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Oct 27, 2026

The eight seasons of Lapland, and the idea behind Eight Seasons Inari

If you spend a whole year in Lapland, four seasons start to feel too few. The weeks of autumn colour are nothing like the grey, snowless weeks that follow; the bright, snowy days of late winter feel different from the dark heart of winter. That is why people in the north often speak of eight seasons.

We live and work with this rhythm every day — it decides when our huskies run on carts or sleds, when berries ripen in our forests and when the snowshoes come out. Here is what the eight seasons of Lapland mean, with the figures taken from Finnish and university sources listed at the end.

The eight seasons of Lapland are a way of dividing the northern year more finely than spring, summer, autumn and winter. Visit Finland notes that in Rovaniemi locals divide the year into as many as eight distinctive seasons. The idea is closely linked to the Sámi reindeer-herding year, which is often described in eight seasons that follow the herd: spring-winter, spring, pre-summer, summer, pre-autumn, autumn, pre-winter and winter.

At a glance

• From: 133 €
• Experience type: Early winter Husky tour
• Duration: 2 hours
• Difficulty: Very easy
• Book in Advance: Cut off: 4 hours before start time
• Included: Guided husky ride of 5 km (on carts only 3Km); Modern husky kennel visit; Transfers from/to Santa Claus Village, Hostel Cafe Koti in the city center, Arctic SnowHotel or with own transfer at the K-Market Sinettä.; Hot juice and cookies; Informative talk about huskies.
• Cancellation: We will charge a cancellation fee of 100% if booking is cancelled 7 days or less before the event. We will charge a cancellation fee of 10% if booking is cancelled 365 days or less before the event.
• Accessibility: Not wheelchair accessible; Not stroller accessible

Four seasons by the thermometer

Meteorologists in Finland define the seasons not by the calendar but by temperature. The Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) uses the daily mean temperature: winter is when it stays below 0 °C, spring when it rises from 0 °C to 10 °C, summer when it stays above 10 °C, and autumn when it falls back below 10 °C.

Measured this way, Lapland’s year is very uneven. According to the FMI, thermal winter typically begins around mid-October in Lapland and is the longest season there, lasting about 200 days. Snow cover becomes permanent roughly two weeks after winter begins and is deepest around mid-March, at 60–90 cm in northern Finland. Summer arrives about a month later than in southern Finland and ends about a month earlier.

So even by the strict scientific definition, the four seasons of the north are not four equal quarters — which is part of why locals like to split them further.

The eight seasons of the reindeer-herding year

The best-known version of the eight seasons comes from the Sámi, the Indigenous people of the north, whose traditional year follows the life of the reindeer herd. A University of Texas at Austin resource on Sámi culture describes the eight seasons like this:

• Spring-winter — the herd begins its migration from the forests to the calving grounds in the mountains.
• Spring — the temperature rises, the snow begins to melt and the calves are born in the foothills.
• Pre-summer — the reindeer graze and the herders have some time to rest and prepare for earmarking the calves.
• Summer — much of the season has round-the-clock sunlight, and the calves are earmarked.
• Pre-autumn — preparations begin for the harsh winter.
• Autumn — the rut, when the reindeer mate before returning to the winter grounds.
• Pre-winter — the herders lead the reindeer out of the mountains to the lowland bogs.
• Winter — in the darkest time of year the reindeer are moved to the forest.

Names and exact timings vary between Sámi languages, regions and families, so treat this as a description of a rhythm rather than a fixed calendar. What it shows clearly is that the seasons are defined by what is happening in nature and in the work, not by dates. Our post on the reindeer’s year looks at the same cycle from the animals’ side.

Light: polar night and midnight sun

The other reason four seasons feel too few is light. North of the Arctic Circle the year swings between days when the sun never sets and days when it never rises.

The FMI notes that in Finland’s northernmost corner the polar night lasts 51 days, and the northernmost parts of Finland have 73 days a year when the sun does not set at all. thisisFINLAND, Finland’s official country site, explains that kaamos, the polar night, only occurs above the Arctic Circle: in Utsjoki on the northern border it lasts almost two months, while in Sodankylä, further south, it lasts four days.

Kaamos is rarely pitch black. Blue twilight is typical, and moonlight reflected from the snow can light up the landscape. Visit Rovaniemi describes the “blue moment” in the darkest weeks, when for a few hours around midday the snowy landscape takes on deep blue and pink hues. In summer the opposite happens, and Visit Finland describes berries that ripen under the Midnight Sun.

The in-between seasons you notice here

Put temperature, snow and light together and the extra seasons become obvious. There is the burst of autumn colour, ruska, before the leaves fall — we wrote about it in ruska autumn colours in Lapland. Then comes a quieter pre-winter: dark evenings, frost, often not yet enough snow. After it the first lasting snow arrives (see first snow in Rovaniemi), then the dark core of winter, and later the bright, long-lit weeks of late winter when the snow is still deep.

Visit Finland puts the temperature range in Rovaniemi across the year at roughly −25 °C to +25 °C. Each of these in-between seasons asks for different clothes, different activities and a different pace.

Why we named a resort Eight Seasons

Our newest resort, Eight Seasons Inari, is a glass-roof resort in the far north of Finnish Lapland, surrounded by the wilderness of Inari. Its line on our accommodation in Inari page is “One river. One sky. Eight seasons.”

The name is the idea behind the whole place. The resort was created around the changing rhythm of the North: in Inari the landscape changes with the light, the snow, the water and the sky — from the darkness of polar night and the Northern Lights to bright spring days, autumn colours and the Midnight Sun. The resort has 27 glass-roofed Sky Suites, so you can follow that rhythm from your own bed, and during the darker months you may even watch the Northern Lights above you. Guests also get free access to our Northern Lights Alert App, which sends real-time notifications when auroras appear at the resort.

We did not want a name that only belongs to winter. Inari is worth seeing in every one of its seasons, and the name is our way of saying so.

How this shows up on our tours

The eight seasons are not just an idea for us — they decide what we can run and how. The clearest example is the gap between autumn and real winter. Our Running with the Pack husky tour and kennel visit is built for that in-between season: you visit the kennel, meet the pack and ride behind the dogs. As the product page explains, we can only switch to sleds once there is sufficient snow cover, so in early winter the tour may still take place on carts, and while we operate on carts the ride is 3 km. For animal welfare reasons it only runs when it is 10 °C or colder, otherwise it is too hot for the huskies to pull. Please check the product page for the current operating dates.

In late summer and early autumn our Wild Berry Hunt follows the ripening in our private forests. The product page gives the cloudberry season as mid-July to mid-August and lingonberries in September, with blueberries in between. In deep winter, the Snowshoeing Tour in the Private Kuoksa Wilderness takes you into the snow-covered forest, ending with a light barbecue by the campfire and hot berry juice.

You can see everything we run, season by season, on our activities in Rovaniemi page.

Frequently asked questions

What are the eight seasons of Lapland?

They are a way of dividing the northern year more finely than four seasons. The Sámi reindeer-herding year is often described as spring-winter, spring, pre-summer, summer, pre-autumn, autumn, pre-winter and winter, each defined by what happens with the herd and in nature.

Is the eight-season idea Sámi or Finnish?

It is most closely associated with the Sámi reindeer-herding year, and locals in Finnish Lapland also use it. Visit Finland notes that in Rovaniemi locals divide the year into as many as eight distinctive seasons.

How long is winter in Lapland?

By the Finnish Meteorological Institute’s definition (daily mean temperature below 0 °C), winter typically begins around mid-October in Lapland and lasts about 200 days.

Is it dark all day during the polar night?

Rarely. According to thisisFINLAND, blue twilight is typical during kaamos, and moonlight reflected from the snow can light up the landscape.

Why is your Inari resort called Eight Seasons?

Eight Seasons Inari was created around the changing rhythm of the North — polar night, Northern Lights, bright spring days, autumn colours and the Midnight Sun. The name reflects that the resort is meant to be experienced in every season, not only in winter.

Can I do a husky tour before there is snow?

Yes. Our Running with the Pack tour can take place on carts in early winter until there is sufficient snow cover, and while on carts the ride is 3 km. It runs only when it is 10 °C or colder, for the dogs’ welfare.

Ready to book?

You may also like

• Wild Berry Hunt — from 89 €, 3 hours
• Snowshoeing Tour in the Private Kuoksa Wilderness — from 89 €, 3,5 hours

Sources

• Finnish Meteorological Institute — Seasons in Finland
• thisisFINLAND — When the sun doesn’t rise in northern Finland
• University of Texas at Austin — The Sámi concept of time
• Visit Finland — Rovaniemi
• Visit Rovaniemi — Polar night