Aurora flights and reindeer herds, vast forests of snow-dredged spruces and fairy-lit streets twinkling beneath star-laden skies: Rovaniemi is the high Arctic in microcosm, the perfect place to explore Lapland’s storybook scenes. Local traditions endure, and there are opportunities to learn about age-old farming customs or Finland’s iconic sauna culture. It’s a fabulous family-friendly spot to get in the festive spirit, too: this is the home of Santa Claus and his elves.  

The birch forests and salmon-rich rivers of northern Sweden are transformed by winter’s spell, becoming a polar playground of paper-white peaks, adventure trails through the snow, and vast, frigid lakes glinting beneath a carpet of ice. In chic restaurants, hidden away in the wilderness, top chefs work wonders with the gifts of the Arctic larder, while the indigenous Sámi live as they have for centuries, their legendary hospitality evident in the hot cups of coffee and singalongs by the fire.