My wife is set on going in December this year so looking for some recommendations on who to use as there seems to be a load of operators offering broadly the same thing. Kids will be 4 and 7 if that has any bearing. I’ve also seen some where we could go for a week (to yllas) and get some skiing in as well which, even if the skiing is basic, would provide a bit more entertainment and feel like we’re getting a bit more value out of it from my perspective.

a bit more value out of it from my perspective.

hahahahahahahahahahahahahah

I worked it out to about £100 an hour…… Crazy

But worth every penny

-25 C when we were there… not sure I, let alone our 4 year old, could have handled that for a week.

Good luck

The 24hr trips are mental. Easy enough to do it yourself. Stay in Rovaniemi and you can get the bus in.

While you are there book a husky tour with Bearhill, hire fatbike and guide from Roll Outdoors, jobs a good ‘un.

-25 C when we were there

Ah yes, good shout, forgot about that part. I’ve skied in those temps before, wasn’t particularly fun. Three or four days it is. Will have a look at diy as that seems sensible assuming the kids aren’t going to miss out on a load of arranged santa hype activities that the packages put on.

My girls are 11 this summer so I doubt they will believe by next Christmas. I somehow managed to avoid us going at any point in the past and glad of it – it seems a huge waste of time, money and effort when there should be plenty of things to look forward to at that time of year anyway.

Those who have done DIY, where did you fly to? Rovaniemi? Or to helsinki where I believe you can get a train to rovaniemi? Has anyone flown to kiruna and then overland to rovaneimi?

As you can tell we are looking to do a trip this year..

2nd a Husky sledge ride and fingers crossed you/yours get to see the northern lights.

Have fun

t seems a huge waste of time, money and effort when there should be plenty of things to look forward to at that time of year anyway.

I thought the same until we went, it was totally awesome. One of the best trips we have ever done. I wouldn’t want to go for 24 hours, we were there for three days, two nights and that was great. Totally magical, fascinating place and I loved it.

We went with Jet2. Well organised, great hotel, and good value compared to some of the trips. Still expensive though.

Whatever you do, don’t do it as a day trip on the cheap. Worst. Day. Of. My. Life.

Bear in mind there is very little daylight up there in December, so that may restrict what you can do?

We went for a week on a ski package (Crystal to Ruka). Great holiday, and similar price to a much shorter Santa themed trip.
Excursions can be booked in resort – either independently (to do as a family, or with strangers from all over the place) or via the holiday company (i.e. with other UK families). We did Santa with Crystal (booked in advance to be absolutely sure it wasn’t fully booked, but this worry was unfounded) and other stuff (huskies, snowmobile, skiing etc) directly in resort.
We were there late December, so not much daylight (and even that was “daylight”) and v cold. But everything is geared up for that and it added to the adventure.

The day trip approach does sound a touch aggressive. I’d imagine huge initial kiddy excitement followed by airport/travel frustration to massive excitement to overwhelming tiredness and sulks/strops/tears. All with very crowded airports/coaches and santa village thrown into the mix.

similar price to a much shorter Santa themed trip.

That was what caught my eye. Same company and a four day santa trip was the same price as a 7 day santa and skiing trip.

helsinki where I believe you can get a train to rovaniemi

I’d fly all the way. The trains take an absolute age (usually sleepers).

I’m working with a customer in Tromso at present & head up every two weeks. Daylight in the middle of winter was limited to a slight gloom between 11am and 1pm. Beyond that it is pitch black. Last Tuesday was officially Sun Day where we all celebrated the return of the sun, had a doughnut and watched as the streetlights went off momentarily. Daylight is now slightly less gloom between 10am and 2pm. Theoretically the sun can be seen. You have to climb a pretty tall hill to find it though.

The wife wanted to take the kids over some time soon when I go on business, then take a short internal flight over the border. I’ve persuaded her that we should book a package with the most direct flights possible: it took me 27hrs to get home last week, 19 two weeks before that and usually at least 10.

Get a trip where you go out to see Santa, the ones where they come to your hotel are rubbish. The trip we took involved a whole day of activities like ice fishing, husky sledding, then a sleigh ride through a forest to find Santa.

We fitted in a day skiing on Christmas Eve, really quiet as that is the traditional day for celebrating Christmas in that region. Santa made an appearance on the slopes handing out mini Dime bars.  At -20C it took about 4 hot chocolates to thaw the kids out after an hours skiing…

The whole experience was incredible – for us adults, and the kids.  Time it right for when they are old enough to remember it, but not so old they have stopped believing in Santa.

https://www.nordicexperience.co.uk/lapland/santa/nellim-wilderness-adventure

We went on this trip. Absolutely fantastic experience for kids and adults. Well worth the cost.

2nd a Husky sledge ride

Probably one of the highlights of my life so far. We did a day trip, mental cost and timescale but worth every penny.
Father Christmas setup was amazing.

See here – https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/taking-family-to-lapland-to-see-santa-tipsthoughtsexperiences/

I spent a week in Lapland, best family holiday ever. 2 nights Rovaniemi, 4 nights Levi, one night in the middle of nowhere next to a frozen lake in someone’s ‘summer’ house – no running water, log fire for heating, car batteries for power – amazing!

It was cold, obviously, but it’s not damp at all so it’s very different

Skiing, fat biking, one horse open sleigh, huskies, reindeer, snowmobiles, santa etc. Amazing, seriously

Would love to go back!

I’ve been to Rovaniemi a few times – it’s a long train journey from Helsinki. There’s good XC skiing and fatbiking right from the city – just walk down to the Kemijoki river and decide which way to go! There’s a couple of lavuu (open shelters) about 10km in either direction – Niskanpera to the south is usually well-stocked with wood and you can build yourself a fire.

Did 7 days in Ruka this Xmas just gone. Went with Activities Abroad, decent value.
Have to admit, probably the best holiday I have been on. Temperature was cold, generally -8 in the day and -15 overnight. About 60cms of snow, mtb trails were closed.
Kids are 10 and 11, still believers. We did Husky rides (awesome), Santa visit on Xmas eve (kids loved it), XC skiing lessons, 30km Snowmobile ride towards the Russian border at night to watch the Norther lights, plus loads of smaller activities.
We got issues with cold weather gear. Snow boots, extra gloves, big snow suit. Apartment was good, small kitchen, 2 bedrooms, Sauna.
I think the only downside was we booked a Xmas dinner night out, amazing restaurant, but we were expecting Xmas dinner, whereas it was Steak.
My only comments is that it is generally a once in a lifetime trip, you’re 4 year old is very unlikely to remember it as they get older. This is why we waited until the girls where slightly older.

Went Dec 1at just gone. With tui. To yllas
It was nice but crazy expensive.
All the activities are sub contracted to Lapland adventures
Booked husky sledding with them direct and saved a bit
Did 3 nights
It was worth upgrading the room and we pre booked food too.
No avoiding the €9.50 a pint!!!
Didn’t snowboard but could have done.
All well organised and snow village was fun
They give you all the winter gear if you need it.
Happy to answer any specific questions.

We have been 5 times. First time was a 4 night Santa trip to Rovaniemi which was a bit commercialised.

The next time we went to Levi for 7 nights (for about the same price). Levi is lovely, we organised a snow mobile trip to see Santa, that was fantastic. We traveled out to a remote cottage where he met the kids and then took them on a reindeer and into the cottage by a roaring fire and spoke to them all individually. We also did the husky sledding which is brilliant and we learnt to ski, Levi is great for beginners.

We went back this Christmas because my boys wanted a bit of a nostalgic ski holiday (they are now 17 and 19 so we didn’t see Santa!). We did snowmobiling again and ice karting, both great fun.

We use Ingham’s and always go self catering so that we can mooch at our own pace. We stayed in the Levilehto accommodation this time but have previously stayed in the Levi Cottages (as Inghams call them) they were a better layout but slightly more expensive. Both well located though.

Northern lights were visible this year, not very common in December (in my experience) because of cloud cover:

Ooo, forgot about the Northern Lights. We had a car on our trip and I spent a few nights ‘hunting’ for them, combined with using the app to know when to head out. Caught an absolutely magic show, dancing across the sky. Lots of standing around in the meantime though!

Wonderful idea. We’ve ****ed the climate so badly we don’t even get frosts in winter anymore, so let’s all fly somewhere for a four-day holiday…

^Ouch

You had better get over and police the safari thread as well finbar. 😏

Thanks all, appreciate the input, well mostly….

We did it this Xmas just gone with our 4/6/9 year olds. Best Holiday. Ever.

3 nights in Levi half board at Levi Panorama. £2.8k which includes Santa trip, plus about 300 quid for a reindeer and husky thing. You are flat out for the time there and I wish we’d have had an extra day to do skiing (which would have been an additional 300 euro for lessons and hire). We could have squeezed in skiing but frankly we were all knackered as it was. Fat bike hire was available (and e bike option!).

That was with Inghams who were fine. Not as organised as Tui, but cheaper. The flight is with Jet2 and it is relentless Santa based shit from start to finish. It’s excellent.

We were lucky and temperature was -1 on arrival and -9 on departure. Snowed every day, snow is so dry the kids barely got wet.

My sister went when it was -20 plus windchill. Our 4 year-old was fine but is quite a robust little lady and the temperature was ok. If it was -20 I’m not sure how she would have been.

2018 apparently it didn’t snow till mid December, so an option is just book last minute. We booked about 2 weeks prior as the prices actually started to rise. We did notice that they DIDN’T fall again.

We know someone who did self book and did it by train. Honestly, don’t bother. Hotel is nice and easy and it just works. If you were going for 7 days I can understand why you might want to have more choice. But it’s not about you! 😉

ERROR: Are you sure you wanted to do that?

We’ll I’m not trying it all again…

Surprised it was so mild there. When we went a couple of years back the warmest was probably around -10 ish, it was -26C on Christmas day as we were then on a snowmobile with windchill. But we bought a whole load of kit for the kids and they were fine (base layers, ski suits, sorel boots etc)