8 day itinerary to Finland/(Lapland)/Estonia in Winter

What a trip! What a trip! Must do once in your lifetime!

Pre travel essentials.

1. Book tickets well in advance. Finnair from Delhi is the cheapest and best. The hotels at Rovaniemi are horribly expensive and get sold out as early as September for a late Jan trip. We got a cozy apartment.

2. Visa process for Finland is very smooth.

3. Insurance, of course.

4. Book the Santa Claus Express early as well, for best rooms.

5. Clothing.. see under clothing layers, and buy some if necessary! When we went there the temperatures were between -10 warmest to -30 coldest (degrees Celsius) !!!

Clothing layers essentials besides your two usual layers.

1. Inner thermals

2. Inner jacket/sweater 

3. Outer thick water repellant jacket

4. Ski pants to go over trousers/jeans.

5. Socks two layers.

6. Shoes with good grip (sports shoes should do, no need for snow boots or crampons)

7. Inner small gloves.

8. Thick gloves/mittens (water proof)

9. Scarf big enough to cover mouth and neck 

10. Two cold weather caps or one fur cap.

Keep 15 mins extra everyday to get into all of them 

Day Zero.

We took the evening flight from Hyderabad to Delhi. It would be advisable to do so as winter weather at the Delhi airport can be quite unpredictable and it will allow you to reschedule in the last minute. There is a Holiday Inn Express in Delhi airport where we can book by the hour by logging into the Delhi airport website. We had prebooked 10pm to 5am and got a good night's sleep.

Day 1.

0750 IST to 1430 Eastern European Time. (3 and half hours behind India in winter) . Flight to Helsinki.

1500 to 1615. 

Get into your warm clothes in the Helsinki airport! We had prebooked a place to keep our luggage through a website called Radical storage. It directed us to a Nepalese restaurant called Ravintola Base camp near the railway station. We kept our luggage there and headed out. We did a blunder though: instead of booking Uber (22 to 30 Euros) we took a taxi van that charged a bomb to get here : 85 Euros!! DON'T make this mistake!!!

1615 to 1645. 

Walk upto the Helsinki cathedral. Usually, the Christmas market enlivens the place here and is supposed to be quite an attraction till end of December. We were here end of Jan though. Still, we got good photos of this iconic building and spent sometime in.

1645 to 1700. 

Walk to the Uspenski cathedral, which is based on Russian architecture. It would have been a good climb upto the cathedral, but it was very cold and we were worried that the steps would be slippery due to the snow.

1700 to 1730. 

Fly over Finland was a good place to warm ourselves up and catch the 4D visuals of entire Finland in a nice cozy theatre.

1730 to 1830.

Travel to the iconic Cafe Regatta by Uber. Something you should not miss in Helsinki. It's a very small but beautiful café that overlooks an apparently beautiful lake (I say apparently because when we went the lake had frozen over and was covered with snow ). It was already quite dark, but the lighting made it even more magical. YouTube recommends Blueberry pie and Hot chocolate, and I did have it. It was yummy!

1830 onwards. 

You could cover some more places, you could head to the casino, but most would do what we did.. head back to warmer havens (the Base camp restaurant) as you would have not been acclimatized to minus 14 degree Celsius temperatures!! We stuck around here till 2100.

2100 to 0015. 

Head to the railway station. The building was beautiful, but the facilities are quite basic. To add on to the problems, the previous train to Rovaniemi was delayed indefinitely (1915 one) and ours was delayed by 90 mins (2315 one) so the station was quite crowded 

Santa claus express

You must have realised that there are two timings for the Santa Claus express (715 pm and 1115 pm). The earlier one would have allowed you the explore the train more, but would have reached you earlier in Rovaniemi. We didn't take this option. Why? Read more...

The second option would be a late start, and mostly you will crash to bed immediately.. but the next day you get the witness the vast expanses of Lapland from your window. Remember the Sun rises after 9 am and you would have missed this beautiful scenario otherwise. Also, it gets you in time for your hotel check in, rather than early.

Which room to book? Book the best here, as its an experience to savour. We booked the personal coupe room with attached toilet and shower, and it was no less than a hotel room!

0015 to 0100. 

In chugged our Santa Claus express and left with us in it. We crashed immediately!

Day 2 

0800 to 1145. 

Savour the breathtaking scenes out of the windows, while relaxing in the room, or catching good breakfast in the dining car. And yes, you can take a shower as well in your own attached shower!

1145 to 1200. 

Head to your room in Rovaniemi! 

We stayed in a cozy apartment called Finngland 1. The owner was amazingly friendly.

1200 to 1800 

Freshen up, shower, order some food from Wolt app. (Akin to Swiggy and Zomato). We had Indian food today. Sleep. 

1800 to 2000. 

Walk up to the city center. Everything is quite reachable. But be prepared for bitter cold. It was -26 degrees then and OH BOY.. it was crazy. Have a quick dinner. I had a Reindeer burger, which was quite good. 

2000 onwards.. in our case it was upto 0300! 

Go for a northern lights hunting tour. We got a private tour in a warm car, but the air outside was foggy, sky was cloudy in many places, and when we did find a good spot 88 kms away (!), we caught the Northern lights only for 5 minutes. Taking photos was a nightmare as the temperatures had plunged to -30 degrees centigrade and we were near a frozen lake. Our fingers couldn't last a second outside the gloves  

The agency we took offered another tour if we failed to see it the first night, but the chances dwindled further in the trip, and so this was our only trip. Reached at 0300 and crashed immediately!

Day 3 

1000 to 1330

Visit the Santa Claus Village.

Within the Santa Claus Village there are a myriad of things to do. Our first stop was at the Reindeer Sleigh ride. The crowd builds up here later, so its better to ger here first. It was great fun, but again the same practical probem existed: taking good quality videos and photos was very tough at -27 degrees C!. The host will take some photos for you and you can pet the reindeers too.

Our next stop was to visit Santa Claus. There was a huge line and this is ofcourse the commercial partn of it all. Getting a video and photo with Santa can cost upto 60 Euros per photo. It was fun none the less! 

We then waked to the Post office from where we could send some post cards to near and dear, Again, a fun. and very popular activity.

Next take the customary photos at the temperature kiosk and also at the Arctic circle (one of the most sought after instagram photos ar Rovaniemi!).

Move for lunch at the Salmon restaurant, where we we had the famous Salmon soup, Salmon over fire, hot Blueberry juice and hot chocolate. A lunch to remember. there are vegeterian options in another cafe.

1330 onwards

We headed back to the apartment, and retired for the day soon. it was a much deserved rest after a few continuous nights of not great sleep. Had a reindeer burger again at night (ordered on Wolt)

Day 4

Disclaimer: If you are in better weather and want to cover maximum number of places, combine Day 3 and Day 4 Itinerary in Day 3, and in Day 4, go to the Korouma canyon, which is supposed to be an amazing hike of three hours and you could see a frozen waterfall. We wanted to do the opposite: we wanted this trip to relax as well as just enjoy what the cold weather has to offer to daily life, rather than hike in the freezing cold.

0900 to 1130.

Book a Husky farm trip. There are two types of trips: individual long trips and group trips with shorter rides. Having done a six hour ride in Svalbard, I personally was not so interested in a long tour, and my better half also opted for the latter

We were transported as part of a guided trip to a Husky farm around 10 km away from Rovaniemi. We were first guided to a shed with a camp fire and offered hot blueberry juice and biscuits. However the temperature had increased (yes I said increased) to -15, and we were feeling much more comfortable 😃😃.  We were told about the various type of Huskies and their lifestyle in summer and winter.

We were then ushered in pairs to the Husky sleds. We were pulled around for a while by 8 huskies, and boy, was it fun! I think it was the highlight of the trip for me! We got some good videos this time due to the fact our fingers had adapted! 

After that, we had to wait in the shed till the others finished their rides. But, now, most of us decided to hang around outside! Our contemprory tourists had all experienced very harsh cold for the last two days and today it was like heaven (even at -15)

After everyone finished the rides, we were called to pet the dogs and all of us enjoyed the same!

1200 to 1500.

Take a private taxi to the the Polar Ice Hotel. Purchase the entry tickets, and have a good lunch in the in house restaurant. 

After that, take a walk in the Polar Ice Hotel, which is actually a hotel where people can rent the rooms in as an experience. (the expense and the idea of sleeping on ice deters most: the hotel was empty when we were there. Most of the revenue is earned by charging daily visitors). Each room is sculpted by individual artists, and every room is a photo opportunity. Don't miss the Ice Restaurant, Ice Chappel and the Ice Bar. You can also eat/drink there. 

Walk over to the glass igloos, which is also available for rent to stay. Amazingly a couple were just moving in and invited us inside to see their room! It was a cozy room! 

Why didn't we stay here for a night as many people do? Lets look at the advantages and disadvantages information that I had gathered before hand

Advantages: Its a great way to capture the Aurora Borealis especially with clear skies (best in September/October/late Feb and early March). Just imagine lying in your bed and seeing the northern lights through a glass ceiling!

Disadvantages: Very expensive, the bathroom is almost see through at night (embarrassing for most partners), and practically useless in the months where you are likely to miss the northern lights.

1530 onwards: 

Rest in the room, order dinner, or book a nice dinner in town. I stayed back and watched Manchester City draw a match that they should have easily won. Hmmm. 

Day 5

1000 to 1530: 

Visit the Ranua Wildlife park with a pick up and drop guided tour.

It is an hours drive each way, so better do the trip in a group to save money. 

Once we the reach the place, the guide will buy the tickets and tell you the pick up time. After that, its all by yourself. Its a walk through wonderland. The walk itself has so many places to capture photos!

The main attractions here are the Otters, the Snow owls, the eagles, the wild boars, the wolves and not to forget the main attraction: the Polar Bears. 

 

At 1130 am, you have an interactive session with the Zookeepers about Polar Bears, which is quite interesting to listen

After roaming around there, head to restaurant for a sumptous buffet lunch. I ate another speciality today of Finland: meatballs and mashed potatoes. Awesome.

The chocolate shop here is a great place to collect them for your near and dear

Be driven back.

1900 onwards

It was our plan to head out for the Northern light tour again, but it was actively snowing and the chances were zero tonight, so we headed out to the Polar restaurant, to feast on another Finn speciaity, the Reindeer steak. It was awesome.

Day 6

1030. 

Check out of the room/apartment

1230 to 1345. 

Flight back to Helsinki.

1400. 

Lunch in the airport, and there are many options in the airport to be frank. I went ahead with the salmon soup.

1400 to 1500. 

Drive into the city. We checked in to the prebooked Radisson Blu Hotel.

1500 to 1545. 

Walk to and spend some time at the Helsinki city library. The monument itself was beautiful, and the number of books were unbelievable!

1545 to 1630. 

Walk past the Kampii chapel, more for a photo opportunity with this uniquely shaped chapel

1630 to 1700. 

Reach the Kaupattori market. I wish I had reached here earlier as the market closed at 1700. It was cozy and the shops were colourful and nice. Had a hot chocolate and blueberry pie!

1700 to 2000: 

Rest and plan for tomorrow. Alternatively the casino is just outside the hotel, if you want to lose some Euros !

2000. 

Dinner at the hotel. 

Day 7

0630. 

Get up earlier today, get ready and have a nice breakfast.

0800. 

Head to Helsinki harbour, and check in to one of the various ships that cross the Baltic sea. We prebooked and checked into the Eckero line MS Finlandia. It was an awesome cruise ship with only seating facilities, lounge facilities and room facilities. We checked into a room, which was quite neat!

0900 to 1115. 

The ship ride: We spent time in the room, had a hot chocolate in one of the numerous restaurants, spent time on the deck. The deck was very cold, but it was awesome to watch the sea covered with layers of ice, something that I witnessed for the first time!

1115. 

Disembark in the port of Tallinn!

1115 to 1145. 

Take a Uber to the city centre, after which we can walk around almost everywhere.

1145. 

We started out tour at the Kohtuotsa viewing platform. Most guided tours would anyway come here later in the afternoon, so its better to reach here first. We can catch a glimpse of the entire old city of Tallinn from here and it looks beautiful! Walk to the next place.

1200. 

Alexander Nevsky cathedral. Its very beautiful, both from the outside and inside. You can spend some time here to enjoy the solace. Walk to the next place.

1215. 

Walk past the Nun tower and walls. If the weather is better, you could climb up the walls after paying the entrance fee. It was minus 12, windy and slippery, so we decided not to do so.

1230. 

Go to the Kiek in da Kok museum. We visited the Bastions of Tallinn. This was a unique experience to say the least, which took us back to the darker days of Tallinn, right from the 1700s, through WW1, WW2 and the communist occupation. It offered a lot of insight about the history of the town.

1315.

 Lunch time, We had lunch at the Maharaja hotel, and the Indian food was indeed awesome. I had a thali and Mango Lassi.

1400. 

Walk to the Talinn town Square (Raekoja plats) for numerous photo opportunities and to soak in the culture and architecture.

1420. 

Walk to the St Catherine's passage. It was a let down actually, as it was too cold and there were outdoor activities there

1440. 

Reach the Viru Gates, built in the 14ht centre, and a part of a Medeival defense system. Good place for a photo in winter! the surrounding areas are supposed to be bustling in summer.

1500. 

Walk to the St Olaf's church. The church looked beautiful, but it was closed at this time of the day.

1515 to 1600. 

Head to the KGB prisons. Again, it offers a unique insight about the time of the KGB and Soviet rule in Estonia. It was a horrifying journey through history.

1615. 

Head to the Balti Jama market and chose from numerous cafes and shops to spend some time at. It looked beautiful

1630 to 1730. 

You could head out to the Maritime museum ( I had been to huge maritime museums in Norway and Sweden, so I was not much interested) OR you could head out to the Talinn TV tower for more panoramic views OR just laze around at the market (which we did)

1730. 

Head back to the port for check in in to the MS Finlandia. We were to continue in the same room .

1830 to 2100. 

Spend time in the room and head over to one of the numerous restaurants. I actually attended a Karaoke session in one of the restaurants and got a standing ovation from a huge crowd, who genuinely loved their music! It was great fun!

2100. 

Take a Uber back to the hotel

2200. 

Crash. I didn't, I watched a football match (City defeated Newcastle in the second leg of the Carabao cup semifinal)

Day 8

0900 to 1400. 

Leisure time. Leisure breakfast. Pack for check out.

1400. 

Head over to the airport

1800. 

Flight back to Delhi.....

Well, I will not be exaggerating one bit in saying that these 8 days were some of the best in my life!

 

 

Five (5) day Itinerary to Oslo, Svalbard, Norway: a mind boggling experience

The trip to the Northernmost town in the World! 

Well, this one is right out of my bucket list. I enjoyed it thoroughly, so I decided to document my itenerary for other's benefit. I decided to take this trip having worked day in and day out as the organising secretary of the annual Endocrine Soceity Of India Conference, which was a good success! (or so I hear!)

I took the late evening flight out of Hyderabad (2125), as only that connected well to Oslo. Had to spend seven hours in the Dubai Airport lounge. Although this was not ideal, I was too excited to care. Arrived in Oslo at 1230 afternoon. The excitement started before the flight landed. The first visualisation of the snow covered capital of Norway was a treat to the eyes! A shiver of excitement went down my spine when the Captain announced that temperature was -11 degree celsius! (I personally love cold weather, and I have been in Hyderabad for fifteen years, a city with the mildest of winters) I ABSOLUTELY recommend doing this tour in peak winter (Dec or Jan). I will explain why, as we go on.

                                                       Zoom this pic!

Day 1

1330. After immigration, etc, check into a hotel close to the airport. I stayed at the Radisson Red hotel, which is walking distance (10 mins) from the airport

1430. Walk to the railway station of the Oslo airport.  The views are as above. It was sunny and the temperature was 10 degrees minus (unique!) There are two types of trains that ply to Oslo City Centre. The slower ones cost lesser (NorKr 120 ~ Rs 950), but I will recommend the Flytoget service, which is 170 Kr, but much faster). Sit near the window seats on the left side to experience the unique snow filled landscapes of suburban and urban Oslo. Get down at the National Theatre Station. 

1530. From the National theatre, take a cab to the Fram and Kontiki Museums. 

1600 .I personally got immersed in the Fram museum,  but from what I heard Kontiki museum is also an awesome place! The Fram museum was a museum of the polar expeditions . With an amazing cinema show to kickstart; to the various photos; and finally a trip into the boats, to see how life was during the 2 year long exertions immersed me in much curiosity. I came out at 545 pm and it was pitch dark. The Kontiki museum would close in 15 mins , so I didn't enter. Remember there is no place to buy water here, so come with a water bottle 

                                   Dining place inside the boat

1800. Take a bus to the Vogeland sculptures and Frognerparken. Well,  what you see on Google and what I saw was anti climax,  as both were completely snowed over by a foot of snow . For me, it was a unique experience, nevertheless.  I enjoyed how kids continued to practice football and how young parents were taking out their infants and toddlers out for a walk in the snow covered garden and dimly lit pathways in the dark!

1845. Travel by tram to the Opera House, Have a hot chocolate break first. You may already be freezing by then!

1900. Opera House, It was quite a spectacle. I decided not to go in, already having visited the Sydney Opera House before. There are a few modern sculptures around as well.

1930. Walk to the Oslo Central station and travel by Flytoget to Oslo Airport station. Walk it to your hotel.

Day 1A

The reason I call this day 1A is that I actually didn't do this day. I skipped to day 2 directly. However I recommend to spend one extra day at Oslo 

Take the train to the city centre, and do visit the

Akershus fortress

Norweigian Musuem of Cultural History ( heard that it is beautiful)

Viking Ship Museum

National Museum

Royal Palace

Oslo Cathedral

Day 2

0735. Walk to the Oslo airport and check in.

0935. Board the SAS flight to Longyearbyen. Prebook a seat on the right side window.

1200. Take a photo of the Sun at the Horizon. This pic will be a memorable one, as you won't see the sun for the next few days (special for December and Jan only!)

1215. Technical break at Tromso, It looks so beautiful while landing. The break at Tromso is for passport control. Although Svalbard is administratively in Norway, it requires no Visa to enter. Of course as an Indian, you will require a Schengen visa to enter Norway. 

1230. Back on the same flight, and get amazed by how dark it is at Midday!

1300. Have some light lunch options on the flight itself. Surprisingly they were not expensive.

1400. Land at Longyearbyen airport. The time was 2 pm, but the airport was well lit. The temperature was minus 17 when I landed ! You can pick up a lot of informative material at the airport itself while you wait for your luggage.

1430. Please remember that there will be a bus waiting outside the airport (their are only 2 flights arriving per day in Winter!) For NKr 100, the bus will drop you to the hotel. Card is the preferred mode of payment all throughout Norway, but definitely so in Longyearbyen. There is no ATM or cash transactions there!

1445. Arrive in your hotel. I stayed at the Radisson Blu Polar Hotel. Most other hotels are in the vicinity.

1500. Laze around in your room and look out of the window. Just let the darkness soak in!

1530. Walk around town. Don't leave town, otherwise the polar bears will get you. I heard that the Svalbard museum and the polar expedition museum are really good, but they were shut down for renovation when I was there. Visit the northern most church in the world.

1630. Do your cold weather shopping in one of the many sports stores on Main Street Longyearbyen. Top it up by drinking hot chocolate somewhere!

1730. Have a drink at the Northernmost pub in the world.: The Barentz Gastropub!

1800. Go the front desk of your hotel and make your bookings for the next two days. Alternatively you can book it online at https://en.visitsvalbard.com

1900. Enjoy an early dinner at one of the many restaurants. I ate at the Barentz gastropub itself (Fish and chips)

2000. Back to base!

Day 3

1000. Get picked up by the Dog Sledding tour guys from the hotel (Prebook) . I used the Green Dog company,  which was really nice.

1030. Reach the kennels. You will hear the reckless barking of 40 odd huskies near by. You will be asked to change into snow boots, mittens, snow suits, neck guards, and snow caps. Wear a jacket and a wool sweater and warm thermal innerwear.

1045. You will be instructed how to use the sled. You can then pet the huskies. Beleive me, they are super friendly. Then comes the most physical part of the trip . You are supposed to hold on to the lead dogs while the guides tie the other dogs to the sled. Those guys won't just stay in one place (Swen and Mishka in my case) as they will jump all over; restless to start the trip. Catch your breath on the sled. The tour guide will start the trip.

1100. As the trip starts,the dogs fall silent immediately! They love running and that's all! The guides allow you to drive the sled intermittently and that's fun. As we move ahead, we would be surrounded by total darkness as technically we are in a frigid desert. The only source of light will be from the lamps on our heads! It is surprising to see how the dogs know the exact way to run. What an experience!! Its just too good!

1300. Reach the glacier. Well we can't see much of the glacier ,as it is pitch dark. The dogs deserve a well earned rest as the trip was mainly uphill till now. They are given some snacks and tied on a line. You have to pet all of them and they readily accept your gratitude. We move to a tent nearby.

1310. We go down the ice caves. The ice caves are well preserved and the temperature was warmer at minus 5 degrees (outside was minus twenty!) But this can be a problem for really tall individuals like me (I am 6'3") as too much slouching was involved. I stopped going in beyond a certain limit, but instead chose to be seated and sat with one of our guides Olivia. Was updated a lot about local Svalbard life!

                                                A rare place where no slouching was required!

1400. Lunch at the tents. We were served hot chocolate (coffee was an option) and Thai curry rice (ready to eat after pouring hot water). It was delicious !

1430. Preparation for the trip back. Again a very physical experience trying to hold on to the leader dogs (man, were they restless!)

1445. Trip back down. Here was the ultimate experience for everyone on this trip. The Northern Lights danced all throughout our return trip (although we did see some on our way up) But the major problem for us was the temperature. It was almost next to impossible to remove the mittens and gloves, reach out to your phone under layers and layers of clothing and take photos or record videos, as your hands would freeze almost instantaneously! It was mainly "for your eyes (covered with foggy specs 😎) only experience!"

1615. Back to the kennel. Again you need to pet all the dogs and thank them! Change back into your original clothes and then take the opportunity to pet the puppies, which is a great experience by itself!

1700. Dropped back at the hotel.

1715. Hot chocolate at the cafe in the mall!

1800. Another walk in Longyearbyen Main Street. Take photos at the Northenmost Post office and the Northern most Kindergarten in the world!

1930. Dinner. I had dinner at the Nansen restaurant. There are decent number of vegetarian options. Non veg eaters must taste the local cuisines which include Reindeer and Seal. What did I eat? Secret!

Day 4

0900.  Pick up at the hotel for the coal mines tour. A Must do.

0920 to 1000: Briefing at the day cabin. A friendly guide shows a documentary of how it was/is working in the coal mines. The coal mines in Svalbard are part of the hills, so the mining is more horizontal here then deep underground. The coal seams here date close to 5 million years back and the coal is more than 90 percent pure coal. The guide will show some artefacts and also a model of the 4 million old fossil found there

1000. Wear helmets, suits and headlamps

1000 to 1130. 

A walk through the coal mine. We walk for almost a kilometre into the hill. I was amazed to see the coal seams, the working conditions, the base for the miners, the lunch area, the tracks and finally course the conditions and the tunnels where the miners actually mined for the coal. The tunnels are never more than 3 feet high, so the miners at work almost always had to crawl and work for eight hour shifts! If you are wearing the suit, you can crawl into one such tunnel as see how harsh the working conditions can be.

You will also see the entries to the Global Seed vault (where seeds of almost all plants in the world are stored, in case a disaster strikes Earth) and also the Artic Bank, where many countries store secret documents that one cannot afford to lose, again should disaster strike elsewhere . For example I know that the McDonald's burger recipe is stored in there, and also the minute construction specifics of the Taj Mahal!

1200. Be dropped off at the Hotel

1200 to 1300. Lunch. I had lunch at the Karlsberger, and it was great

1300. Jacuzzi bath outdoors when the temperature is minus 20 and it is pitch dark at this time. Crazy experience at the Radisson Blu! You will be asked to wash your hair and body with soap before entering, but DO NOT FORGET to dry your hair before entering the Jacuzzi (I forgot), otherwise the water on the hair will freeze instantaneously and you will have a tough time post the Jacuzzi! Awesome experience!

1600. Either do the snow biking or the Snow Cat. Snow biking is great fun I heard, but I had enough of physical activity already, so I decided to take the Snow Cat. It is a special truck that takes you out on the snow to spot wildlife and northernlights. This is a easier trip for the elderly and children as well. I sat near the driver and had a huge height to climb in and out of, but the seats behind had a ramp. They will take you the city limits, beyond which you should not cross on your own without a guide with a gun as polar bears roam freely. This polar bear sign is a must for instagrammers

They then take you the wilderness, where another stop is done near a crashed German plane during the World war 2. Although it would have made a great place for photos, the temperature was freezing cold and it was snowing, so many of us quickly ran back to the truck!

The next stop was when we spotted reindeers at different places. Again enjoyable scenes, pitch dark, but it was awfully cold on that day (-24 degrees celsius). We had no luck with the Northern Lights due to the snow fall. We were taken to cabin and were offered hot Cranberry juice which was unique and tasted awesome! (coffee was an option). You will be dropped back at 1830.

1830. Premier League match (DeBruyne masterclass).

2030. Dinner at Barentz Gastropub, although there are many noteworthy places in Longyearbyen for dinner (Lavish to quick takeaways) Details will be on Google

Day 5.

1000. Bus to airport. Check in and soak in the last views of Longyearbyen. 

1200. As I walked on the tarmac towards the flight, it was lowest temperature I was ever exposed to:  -26 degrees Celsius!  I was waiting for the flight doors to close as we were all shivering in the flight too! As the flight stopped at Tromso , experienced fresh snowfall, and the first visualization of the Sun after 74 hours! 

1830. Reached Oslo. Back to airport Radisson. Some shopping may be considered on that day , otherwise you will be generally quite tired.  Time to relax and try your last bits at Norwegian cuisine!

Day 6. Back to airport and back to India.

Will be back if an opportunity presents itself! I really enjoyed this winter sojourn!! 

Cya.