Sunrise and sunset, any day of the year
How much daylight will you have on your trip? Choose your dates below and see sunrise, sunset and the hours of usable light in Rovaniemi and in Inari, about 320 km by road further north. The tool works out the position of the sun for the day you pick, so it gives an answer for any date: this Christmas, next March or midsummer.
The short version
- Shortest day in Rovaniemi: 21–22 December, about 2 h 15 min between sunrise (around 11:08) and sunset (around 13:23). With twilight included there is light to be outside from about 09:15 to 15:15.
- The sun rises every day in Rovaniemi. The city lies just south of the Arctic Circle, so there is no day when the sun stays completely below the horizon. In midwinter it only just clears it, and a hill or a line of trees is enough to hide it.
- Polar night in Inari: the sun stays below the horizon from 2 December 2026 to 10 January 2027, 40 days. Around midday there are still close to five hours of blue twilight.
- Midnight sun: in Rovaniemi the sun does not set from 7 June to 6 July. In Inari it stays up from 22 May to 22 July, 62 days in a row.
- Fastest change: in February and March the day in Rovaniemi grows by 7–8 minutes every day, close to an hour a week. In autumn it shrinks at the same speed.
- Nights without darkness: from about 10 May to the first days of August it does not get dark at all in Rovaniemi, even after the sun has set.
This winter, date by date
Sunrise and sunset for the dates most of our guests travel on, from November 2026 to April 2027. For any other day, use the tool above.
| Date | Rovaniemi: sunrise–sunset (daylight) | Inari: sunrise–sunset (daylight) |
|---|---|---|
| 15 Nov | 09:10–14:53 (5 h 43 min) | 09:39–14:14 (4 h 35 min) |
| 1 Dec | 10:14–13:59 (3 h 45 min) | 11:38–12:24 (0 h 46 min) |
| 15 Dec | 11:00–13:26 (2 h 26 min) | Polar night (twilight 09:39–14:35) |
| 21 Dec | 11:08–13:23 (2 h 15 min) | Polar night (twilight 09:46–14:35) |
| 24 Dec | 11:09–13:25 (2 h 16 min) | Polar night (twilight 09:47–14:37) |
| 31 Dec | 11:01–13:40 (2 h 39 min) | Polar night (twilight 09:44–14:47) |
| 15 Jan | 10:20–14:35 (4 h 15 min) | 11:16–13:28 (2 h 12 min) |
| 1 Feb | 09:20–15:44 (6 h 24 min) | 09:43–15:10 (5 h 27 min) |
| 15 Feb | 08:27–16:38 (8 h 11 min) | 08:38–16:16 (7 h 38 min) |
| 1 Mar | 07:33–17:28 (9 h 55 min) | 07:37–17:15 (9 h 38 min) |
| 15 Mar | 06:39–18:16 (11 h 37 min) | 06:35–18:09 (11 h 34 min) |
| 1 Apr | 06:32–20:13 (13 h 41 min) | 06:21–20:14 (13 h 53 min) |
All times are Finnish time. Clocks go forward one hour on 28 March 2027, which is why sunrise on 1 April looks later than you would expect.
Rovaniemi month by month
Sunrise, sunset and day length in Rovaniemi on the 15th of each month. The last column shows when it is light enough to be outside without a lamp, twilight included. The times move by a minute or two from one year to the next.
| Date | Sunrise | Sunset | Daylight | Light, twilight included |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 Jan | 10:20 | 14:35 | 4 h 15 min | 08:57–15:58 |
| 15 Feb | 08:27 | 16:38 | 8 h 11 min | 07:30–17:35 |
| 15 Mar | 06:39 | 18:16 | 11 h 37 min | 05:47–19:08 |
| 15 Apr | 05:36 | 21:01 | 15 h 25 min | 04:34–22:05 |
| 15 May | 03:34 | 22:58 | 19 h 24 min | Light all night |
| 15 Jun | No sunset | No sunset | 24 h | Light all night |
| 15 Jul | 02:37 | 00:11 * | 21 h 34 min | Light all night |
| 15 Aug | 04:50 | 21:52 | 17 h 02 min | 03:29–23:11 |
| 15 Sep | 06:36 | 19:48 | 13 h 12 min | 05:41–20:42 |
| 15 Oct | 08:14 | 17:51 | 9 h 37 min | 07:21–18:44 |
| 15 Nov | 09:09 | 14:54 | 5 h 45 min | 07:59–16:04 |
| 15 Dec | 10:59 | 13:26 | 2 h 27 min | 09:11–15:14 |
* The sun sets after midnight, on the following calendar day.
Inari month by month
The same for Inari in northern Lapland, home of Eight Seasons Inari. Winter days are shorter here and the summer light lasts twice as long.
| Date | Sunrise | Sunset | Daylight | Light, twilight included |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 Jan | 11:16 | 13:28 | 2 h 12 min | 09:17–15:28 |
| 15 Feb | 08:38 | 16:16 | 7 h 38 min | 07:34–17:21 |
| 15 Mar | 06:35 | 18:09 | 11 h 34 min | 05:38–19:07 |
| 15 Apr | 05:17 | 21:10 | 15 h 53 min | 04:04–22:26 |
| 15 May | 02:39 | 23:45 | 21 h 06 min | Light all night |
| 15 Jun | No sunset | No sunset | 24 h | Light all night |
| 15 Jul | No sunset | No sunset | 24 h | Light all night |
| 15 Aug | 04:21 | 22:10 | 17 h 49 min | 02:26–23:58 |
| 15 Sep | 06:26 | 19:47 | 13 h 21 min | 05:25–20:48 |
| 15 Oct | 08:19 | 17:36 | 9 h 17 min | 07:19–18:36 |
| 15 Nov | 09:38 | 14:15 | 4 h 37 min | 08:12–15:40 |
| 15 Dec | No sunrise | No sunrise | Polar night | 09:39–14:35 |
What the light means for your days here
November to January: build the day around midday
In December the bright hours in Rovaniemi run from about 10 to 14, and the sun never climbs more than a finger’s width above the horizon. The whole short day looks like a sunrise that turns straight into a sunset: orange and pink in the south, deep blue in the north. Daytime tours such as husky rides, reindeer sleigh rides and snowmobile safaris make the most of that light. By about 16:30 the sky is fully dark, so the evening is long and the Northern Lights tours do not have to wait for midnight.
Dark does not mean black. Snow reflects every bit of light there is, and on a clear night with a moon you can see across a frozen lake. More about this time of year: Christmas and Polar Night.
February and March: long bright days on snow
This is when the light comes back fast. Mid-February has about eight hours of daylight in Rovaniemi, mid-March more than eleven and a half, and the sun is high enough to feel warm on your face. The snow is at its deepest, so it is a good time for longer days outside: ice fishing, snowmobile safaris and hikes to the frozen waterfalls. Evenings are still properly dark, and auroras stay possible until around mid-April.
April and May: the nights turn light
By mid-April the sun sets after 21:00. From about 20 April the nights in Rovaniemi no longer get dark enough for Northern Lights, and from about 10 May they do not get dark at all.
June and July: midnight sun
For a month around midsummer the sun stays above the horizon all night in Rovaniemi, and for two months in Inari. Daylight no longer limits anything, so a hike, a bike ride or a sauna by the lake works just as well at 23:00 as at noon. See the summer activities and our page about the midnight sun season.
August to October: the dark comes back
Dark nights return in the last third of August, and the first auroras of the season with them. Around the autumn equinox on 23 September day and night are equally long: sunrise at about 07:00 and sunset at about 19:15 in Rovaniemi. After that every week is nearly an hour shorter than the one before. September is also the time of ruska, the autumn colours. To see what the sky is doing tonight, open the aurora forecast.
Rovaniemi or Inari: what difference does the distance make?
Inari is about 2.4 degrees of latitude north of Rovaniemi, and the light shows it most at the two extremes of the year.
| Rovaniemi | Inari | |
|---|---|---|
| 21 December | Sun up 11:08–13:23, light from 09:17 to 15:14 | No sunrise, twilight from 09:46 to 14:35 |
| 15 February | 8 h 11 min of daylight | 7 h 38 min of daylight |
| Spring equinox, 20 March | 12 h 14 min of daylight | 12 h 15 min of daylight |
| Midnight sun | 7 June – 6 July (30 days) | 22 May – 22 July (62 days) |
| Polar night | None: the sun rises every day | 2 December – 10 January (40 days) |
In practice: in midwinter Inari has a longer, deeper blue hour and more hours of darkness for watching the sky, and Rovaniemi has a little more light for daytime activities. From March onwards the two are almost the same, and in summer the north has the longer light.
Sunrise, twilight and polar night: what the words mean
- Sunrise and sunset are the moments when the upper edge of the sun touches the horizon. Daylight is the time between them.
- Twilight (civil twilight) is when the sun is less than 6 degrees below the horizon. It is bright enough to walk, ski or take photos without a lamp. In the tool this is counted in “usable light”.
- Deep twilight (nautical twilight) is when the sun is 6 to 12 degrees below the horizon. The horizon is still visible and the sky is dark blue, and the brightest stars and strong auroras show.
- Polar night, kaamos in Finnish, means the sun does not rise at all. In everyday talk people in Rovaniemi use the word for the darkest weeks of the year, even though the sun does come up for a couple of hours.
- Midnight sun means the sun does not set at all: at midnight it is low in the north, but above the horizon.
For the physics behind the blue light, read Polar night in Rovaniemi: the science of kaamos and its blue light. For a closer look at one month, see December daylight in Rovaniemi.
Questions about daylight in Lapland
Does the sun rise in Rovaniemi in December?
Yes, every day. On the shortest days, 21 and 22 December, it rises at about 11:08 and sets at about 13:23. It stays so low that buildings, hills or forest can hide it, but the sky is bright and colourful for several hours around midday.
Is there polar night in Rovaniemi?
Not in the strict sense. Polar night means the sun stays below the horizon for the whole day, and that happens only further north. In Inari it lasts from 2 December to 10 January. Rovaniemi gets a little over two hours of sun on its shortest day, although locals still call the darkest weeks kaamos.
What time does it get dark in Rovaniemi in December?
The sun sets at about 13:25. Twilight gives light to be outside until about 15:15, and by about 16:30 the sky is fully dark. In the morning it starts to get light at around 09:15.
Is it completely dark during the polar night?
No. Even in Inari, where the sun does not rise in December, there are almost five hours of twilight around midday. The snow reflects that light, and on clear nights the moon, the stars and sometimes the Northern Lights add their own.
How many hours of daylight are there in January, February and March?
In Rovaniemi about 4 h 15 min in mid-January, 8 h 10 min in mid-February and 11 h 40 min in mid-March. Add roughly one hour of twilight at each end of the day.
When can you see the midnight sun?
In Rovaniemi the sun does not set between 7 June and 6 July, and for a couple of days before and after it dips below the horizon for less than an hour. In Inari the midnight sun lasts from 22 May to 22 July.
Do the clock changes affect sunrise and sunset?
Yes. Finland moves the clocks forward one hour on the last Sunday of March and back on the last Sunday of October. Sunrise and sunset jump by an hour on those days. The tool and the tables on this page already take this into account.
Do activities run when it is dark?
Yes. Daytime tours are planned for the light hours as far as possible, and evening tours such as Northern Lights trips are meant for the dark. Your guide will tell you what to expect before you set off.
How exact are these times?
They are calculated from the position of the sun for a flat, open horizon and are accurate to about a minute. Hills, forest and buildings can make the sun appear a little later or disappear a little earlier, especially in midwinter when it travels almost along the horizon.
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