If you’ve never heard of Kemi before, it’s way up north in Finnish Lapland. As you would imagine, it is covered in snow for roughly half the year. Sounds cold and boring, right?
But there’s something special about this sleepy little Lapland town. It’s famous for constructing the world’s biggest snow fort every year.
The Kemi Snow Castle in Finland’s north draws tourists from all over the world.
As I found out when I heard more people speaking Cantonese and Mandarin than English while I was there.
An Introduction to Kemi Finland
My photographer friend and I had taken an overnight bus from Helsinki to Kemi in Finnish Lapland. The change between the two cities was quite stark.
While Helsinki’s sky was perpetually overcast, there was very little snow. Kemi’s sky was still quite overcast, but the ground was white from snow cover.
Discovering the White Town of Kemi on the Way to the Kemi Snow Castle in Finland
There were no roads and footpaths. Only snow. I suddenly saw an image in my head of me ending up on my butt because I’m totally inept at walking on snow.
Luckily, I narrowly avoided hitting the ground by grabbing my friend and nearly making him fall. It just seemed like the right thing to do!
As Canada, Kazakhstan and now Finland have taught me, walking on snow sucks.
The snow made everything surprisingly bright, despite the overcast sky.
I had always heard that the Lapland region was perpetually dark in the winter, so I wasn’t expecting much in the way of daylight or brightness.
The glare from the snow was actually quite astounding. Sunglasses were definitely needed! Have a look here to find out what else you might need in Finland.
Trying to Find Some Breakfast Before Going to the Kemi Snow Castle
We had arrived at 10am and noticed a nearby food place. We thought we could go and grab some breakfast and use the WiFi, but the place was closed.
Okay, plan B, check at the supermarket across the road. Although the staff were really nice, they seemed quite clueless as to where stuff was in their town.
They did advise us that most businesses wouldn’t open for another hour at least. Time for a walk then.
Walking to the Kemi Snow Castle in Kemi Finland
As you would expect of somewhere only 90 minutes shy of the Arctic Circle, the town of Kemi on Bothnian Bay near the Swedish border is rather small. Both in area and population.
I don’t know if it was because of that or because of the cold, but there was almost no one around.
Come to think of it, I’m not even sure I saw many cars driving around. I did see quite a few parked cars with a substantial amount of snow on them though.
You really couldn’t blame people if they wanted to hibernate at home for the whole winter. Given the daily sub-zero temperatures the town offered.
It was hovering around -4°C when we were there. Yuck!
Lumi Visio/Snow Vision – Snow Carving On The Way to the Kemi Snow Castle
The people that had ventured out had found an interesting way to keep themselves occupied.
We had stumbled upon some kind of snow carving competition in the centre of town.
Note I said snow, not ice, carving. To be honest, this was somewhat of a novelty as I’d never seen anyone carving snow before.
Given the copious amounts of snow around Kemi, it totally made sense to turn it into art. But I did wonder how the huge blocks of compacted snow collected from the bay found their way to the centre of Kemi.
Kemi’s Annual Competition Near the Kemi Snow Castle
The competition, called Lumi Visio or Snow Vision, is an annual event in Kemi.
During the competition, teams race against the clock to build a sculpture to a theme. I’m not entirely sure what the 2020 theme was but if I had to guess, I’d say weird cartoons.
As much as I wanted to stay and check out the sculptures for a bit longer, I found that, even with winter gloves and shoes, my hands and feet started to hurt after several minutes of no movement.
Seriously, how do people live in these temperatures?
Finding the Kemi Snow Castle
I had gotten some feeling back in my extremities as a walked but wasn’t sure how much more of the cold I could take.
That was why I was so happy to this sign.
It meant that the Kemi Snow Castle was near! Also, the Finnish ‘lumi linna’ is now my preferred way to say ‘snow castle’!
The Making of A Famous Finland Snow Castle
A team of architects and engineers spend months planning and building the castle using a different theme each year.
Construction starts in December, for a January opening. The castle normally stays open until April.
Previous versions of this Finland snow castle have looked like castles, (of course!), or forts.
Looks like the castle’s 25th year was ‘Igloo Style’.
Even though the shape and size of the castle may be different each year, there are some things that are always included in the design.
Like the Ice Bar and the chapel.
I was told that people come from as far afield as Hong Kong to get married in that chapel.
As someone from Hong Kong, this sounds like an absolutely crazy concept to me.
Considering our winter temperatures rarely fall below 10°C and most Hong Kongers start wearing polar-style down jackets when the temperature gets below 20°C.
I guess they do it more for the gimmick factor.
Inside the Kemi Snow Castle
After walking through a kind of dark hallway from the entrance, you’ll find the Ice Bar.
Of course, they make the bar the first thing you come across and the lovely bartender will definitely try to entice to grab a drink to warm up.
But maybe the carvings on the wall above you will distract you enough to that you won’t care about having a drink.
You could sit on the sculptures and pose for photos.
As we walked further into the castle, there were a few different coloured caves with sculptures in them.
Unfortunately, my camera just couldn’t deal with the green and blue lighting in those rooms.
To be honest, my camera was having issues with the cold by this point. Clearly it’s a warm-weather camera!
Anyway, walking to the end brings you to what looks like a meeting room.
There was a dining alcove that split off from the main area. The ‘chairs’ were made of ice and covered with reindeer fur.
The presumption is that reindeer fur is super warm, but I just had to try one out for myself.
I didn’t freeze my butt off. So that was nice.
Themed Rooms in the Kemi Snow Castle in Finnish Lapland
As we were walking back out, I noticed a hallway off to the left that we hadn’t explored yet.
It looked quite plain and unassuming, but we decided to check it out anyway.
Coming off that hallway were several rooms.
Each had different carvings on their walls.
Some were just for sitting down and hanging out.
Then others for sleeping.
They came complete with ice frames and some very warm looking bedding.
As warm as the bedding looked, I could never see myself being able to sleep there.
Especially seeing as the temperature inside the castle was -4.4°C. That 4.4 degrees below zero.
Would you believe that actually made it colder than outside?
It was -3.7°C out there.
No thanks!
Have a Quick Look Inside the 2020 Kemi Snow Castle
If you’re interested in seeing what the main room of the Finland snow castle looked like in 2020, check out the video below.
Tourist Centre at the Kemi Snow Castle in Finland
Outside the castle there is a permanent building, called SnowCastle365. It acts as the reception for the castle hotel and glass cabins. It’s also the place to book other adventures, like reindeer sledding, snowmobiling and dining in an ice restaurant.
As appealing as some of the activities sounded, we gave them all a miss because as you would expect, they were prohibitively expensive. We were also happy enough with just seeing the Kemi Snow Castle in Finnish Lapland.
There was also a cafe in that building, as well as public amenities and some comfy couches to sit on before you head back out into the cold.
On to Oulu From Kemi Finland
Once we finally got up the courage to brave the cold, we headed back to the bus station to get the bus to Oulu. We were slightly perplexed when the bus hadn’t showed up five minutes past its departure time.
We spoke to a local lady who was also waiting and she confirmed that we hadn’t missed the bus. She told us not to worry because it often runs late.
The bus ended up being about 15 minutes late and we were surprised that we recognised the driver. He was the same driver who had driven us from Oulu that morning. It was his second run back to Oulu that day.
Will we see the Aurora Borealis in Oulu? Stay tuned for the next installment!
Would you like to know more about the Kemi Snow Castle in Finland? Then head to the Experience365 website
Check out all the destinations visited on this trip –
Vilnius
Riga
Tallinn
Helsinki
Kemi Snow Castle in Finnish Lapland
Oulu
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If you’ve had fun learning all about the Kemi Snow Castle in Finland, please feel free to share by click the picture you like to pin it for later! :o)
55 Replies to “Kemi Snow Castle in Finnish Lapland”
Wow…these pictures are so beautiful. My husband is Finnish…we hope to go there someday. Loved reading this post!
It was beautiful, but a little too cold for me!
oh wow!!! I’ve never seen that much snow and I live in Canada!!! I would love to spend a couple of days there, that would be an amazing adventure.
So I’ve really achieved something in life of I’ve seen more snow than someone in Canada!
I think Christmas is probably the biggest time of the year LOL, I the ice pictures reminded me of Cayman doing an ICE BAR it did not last long HAHAH
An ice bar in Cayman? Wow! That sounds about as crazy as snow in Dubai!
Wow! The place looks magnificent, however, I don’t think that I can stand cold places. I enjoyed your photos very much! And learning about Kemi is a first today.
I hate the cold so much. It was really hard to motivate myself to go outside, even though I was only there for a short time.
Wow, this is so beautiful! I have to make it there someday!
They certainly put a lot of hard work into it!
these pictures make you desire to travel to Finland as soon as possible
I think next time I’ll go when it’s warmer!
Wow! These are so so beautiful, wish I could visit these sometime.
Finland is beautiful
Thanks for sharing your experience, this place looks so cool. The pics are amazing! – Paolo
Yes, it’s a very cool concept.
This looks absolutely amazing – What a cool experience! As someone who grew up making snow forts with my friends, I have an appreciation for what an crazy amount of work this must be to create. I would love to see it!
Yes, the workmanship is admirable! I was in awe!
This is so cool! Your photography is awesome and what a neat place to visit.
Thanks! My camera was having problems with the cold and the amount of white, so I’m surprised that my photos ended up being okay.
If it weren’t for that darn snow, Kemi Snow Castle looks amazing. I can just imagine how amazing it must look from the inside. I may have to book a trip there.
Haha! I’m not a fan of the snow, but the castle was pretty amazing.
I’m also not a cold weather person but I’d like to visit Lapland. My son’s girlfriend is Finnish and he’s been there and loved it!
Well I can tell you that it can make your hands and feet sting, even when adequately covered! But still a great experience.
Wow…I just loved the place…It looks so beautiful and attractive……. Its super cool….one would have great fun there…….
Yes. It’s uniquely awesome.
Oh, the places you have gone! This place looks beautiful and magical! I love seeing all of your adventures!
This was definitely the coldest place I’ve been! I normally stick to warm places but didn’t resist a snow castle! :o)
Beautiful place! I’d love to be there some day…well it depends on how cold it is!
It’s very cold. That region of the world never has temperatures above 0°C in the winter. I mean, it has to be cold enough for the snow to stay unmelted, right?
I’ve always wanted to go to Finland. It’s my number 1 travel destination! We were meant to go this year but sadly it’s been canceled but hopefully, we can go next year!
I was lucky to get there just before all this craziness started!
What an amazing winter wonderland. We live in Minnesota and it gets a lot of snow but sometimes too cold to enjoy it. Ice sculptures are my favorite. It’s amazing the things people can create.
This was definitely too cold for me. I prefer warmer places, for sure!
I could never survive in a place like that but I need to learn since we are planning on moving to Canada in 4 years time and it freezes over there.
I hate the cold and snow! I’m totally a hot weather person, so if I can survive, you can too!
What a beautiful winter wonderland! The place looks divine!
xoxo
Lovely
Definitely a winner wonderland.
This looks like an amazing place to visit. We’re finally done with snow here in Wisconsin, USA so I am over it for a while but I’d love to visit here some day.
It’s definitely something different. I hate snow. I was over it pretty quickly, haha.
wowww, another place I can add to my post quarantine travel list. It is sure getting long.
I’m betting that everyone has pretty long lists by now.
This looks like a dream destination I would love to visit. Have always wanted to explore the Finnish Lapland. And a snow castle would be the ultimate place to stay.
I was okay with just looking at it. I don’t think I could stay there!
This looks like so much fun! I would love to go and stay there for the night once just to be able to say that I had! I’ll have to check it out – We keep talking about new places to travel to. I know that they have an ice hotel in Quebec, Canada as well that I have always wanted to visit.
wow, this sure looks like a cool place to visit! Great photos!
Definitely cool. And bloody cold!
This looks like such an amazing place to visit. My two little ones would love it for sure!
Louise x
There were actually some kids there when I was there and they seemed to be having an awesome time.
Wow, what an amazing place to visit! I hope to see this place with my family in the future !
That is such a unique place to visit! I can imagine how awesome it look in person.
I wish I could visit this place soon. Looks really wonderful!
Well, you’ll have to wait until next winter! :oP
This is soooo cool! (heh – literally and figuratively!) The hall ways look a bit like a sci-fi spaceship, or something from Doctor Who! I LOVE the ice-carvings/decorations in the rooms. You know, I normally hate the cold, but I would be very tempted to give sleeping there a try (with a super warm sleeping bag in addition to all those blankets!)
After actually entering some rooms where people would sleep, I decided that I was totally not at all tempted to sleep there. Just seeing it was enough for me.
I had to spend 15 minutes in the warm visitors centre psyching myself up to go into the castle in the first place! Haha.