I want to wake up like this every morning. A 12-hour journey on a sleeper train to the city where the Finnish Santa awaits

I came to Finland to see the Northern Lights, a 12-hour flight from Japan.

On my first day, I arrived in Helsinki, the capital of Finland, at noon. After spending half a day exploring the city, I will head to Rovaniemi in the north, where the Northern Lights can be seen at night.

▼Click here for more on Helsinki

My mode of transport is the "Santa Claus Express" sleeper train. While it would probably take 1-2 hours by plane, I am spending another 12 hours swaying on a train.

Since this entire trip was arranged independently, I made the reservations through the official website.

There are seat options and two types of private rooms (with or without shower & toilet), and I chose a simple private room with a shared shower & toilet. It holds up to two people per room, for a total of €238 (about 45,000 yen). Amenities included water, soap, and towels.

The interior of the room is very compact, and we managed to squeeze in two large 70L suitcases like a puzzle. Of course, it is difficult for even one person to open a suitcase. I managed to open mine halfway, but my friend had to open hers halfway out the door.

As for the shower, I had read in reviews beforehand that the "water pressure is weak" and "there is no hot water," so I tried it with trepidation... and it was just as described (lol). I think it's the same for both private and shared ones, so it might be better not to expect much from the shower.

However, the water from the sink in every room was boiling hot both at night and in the morning. I wonder if they made a mistake. It was so mysterious that my friend and I giggled about it.

By the way, Finnish tap water is soft and clean enough to drink, but apparently, the water on the train is not for drinking! I used bottled water to rinse my mouth when brushing my teeth.

Other than the plumbing, it was quite comfortable; the train was clean everywhere, and there were power outlets by each pillow.

I have almost never been able to sleep on anything labeled "overnight train," and I boarded thinking, "If I can't sleep, at least it will be a memory," but thanks to the jet lag, I slept soundly until morning. Of course, I wore earplugs!

In the morning, while it was still dim, I decided to go to the dining car for breakfast. It was what I was looking forward to most!

The dining car was packed, and I waited about 15 minutes in a narrow aisle where people could barely pass each other before finally ordering. I was enthusiastic and ordered a cappuccino, a croissant, salmon soup, and rye bread.

I ate the croissant before I could take a picture of it.

The bread that comes with the salmon soup is the same as what came with the salmon soup I had last night. It must be a staple.

Having breakfast while watching the changing scenery outside the window, I felt that I wish it could be like this every morning. I want to wake up looking forward to the morning like this every day.

We returned to our room, opened our suitcases one by one, got ready, and at 10:59, it was finally time to get off. I wonder if it's okay that my first sleeper train experience was this much fun.

Rovaniemi, where we arrived, had even more snow than Helsinki! And it's cold! Minus 13 degrees Celsius!

But the air was so clear that I felt like the air inside me was being replaced with every breath I took.

The town where Santa Claus waits, the town where you can see the aurora!

After taking a bunch of photos on the platform while making squeaky noises like Chiikawa, we set off to explore the town.

▼ Click here for our Rovaniemi town exploration