Hey all, I am Radhika from Bangalore, recently married to Sreejith. I am writing this blog to express my thoughts and experiences of our Finland tour from India. We went to Helsinki from India on January 11, 2024. It was a chilling journey that we want to experience again and again in life.

I would like to give special thanks to Aryan from Lestacworld.com for helping us planning this Finland tour from India. Europe was the first time for us, and we were seeking personalised assistance. Aryan, dealt with us so humbly and answered all our questions without getting irritated.I would be true to say that Lestacworld is the best travel agency for Finland tour.

We were actually confused between Japan and Finland from the beginning. We had a budget for the destinations, but were confused about deciding one of two. Sreejith and I were having different thoughts about the destinations. He wanted to visit Japan and see the culture, but I was more inclined towards Europe. We were actively searching for both destinations online and were discussing them with people.

I knew about Northern lights phenomenon; however, when i read about it thoroughly, my thoughts became clear about the destination and i was convinced to travel to Finland. Convincing Sreejith was still a task, which Aryan did for us. One of my family members had already done the Finland tour from India through Lestacworld. So i connected with Lestacworld and asked them to schedule a call with one of their executives and us.

Well, luckily, it was Aryan who was assigned to us, and he called us on Saturday. I still remember it being us on speaker phone, and we were asking lots of questions to Aryan. The guy, was so polite and patient, he gave us all the replies calmly, and that call went on for at least 90 minutes. One thing I would like to highlight is that there might be no one in the Indian tourism industry who is more knowledgeable about Finland as a destination than Aryan.

He had lots of suggestions, which were not even written anywhere on internet and those were perfect. When we arrived in Finland and experienced those moments, we used to remember Aryan every time.

Coming back to the call, I am mentioning below what questions we put in front of Aryan and what his replies were.

So finally, our Finnair flight took off from India to Finland on January 11, 2023, and we reached Finland around 15:30. The first impression was impeccable. The city aerial view, covered with snow from the flight while landing, was lovely. It was chilling, but instead of being difficult, the moment was full of joy and excitement. We realised we were thinking too much; the weather was much more enjoyable than our fears.

During our journey from Vantaa Airport to Helsinki Central, i fell in love with the city. The city was a mix of advancement, modernization, and culture. Our hotel was in the central area of Helsinki, which was most suitable for someone who wanted to explore the city by foot. Day 1 went well.

The next day, we want to visit Porvoo, the village around Helsinki city. It is a small medieval Finnish old town, which compliments its cultural beauty and history. When we reached Porvoo, we met with Jessica, our guide. She was with us for next 90 minutes and gave us a good overview of the town’s history, culture and beauty. She was very polite, humble and knowledgeable. We had coffee with her after her service with us was over. Over all, it was our first exchange of words about Finnish culture with a local.

After exploring Porvoo and having lunch there, we went back around 16:00. After reaching back, we slept for 2 hours and started our own exploration at night. The city gets a bit silent at night in the winter, but trust me, it is a different experience, and one should make efforts to come out and see the wonders.

Finally, on the 13th, we had breakfast and moved ahead to Finnish Lapland. We were dropped off at Vantaa airport and took a flight to Ivalo. European small town airports are too small. This was a cute little airport . It took us 15 minutes to come after our after flight landing. Cab was waiting for us, which took us to Kakslauttanen arctic resort in Saariselka. Our Igloo stay was on the west side wing of the property.  West is generally the new wing of Kakslauttanen, and most activities happen here.

We were very excited about staying in the igloo room, and we finally lied on our beds in the hope of the northern lights happening. It seems very exciting, but at some point, it becomes boring.We slept in hope of it, and suddenly, around 3:15 am, alarms started ringing, and yes, this was our first encounter with the Northern Lights. It felt so amazing that i started calling my friends and family to show them the lights. I also messaged Aryan to tell him that we finally saw the northern lights and congratulated us for the same.

The next day, after breakfast, we start our Snow Mobile Safari. They offered us clothing and equipment, and it was very professionally organised. We were both on the same snowmobile, and Sreejith started enjoying it the moment he started driving it. For me, it was a new experience, and I was a bit tensed, but later i got familiar and enjoyed the safari a lot. Riding on a snowmobile on a path covered with snow was something i imagined, but it came true for us. It was a thrilling experience, and I would recommend that everyone go for it.

The Next day in the morning, we started our Journey to Rovaniemi from Saariselka. It was around 6:30 am when we started and the vibe was different. It was that day when we realised that the land we are on at the moment is the most beautiful we have ever been to. Finland is very beautiful, and one should visit the villages and unexplored areas to see the purity.

After arriving in Rovaniemi around 9:30 am, we kept our luggage in the Arctic City hotel cloak room. Then we were picked up for Santa Claus Village, the most famous. We met Santa Claus, greeted him, crossed the arctic circle and got a certificate, went to Snow Man World, did a husky sledge ride, and were served lunch. We were back at the hotel around 15:30 and had some rest.

On the same evening, we had a Northern Lights chase tour by bus.There were around 20 travellers in the bus, they actually knew the places where the northern lights were most visible. Finally, we caught the northern lights, went outside the bus, clicked pictures, had warm drinks, and enjoyed chit-chatting with other members. We came back to the hotel around 23:00 after the activity. We had an early morning icebreaker cruise, so we slept ASAP.

We finally were able to reach the pickup point for the icebreaker cruise on time. It was the bus transfer to Kemi, which was a 3-hour journey with a stoppage at a restaurant in Kemi. I never thought, even in my dreams, that I would embark on a cruise that would break the frozen ice on the sea; more than this, we even lied on the frozen sea.It was totally unimaginable, but we did it, and we are very happy.

The next day, we checkout out of the hotel to move Ahead for Tallinn, Estonia. We had a flight from Rovaniemi to Tallinn with an hour stopover at Helsinki. Tallinn is an old medieval town with prolonged history. We were dropped off at the Meriton Old Town Garden Hotel in Tallinn around 13:30. Around 15:00, we started our 2-hour Tallinn walking city tour. Our guide, Paivii, was very friendly and, I would say, expressive. It was fun being with her. Just Lovely. I would like to especially thank Aryan for suggesting that we visit Estonia. Overall, it was fun experiencing a different culture.

The next day in the morning, after breakfast, we checked out and were dropped off at Tallinn harbor, from where we embarked on a ferry to Helsinki. Wow, it was big cruise and they call it ferry. We have never been to this big ferry in our life. Also, we were crossing a country, and there was no passport or security check. It was a different experience for us. We finally reached Helsinki harbour and were dropped off at the hotel. The next two days, we enjoyed the city on our own.

It couldn’t have been better than this, As per our experience, this is the best itinerary for someone who is doing a Finland tour from India. Close your eyes and lock it with Lestacworld.com!

Well, we actually checked with different companies for Finland; however, very few responses were convincing. Some were not knowledgeable at all, and some were just trying to sell. Aryan from Lestacworld’s approach was different from the very first day. The guy never approached us; it was us who always gave him a call, His answers were just knowledge sharing, and we never felt that he was trying to sell something to us.

When we were in Finland, we were given a point of contact who was always responsive, even during off-working hours. It was Finland’s number, and the support was from Lestacworld and not from any other vendor or company, which is again appreciable. Me and Sreejith are very convinced that Lestacworld is the best travel agency for Finland tour from India.