A highlight of our holiday was to go from Helsinki to Rovaniemi on the overnight train called the “Santa Claus Express”. This train takes around 12 hours to cross most of Finland.

Catching the train

We were surprised to find the train is not obviously marked, and it just arrived at a platform like a regular scheduled train. We asked for help, and were given some great advice. They said the Santa Claus Express leaves from platform 8 in Helsinki main railway station. We were also told that the first carriage is 20, and as we had booked a cabin in carriage 26, we need to walk a long way down the platform.

We were also very carefully informed that we need to check that when we enter our assigned cabin, that there are two identical key cards provided.

As the train rolled in, we saw the restaurant car, and then realised that we needed to head further down the platform to find our carriage.

Our cabin

The cabin that we chose was on the upper floor, and when we entered the train we were able to get straight to our cabin.

The room on the train was very small, but enough for two people. We had bunks, a small table (the size of an A4 folder), and a toilet with a shower. Both bunks had a reading light and alarm clock with a bold orange readout of the time. For Christian, this made it difficult to sleep, but Bianca had no problem with it!

We were also pleased that the room had a small blue night-light at floor level. The cabin on the Santa Claus Express was quiet, and it was easy to sleep. A few times, the train lurched as it stopped or started, but the gentle rocking was actually an aid to sleep after a little while.

The toilet was an airline-style vacuum system that gave us a shock when we first used it! The little cubicle had a latch that allowed you to rotate the entire sink/mirror assembly to cover the toilet and reveal a shower. We had shower gel provided, as well as two towels each. The shower was a push-button system that ran for about 30 seconds between each push, but was warm. To our delight, the floor of the shower was also heated!

Relaxing

We dumped our bags and decided to head straight for the restaurant car. We knew that seating would be at a premium, and the carriage had the largest windows, so we grabbed a beer and a seat.

We were surprised at the range and quality of food and drink. No curled sandwiches and tired and shrivelled packaged food here! Full hot meals, pasta dishes, and meatballs with mashed potato. There were also salads and many of the Asians chose noodles.

We also decided to have a hot Glögi (mulled wine), with added Finnish whiskey. We both enjoyed the drinks, shared the table with a French mother and daughter, but the peace was disrupted by a large group of Americans celebrating an Australian’s 50th birthday.

The journey

Even though it is called ‘express’, the train is not fast. For much of the journey, it rattled along at a slow pace, and many times the train just stopped on a siding for more than 15 minutes.

We enjoyed the views of the countryside (even though it was dark), and marvelled at how many people in Finland have Christmas lights not just in their homes, but also in their trees and sculptures of reindeer all lit up.

Arrival in Rovaniemi

We chose to request breakfast before arrival. I had planned for it to be a secondary wake-up call, to ensure that we were ready for disembarking! Fortunately, we had time to enjoy our hot coffee and Finnish bread with cheese and tomato, as well as a hot shower.

As the train started to arrive in Rovaniemi, there was the first announcement of the morning. First, a very long announcement in Finnish, then a shorter announcement in English that we would only stop for 6 minutes. We have heard stories of people missing the stop, as the Santa Claus Express actually goes on to further stops after Rovaniemi.

We were prepared! Packed and wrapped up warm for the snow-covered platform, we stepped off into the cold air and then walked for 20 minutes to get to our hotel in the centre of the town.