Taking a SLEEPER TRAIN to the ARCTIC CIRCLE 

Waitaminute!!! I’m glad you said it was filmed in the Summer because I was about to call you right now and say BROOOO YOU FORGOT ME!

Ok I quite urgently need to try out that pub tram. Can't wait for the rest of this series - looks incredible!

I love seeing the little kid in you come out as you jump back and forth across the Arctic Circle. Finland does seem like such a great country and, as always, thanks for taking us along.

I traveled across the arctic circle while in the US Navy and earned my Blue Nose status! The northern lights were spectacular, hope you truly enjoy every second!

The sleeper trip to the Arctic Circle to visit Santa's village is nice and all but the idea of combining a pub and tram into one and making it a sightseeing tour of Helsinki is such a genius idea. Our capital city also has a tram system (which we had before the war during the Japanese era but had to rebuild it after the war due to Pyongyang being destroyed and was reopened in 1989) with three lines and a shuttle line and we believe this type of experience would be perfect to bring in more tourism. We have old Tatra trams made in the former Czechoslovakia and a pub would fit the classic vibe perfectly. Some history for the Helsinki one: SpåraKoff is a combination of spåra (Helsinki slang for tram; from Swedish spårvagn) and Koff, a brand made by Sinebrychoff, oldest brewery in the Nordic countries. The tram is a former HM V tram, originally constructed in 1959 but most of them have been scrapped and this is one of four remaining in the city. The tour began in 1995 by Sinebrychoff to celebrate their 175th anniversary

The upper deck of those sleeper trains also feature a shower in the suite, and it seems like you got the smallest of the rooms haha. VR has also put an order for new sleeper cars with even better interiors 😊 I’m so happy you had a great start in Finland, especially with the lovelly airport of HEL!

you know it is going to be a good series if it has "sleeper train" in the title

I'm so proud of Helsinki-Vantaa airport :D It's so tranquil. Coming back home from abroad is nice when you realize how quiet and peaceful it is in Finland

*pauses video* why am I crying? Downie, you got me again! Maybe it's the uplifting music or the way you get so excited, but often I find myself crying at least once during your videos. They're effing heartwarming.

I have traveled on the Ontario Northland which has a Polar Bear Express. The train travels from Cochrane, Ontario to James Bay. If you have not done this trip it is quite interesting. Moosonee is at the end of the line and is a Cree community and the train passes through beautiful countryside with plenty of wildlife visible along the way as well as some remote cabins. Hudson’s Bay also began along James Bay. Love watching your travels.

What a surprise this is! I would never have guessed you'd be in Finland taking a train ride to Rovaniemi. There's still a lot of Finland north of there and I'm looking forward to seeing just how far north next week's train station is.

WOW Mike! I really wasn’t expecting Scandinavia. This is going to be epic. Thanks again for allowing me to live vicariously. ✌️❤️

Ahhhh I wanted to go to Finland when I went to the World Cup in 2018, but it ended up being a little out of my price range. I am so so excited for this. Your joy and happiness always brings a smile to my face. Thanks for letting us come along for the ride. I appreciate you.

Glad to see that you are exploring the Nordics. Don't be surprised that you find some Swedish food on the train (i.e meatballs). Finland was part of Sweden for almost 700 years from around 1150 until the Finnish War of 1809 after which Finland became an autonomous part of the Russian Empire.

You tell a story like no other, Mike. Kudos to you and your editors. 🎉

Mike, I 1971 I drove a VW MIni Van through the Fjord country to Bergen ,Norway. Absolutely wonderful. The Shore A.C. from New Jersey spent three weeks in Norway, Sweden ,Denmark, Holland and London I was a designated driver... very cool:) This is going to be a nostalgia trip on your vlog! Cheers, Rik Spector Your neighbor in Ferndale, WA

Despite what you said this is not a standard gauge train. finnish railways are built to a broad gauge, 1,524 mm, because of Finland being part of the Russian Empire when the railways were originally built.

I just came across this video after having just returned from Finland (and Sweden). This video brings back memories of walking thru the Helsinki airport, hearing the birds chirping in the airport, taking the HSL train, getting a number at the station to talk to a customer rep, seeing the city.... But I did it in the cold and snow. So it is very nice to see what it all looks like in the summer.

Your jumping back and forth over the Arctic Circle line should be shown for everyone to see that we can be happy with very little in life :) Looking forward to the journey!

Definitely feels serene! Helsinki's airport reminds me of Changi in Singapore and how Changi has a whole area called The Jewel with an indoor waterfall that makes you feel like you're in the middle of a rainforest. And I agree with what you said about train stations, a train station in a city should be a city's hub, a centerpiece that not only welcomes visitors to the city but wows them. A place where tourists and locals alike come to play. Look at Grand Central Terminal in NYC! It doesn't take long for that terminal to amaze so many on a daily basis. And now with the LIRR, Grand Central will welcome even more people. There's a reason that terminal is seen in so many movies from Madagascar to Men in Black 2. I will say though, as nice as Helsinki Central is...I just love the fact the moment you walked in, the first thing you saw was an advertisement for Disney+ 😂. You just can't escape the Mouse!

Hi Mike. A video on Saturday morning? Australian time ? Now that's pretty cool to wake up to !😂 Especially cool ( pardon the pun) to see the lovely old tram selling beer !😂

I have been really looking forward to this video! I am Jonny the other solo traveller you met on the Koff tram (you might not remember me), but it was a pleasure to meet you, and you really pushed me to see more of the world by train! As this video comes out I am on another one of my travels. I hope you enjoyed the drink as much as I did, and as they say in Finland, Kippis!

You got the most amazing gig on the planet. Trains, travel, time. All shown with the utmost class. Kudos from a fellow Vancouverite!

Nice to see you in the Nordic and great video as always! When (not if) you come back, you should visit the beautiful island of Gotland where they have restored an old train that takes you through the scenic landscape. It would be a pleasure to show you around.

Glad to know even professional travelers sometimes book the 'wrong' ticket. I mixed up departure and arrival cities once! Looking forward to seeing the rest of the series.

So cool Mike! I'm currently on an Austrian sleeper train, the OBB Nightjet from Vienna to Amsterdam It is so much fun to experience a sleeper train in another country! 🇦🇹 🇳🇱

what a great video mike. i’m in the hospital because i had surgery on my appendix, and i’ve just been binge watching all of your videos. so the fact that a new ones came out is awesome to help kill time and take my mind off things

Hi Mike! I've discovered your videos a few months ago and fell in love with your storytelling, but I had no idea you actually visited my home country! It's so heartwarming and hilarious to see you discover our culture and language, and be excited about things that we consider normal and mundane. Very excited about the rest of the series!

This is like a Wes Anderson short film. Everything was perfect!

The night trains are the best! We’ve been also going around Finland searching for stories🤩😍

I love your enthusiasm. It is so uplifting and life affirming, especially since i have had a bad few years but, your videos always brighten my life. Thank you

Awesome video Mike! Nice to see that your sister is coming out to travel with you. She and you make great traveling partners. It seems you two get along best together on trips with each other. You have more adventurous fun when you're trying to keep up with her. Everyone else you're dialing it back so they are more comfortable. She says Mike, keep up with me , if you can, so you up your game!

Fantastic! Can't wait for the next instalment. Thanks for always sharing your journeys with us. You are living out my dream!

I used to work as a train barista in Finlands longdistance trains. Abolutely my favorite job in the world. Not a single day was like any other.

I went to that exact same place back when I was 9 years old. The only difference is that as soon as I stepped over the line there were three jets flying by and I got scared. 🤣

Have to add another comment because I apparently missed some things the first time around. The train stations are beautiful, The trains themselves are interesting but those rooms are so tiny. The views are really amazing. OH, and the tram/Pub was a nice way to see the city. cheers!

This was wonderful! I'm so looking forward to the rest of the series - I love Norway and the fact that I got a bit emotional several times during this video means my love extends to the rest of the Nordics 😬. Tip for architecture lovers planning to visit Helsinki: watch the latest video on Archimarathon! They discuss and show some more great architecture around the central station. And one more thing: I love how those wide-gauge trains look so similar to Dutch and German ones but then they fit a lot more furniture in and their noses look slightly off!

I'm excited to see this series. It's so neat seeing these various unique places you get to visit & enjoy. Loved seeing Helsinki, the lobby, the street car with a pub, the train sleep car (looked a little tight), the food looked great, cars hauled via train, the Christmas Village, reindeers, artic circle, & really nice scenery along the way. Really looking forward to next week.

Glad to see you enjoyed my home country! 11:15 it says "From Rovaniemi, train will continue to Kemijärvi at7:37am". Btw those new trains they are around Europe pretty similar. I higly recommend you to take night train from Helsinki to Tornio. They do not use those brand new InterCity-trains, but they still use old blue Finnish Pikajuna-night trains. There you really can enjoy 1970's style cabin. I just have been tried that only one month ago. Tornio located literally in Finnish-Swedish-border. Its a twintown Haparanda(SWE)-Tornio(FIN), very cool and nice place. Two timezones, two currencies, two countries met there. Interesting history. Finnish and Swedish rails met there. We have different rail track gauge with Finland so its not possible to cross the border with train even Finnish rails goes to Haparanda (Sweden) and Swedish rails goes to Tornio (Finland). There is a railway bridge crosses the border with both rail track sizes. Haparanda railway station in Swedish side has interesting history when Finnish kids and women evacuated to Sweden during the war when Soviet Russia attacked to Finland and stole our lands in 1939-1944.

Downielive on a Friday??? Yooo let's gooo end this week with a bang and the weekends tomorrow lovely

I’m Canadian, now living on Vancouver Island.. but I’m originally from Thunder Bay! I once dated someone from Inari, a few hundred kilometres further north from Rovaniemi, and have travelled up that way quite a few times! Fun fact: Thunder Bay has the largest Finnish population outside of Finland.. and we figured out why. Knock me (or my ex for that matter) out and wake us up on a country road in the north of Finland or in Northwestern Ontario - and you could not tell the difference - the landscape is nearly identical. Despite Inari being 1000s of kilometres further north.. that’s got to say something about the Jet Stream!

Thanks for all these. My old legs, injured too many times, find short walks even difficult. You're my legs to these adventures. Keep going

Another fantastic train trip sir! I can’t wait until I take a sleeper car cross country.

i am so excited to see another DownieLive vid!

This is great, I subscribed. The only thing missing is that I wish you included prices for the train routes, room, and meals, etc.

Oh my goodness. A video release on a Friday AND a new adventure? Yes, please! 😊👍

What a spectacular video. It would amazing to be in the Arctic circle and Santa Village around Christmas time. I would hate to see a over 6 foot person in the sleeper. Really looking forward to more videos of the Arctic circle. I hope you saw the Northern lights

The one thing I kept thinking as I rode a train from Helsinki north to Tampere is how much like northern Ontario the scenery was, tons of forests, shield and lakes. So far from home, but very familiar. Very beautiful.

good to see you enjoyed Finland :D nice to see you visiting this part of the world

always such a pleasure when you upload Michael, keep up the amazing work and cinematography, hoping you come try the Ravos Rail in South Africa one day, yes although very expensive, well worth the money, i did the 16 day 15 night trip from Cape Town to Dar Es Salaam in Tazania on myself and my wives honeymoon. Thanks DownieLive for the train content

I'm so happy!! You're back on trains!! Yeah!!! Wow Europe is so cool!! Thank you for taking me there! You made my day!!! 🫶🤗

One minute you are on the UK canal network that I live on and enjoy, the next minute you provide me with a travel experience for 2023. Superb first Vlog.

LOL the Arctic circle is in my house, I have the Aircon on. Fun, it's great to come along

Wooooowwwwwww......Another great job Mike as always, thank you for always sharing with us. Can't wait to continue watching. Much love from Colorado, USA.

Great trip! I would have to have a bigger compartment as the one you had would give me claustrophobia! The train station and the Christmas Village are very nice! Thank you for the invitation to another great adventure!

One really big advantage of Finnish trains is that compared to other Nordic countries and European countries, the Finnish rail network uses wide cauge track (1524 mm), which makes the trains feel much more spacious. This applies to both cabins and sidewalks. The restaurant wagons are also spacious and you can really have a good time in them. These Finnish double decker train cars are massive and really comfortable based on my own experiences. For example, in standard cauge countries, they haven't bothered to invest in sleeper trans as much as Finland has because of this limited track width. One of the root causes is, that the track width and space is, well, "limited". I has not been possible to make the experience "good enough" to really invest properly in it and make it mainstream. People often just choose airplane over train. However, in Finland, sleeper trains and trains in general are really popular. Airplanes are not necessarily the first option for the Finns.

Ohhh man! I'm so excited for this series. Can't wait to watch the videos every week!

I loved playing hop scotch like that as a Scout travelling with the Pack to the Peace Arch in 1989!

I crossed the Arctic Circle on a Norwegian Coastal Express Steamer (aka Hurtigruten). I vividly recall it involved a lot of icy water down the back of my neck!

love, love, love it !!!! Santa brings out the kid in all of us, as it should be !!!! 🎅🎅🎅

Wow, Mike! You never cease to amaze me with your travel content. Makes me wish I was half my current age and a bit fitter for long distance travel (So glad I did my UK/Canada trip back in 2018 - not sure if my energy levels will allow me more 7 week marathons). You posted this a little late for Christmas just gone but just in time for my upcoming 70th birthday. I've seen other videos on train journeys in Finland, Norway and Sweden but you have really excited me about this series with this first episode. Looking forward to the rest of the series. Hoping also you can come downunder before I become unable to travel. You have a lot of friends here who will be thrilled to show you around. Cheers from Michael.🙂

I visited Rovaniemi as a child about 30 years ago with my parents - mid June. We had to sleep with dark-out curtains since it was soooo bright. At 2 a.m. it was like noon. We rented bicycles and toured the city. The whole experience was like it was yesterday, so memorable. I speak Estonian and the language is remarkably similar to Finish. I’d guess I could figure out 60%+ of the language. Thanks for rekindling the memories.

Great to see this series now on RU-vid! Looking forward to the DownieLive Travels by Train Nordic Edition!

c'mon man! It´s so good when you share your videos with us! I hope to travel in a train soon Thanks for sharing a good smile with us!!

Love that train! The upstairs cabins are even better, they're en-suite, and you can transform the washroom into a shower cubicle. Not to mention the dedicated straps on the wall for your skis...

Thanks, Downie you keep doing it!!! We love your enthusiasm!!!

WOW....just wow. Thank you again for sharing your fun with us

6 mins in and loving it! Great production and amazing content. Thanks!

I have so much fun watching your travels... I had the same feeling of joy when we visited England a few years ago and I was able to visit the Prime Meridian at the Greenwich Observatory. Other than that, my train travels have been limited to commuter train on Metro North Railroad into and out of NYC's Grand Central Terminal.

He's having more fun in thuis trip alone than me in all the trips with weman I did, and now I'm enjoying myself as well, good for him he discovered this at a young age.

I have watched your videos for years and it's so cool to see you in my home country Finland!

The place is absolutely stunning. It’s so beautiful. Thanks for showing this gem. I think now I need to add this on my bucket list.😊

Mike, Great start to the next adventure. Thanks for bringing us along.

What a nice surprise Mike! A video on Friday! Awesome!

Visiting Helsinki this summer, and now I’m even more excited to see the city!

heck yea, Mike!! Super excited for this new series. My kids and I watch them all! THANK YOU!!

Oh my goodness Downie you are so cheeky and funny...and I love your videos...I learn a lot about different cities and places in Europe by watching your videos!🙂🙂👍👍

Yayyyy👏☃️Winter train ride delight.It’s all wow and wow👏👍👏👍

Jumping back and forth in the Arctic Circle...yeah..."They" are going to come and get you. Have fun. Patricia-South Padre Island, Texas

Another addition to my bucket list. Thanks MIKE.

Sent this to my friend who is obsessed with Christmas and whose bucket list includes visiting the village!

Having a tough time in life at the moment and your energy and charisma is really helping me. I love airports and travel reviews and I'm glad I've found your channel.

Wow Mike. What an exciting trip to be on. Looking forward to the whole series.

I did the train ride up to the Arctic Circle several times while interrailing through Europe several years ago. I had an unlimited train ticket, which meant I must have done the Oslo to Narvik (northernmost town in the Norwegian Arctic Circle) and Stockholm to Kiruna (a national park in Sweden) routes at least 20 times. The scenery was BREATHTAKING, especially along the western coast of Norway as the train snaked through the mountains giving you an awesome view of the fjords. I would definitely recommend the Arctic Circle to anyone looking to experience nature at its best!

I cannot explain how happy I was to see this video, my most favorite series you've ever made, recreated in my most favorite and home countries, can't wait for the rest of the series!!

Mike you where here!!In Finland!!! I'm so happy! I wish I could have given you all the best tips

This made me so happy! Finland and the Arctic Circle has been on my list for a long time and this really inspired me! Thank you! Can’t wait for more episodes.

Wow, I loved this episode. What a surprise since I think of Finland as the 4th most famous Scandinavian country. It's now on my bucket list.

I crossed the Arctic Circle on a flight from Anchorage to Prudhoe Bay. It was in February, the sun had just come out after so much darkness. It was very cold. It felt like I was there for a week but it was only 1 day for work for FAA. Lunch was a $15.00 hamburger with fries.

Absolutely beautiful. I can't wait for the next episode.

Michael and team. So fun to see you always enjoying life!💞💞💞🌺🌺🌺 We Love you taking us with you and look forward to this next adventure!!!💞💞💞🌺🌺🌺 As always we wish you, your family and friends ( team too) to stay safe and well💞💞💞🌺🌺🌺 Your friends from San Francisco ,and Sacramento , California P.s. We have nick named you and Will the Orginal “ Chip and Dale” We hope that the two of you do not mind.💞💞💞🌺🌺🌺

Can't wait for another adventure. Beautiful country.

I love your enthusiasm.....and train rides!!!

How exciting! I hope the rest of your trip is just as lovely! Can't wait to watch! Thanks for sharing! I have to put this on my bucket list!

Hi Mike! I've had so much FUN watching this video. THANK YOU! I hope someday, once all of the train routes resume, we can welcome you to New Zealand. Until then, Thank you for sharing your cheerful spirit and great content.

When I was there in 2017 that restaurant was still the ticket office at the train station, but the Burger King was there on the opposite wing - also beautiful but no doubt your meal was better! Looking forward to the series, I think I've done a few of the trains you'll be featuring - such an amazing part of the world.

If I remember right: just after leaving Helsinki Central (or was it Pasila?), the Santa Express takes a short 10-20 minute pause during which they attach the Auto-Carts that are loaded at different location. Usually you barely even notice it since you're settling in and maybe finding the cafeteria for coffee break #1 at that time. Kinda cool system if you ask me!

I introduced my wife to train travel. She loved it, We did a lot of it, mostly in the US but also the UK and Italy. Some times I think I should stop watching your train videos because they provoke memories and make me miss her terribly. But I'll keep watching - for precisely that reason.

Very impressive, Michael Downie. Enjoy your trip!!

YAY! Another grand adventure! Thanks for sharing!