Christmas in Lapland
From the moment you step off the plane you have arrived at a wonderful, magical Christmas Fairyland. We went to Saariselka in Finland which is located in the Artic Circle in Lapland and also Finlands most northernly location to meet Father Christmas. Now, I am not going to tell you everything because if you are reading this and planning to go you want to experience a little magic for yourself.
We went over Christmas day itself and stayed for three nights at the Tunturi, which was amazing, it had log fires, chocolates to eat, Christmas Gnomes and in our family room a balcony and sauna.
Saariselka has the longest toboggan run in Europe and it is awesome. Pelting down the run through snow laiden trees – and yes I was screaming all the way down, but so pleased I did it.
From the airport we were transferred to a place to get suited up in our Artic clothing; and you need those snow suites. Whilst we were there the temperatures dropped to -28°C during the day, however they can go lower.
The search for Santa day is why you go and what an amazing day. This is an experience that we will treasure for the rest of our lives. The experience of meeting the real Father Christmas in Lapland and the look on our children’s faces when he read the letters that they had wrote weeks before was such a delight. Not only do you do your search for Santa, but you have other activities to do during the day if you so wish, including Huskey Sledging, which was my eldest’s favourite; also a reindeer sleigh ride under a blanket to keep warm. We played Ice hockey, and I actually scored a goal – yes this bit is about me, at 41, quite a proud moment, but husband was not watching with the camera, so moment missed!
We did tobogganing, skidoo, ice fishing, there was an ice bar with beautiful ice sculptures in. Lunch is included and so are the hot berry juices, pancakes and biscuits in the warming tents throughout the day which are absolutely lovely and very welcoming at different parts of the day when you need a rest and to warm up.
With Lapland it isn’t just the experience of all I have mentioned; the people are so friendly and welcoming too; but it is about how it makes you feel and if I could have put that feeling into a bottle and put it into these words for you I would have done. It’s the magic, the sparkle, the children’s faces and squeals of delight, the playing in the snow for hours, the picture perfect white Christmas, the special family time together and the feeling again from when you were a child opening the door on Christmas morning to see if Father Christmas had been.