If you're planning a trip to Lapland and can't decide between Levi and Rovaniemi, it is possible to visit both in the same trip.
We've visited Levi and Rovaniemi on separate trips and really enjoyed both, but they were very different holidays.
Levi is a small ski resort and was much more like the Lapland I'd pictured before we went. Rovaniemi is a small city, with Santa Claus Village just outside the centre and a huge choice of things to do.
They're around 170km apart, so it's quite easy to travel between the two by bus or car.
Combining them can also work really well if you're struggling to find flights to Kittilä, which is the closest airport to Levi. Direct flights from the UK can be limited, especially after Christmas, while there are usually far more options for getting to Rovaniemi.
If I was planning a seven night trip, I'd probably spend five nights in Levi and two nights in Rovaniemi. That would give me plenty of time in Levi, while still having a couple of days for Santa Claus Village and some of the other things we enjoyed in Rovaniemi.
In this guide, I'll go through how I'd combine Levi and Rovaniemi, including the flight options from the UK, how to travel between them and which order I'd do them in.
If you're still deciding whether you want to visit one or both, our Levi vs Rovaniemi Guide goes through the main differences between them.
From DIY itineraries and Northern Lights tips to budgeting advice, destination guides and honest reviews of the places we've visited, you'll find everything together in our Lapland Travel Guide Hub.
Just a quick note before we begin. Some of the links in this guide are affiliate links. This means we may earn a small commission if you make a purchase through them, at no extra cost to you. We only recommend products, services and experiences we've used ourselves or genuinely believe will help you plan your trip. Thanks for supporting Build a Break.
📍 Distance between Levi and Rovaniemi: Around 170km
🚌 Can you travel by bus? Yes, there are direct buses between Rovaniemi and Levi
🚗 Can you drive? Yes, and this gives you more freedom over when you travel
✈️ Closest airport to Levi: Kittilä Airport
✈️ Closest airport to Rovaniemi: Rovaniemi Airport
🇬🇧 Flying from the UK: There are usually more direct flight options to Rovaniemi, especially after Christmas
📅 How long would we stay? For a 7 night trip, I'd do 5 nights in Levi and 2 nights in Rovaniemi
🎅 Want the Santa experience? Rovaniemi is home to Santa Claus Village, which you can visit throughout the year
❄️ Why visit both? We've been to Levi and Rovaniemi and they gave us two very different Lapland trips
💙 Would we combine them? Yes. If we wanted a longer Lapland trip, I'd happily split a week between the two.
One of the main reasons I'd consider combining Levi and Rovaniemi is the difference in flight options from the UK.
Kittilä is the closest airport to Levi, but direct flights from the UK are much more limited than they are to Rovaniemi. EasyJet has added more Kittilä routes for the 2026/27 winter season, including new flights from Liverpool and London Luton, alongside its existing services.
Rovaniemi has a much bigger choice. For winter 2026/27, easyJet and Ryanair have direct flights from several UK airports, and some of the Ryanair routes continue right through to the end of March.
This can make Rovaniemi really useful if you want to stay in Levi but can't find a suitable direct flight to Kittilä from your local airport.
You could fly into Rovaniemi, spend your first night there and then travel to Levi the following day. You could then come back to Rovaniemi for your final night before flying home.
Another option is to fly into one airport and home from the other if the flights work for your dates. I'd always check both before deciding on the order of the trip.
I've covered the routes in much more detail in our UK Flights to Lapland Guide, so I wouldn't choose your flights until you've had a look at the options from your nearest airports.
Once you've got to Rovaniemi, getting to Levi is fairly straightforward.
Levi is around 170km from Rovaniemi, and the two main options I'd look at are taking the bus or hiring a car.
If you don't want to drive in Lapland, there are direct buses between Rovaniemi and Levi. This would probably be my choice, especially if I was only hiring a car for the sake of getting between the two.
Hiring a car gives you much more flexibility, though. You can leave when you want, stop along the way and don't need to plan your trip around the bus timetable.
The same options work in reverse, so if you're starting your trip in Levi, you can travel from Levi to Rovaniemi by bus or car and spend the end of your holiday there.
Which one I'd choose would mainly come down to the bus times and how well they fitted around our flights and accommodation.
If you don't want to drive, travelling from Rovaniemi to Levi by bus is probably the easiest option.
OnniBus runs direct buses between Rovaniemi and Levi during the winter season, with the journey taking around 2 hours 15 minutes to 2 hours 35 minutes.
There are typically two buses a day from Rovaniemi to Levi, one in the late morning at around 11am and another in the late afternoon at around 5pm.
Going the other way, there are usually two buses from Levi to Rovaniemi, one at around 10am and another at around 3pm.
An adult ticket is normally around €25 to €30 each way, which makes the bus a pretty affordable way to travel between the two if you don't want to hire a car.
The Rovaniemi stop is at the railway station rather than the airport, so if you're flying into Rovaniemi you'll also need to allow time to get from the airport into the city.
I'd definitely check the timetable for your actual dates before planning the rest of your trip around these times, as the service is seasonal and timetables can change.
You can check the latest times and book tickets directly with OnniBus.
If you were already planning to hire a car for your Lapland trip, though, driving between the two gives you much more freedom and makes combining Levi and Rovaniemi really easy.
I don't think there's one right order to do the two. For me, it would mainly come down to your flights and the bus times.
If you're flying in and out of Rovaniemi, I'd be tempted to split your time there and put Levi in the middle.
For a seven night trip, for example, I'd probably do one night in Rovaniemi, five nights in Levi and then one final night in Rovaniemi.
That would work particularly well if your flight arrives later in the day. You could stay in Rovaniemi on your first night, take the bus to Levi the following morning and then come back to Rovaniemi towards the end of the trip.
I'd also prefer having that final night in Rovaniemi rather than travelling all the way from Levi on the same day as our flight home. It gives you a bit of breathing room if the weather is bad or there are any problems with the bus.
If your flights work better the other way around, there's no reason you couldn't spend two nights together in Rovaniemi at the beginning or end instead.
I'd plan the flights first, look at the bus times for your dates and then decide where the Rovaniemi nights fit best.
If I had seven nights for this trip, I'd spend five nights in Levi and two nights in Rovaniemi.
We've found there is plenty to do in both places, but I'd want the larger part of the trip in Levi. Five nights gives you enough time to enjoy the resort and book a few activities without feeling like every day needs to be completely planned out.
For a good idea of what you could fit in, have a look at our 5 Day Levi Itinerary. This is based on our own family trip and includes exactly what we did each day, where we stayed and what we spent.
For Rovaniemi, our 2 Day Rovaniemi Itinerary shows just how much we managed to fit into a short visit. We did ice karting, huskies, Santa Claus Village, Snowman World, the Arctic SnowHotel and Sauna World over one weekend.
If I was flying in and out of Rovaniemi, I'd probably split the week like this:
Night 1: Rovaniemi
Nights 2 to 6: Levi
Night 7: Rovaniemi
You don't have to stay in the same type of accommodation in both places either. You could keep most of the trip fairly simple and then add a more unusual stay for one of your Rovaniemi nights. We've stayed overnight at the Arctic SnowHotel ourselves, and our Most Unique Places to Stay in Lapland Guide has plenty of other ideas in both Levi and Rovaniemi.
We also have separate Where to Stay in Levi and Where to Stay in Rovaniemi guides if you're trying to work out which area or type of accommodation would work best for each part of the trip.
If the flight and bus times worked better, I'd be quite happy to put the two Rovaniemi nights together at the beginning or end instead. The five and two split is the bit I'd personally keep. How I'd arrange those nights would come down to the flights and transport available for our dates.
You can combine Levi and Rovaniemi on a shorter trip, but personally I wouldn't try to squeeze both into just two or three nights. You'd spend too much of your time travelling between them.
With five nights, I'd probably look at spending three nights in Levi and two nights in Rovaniemi. That still gives you enough time to enjoy both without moving accommodation every other day.
If you have six nights, I'd probably do four nights in Levi and two in Rovaniemi.
Once you get to seven nights, five nights in Levi and two nights in Rovaniemi would be my choice. We've already done five days in Levi and two days in Rovaniemi on separate trips, and both felt like good amounts of time for what we wanted to do. Our existing itineraries show exactly what we managed to fit into each.
I wouldn't worry too much about making the split perfectly even. I'd decide what you actually want to do in each place first, then give yourself enough time to do it without rushing.
Yes, I think combining Levi and Rovaniemi can work really well, especially if you're planning a longer Lapland trip.
For me, it makes the most sense if you genuinely want to experience both places, or if flying into Rovaniemi makes getting to Levi easier from your local UK airport.
The journey between them isn't particularly difficult either. Levi is around 170km from Rovaniemi and there are regular bus connections, so you can do the trip without needing to hire a car.
I probably wouldn't combine them on a really short break because I'd rather spend the time enjoying one place than moving between hotels. Once you have five, six or seven nights though, I think it becomes much more worthwhile.
If I had seven nights, I'd still choose five nights in Levi and two nights in Rovaniemi, with the exact order depending on the flights and bus times available for our dates.
Having visited both already, I'd happily do them together on a future trip. You'd get two quite different Lapland experiences, while only needing to travel a couple of hours between them.
Whenever I spot great-value DIY Lapland flights and accommodation from UK airports, I share them with members of the Build a Break Travel Club. If you'd like to experience Lapland without paying package holiday prices, it's a great place to start.
Copyright © Build a Break | Website by Furness Media
