Hyvää joulua! is the one to know, and it will carry you through the whole season. But there's a second wish Finns use at least as often, and it tells you something about the country: rauhallista joulua — "a peaceful Christmas."
Not merry. Peaceful. Plenty of Finns prefer it, and once you've spent a December there you understand why.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
Merry Christmas!
Hyvää joulua!
Have a peaceful Christmas!
Rauhallista joulua!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Hyvää joulua ja onnellista uutta vuotta!
Happy holidays!
Hyviä pyhiä!
Happy New Year!
Onnellista uutta vuotta!
Happy New Year! (the everyday form)
Hyvää uutta vuotta!
Have a good Christmas season.
Hyvää joulunaikaa.
Practice these words
Hyvää joulua!
One pattern, many wishes: hyvää plus a noun is how Finnish wishes you almost anything — hyvää joulua, hyvää uutta vuotta, hyvää päivänjatkoa. It's the same structure as the everyday good wishes in greetings and goodbyes, so you already know how to build these.
How to Reply
Someone will wish you a good Christmas before you've thought of a reply. These are the ones that cover it.
Thank you, same to you!
Kiitos, samoin!
Likewise!
Samoin!
Thank you, and to you too!
Kiitos, ja sinulle myös!
Merry Christmas to you too!
Hyvää joulua sinullekin!
Thanks, and a good new year to you.
Kiitos, ja hyvää uutta vuotta sinulle.
Practice these words
Kiitos, samoin!
Good to know: spoken aloud, samoin on its own is a complete and perfectly polite answer to any wish at all. In a written card it reads a little curt, so pair it with kiitos. If you learn one reply from this page, learn that one.
What to Write in a Card
Merry Christmas and a good new year
Hyvää joulua ja hyvää uutta vuotta
With warm Christmas greetings
Lämpimin jouluterveisin
With Christmas greetings
Jouluterveisin
With best regards
Parhain terveisin
on behalf of the whole family
koko perheen puolesta
See you at Christmas!
Nähdään jouluna!
Practice these words
Hyvää joulua ja hyvää uutta vuotta
Still a paper habit: Finland sends a lot of Christmas cards, and they're expected to arrive before Christmas Eve rather than during the holiday. Posti publishes a recommended last posting day each year, usually in the second week of December — check that date rather than trusting the old mid-December rule of thumb.
At the Christmas Table
Cheers!
Kippis!
Shall we open the presents?
Avataanko lahjat?
This one's for you.
Tämä on sinulle.
Thank you for the present!
Kiitos lahjasta!
Did Santa come?
Kävikö joulupukki?
Are there any good children here?
Onko täällä kilttejä lapsia?
Practice these words
Kippis!
The line Santa actually says: onko täällä kilttejä lapsia? — "are there any well-behaved children here?" Joulupukki turns up in person on the evening of the 24th, knocks, comes in, asks the room that question, and hands out presents while everyone watches.
New Year
Happy New Year to you too!
Hyvää uutta vuotta sinullekin!
See you next year!
Nähdään ensi vuonna!
Let's go and watch the fireworks.
Mennään katsomaan ilotulitusta.
What's your New Year's resolution?
Mikä on uudenvuodenlupauksesi?
I don't make resolutions.
En tee uudenvuodenlupauksia.
Practice these words
Hyvää uutta vuotta sinullekin!
An old fortune-telling game: tinanvalanta meant melting a small tin horseshoe, tipping it into cold water and reading the frozen shape for the year ahead. The horseshoes sold for it contained lead, and an EU restriction took them off the shelves after the 2018 New Year. The tradition carries on with wax instead, which melts at a far lower temperature and is a good deal safer on a kitchen hob.
Which Wish, and When
Hyvää joulua works from about the start of December until the 26th, to anyone, in any register — shop staff, colleagues, strangers holding a door. There's no formal and informal version to choose between.
Rauhallista joulua is the one worth adding to your repertoire. "Peaceful Christmas" sits more comfortably with how Finns talk about the holiday: the point of it is quiet, family, food and the sauna, not noise and spectacle. Saying it marks you as someone who has noticed that, and it goes down well in writing especially.
Hyviä pyhiä — "good holy days" — covers the whole stretch from Christmas Eve to New Year without committing to either, and it's what people say on the last working day before the break. If you're leaving an office in Finland on 22 December, that's the phrase on everyone's lips as the lift doors close.
After the 26th, drop Christmas entirely and switch to hyvää uutta vuotta. Finns stop mentioning joulu fairly abruptly once Boxing Day is over, and a Christmas wish on the 29th sounds like you've lost track of the date.