All Things Homely

A Magical, Snowy Adventure

Last Christmas, our family (along with my in-laws) took the most magical of trips to Lapland, Finland. We wanted to take the kids to meet Santa before my eldest stopped believing, but package costs were exorbitant and were mostly only for 3 or 4 days. So, I set to work researching and planned a completely DIY 7-day holiday to the home of Santa.

Here are the details of our trip so that you can plan your own. Strap in, this is a long post but there are some real money-saving gems in here!

Area

I looked at a few different areas in Lapland – Rovaniemi, Levi (Sirkkä), Pyhä and Saariselkä – before deciding on Levi.

We chose Levi because of the number and variety of accommodation options, the good family ski centre, the fact that it has a Northern Lights Village which has some of the most recommended activity options available, and it wasn’t too long a drive from Rovaniemi airport (we were flying from the UK). You can fly into Kittilä airport – 20 mins from Levi – but the flights cost substantially more.

Saariselkä is the furthest North – it looks beautiful but you’d need to be prepared for a long drive.

I initially wanted to go to Pyhä (only 40/60 mins from Rovaniemi) but couldn’t find appropriate accommodation.

Rovaniemi, although the official home of Santa, has much more of a city vibe and we wanted more of a snowy wilderness to explore. Levi is somewhat of an in-between option as it does have a buzzing ski centre with lots of shops and restaurants, but you are never far from hip-deep snowy forests.

Accommodation

We booked our chalet through a Finnish site, Nettimökki. Although there can be some minor language barriers when contacting hosts, I would recommend this as it’s cheaper than Airbnb. Our host had brilliant English, was really responsive and helpful, and the accommodation was great. We stayed in Välirakka, a beautiful little cottage with a log fire, sauna and double height windows overlooking snow covered woods.

There are so many beautiful options, but Levi is more expensive and gets booked up quickly due to it being a big ski centre.

Pyhä is quieter with fewer accommodation options, but they’re cheaper.

With most non-hotel accommodation in Finland, you need to take your own sheets and towels or pay a little extra for them to be provided. Check the accommodation profile or contact the host to make sure they offer this extra.

Most of the prices shown on Nettimökki are for off-season. Some hosts include peak season prices in the accommodation description and some hosts only give peak season cost upon contact. A lot specify minimum stays during peak season and specific changeover days, so it’s a good idea to start looking before booking flights.

We booked from 27th December to 3rd January and our cost for the week was €2,100 (approx. $3092sgd), which we split with my husband’s parents.

Activities

Levi, Saariselkä and Pyhä all have Northern Lights Villages. It is a beautiful resort with glass roof cabins but it was too expensive for us, so we just booked all our main activities through them.

We booked:

5km Husky Safari (1hr). Unfortunately, we didn’t get to do this one as it was too cold on the day (around -29°C), so we met the huskies and got to stroke a husky puppy instead. We were disappointed but it was the best call as the children would not have coped with the cold. They offer a 10km option but, from research, 5km is better for younger children because it’s fast and the wind chill makes it feel a lot colder. (€129 per adult, €64.50 per child (4-14), free for infants – our cost: €322.50, or around $474sgd)

Reindeer Express (1.5hrs) – you get to meet a reindeer herder and learn all about these magical animals, feed reindeer, go on an approx. 30 min sleigh ride, and have warm drinks in a log cabin afterwards. This was beautiful! (€159 per adult, €79.50 per child (4-14), free for infants – our cost: €397.50, or around $585sgd)

Searching for Santa (2.5-3hrs) – you get to bake gingerbread cookies, have a short reindeer sleigh ride (5 mins), meet different elves and make hot chocolate and toast marshmallows, have a short ride in an enclosed sleigh pulled by a snowmobile, meet Santa himself, and get a small gift. You can provide info about your kids beforehand and even sneak your their Christmas letters to an elf so that Santa knows all about them. This was amazing and both my kids were in awe! (€159 per adult, €79.50 per child (4-14), free for infants – our cost: €397.50, or around $585sgd)

These activities get booked up quickly, so book well in advance. They keep the best time slots (during the short window of daylight) for the resort guests. Apparently, they release unbooked slots close to the date, but that’s a gamble. Make sure to book the activity at the right resort (we saw one family who’d turned up at the wrong resort for Search for Santa – devastating!).

Skiing at Levi Ski Centre – my husband and daughter did some skiing on the family slope but it was too cold for my youngest. Luckily they have a large, indoor play area where he could run around and warm up. It wasn’t a fancy play place (like the ones we have in Singapore) but it meant he warmed up enough to go outside and do some sledding. We also did the gondola ride to the top of the slopes, which was stunningly beautiful but too cold for my son to enjoy.

You can turn up on the day and hire ski/snowboard equipment but if you want lessons, I would book in advance. (Cost for ski passes: €58 per adult, €35.50 for juniors, free for under 6 year olds, and ski hire is around €39 per person. Our total was €229.50 or $336sgd).

We kept time set aside to let the kids play in the snow and go for walks near our cabin, and I’m really glad we did. We took an inflatable sled to pull them around, and some bubble mixture (the bubbles freeze). They loved having the freedom to play in the snow and it was one of the best bits of the holiday for them.

We were also lucky enough to see the Northern Lights on three separate occasions (some pictures below). Once on the drive to our accommodation, once on the Searching for Santa activity and once just outside our cabin.

Transport

If you stay in Rovaniemi or the centre of Levi you don’t necessarily need a car. There are taxis and buses available. We were staying just outside Levi and found having our own transport invaluable, especially so the kids weren’t waiting in the cold for transport.

Car hire is expensive through the usual dealerships – Avis, Green Motion, Europcar etc. and queues to pick up rentals at the airports can be long. We found this Finnish website, GoMore, that allows you to hire direct from locals instead and it’s substantially cheaper.

Our experience was seamless, we were able to pick up the car with no delays and had no problems through our entire stay. The owners even came to our accommodation on the last day to pick it up. It was so simple and easy, I would highly recommend! (Cost for 5 days, as we didn’t need it for the entire 7 days: €360, plus €160 deposit that was returned, so final cost approx. $527sgd)

Our total accommodation (after splitting with my in-laws), activity and transport spend came to: €2,757 or approximately $4038sgd.

In comparison, costs for a 4-day package, with accommodation, winter clothing rental and activities, during mid to late December averages between €2,500 to €3,500 per person, although deals can be found especially if you avoid peak periods.

Clothing

Getting the clothing right is essential for this type of trip. Here is our packing list for each of us:

• Thermals x 2 (merino wool or man-made fibres, not cotton)
• inner gloves x 2
• outer gloves (an extra pair just for our youngest)
• normal socks + ski socks x 2
• high snow boots (so the deep snow doesn’t get in the tops)
• snow jacket
• snow trousers (we chose an all-in-one for our youngest)
• balaclava or snood
• hat
• scarf
• disposable heat packs (for feet, hands and bodies)

We bought everything from Decathlon or Mountain Warehouse but there are plenty of second hand options too.

Most non-hotel accommodation have washing machines and drying cabinets, which are excellent for drying things quickly, so you only need one spare pair of thermals etc.

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It was an absolutely magical holiday, one that we hope to do again. If you are considering it, I would say to book it!