SnowCastle, Icebreaker Sampo & the Frozen Sea. Top attractions, local tips and how to reach Kemi in Finnish Lapland.
SnowCastle, Icebreaker Sampo & the Frozen Sea
Bothnian Bay coast under the midnight sun
Float in the frozen sea in a survival suit, then see the Gemstone Gallery's crown jewels.
A coastal Arctic town where the Gulf of Bothnia freezes solid every winter. It is home to the SnowCastle Area, where a winter snow park and a year-round indoor snow world carry on the famous snow-castle tradition, and to the Sampo icebreaker cruise, where you float in the frozen sea in a survival suit.
January–March for SnowCastle & Icebreaker. The sea must be frozen.
Train from Helsinki (9h) or Rovaniemi (1.5h). Drive from Oulu (110 km, 1.5h). Nearest airport: Kemi-Tornio.
The famous snow-castle tradition lives on as the SnowCastle Winter Park, free to enter in winter, and the year-round SnowExperience365 indoor snow world with its ice sculptures and ice restaurant. The full castle with snow hotel rooms is no longer built each year.
Cruise on a real icebreaker through the frozen Gulf of Bothnia. Watch the ship crack through metre-thick ice, then put on survival suits and float in the Arctic Sea. Unforgettable.
Part of the Icebreaker Sampo experience, jump into the frozen sea wearing a thermal survival suit. You float effortlessly. The most photographed moment in Lapland tourism.
The largest gemstone collection in Northern Europe. Over 3,000 gemstones and minerals. A permanent exhibition, open year-round.
The historic harbour area with old wooden warehouses, now restaurants and shops. Views over the frozen sea in winter.
Glass-roofed villas on the shore of the frozen sea. Fall asleep watching the Northern Lights and wake up to the white Arctic sea. Open in winter.
Icebreakers, ice castles, and the frozen sea