Rovaniemi, Levi or Saariselkä: Which Is Best for the Northern Lights?

Short answer: all three work, and on any single night the cloud matters more than which one you chose. Saariselkä is the furthest north and the quietest, Levi is a big ski resort 15 km from its airport, and Rovaniemi is the easiest base, with a city airport, a railway station and a wide choice of tours. If the aurora is the whole point and you have plenty of nights, Saariselkä has a slight edge on paper; for a first, short or family trip, Rovaniemi is simpler.

We are guides based in Rovaniemi, so read our verdict with that in mind. The numbers below come from the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), Finavia, the resorts' own tourism sites and Wikipedia climate tables, and our own tours start in Rovaniemi.

Rovaniemi, Levi and Saariselkä side by side

Levi and Saariselkä lie one to two degrees of latitude north of Rovaniemi, 170 km and 260 km away by road, and each has its own airport.

Tour types come from each destination's own listings: Visit Rovaniemi, Levi's tourism site and Lapland North Destinations for Saariselkä. We do not name operators here.

Are the Northern Lights more likely in Levi or Saariselkä?

Slightly, on paper: FMI counts auroras on roughly 50% of dark, cloudless nights in the Lapland resort belt, which includes Levi and Saariselkä, and Rovaniemi lies at the southern edge of that belt.

FMI's figures rise as you go north: about once a month on the south coast, roughly 25% of dark, clear nights around Oulu and Kuusamo, roughly 50% at ski resorts such as Ylläs, Levi and Saariselkä, and 75% at Kilpisjärvi in the far north. FMI gives no separate figure for Rovaniemi, which lies between the Oulu band and the resort belt.

The extra latitude matters most on quiet nights, when a weak display can sit low on the northern horizon. On those nights our guides sometimes drive north from Rovaniemi towards Sodankylä, about 130 km away, for every extra degree. On active nights, the aurora reaches all three places.

Cloud matters more than latitude. FMI's statistics assume a dark, cloudless night, and FMI names March and early April as the best time in northern Finland once the weather is taken into account. We found no official statistic that ranks Rovaniemi, Levi and Saariselkä by cloud, and cloud changes from night to night and from valley to valley. What decides your trip is whether someone can move you to clear sky. From Rovaniemi, our small-group hunt drives up to 350 km, across the border into Sweden when needed, and our average chase is about 40 km in September and March and about 120 km in December and January. In a resort without a car, your options are the tours that run from there.

The time of night is the same everywhere: FMI says displays typically come around midnight and a couple of hours either side. Check cloud and Kp before you go out on our live aurora data page.

How much darker and colder are Levi and Saariselkä?

A little of both: the midwinter days are shorter, and January is on average about 2-3 °C colder than in Rovaniemi.

Rovaniemi sits on the Arctic Circle, so the sun rises every day of the year, for about two hours at the winter solstice. Further north there is a polar night: the Finland Promotion Board puts it at four days in Sodankylä and almost two months in Utsjoki on the northern border. Levi (67.8°N) and Saariselkä (68.25°N) lie north of Sodankylä (67.4°N), so both have a short polar night around the solstice, longer in Saariselkä. For the aurora the difference is small: all three are dark around midnight from autumn to spring, and that is when FMI says displays usually happen.

Wikipedia has no climate table for Levi itself; the Kittilä table uses FMI's station at Pokka, elsewhere in the municipality, so read that row as a rough guide. Record lows cover different periods at each station. The practical answer is the same in all three places: three layers, boots rated to around −30 °C, mittens and a warm hat, as in our packing list for Lapland. Winter clothing is not provided on our Northern Lights tours, and our rental set costs from 39€ a day.

How do you get to each one?

Fly direct to each, or fly or take the train to Rovaniemi and continue north by bus.

• Rovaniemi. Finavia says the airport has daily connections from Helsinki and flights from most major European cities, and it is about 10 km from the city centre. The Santa Claus Express night train runs between Helsinki and Rovaniemi. Once there, you can manage without a car: see getting around Rovaniemi without a car.
• Levi. Kittilä Airport is 15 km from Levi and has multiple daily connections from Helsinki, according to Finavia. Levi's tourism site puts Rovaniemi 170 km away by road, with frequent buses between the two. The nearest railway station is Kolari, about 80 km away, and a connecting bus meets each arriving train.
• Saariselkä. Ivalo, Finland's northernmost airport, is 25 km from Saariselkä and has daily connections from Helsinki. Lapland North Destinations, the tourism site for the Inari and Saariselkä area, says the airport bus runs mainly in winter from every Finnair flight. It puts Saariselkä 260 km and about 3 hours from Rovaniemi along the E75, with daily buses from Rovaniemi that match many train arrivals.

Driving yourself? Traficom says winter tyres are compulsory from November to March whenever the weather requires them, and forest roads are icy at night.

Who should choose which?

Choose by what you want to do in daylight and how much travelling you accept; the aurora odds are close.

• Rovaniemi suits first trips, families and short stays. The airport is 10 km from the centre, most of our tours pick you up, Santa Claus Village is on the local bus, and husky, reindeer, snowmobile and day-trip tours fill the days. The sun rises every day, even in December.
• Levi suits skiers. Wikipedia calls it the largest ski resort in Finland, with 43 slopes, 17 of them floodlit, 27 lifts and about 230 km of cross-country tracks. You ski by day and join an aurora tour from the resort at night, in the same FMI resort belt as Saariselkä.
• Saariselkä suits travellers for whom the aurora and quiet nature come first. It is the furthest north of the three, and part of its fell area lies in Urho Kekkonen National Park. It is a small village, so expect a quieter trip and a longer journey.

Can you combine Rovaniemi with Saariselkä or Levi?

Yes, and it is a good way to get both: Rovaniemi for the activities, then the far north for quieter aurora nights.

Saariselkä is 260 km up the E75 from Rovaniemi, about 3 hours by road, with daily buses. Levi is 170 km away, also with regular buses. A simple plan:

1. Fly into Rovaniemi and spend the first nights there. Three days is enough if you plan the nights first, as in our 3-day Rovaniemi winter itinerary. Book an aurora hunt for your first evening, so a cloudy night leaves time for another try.
2. Take the bus or drive north to Saariselkä or Levi for the rest of the trip.
3. Fly home from Ivalo or Kittilä. Both have daily connections from Helsinki, so you do not need to travel back south.

Our tours start in Rovaniemi, so book the northern nights with a local operator there. If you stay only in Rovaniemi, our hunts already head north when the latitude helps, and every one carries the Aurora Guarantee: if your guide cannot photograph you with the Northern Lights during the hunt, the tour is refunded in full.

Our honest verdict

Saariselkä if the aurora is the whole point and you have time, Levi if you came to ski, and Rovaniemi for a first, short or family trip.

• Choose Saariselkä if the Northern Lights and quiet nature are the main reason for the trip, you have plenty of nights, and you do not mind a small village and a longer journey. It is the furthest north of the three, which helps on quiet nights.
• Choose Levi if downhill skiing is part of the plan. It puts you in the same FMI resort belt as Saariselkä, with the airport 15 km away.
• Choose Rovaniemi if this is your first Lapland trip, you travel with children, you have only a few nights, or you do not want to drive. You get the easiest access, a wide choice of day tours and, on our hunts, a guide who drives to clear sky with a money-back guarantee.
• Combine them if your dates allow: a few nights in Rovaniemi, then a few in Saariselkä or Levi.

Whichever you choose, read the best month to see the Northern Lights before fixing your dates, and see how Finland compares with Norway and Sweden in Rovaniemi vs Tromsø vs Abisko. To hunt from Rovaniemi, compare our three Northern Lights tours.

Whichever tour you pick, every Polar Lapland aurora hunt comes with the 100% money-back Aurora Guarantee: no photo of you with the Northern Lights, full refund.

Sources: Finnish Meteorological Institute, Auroras in Finland; Finavia, Rovaniemi, Kittilä and Ivalo airport pages and their parking and access pages (Rovaniemi, Kittilä, Ivalo); Levi, Arrival at Levi and Northern Lights tours; Lapland North Destinations, How to get here and Winter in Lapland; Visit Rovaniemi, Northern Lights tours; Finland Promotion Board, When the sun doesn't rise in northern Finland; Santa Claus Village, Getting here and moving around (night train); Traficom, winter tyre rules; Wikipedia articles and FMI climate tables for Rovaniemi, Levi, Saariselkä, Kittilä and Sodankylä; all checked October 2026. Polar Lapland tour pages and guides, October 2026.

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