The Arctic Route — Local services in Tromsø

We travelled in late March 2023 on the Arctic route bus from Tromso to Rovaniemi. The bus left Tromso at 7:05 and the first 2 hours 45 mins were nice - a good driver, a good new bus with comfortable seats and working wifi on-board. However that’s when the good experience ended.

We then had to change our bus inside finland border for the next 7 hours of journey to Rovaniemi. This bus was atleast 25 years old - it had a non working curved TV monitor (remember CRTs?) - I thought they retired at least 20 years ago! The suspension was bad, the upholstery was smelling and old. There was no Wifi on-board. When I inquired, the driver said “sorry” they had to change the bus and this one doesn’t have wifi. The Arctic route bus Company does not provide seat numbers for the first bus, however the second bus (Eskelisan Lapin) had reservations with seat numbers allocated for their own bookings. So some of my family members got seats separate to each other when we changed the bus in Finland.

Throughout the next 7 hours, the bus made multiple stops and took ski tourists from small Finland towns - it basically felt like a shuttle bus.

This was the most expensive bus tickets I have paid in my life (150 euros one way) and I have been to all of Europe, America, Canada and Japan. It was absolutely not worth it - only consider this bus if you don’t have...

Update 10.2.2025 Maybe the Arctic Route truly is improving? Today we had the pleasure of a very informative and pleasant driver, Jon, who did everything I had hoped and asked for previously. Apart from the still expensive price, this was a nice experience.

Previous, two-star review: The bus is nice, but the drivers are not good at giving information.

In most buses I take, the driver will welcome us aboard, introduce him-/herself and tell the passengers about the bus's amenities and where to change when continuing on another bus. This was not the case here: The driver was pleasant and gave us the WiFi password at the beginning of the trip, but then said no further words before we arrived in Kilpisjärvi. Thus, some passengers did not understand that there was a toilet on board, and many also disembarked on the wrong stop in Kilpisjärvi, as the information was unclear. This in turn annoyed the driver, which had to tell them to embark again. I would expect more from a serious company which charges as much as this one does.

Update 28.1.2025: Although the company promised to improve, this seems like pure marketing. I took the bus again today, and the driver did not even inform the passengers that we had arrived to Kilpisjärvi and had to change to the Finnish bus. How...

Sit back and enjoy! My wife and I hopped on one of the Arctic Route busses going from kabelvåg to Tromsø and we had a wonderful time. The driver took us on a scenic route trough the beautiful Lofoten and Senya, stopping from time to time at the most astonishing views for a little fresh air and a photo opportunity. He wasn't shy to share some interesting facts with us as well. With great service, spacious seats, usb ports, onboard WiFi, a cooler full of water bottles and the rich environment of Lofoten and Senya I honestly think you can't do better than The...