Finland for 1 week | winter vs summer
hi everyone! I've always been super interested in Finland and am prob booking a trip and embracing its winters next February 2027. I live in the United States and have never experienced more than a few inches of snow, or temps below 20°F before, but Finland looks absolutely stunning in the winter! ❄️ 🇫🇮
Anyways, I know the temps would be EXTREMELY cold but I'm eager to experience a climate I never have before instead of escaping to somewhere warm in the winter. Also, I'm needing to do some research about if renting a car is necessary to hit major Finland destinations; if so, that'd be a dealbreaker as I wouldn't trust myself to drive in snowy and ice conditions.
I'm wondering if there's any must-do's for February in Finland I haven't listed below:
- northern lights (if I'm lucky)
- snowmobiling
- reindeers / husky sledding (?)
- saunas (obvi :))
- ice fishing / trying ice activities
- snowshoeing (?)
My other option would be to save Finland for the middle of summer and add Estonia to the trip. 🇪🇪but I also plan on Georgia 🇬🇪 this summer... so many beautiful places to visit!
So, after all of that, my question is: if you've traveled to Finland in the winter and in the summer, do you have a preference on what season you liked more? would you still recommend a season even if it's not your preferred time to go? open to any thoughts! 😄