jobs, so we left everything to travel and have loved every minute of it. Our goal is to make it to all seven continents and visit as many countries as possible. Follow along and be a part of the journey!

#JacobAndJenny #TravelVlog #Finland #InternationalTravel

[NWH]

Rovaniemi has its peak tourist season in December-January while Levi gets really crowded during February and March (even April). These two locations are the most visited in Lapland (or Northern Finland in general).
If you are looking for quieter visit, Inari Region is a good option. Basically all the same attractions and things to do, but no tourist masses or the 'commercialized' feeling. Also really snowsecure and heaven for aurora borealis sighting. Popular in summertime too, due to various hiking routes, cultural sights and of course the mignight sun.
Kuusamo Region, just south of Lapland, recommended too.

[TheAlex]

Kinda generous to call Levi a city. It's just a small town built around a ski resort. It's not even an independent municipality but an area of Kittilä

[stephenmarqq]

Love the video!!!

We visited Rovaniemi during our trip to Finland and took the overnight train from Helsinki to Rovaniemi. We were actually impressed with our experience on the train! Even though the train was only a bit cheaper, we decided the train made sense for us as we didn't have to book a hotel for the night. Hotels in Rovaniemi are relatively expensive and we were traveling on a budget so not having that additional expense made it cheaper all around. Happy to share more about our experience on the train if it's helpful!!

[nottwo]

Rovaniemi to Levi is like Denver to Aspen, both at smaller scale. For the Northern Lights, the odds are a bit higher at Levi. Cloud cover is normally limiting and there is no difference in cloud occurrence between the two, but Levi is further North. Actually, the real reason to choose Levi is everything around it. Ylläs, Pallas, nearby Sweden and actually even Kilpisjärvi/Saana/Norway being a few hours away. Rovaniemi has nothing like those places nearby. And the skiing is better, agreed.

[ohmp]

I liked a lot of your Lapland series and will be waiting what you are going to do next!
One good option would be also Saariselkä in Inari municipality. It is the northernmost outdoor resort of Finland and about 250 kilometers north from Rovaniemi. I have been there only quickly in summer and autumn time, but I could see that it was a nice place. On both times I just stopped there for a while and continued driving further north.

[kelvin]

Great video!!! This is the most useful video after searching for a travel guide to Finland on Youtube for an hour. Very informative, thanks a lot!!!

[TheWrightLifeTravelChannel]

Great video! I don't think I'd be able to make up my mind about where to go, I'd probably like to visit both!

[WITYTRAVELS]

Great comparison between the two! Train sounds fun. If it was light enough to see the landscape during the journey.

[JustPeach]

Ylläs is the biggest ski resort in Finnland. Levi has only 38, 5 kilometers of slopes, Ylläs has 53 km

[sudiptaroy]

Just loved your video.jenny and jacob.much informative and precise.

[simonsandvik]

Ylläs is way bigger for skiing and is fairly close to Levi.

[harrikaijansinkko]

Levi is a guite new artificial ski turist "town" built next to Sirkka Village and "mount" Levi, which are part of Kittilä municipality. About 40 years ago there was only one hotel, three ski lifts and some dozens of log cabins and cottages. Alpine style houses are mostly built during 2000's. Many Finnish architects don't like the alpine buildind style of Levi because it is far away of Finnish building heritage.
-Downhill ski resort at Ounasvaara in Rovaniemi is guite small, but there are lot of cross-country ski tracks around Rovaniemi. Most Finnish cities and municipalities have their own xc ski track networks. Even here in Helsinki, when we get enough snow, there is almost 300 kilometres of prepared ski tracks. Cross-country skiing is one of the most popular sport hobbies here.

[ratyjoona]

Come visit other regions of Finland too :). Also in other seasons.

[punkkumies]

was that husky ride very fast, little scary perhaps? looked fun :)

[harrikuusjarvi]

Levi is not for place to go extreme skiers. That front slope is less than half of Levi hole altitude. U can go around this around 5km wide mountain and find also black ski troutes. I i really want to go place in Finland what is most beautiful and best downhill ski is Yllas. It is much bigger than Levi as i said before. But Levi can not give u much of ski routes. Yllas has a lot of them. So Yllas is place to ski in Finland if u have some kind of skils. Levi is more chill out routes. Pyha is also great. Glad u have fun. Its always snowy in Lapland but this year it has not that snow up there. Usually there is much more snow this time of year.

[barnalibhattacharjee]

Hi, your videos and your responses have been very helpful in booking our trip. Can u please guide where to book reindeer/husky and northern lights tour activities in rovaniemi.

[ampeteri]

Train should be cheaper if you're able to reserve your tickets way, way in advance. The earlier the better.

[Habibkhan.]

It's great to see the snow
I have also dream to work their in Finland because I'm also from snowfall area that how to live in very cold temperature
and 3 year of experience in Malam Jamba sky resort in Pakistan.

[greenland]

Is it worth staying in the glass igloo? As you mentioned it was quite expensive.

[citizenkane]

And if you plan another trip to sweden or norway. You can vissit Kiruna in Sweden, you can fly there. And while you are in Kiruna yuo can wisit the national park Abisko known for big chanse to see the northern lights (if the weather alows it). Kiruna is known as the town they had to move due to the expansion of the iron ore they mining there. Ore if you choose Norway you can wisit Lofoten, Tromsö or northe cape. The most northern place you can come to in Europe.