Lapland Travel Mistakes No One Talks About

I genuinely believed I’d cracked it.

Flights booked months ahead. Hotel picked after hours of scrolling. A “proper” winter coat that claimed it could handle temperatures I’d never personally experienced. I had spreadsheets. I had lists. I even had a Northern Lights app, like I’d somehow booked the sky for 9:30 pm on a Tuesday.

Lapland, I thought, would be magical.

It was.

Just not in the way I expected.

Because within the first hour of landing, the Arctic quietly leaned over and said, “Cute plan. Let’s see how that goes.”

Mistake #1: I Underestimated the Cold (By a Lot)

I didn’t ignore the cold. I respected it. Or so I thought.

Minus 18°C looked dramatic on paper, but numbers don’t explain how the air actually behaves in Lapland. The cold doesn’t bite. It wraps around you. It finds gaps in your gloves. It sneaks through zips. It makes your eyelashes feel crunchy and turns your nose into a constant science experiment.

My jacket? Technically warm.

My boots? Stylish, yes. Arctic-ready? Absolutely not.

By day two, I understood why locals dress like they’re preparing for space travel. Fashion loses very quickly to survival out here.

Mistake #2: Thinking Daylight Would Be “Short” (It Was Basically Gone)

I knew there’d be limited daylight. Everyone knows that.

What no one prepared me for was how emotionally weird it feels when the sun barely shows up. Not sunrise and sunset—more like a brief suggestion of light around lunchtime. A polite glow. Then darkness again.

My body clock panicked.

My motivation dipped.

And suddenly, planning activities back-to-back felt exhausting instead of exciting.

Lapland forces you to slow down. I fought that at first. I shouldn’t have.

Mistake #3: Overplanning Everything

This one’s on me.

I had tours booked for almost every day. Husky sledding. Reindeer farms. Snowmobile safaris. Ice fishing. Northern Lights hunts—plural.

Here’s the thing about Lapland: nature does not care about your itinerary.

Tours get delayed. Weather changes. Visibility drops. And sometimes, the best moments aren’t booked at all. They’re the quiet walks through snow that squeaks under your boots. The coffee breaks that turn into long conversations. The unexpected stillness.

I’d planned Lapland like a city break.

Lapland wanted me to breathe.

Mistake #4: Trusting My Northern Lights App a Bit Too Much

I checked that app like it was a stock market ticker.

High activity tonight. Clear skies tomorrow. Alerts buzzing. Hope rising.

And yet… nothing.

Then, on a night I almost skipped because I was tired and cold and honestly a bit grumpy, the sky exploded. Green ribbons moving like slow fire. No warning. No notification.

That’s when it clicked: you don’t schedule the Northern Lights. You stay patient enough to deserve them.

Mistake #5: Assuming Lapland Would Be Expensive—but Predictable

Yes, Lapland is pricey. I expected that.

What I didn’t expect were the small surprises:

– Short taxi rides costing more than full meals

– Last-minute gear rentals adding up fast

– Tourist-friendly “experiences” that felt rushed and overpriced

The trick isn’t avoiding costs. It’s knowing where they sneak in. I learned that lesson the expensive way.

Mistake #6: Thinking It Would Feel Like a Fairytale the Whole Time

Instagram sold me snow-covered cabins, cosy fires, endless magic.

Reality included frozen phone batteries, damp gloves, tired legs, and moments where I wondered why I’d chosen the Arctic for a holiday.

And yet… those imperfect moments are the ones I remember most clearly. The silence. The scale. The humbling feeling of being very small in a very big place.

Lapland isn’t a fairytale.

It’s better than that.

It’s real.

What I’d Do Differently Next Time

I’d pack less fashion and more function.

I’d plan fewer activities and leave more space.

I’d stop trying to “win” Lapland and let it happen.

Because Lapland doesn’t reward perfection.

It rewards patience, humility, and a willingness to be uncomfortable for something unforgettable.

Final Thought

I thought I’d planned Lapland perfectly.

What actually happened was better.

The Arctic broke my expectations—and gave me a trip I’ll never forget.

If you’re going to Lapland for the first time, plan carefully…

but leave room to be humbled.