Finnish Lapland - A Bucket-list Christmas

Lapland

There are fewer places that do a traditional Christmas, particularly for young children, better than Lapland.

This is, of course, the legendary home of Santa Claus. The travel companies and locals make sure that you know it. There are whole resorts and even an entire village framed around the red-clothed Christmas figure. Once our plane had landed on the packed ice of Rovaniemi airport, we were met by elves playing on the luggage belt.

But if the weather is right (which in this case means below freezing with plenty of lying snow), there's a lot more to Lapland than that.

In the traditional home of the Lapps, we experienced a reindeer sleigh ride, a snowmobile ride, a husky ride, spending most of the day in a pine forest with snow so deep that it was up to our knees in parts, and delicious food and drink - including a Christmas dinner served in a wooden chalet in the forest.

Unknown to us, because we thought we had missed it, we also saw a flash of the Northern Lights in one of our pictures.

It doesn't matter whether or not you have children, or that it's so cold that the tour organisers will need to hand out specialist clothing to keep you warm, this is one of the best seasonal bucket list experiences.

We are very grateful to have had the opportunity.

How to get there

Lapland

Most packages, especially those associated with Santa Claus, will take you to or close to Rovaniemi airport. EasyJet, Finnajr, Ryanair and TUI all have flights there. While it might be possible to put together your own package, especially if you can drive, the roads may be very wintry, so it may be better to use tour companies.

Lapland

How we did it

We visited Lapland eight years ago with TUI, who did a really great job. They provided all transfers, the hotel, food, tours and experiences. There are other agencies who offer Lapland tours and it's also possible to go there independently.

Our top tips

Lapland

• Watch the weather. The later in the season you go, the more likely you are to experience snow. Without snow, it's not anywhere near as good; some activities may well even be cancelled. Check with your provider to ensure these will be compensated for before you book.

• Be prepared for the weather. It will be very cold - when we were there, the temperature rarely got warmer than -12C and was often as cold as -18C. You will need cold weather clothing even if your tour agency will provide you with borrowed jackets, romper suits and boots.

• Northern Lights sightings cannot be guaranteed. Go to Lapland to experience it and view any sighting as a bonus.