Once in Lifetime Trip to See Santa in Lapland (2024)
Meeting Santa in Lapland, Finland is one of the most magical winter experiences. But a Lapland family holiday can take a lot of planning. In this blog post, I have set out how we organised our trip and the wonderful experiences we had.
If you are planning to visit Lapland, hopefully by reading this post, I can save you time with your own research.
Our holiday was enriching on many levels and certainly evoked the spirit of Christmas. Meeting Santa [Father Christmas] was amazing, but Lapland has so much more to offer. There is beauty here in many forms, from the Sami traditions and culture, the wonderful and expansive snowscapes to the snow-related activities.
Santa’s Lapland
This was to be a ‘once in a lifetime’ holiday for our family, so we needed to get it right. Our research and preparation began early, in fact over a year in advance of our trip to Lapland. Santa, or Father Christmas if you prefer, is a very popular man, so we knew that we had to book early to avoid disappointment.
There are so many different Lapland packages available and to begin with, it was quite daunting trying to decide which one to go with. They all looked good but each offered something a little different to the next.
Despite speaking with several High Street and online travel operators we decided to go with ‘Santa’s Lapland’ and we booked through Dreams of Lapland.
The staff at Dreams of Lapland were incredibly helpful and informative. We spent a long time discussing the options with them – they were very patient with us. The staff were very knowledgeable, without applying any pressure, and they paid attention to the little things that made a big difference.
We were not disappointed; in fact, we can thoroughly recommend this company. We found that some of the High Street travel operators didn’t quite have the breadth of knowledge or patience as Dreams of Lapland.
Why you visit Santa at Saariselkä, Lapland
Following the advice given by Dreams of Lapland, we decided that our Lapland adventure would begin in Saariselkä.
Following an early morning flight from London Stansted to Ivalo, we had arrived in Saariselkä by mid-afternoon.
Saariselkä is a small village that is located 250km north of the Arctic Circle. Due to the northerly position, during winter there is very little daylight. Most of your visit is in dusk or darkness.
Saariselkä has a compact centre that contains all the key services and shops, as well as the main hotels.
Being a small village, it does not take long to get a sense of the wilderness around it, with the perfect picture postcard snowscape scenery, giving it a real Christmas feel. There are snow-covered pine trees everywhere you look, each taking the form of the ultimate Christmas Tree.
For those that want to spend longer in Saariselkä, the village acts as a tourism hub for a number of activities, including skiing. Saariselkä is actually Europe’s northernmost ski resort, with up to 15 slopes to choose from and over 200km of cross-country ski trails. We didn’t have time to ski on our trip, but could be a very good reason to return to Saariselkä in future.
The magic and excitement of seeing the snow in Saariselkä was instant for all of us. The kids were eager to play in the snow as soon as possible upon arrival. One of the first things they did was to create snow angels outside of the hotel, followed very quickly by a snowball fight.
A particular treat is the toboggan run that ends just a few hundred metres from the village centre, where we spent our first evening. This toboggan run is the longest in Northern Europe at over 1,200m long, with an elevational drop of 130m, conveniently ending close to the village centre.
We understand that it is about a 45 to 60 minute walk to the top of the toboggan run, but given we had our young children with us, we opted to join the slope just a couple of hundred metres from the end.
Our children got a lot of exercise and enjoyment from going up and down the slopes, over and over again. It can get busy here.
It’s possible to borrow toboggans from your hotel when you first arrive and return them when you leave, although you will also find them throughout the village along the roadside. We took our toboggans everywhere we went. They proved to be the perfect way for the children to travel and have fun when out and about in Saariselkä.
The biggest draw for us coming to Saariselkä, was of course to meet Santa, who lives in a little log cabin, tucked away in the snowy forests surrounding Saariselkä. More on that below.
Santa’s Home in Saariselkä, Lapland
The Santa’s Lapland package included a full ‘Adventure Day’ at the Arctic Circle Centre near Saariselkä. This Adventure Day included a range of activities from husky sledding, reindeer sleigh rides, tobogganing and many more, but importantly includes a snowmobile ride into the forest to search for Santa’s home and meet him in person.
Some of the activities on offer include:
A Lapland Husky Sledding Ride
The huskies are truly beautiful animals, with their furry coats and sparkling eyes.
The parents, grandparents and guardians of the very excited children are given the opportunity to drive the sled and take the reins of four very excited husky dogs. The children and remaining adult get to sit in the sled and admire the speed and beauty of the huskies as they whisk around the course.
Other than meeting Santa himself, this was perhaps our children’s favourite activity, and the most talked about activity after we returned back home.
Reindeer Sleigh Ride in Lapland
Another favourite was the sleigh ride. Compared to the husky ride, this a more sedate experience as the reindeer slowly move through the snowy landscape.
Mini Skidoo
This was another of the more talked about activities and a great experience for the children. The mini skidoo is essentially a mini snowmobile. It has been set up so that it goes around a tree in a circular motion. This was a very popular activity, so as the children went around multiple times, the queues were quite long at certain times of the day. We benefited by waiting until later in the day, once the number of people in the Arctic Circle Centre had reduced and were able to avoid queuing.
Tobogganing at Santa’s Lapland
It feels like everywhere we went had a toboggan run, and the Adventure Day at the Arctic Circle Centre was no exception. We all had plenty of fun as we went down the toboggans over and over again. The children were in hysterics every time one of the adults went off course and ended up in the snow !!
Skiing with Toddlers in Lapland
The Arctic Circle Centre contains a short ski slope with framed skis that anyone can use without any training. It is lovely to have the feel of skiing for anyone who is new to skiing, especially children. There is even a little seat on the front of the frame for small children to sit on, while the adult skis them down the slope.
Elf Wonderland area at Arctic Circle Centre
Within the Elf Wonderland area of the Arctic Circle Centre are two stunning igloos that are lit up in the darkness with vibrant colours.
These igloos are made completely of ice and snow. Whilst they were stunning to view on the outside, on the inside they contained a number of beautiful ice sculptures and a small theatre, where the elves share their stories and participate in some games.
The Reindeer Centre is an area where you can meet the reindeer and take part in reindeer themed activities.
Meeting Santa in Lapland
Meeting Santa This is the most magical part of the day.
Santa’s helpers take the family on a snowmobile through the forest, where hidden in the depths is Santa’s wooden cabin. The children spend about 10 minutes looking out to see if they can spot the cabin in the snow.
Upon arriving, the children are greeted by the cheeky elves, and they are very cheeky, who then introduce the family to Santa himself in an exclusive meeting.
Santa finds and reads the letter previously sent to him by the children and gives them a little present. The children are truly amazed that he knows their name and has their hand written letter in his hand. It is these little things that make such a difference with a holiday like this.
There is a long queue to meet Santa, however the children are shielded from this by undertaking the activities mentioned above. Normally one parent/guardian queues in line at the start of the snowmobile journey, whilst the other parent/guardian looks after the children as they go down the toboggan run, ski slope or use the mini skidoos.
Once it is their turn to meet Santa, they are called to the snowmobile for the adventure of a lifetime !!
Warming Tents at Arctic Circle Centre
It is very cold in Lapland. The thermal clothing provided upon first arrival in Saariselkä is very good (see below), but it is worth adding additional layers as it is a long day that is mainly outdoors.
There are a number of cosy tents and cabins within the Arctic Circle Centre to warm up around a fire place. Hot drinks, biscuits and pancakes are available on demand within these tents and cabins.
A lunch is also provided in the main cabin within the Arctic Circle Centre.
The Northern Lights in Lapland
The Northern Lights are a natural phenomenon and Saariselkä is a good base in which to see them.
Given the location of Saariselkä within the Arctic Circle, we were hopeful that we would see the Northern Lights. Unfortunately, it was not to be, and frustratingly they did extend over Saariselkä just a few weeks after we left.
Santa’s Lapland offers an extra snowmobile expedition on the first night to search for the northern lights. This sounded like an interesting idea, but we decided against it as our youngest daughter was very tired after the early flight and in anticipation of the activities planned for the following day.
Getting To Saariselkä, Lapland
We flew out from London Stansted to Ivalo Airport where we were greeted by some of Santa’s elves.
Saariselkä is a short 25 minute coach transfer to the hotel. Reindeer in the forest can be spotted from the windows, whilst the driver and helpers encourage a Christmas singalong.
Once in Saariselkä, we were provided with thermal suits and equipment and then taken to our hotel.
Hotel Tunturi, Saariselkä, Lapland
We stayed at Hotel Tunturi, which is centrally located within Saariselkä. It was easy to get around by toboggan from here.
The hotel is arranged as a primary hotel building with a number of off-site apartments located further down the road.
We stayed in one of the apartments, which even had its own sauna.
Breakfast and dinner was provided in the main hotel building, where we had an à la carte menu option. On the final night of the trip, a special Christmas Gala dinner party is hosted at the hotel.
Souvenirs and Shops
We had a number of hours to explore Saariselkä, following our amazing day finding Santa. We saw more picture perfect views of the snow covered houses and there was a number of shops selling souvenirs.
I was particularly drawn to the Sámi fabrics and prints which had interesting textures and patterns. Traditionally the Sámi are a semi-nomadic people from this part of Finland. Their clothes and goods have been designed for largely practical use but they are also highly decorative. Functional items include knives, cases, cups and the well known ‘four winds’ hat. Use of wood, antlers, leather and roots is common and the traditional colours are red, yellow, green and blue. This comes across in the souvenirs available in the shops.
Of course, we couldn’t resist and bought some beautiful Christmas tree decorations for our Christmas Tree back home and some lovely decorative wooden lights for our childrens’ bedrooms.
