We Went To The Arctic By Train

Last Updated on: 7th May 2025, 08:36 am

The Arctic By Train

When Tilly asked me if we could go to the Arctic, I thought it would be cool. But when she added that she wanted to do it all by train, I thought she had lost her mind! As she was 14 at the time, I knew she was old enough to add some input to our trip. But never did I think she would want to do this. So that is the start of the story of how we went to the Arctic by train.

The Idea Of Going To The Arctic By Train

I will put my hand up to admit that I have always had a curiosity about the Arctic. I took a day to Lapland when the older kids were little, but that was it. So when Tilly asked if we could go to the proper Arctic, I was up for it. Tilly loves going by train. She sits and stares out of the window for hours and hours. We are no strangers to Interrail, and we have had loads of experience with trains in Europe.

To be honest, the thought of going on sleeper trains was not appealing to me. The sleeper trains we have travelled on between Budapest and Bucharest have been pretty third world. And even the sleeper trains between Venice and Vienna or Vienna and Amsterdam were pretty dire, with toilets that didn’t even work. So here was my daughter, wanting to do a trip of a lifetime, and all I could think about was how grim it would be. I tried to talk her out of it, but she insisted on it being this trip.

Putting The Trip Together

Kim bought us the Interrail passes for Christmas, so that was a huge saving for us. She paid for first-class passes to add a little luxury to the trip. Tilly knew she wanted to go to the end of the line in the Arctic, but I knew we could go further if we carried on the trip by bus. Once the first part of the trip was sorted, we added extra places we wanted to visit. The trip details changed until the last minute, because there was always something different to see.

When it came to booking places to stay, we used Booking.com. I usually try to stick to a tight budget, around 50 or 60 euros a night. We booked a variety of hostels, nice hotels and apartments – whatever was available. I also knew we would have to do night trains, and I wasn’t looking forward to that.

There were also some pretty tight train connections, so I needed to prepare my mental health and anxiety for this. It was going to be stressful, and I didn’t want to have a meltdown when we missed any connections.

Travelling Into The Unknown!

I was so scared in the run-up to the trip, my anxiety was off the scale. My daughter was so excited, and here I was getting palpitations every time I thought about the trip. The fear and the excitement, the anxiety and the worry were all worth it in the end.

I was unprepared for the trip. I managed to save £40 a day to spend on both of us, so it was going to be tight. But as a blogger, I also knew I could get work as I travelled. This was going to be a really budget trip! I knew deep down that this was going to be a super eco-friendly trip. I was proud of my daughter for wanting to do it.

The Trains In Scandinavia

Can I just take a moment to marvel at how amazing the trains were in Scandinavia? The sleeper trains were beautiful! The couchettes were about the same as you get when you travel on a nightjet sleeper. But you got proper duvets to sleep with and keep you warm. The staff were amazing, the couchettes were clean. And the icing on the cake was that all of the toilets worked, and they were clean for the whole journey. If I could choose a sleeper train to travel anywhere, it would be an SJ sleeper.

The staff on the trains in Norway, Sweden, and Finland were extremely helpful. One train conductor even booked a taxi for me to help me get from Haparanda station to the bus station at Tornio. The facilities on the train were awesome, and the widely available wifi is a great asset for tourists.

Preparing For The Weather!

Okay, I am going to be the first to admit that I was not prepared for the cold. I thought the clothes we had for Iceland would be sufficient. But when the weather dropped to -17 on some of the days, and the wind was harsh, I knew I had underpacked. Also, when you are backpacking, it is hard to pack so many clothes. The weather is too cold to dry clothes when you wash them, and you find yourself running out of clothes. The weather changed from cold to snowy to windy within minutes. And the ground was covered in ice, so you needed to be careful where you were walking.

Reflecting On The Trip When We Got Home

Was I happy to have done the trip to the Arctic by train? Yes, I was! I am happy that Tilly chose a trip like this. It shows how she is prepared to travel without flying. Her eagerness to travel in an eco-friendly way. And her enthusiasm to push herself further everyday as we travelled.

There was only one day that I struggled, and that was the day we travelled from Kiruna to Rovaniemi. It was a tough journey, It was a long day. We had left Kiruna at 6 am, after waking up at 5 am. After travelling all day, we arrived in Rovaniemi and got to our apartment at 9 pm. It was a long day with lots of station changes – but we did it! My anxiety was bad, and knowing that I had to make every train on time made it worse. There was a bus replacement, and we just prayed it was the right bus.

Would I Go To The Arctic By Train Again?

Yes, I think I would. But I would like to do it in the summer, so experience the longer days. To see the different landscapes and to enjoy the ride on the trains again. I would love to do the London to Tromso trip. I would miss out Stockholm, and instead head to Uppsala for the day. I wouldn’t bother with a night in Narvik, I would instead get off the Arctic train and head straight to the Tromso bus. But I do recommend going to the Arctic by train to anyone who wants to do it.