007 Travelogue: Rovaniemi & Salla (FINLAND) 2026: “To Arctic Circle and Beyond”

We began our journey towards Rovaniemi by driving to Seinäjoki and Kauhava in Ostrobothnia—specifically to PowerPark in Ala-Härmä and Park Hotel Härmä, home to one of Finland’s “hidden” Bond gems: a bottle of Bollinger housed inside a giant bullet. Thank you for the invitation, Emilia Lillbacka.

Champagne house Bollinger has packaged its sparkling wine in a James Bond-style, bullet-shaped container that houses a magnum of Bollinger Grande Année 1999.

The “bullet” was designed by French designer Eric Berthés. Impressive in size, it measures 65 cm in length and weighs approximately 30 kg. There are 200 of these collector’s items worldwide, with one available in Finland through Wennerco. Bollinger’s recommended price for the piece was €4,000. It was sold to the highest bidder, and the proceeds were donated to the protection of the Baltic Sea.

The bottle was purchased at that auction in 2008 and brought to Härmä.

We continued our journey to the town of Ii—made famous by a Finnish novelist Kalle Päätalo—and the vicinity of the Iijoki River.

Next, we arrived in Rovaniemi, where 007 has an adventure in John Gardner’s book “Icebreaker” (1983). We had visited Rovaniemi in winter ten years earlier; now, it was nice to revisit those memories and see the city in summer as well. We visited the Land of Santa Claus and crossed the Arctic Circle.

We spotted reindeer in the parking area when we stopped briefly on the slopes of Ounasvaara for a short walk; we also made a quick visit to the Lapland Sky Hotel Ounasvaara, where we had stayed on a previous trip and even witnessed the Northern Lights. You can check out our 2016 “007 Travelogue” from Rovaniemi here.

A few short scenes for the Pierce Brosnan film “The Fourth Protocol” (1987) were filmed at Pohtimolampi. “Karhunpesä – Bear’s Den”, a log cabin located behind Pohtimolampi, served as the vacation home of Major General Pavel Borisov (Ned Beatty) in the film. The film is based on the thriller of the same name by Frederick Forsyth. Forsyth also served as a co-producer and visited Lapland with his 12-year-old son to observe the filming.

We continued our journey to Salla, which is also the setting for the book “Icebreaker” (1983). Hotel Revontuli, where Bond visits, is now Holiday Club Salla.

“At ten past midnight, Bond finally spotted the big illuminated sign proclaiming the Hotel Revontuli. A few minutes later there was the turn-off and the large crescent building, with a great ski jump, chair lift and ski run, brightly lit, climbing up behind the structure.”

“Bond parked the car, surprised that within a few moments of turning off the engine, the screen and bonnet began to frost over. Even so it was difficult to believe the cold. In the open air Bond slipped the goggles into place, made certain his scarf covered his face, then, taking the briefcase and his overnight bag from the car, set the censors and alarms and operated the central locking device.

The hotel was all modern carved wood and marble. A large foyer with a bar leading off. People talked, laughed and drank at the bar. As Bond trudged towards Reception, a familiar voice greeted him.

“Hi James,” called Brad Tirpitz. “What kept you? You ski the whole way?”

Bond nodded, pushing up the goggles and unwinding his scarf. “Seemed a nice night for a walk”, he replied, straight-faced.”

An explosion occurs on the Salla ski slope in the book

“His room was at the rear of the building, and from it he had a clear view of the chair lift, with the ski run, and the curve of the jump. Tiny figures, taking advantage of the short spell of the daylight and the clear atmosphere, were boarding the endlessly moving lift, while high above, outlined like black speeding insects against the snow, others made the long descent, curving in speed-checking traverses, or racing straight on the fall line, with bodies crouched forward, knees bent.”

“The shallow mountain ridge formed a series of steps, covering some one and a half kilometres. The top of the run was hidden from view, but the marked piste was curving and intricate: appeared almost flat, while there were sections, following easy downhill runs, that steepened to awesome angles.”

“The last half kilometre was a nursery slope, no more than a long, straight, gentle run out. Two young men, in black ski suits with white striped woollen hats, were expertly completing what had obviously been a fast run down from the top. They executed showy finishes on the run out, laughing and making a lot of noice.

“Here she comes.” Brad handed over his binoculars with which he had been scanning the top of the final fall line. “Crimson suit”.

Bond raised the classes. Rivke was obviously very good, sideslipping and traversing the steep slope, coming out of it into a straight run, slowing as the snow flattened, then gathering a little speed as she breasted the rise and began to follow the fall line down the long final slope. She had just touched the run out, less than half a kilometre away from them, when the snow seemed to boil on either side of her, and a great white mist rose behind. In the centre of the blossom of fine snow, a sudden fire – red, then white – flashed upwards.

The sound of the muffled crump reached them a second after Bond saw Rivke’s body turning over in mid air, thrown up with the exploding snow.”

“As if on cue, a police Saab Finlandia came skidding into the main hotel car park, pulling up a few paces short of where Kolya, Tirpitz and Bond stood.”

Salla boasts beautiful scenery, and you might run into reindeer just about anywhere. The pair in the photos was resting in the shade behind Holiday Club Salla.

On the return journey, we drove to Kemi, home to the Paattio Manor. A scene for the film “The Fourth Protocol” was also shot in the manor’s courtyard. In the late 1980s, the Kemi city council had to vote on granting filming permission because the minority faction of the Communist Party of Finland (SKP) wanted to prevent the shooting of the anti-Soviet film. There was no desire for Kemi to “incite hatred towards the eastern neighbor.” The city board voted on the matter, and permission for the filming was granted by a clear majority.

In the movie, Paattio Manor represents KGB General Govorshin’s (Alan North) villa in Moscow, The Soviet Union. Major Pavlov (Michael J. Jackson) executes double agent Kim Philby (Michael Bilton) in front of the manor on Govorshin’s orders.

Paattio Manor was designed by architect Valter Thomé and built in 1918. Originally constructed as the headquarters for the Kemi River Log-Floating Association, the manor now houses a residential care home.

Thank you Lapland, see you next time!

See more 007 TRAVELOGUES here