Our Top Tips for Visiting Santa in Lapland
Having not yet reached the peak of summer as yet it might seem a bit premature to be thinking about Christmas but if you’re thinking of taking the children to Lapland this yeat to visit Santa then now is definitely the time to start planning it! We have already seen some of the Saturday day trips in early December already Sold Out and so getting in early is key.
If you’re thinking about doing it, Christmas treats for the kids really don’t get much better than meeting the REAL Santa Claus, ask anyone that’s done it and they’ll agree it’s magical and creates memories that will last a lifetime. The trips are utterly enchanting, picturesque villages among the pine forests with velvety, untouched deep snow and if you’re really lucky you might even see the Northern Lights.
These trips are not cheap, you can expect to pay around £2,000 for two adults and two children and so if you are fortunate enough to be in a position to go then there are a number of things to consider. Here’s our advice:
Best age of the children - Adults and children of all ages will get a lot out of the trip with the huge variety of activities available but for the genuine Santa experience you don’t want the kids to be too young so they don’t remember or appreciate it or, too old and the game will be up on the great man. We think that probably between 4 and are 9 would be just about perfect.
Pick the resort carefully - Some of the cheaper trips with the larger tour operators go to the larger resorts and some of these can be over commercialised. Hundreds of people, tacky gifts and decorations and some don’t even offer a private meeting with Santa! Our advice would be to book with one of the smaller or specialist companies who operate in one of the very picturesque smaller villages. Check carefully exactly what’s included in the package and make 100% sure you get the private meeting at least.
Day trip or short break? - There is no doubt that the day trips are the most popular but do they represent the best value? They are cheaper of course than a 2, 3 or 4 night break but there are downsides. Whilst the operating companies offer the convenience of many regional airports it is still a very long day for the children. Typically flights leave around 8am for the 3 or 4 hour flight to Finnish Lapland, with a time diffeence of a couple of hours, you won’t reach the resort until lunchtime at the earliest and you’ll have about 4 or 5 hours there before flying back, arriving round 10pm assuming no delays of course.
In our opinion, by far the best way is to do a short break of two or three nights. That way you’ll have plenty of time to go sledging, reindeer sleigh riding, snowmobile safaris and above all releish the beautiful landscape with maybe even sight of the Northern Lights. More expensive yes but much better value.
In our Lapland packages we only use suppliers that guarantee a private meeting with Santa, that go to the less commercialised resorts and give you that little bit extra. With one of the we can even arrange to have your child’s letter to Santa to be with him when they meet, how special would that be.
At One Week Or Two we’re here to make sure that your trip to Lapland is as special as you dreamt it would be to enquire click HERE or just give us a call on 01279 210658.
Thanks