Vegetarian & Jain Food on a Northern Lights Trip (Finland, Sweden & Norway): An Indian Traveller's Guide

If you are a vegetarian — or you keep a strict Jain diet — the single biggest worry before a Northern Lights trip is not the cold. It is food. Will there be anything to eat in the Arctic Circle beyond salad and bread? We get this question on almost every enquiry for our Chasing the Lights – Scandinavia Edition and Ice Breaker Special tours, so here is the honest, on-the-ground answer from a group that has actually done this trip with Indian vegetarian and Jain travellers.

Short version: yes, you will eat well — in Rovaniemi, Kiruna/Abisko and Tromsø — but it takes a little planning, and Jain travellers should carry a small backup kit. Below is exactly how we handle it.

Is vegetarian food easy to find in Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian Lapland?

Easier than you would expect. Nordic cities are surprisingly vegetarian- and vegan-friendly — plant-based eating is mainstream here, so most restaurants carry a clearly marked vegetarian or vegan option, and staff speak excellent English. The challenge is not finding "veg" food; it is finding filling, flavourful, Indian-palate-friendly veg food in small Arctic towns where options thin out. That is where our city guides come in:

• Best pure-veg & vegetarian-friendly restaurants in Rovaniemi (your Finland base)

• Best vegetarian-friendly restaurants in Helsinki (for your arrival/departure day)

• Best vegetarian & vegan restaurants in Tromsø (your Norway base)

Jain food in Lapland: the realistic picture

Let us be straight — you will not find a Jain restaurant in the Arctic. What you can do is eat a satisfying Jain-compatible diet by ordering carefully and carrying a few staples. The Jain rules that matter most when ordering here are: no onion and garlic, no root vegetables (potato, carrot, beetroot, ginger), and no egg. In practice that means:

• Base your meals on: rice, pasta (ask for a plain tomato/olive-oil base, no onion-garlic), bread, cheese, butter, paneer-style fresh cheeses, beans above ground, tomatoes, bell peppers, corn, peas, mushrooms (if acceptable to you), and plenty of fruit.

• Watch out for: hidden onion/garlic in soups, sauces and stocks; potato as a default side (very common in Nordic food); and "vegetable broth" that is usually root-vegetable based.

• The magic phrase: "No onion, no garlic, no potato — allergy." Framing it as an allergy gets Nordic kitchens to take it seriously and check ingredients, which they are very good about.

What to pack from India (our tested Jain + veg kit)

This small kit has saved every Jain traveller we have hosted on cold or late-returning nights after an aurora hunt, when kitchens are shut:

• Ready-to-eat Jain meals (the boil-in-pouch brands) — 4 to 6 pouches.

• Thepla / khakhra / dry snacks that survive two weeks — the single most useful thing you can carry.

• Instant upma/poha cups and a few Maggi-style cups (just add hot water — every hotel room and igloo has a kettle).

• Dry chutney powder, a small pack of pickle, and your preferred masala — they turn plain Nordic rice or pasta into a real meal.

• Protein/energy bars for the long drives to the aurora spots and the Abisko Sky Station evening.

All of this is fully allowed in checked baggage; keep factory-sealed packaging and you will have no issue at Helsinki or Oslo customs.

Day-type by day-type: where the veg/Jain meals actually come from

Finland (Rovaniemi, 3 nights)

Your longest base and the easiest for food. Rovaniemi has genuine vegetarian-friendly restaurants (see our guide above), supermarkets (K-Market, Lidl) for fruit, bread, cheese and snacks, and hotel breakfasts that always include bread, cheese, fruit, yoghurt, cereals and often a hot vegetable option. The Santa Claus Village and Ranua Zoo days have café stops where a cheese sandwich, fries and coffee are reliable fallbacks.

Sweden (Kiruna / Abisko, 2 nights)

Smaller and more remote — this is where your India kit earns its place. The ICEHOTEL and Abisko lodges do serve vegetarian set-menu options if you inform them in advance (our team arranges this for you), but late-night returns from aurora hunts are when the pouches and cups come out.

Norway (Tromsø, 2 nights)

Back to a proper city with strong vegetarian and vegan dining — our Tromsø veg guide covers the best of it. Pizza, pasta, Indian and pan-Asian spots all exist here.

How VacMode makes this easier for you

Because we run these departures as a group with an Indian trip leader (Jatin travels with you), we pre-notify every hotel and lodge of vegetarian and Jain requirements before arrival, point the group to the right restaurants each evening, and keep a small shared stock of Indian staples on the coach. You are never left guessing what you will eat after a −20°C aurora hunt. If you want to see where you will actually sleep each night, our hotel guides for Rovaniemi, Helsinki and Tromsø show the exact standard to expect.

Ready to plan a veg/Jain-friendly Northern Lights trip?

Both of our Lapland departures are built with Indian vegetarian and Jain travellers in mind. Explore the November Scandinavia Edition (Finland, Sweden & Norway with husky safari, glass igloo and Santa Claus Village) or the March Ice Breaker Special (icebreaker cruise and ice-floating), and talk to us about your exact dietary needs — we have done this before.