Flight tour to the artic circle from Helsinki

[farm girl]

Has anyone done the fight tour from Helsinki to the Artic Circle?

The ship tour does not interest me because it includes lunch, the Santa Claus Village, folk dancing, ect. I am interested in scenery only. I know from friends that the flight tours in Alaska are beautiful so I need to know if this tour is worth the time and money.

 

Thank You

Sharon

[Guest LetMeGo]

Hi.

 

I assume you mean the $700 HAL tour?

 

I haven't been to the arctic circle myself (:D), but as far as the price goes it's almost three times as much as scheduled flights from Helsinki to Rovaniemi. On the other hand, you won't be able to make either the outbound flight (7:30 am), or the return flight (7 pm) on your own.

 

You could probably buy the excursion and get a guide of your own if money is not an obstacle, but I don't know if the northern nature in summer is that different compared to the one in southern Finland. :confused:

[Saga Ruby]

Last June I sailed from Dover to Svalbard (Spitzbergen) which is as close to the North Pole as you can get by water. The Arctic Circle was halfway to our destination. Some years ago, I chartered a private plane to flightsee Alaska out of Seward to Denali, had lunch at the park, then flew back to Seward.

 

I cannot figure out what you would see in the Arctic Circle flight other than Nordkapp in Norway which has a huge metal globe of the world, and maybe some icebergs. Svalbard is an island of black-and-white contrasts; dark crags covered with snow and windswept bays. On our ship, we lucked out and saw two polar bears roaming for hours around a bay. On a plane, you would not be able to see much.

 

In our Land of the Midnight Sun cruise, we were hopscotching Norwegian fjords and towns on the way to Far North but out of Helsinki, I dunno. If the charter were more than $200-300, I wouldn't do it because there isn't that much to see. The Denali charter was beautiful, with magnificent scenery, wildlife, and Denali herself which alone was worth the price of the charter. If you don't read details for the Helsinki charter that present a high degree of interest, I would think twice about taking the flight.

 

Ruby

[Guest LetMeGo]

I cannot figure out what you would see in the Arctic Circle flight other than Nordkapp in Norway which has a huge metal globe of the world, and maybe some icebergs. Svalbard is an island of black-and-white contrasts; dark crags covered with snow and windswept bays. On our ship, we lucked out and saw two polar bears roaming for hours around a bay. On a plane, you would not be able to see much.

 

That doesn't sound anything like the Arctic circle in Finland.

In the middle of the summer there isn't any snow at all, let alone polar bears which don't live in Finland.:D

 

You might be able to reach a 1/2 mile high peak and see the forests , rivers, and lakes. On the other hand, you can experince all of them firsthand much closer to Helsinki...

[Saga Ruby]

I had to laugh at your most excellent point - it never occurred to me that the flightseeing would be over Helsinki and parts of Finland. It goes to show how narrow our viewpoint can be. Farmgirl says "Arctic Circle" and I immediately translated that as Svalbard. Whoops!

 

Having said that, if the cost of the flight is $700, one would question which type of aircraft and the itinerary. Seems pricey to me and I would want to have a topnotch experience for that kind of money.

 

Ruby

[Guest LetMeGo]

I had to laugh at your most excellent point - it never occurred to me that the flightseeing would be over Helsinki and parts of Finland. It goes to show how narrow our viewpoint can be. Farmgirl says "Arctic Circle" and I immediately translated that as Svalbard. Whoops!

 

Having said that, if the cost of the flight is $700, one would question which type of aircraft and the itinerary. Seems pricey to me and I would want to have a topnotch experience for that kind of money.

 

Ruby

 

I know a lot of people think there are polar bears even in the streets of Helsinki.:D

 

What I interpreted from the excursion info is that there is a chartered flight to Rovaniemi (600 miles), and all the activities there would be ground-based. Obviously you can see a lot of the scenery on the approach and take-off, but there wouldn't be any spesific aerial tour. Of course it might be a lot better tour if the plane is very small and flying low...

 

There are no scheduled flights to go there for the midday, so most of the cost is from chartering a plane to a small group. And with that cost I don't see there being that many people interested.:rolleyes:

[farm girl]

Thank you for all the information. I think we will skip the flight tour and save it for one in Alaska. We will stay in and around Helenski. This is why this board is so great. It helps to get information from others.

 

Thank You

Sharon