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Our family adventure to Lapland
- Destination: Saariselka Top of Finland
- Who we traveled with: Santa Claus Trips
- What we did: Santa’s Lapland and Lapland Safari
Bah Hum Bug…. we don’t do Christmas. Every year we escape to Spain for Winter sun, but this time was different. Our 9 year old son was arguing with his brother about who believed in Santa more. We suddenly realised this was it! If we didn’t go to Lapland now there may never be another chance. We booked our trip on the Monday morning and flew on the Friday from Liverpool, for a three day trip. We went the last weekend in November which we thought was brilliant. All the snow (and staff) were fresh and our children only missed Friday at school.
Accommodation
Saariselka is at the top of Finland. It is a small community with a selection of hotels and wild reindeer every where. Our stay was in a log cabin, where we had been matched perfectly with another family who had boys exactly the age of ours. We found the hosts to be very experienced and professional at all times, and we were treated to hot chocolate and cakes all the time. The beds were super comfy, and the sauna was large – with a door to the outside veranda so you could dive into the snow. We were impressed with the size, newness and comfort of the cabin.
What you need
They make sure you are very warm on your coach trip from the airport which was only 15mins. You then stop at Lapland safari office and in five minutes you have a full snow suit, boots, gloves, hat and you are back on the bus. The system was quick and easy. Take a bright coloured hat for the kids however so you can find them after 2 pm when the sun sets.
What did we do
We loved the snowmobile ride and thought this was amazing. Only in Finland do they hand you over a snowmobile and you drive it with a guide for three hours into the forests with the instruction ‘enjoy’. The children were warm in a guides sleigh but make sure you put lots of layers on them. A tip is to book this for the first night as you get more time to do the activity. On the last night you have to get back earlier for the Christmas meal.
We sledged and sledged till midnight as our children are older, and a family adventure to Lapland is unique, so we thought let’s just go for it. There are sledges every where and the run is fantastic.
The day we saw Santa was done very well and you could not fault them for making the day special. We got to drive the family in a husky sledge, have a reindeer ride, explore giant igloos, become part of the elf squad, sledge, build a snow man and the children got to ride a snow mobile. Visiting Santa himself was very well done. Our family was suddenly put on a sledge driven through the woods and just happen to come across some elves playing. We stopped to throw some snow balls and popped in to see Santa by the fire. A truly magical moment. I would visit Santa in the morning and go to igloos in the afternoon as it is dark and the lighting is really cool.
What would we have done differently
I think we should have done the 4 days then we could have had a ski day.
Cost
£550 per person as we booked last minute but this was our activities, flight, accommodation and food for two nights. If you book really early you can get this price or if you leave it late and chance it like us. I loved the cabin as it felt very spacious and we had separate rooms from the kids with lots of opportunity for a glass of wine and a sauna.
You will never regret doing this, book now! Embrace the Santa experience and spot wild reindeer.
For more inspiration for a family adventure to Lapland, read my 20 top tips for visiting Lapland with kids.
This is a guest post by Katy about her family adventure to Lapland. Katy and her family paid for the whole trip and have not been compensated in any way for this post.
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Wow, that looks a fabulous trip. I want to go.
It looks absolutely amazing, thank you for sharing! I’m hoping that we will be able to do this one year when our children are a little older but still young enough to appreciate the magic. It is expensive but actually not as expensive as I’d thought. The igloo looks fantastic, I know that we’d all love that.
Oh I would love to go to lapland, it really does just sound like the perfect family break 🙂
Stevie x