Finland
The happiest country in the world nine years running. A law that lets you walk, forage and camp almost anywhere, and skies over Lapland that light up on half the clear nights of the year.
Where to stay
Hotel St. George Helsinki
Helsinki · city centre · near the Cathedral
A pool, three kinds of sauna and a library, in the middle.
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One hundred and fifty-three rooms in central Helsinki, near the Cathedral and steps from Stockmann and the Forum. There's an indoor pool, saunas, cold plunge pools and steam rooms — which is the correct way to do Finland — plus massage rooms, a 24-hour gym and a library. The Wintergarden bar and Boon Nam restaurant are both on site, and it carries the Nordic Swan Ecolabel.
153 rooms in central Helsinki, near the Cathedral
Indoor pool, saunas, cold plunge pools and steam rooms
Massage treatment rooms and a 24-hour gym
Wintergarden bar, Boon Nam restaurant and a library
Nordic Swan Ecolabel certified
Arctic TreeHouse Hotel
Rovaniemi · Lapland · near Santa Claus Village
A glass wall at the end of the bed, pointed at the sky.
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Sixty-four rooms outside Rovaniemi, near Santa Claus Village and Ounasvaara, built as cabins with glass façades so you can watch for the aurora without getting out of bed. Floors are heated, breakfast is included, and Rakas restaurant does Scandinavian cooking. There's a spa, and snowshoeing, sledging and ice skating run from the door.
64 glass-fronted cabin rooms
Aurora viewing from the bed
Heated floors and full breakfast included
Rakas restaurant, Scandinavian cooking
Snowshoeing, sledging and ice skating on site
Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort
Lapland · Sodankylä · near Saariselkä
The original glass igloos, nothing to drown the sky.
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A large resort deep in Lapland with glass igloos and traditional log cabins — 214 rooms in total — where the domed glass ceilings are the whole point. There's a sauna, a restaurant, a bar and a garden, and it sits far enough from anywhere that light pollution isn't a factor. Worth setting expectations: it's a three-star, and you're paying for the igloo and the sky rather than for city five-star service.
Glass igloos and traditional log cabins
214 rooms across the resort
Aurora viewing through domed glass ceilings
Sauna, restaurant, bar and garden
Deep in Lapland, well away from light pollution
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Finland has topped the World Happiness Report as the world's happiest country for nine consecutive years, most recently in 2026.
Everyman's Right lets anyone walk, forage, fish with a rod and pitch a tent across most of the countryside — private land included.
In Lapland the northern lights appear on roughly half of all dark, cloudless nights. On the south coast it's closer to once a month.
There are around 188,000 lakes and roughly three million saunas, in a country of about 5.6 million people.
74% of the land is forest — the highest proportion in Europe
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Best time — September to March for the aurora, with the darkest months strongest. June and July for the midnight sun, the lakes and light that never quite goes. December is Christmas-busy in Rovaniemi and priced to match.
Getting around — Trains cover the south, and overnight services run to Lapland — you can take a car on them. Flying to Rovaniemi, Ivalo or Kittilä saves a day. Once you're in Lapland you'll want a car or organised transfers.
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Finland is quiet, safe and comfortable for women travelling alone, and Finnish reserve isn't unfriendliness — it's simply a lower baseline of small talk than you may be used to. Sauna is communal and completely normal; most are single-sex and nudity is standard rather than optional. In winter the real risks are cold and darkness: proper layers, tell someone where you're going, and take more care on ice than feels necessary.
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