Santa in Lapland, Finland

I am here to tell you how it really is, visiting Lapland, Santa, and Rovaniemi during the Christmas build up (or anytime actually). Without wanting to sound too negative and keeping the blog generally cheerful and positive, I have to say, visiting Santa, it is not as special as you may expect.

If you want a short sharp and to the point summary – should you plan to go to Lapland for the nature, scenery, and that certain special draw of holidaying in the Arctic Circle, you are likely to love it and have a wonderful time. On the other hand, if you plan to go to Lapland specifically to see Santa and have a dream/fantasy experience of meeting him at his home - in my opinion there is a good chance you will be disappointed!

I’m The Christmas Markets Blogger, and I know, I know. Strictly speaking this is not a Christmas Market. Rather a Christmas themed destination, but I couldn’t leave this one out.

Rovaniemi is famed for being the home of Santa Claus, at least where you can practically visit him. Our little boy was young enough to not really understand we weren’t at the North Pole (we did tell him exactly where we were), anyhow, he still thinks he’s seen Santa at the North Pole. When the fantasy is better than reality, why correct him?

To get here, there is an airport, and with the tourism it gets, I have read that Rovaniemi airport is the second busiest in Finland after Helsinki. It is pretty well served, by direct or connecting flights. Brits are the biggest tourist group at the moment, and we saw it was very popular with Asians and the Mediterranean countries. Look out for all the ones well prepared and wearing their brand new ‘Scott of the Antarctic’ type coat.

Additionally to flying into Rovaniemi, it’s possible to take the Santa Express. A night train running directly to and from Helsinki. The price is quite reasonable.

The city itself is bordering the Arctic Circle, in fact the city is just south of the Arctic Circle, while the airport is inside it, and the line crossing it, the ‘border’, passes through Santa’s village. The airport is very close to the city, we took an Uber into town for around 20 Euro, there is also a frequent and easy bus service.

Myself and my girlfriend have been inside the Arctic Circle before, Tromso in Norway (most beautiful place we have ever been to, as a side note). So, it was our second time entering this cold and harsh environment – and we love it! Visiting the frozen landscape and the nature inside the Arctic Circle is something special, it is pretty, it is foreign to most of us, and there is just something about it. It is cold, but you wouldn’t sensibly arrive in a light denim Spring jacket – I hope! Usually people are prepared, long johns, thermals, hat, gloves, scarves etc. As long as you are prepared - a few days here, everyone will cope and be fine.

After saying how cold it is, I now need to point out our experience. It wasn’t that cold! We visited at the end of November, the start of December. And to our surprise, snow is rare this time of year. While you will all want to go, have the Christmas Card picture of Santa in a white fir tree forest, be prepared that snow only starts to be guaranteed from around mid-December, maybe even later as the world warms. When we arrived on the Wednesday evening, it was -20c, we left on the Sunday lunch time, it was +4c!

-20 is probably going to sound scary to you, it’s not as bad as you think. If it is extremely cold, as long as the air is dry and there is not a strong wind it should be bearable. And for us, as the days of our stay passed, it quickly warmed. Personally, I would have preferred it to have been colder more consistently, so around the -20 range from arriving to departing.

When we landed, it was all white, we were lucky. I would say that we got our fantasy image. However, I think it was white from being frozen rather than snowfall. Whatever the reason – we got that postcard look. Trees were white, the rivers, lakes and marsh lands frozen. It is this view and the reality of this frozen world, which for us makes a visit here so special, this is what we were going for.

Going off on a tangent with a practical topic, while discussing the temp and journey from the airport. Car rental! There are loads and loads of tour operators in the area. The airport is next to the city; Santa’s village is about halfway between the city and airport. You should consider if you want to hire a car while here. The roads are frozen, the cars do have studs in the tyres, and the roads are decent. But if you are not experienced in driving in these conditions, I would suggest you give it careful thought. My recommendation would be to take the organised tours, public transport or taxi’s, I believe this is likely the better option. Speaking to the locals and the taxi drivers, they could spot the tourist driving, they are able to spot the inexperience. I was pleased I took the decision not to hire during our stay.

Second big ‘off on a tangent’ tip, on a trip like this - clothes you will need. You will have to bite the bullet and pay for checked in luggage - if your airline does not include bags. To pack the winter clothes for an Arctic Circle break, during winter, into a small back pack, you take as hand luggage, would be impossible, and arguably risky if you left things behind you needed as they didn’t fit. Thermals, layers, and protection for the extremities, hat, gloves, scarfs. Consider the foot wear as well, decent shoes for the conditions - with good socks.

Gradually coming back on topic, when you arrive, this far north in winter, you can forget having a circadian/biological rhythm concept of time. At the end of November, start of December, the sun rises at 10am ish and set at 2pm ish. By the time it is 5pm, you feel it must be at least midnight, as it has been dark for so long. It is all part of the fun and experience.

The accommodation we booked was Snowflake Suites. We were very pleased with it. Right in the center of town. Price wise it was on the more reasonable side, but do keep in mind, hotels and accommodation here are very expensive. The flat we booked is in a complex which looks like it is only tourist accommodation, each day they had a lorry arrive with the towels and bed sheets to be replaced. It is a flat not a hotel, so the linen is changed at the end of your stay rather than daily and the place is only cleaned when you leave. Small open plan kitchen, living room and dining area, with the sofa turning into quite a large double bed. A balcony and small double room. I couldn’t fault the flat we booked.

I will point out one little gripe, and it’s probably just me being a grumpy old man. The flat is modern and trendy, city center living. All well and good right? But you are staying in a region which gets very cold, clothes could become wet with the snow and ice, they are certainly cold to touch. Ideally, personally, I would like to put clothes, gloves, hats etc on radiators to warm and to dry... These flats have under floor heating! Perfectly warm enough to enjoy and be cosy, you will not be cold, all very modern, but no direct heat source to warm frozen, wet clothes – cool designs, looks great – practical? You decide!

Leaving the airport, the drive into town passes Santa’s village and Santa Park, you’ll cross over the big bridge and quite quickly you are in the middle of town, 10-15 minutes. Rovaniemi city center, it is ok, it’s not stunningly beautiful, we didn’t see historic buildings or an old town, but it is not bad. The main street is pedestrianised, although you need to cross roads as you walk up and down it. The shops are probably what you would expect, souvenir shops, tour operators, there are two sort of shopping malls and a department store. I was surprised; the prices were not as wild as I expected. The shops and the goods they sell are fairly priced including the souvenirs, and the quality looked respectable.

When we stay away from home, we do quite often visit a supermarket and get some rations, more so on this trip as we were in a flat, not a hotel. There is a decent sized supermarket (K-Supermarket) selling all you would need, located at the top end of town in the Rinteenkulma Shopping Center, we picked up some snacks, water and a couple of beers. Beer is sold in the supermarket, and there is a huge (and I do mean huge) selection. If you want anything else, next door is Alko (that is seriously the name), the off-licence selling wines and stronger drinks.

In town you can drag your kids around in a sledge if you pick one up (and the street is snow covered). A tip for you, you can buy one, they are not so expensive. We also saw some hotels had them to use for the hotel guests. And then the insider tip… No one is flying home with their sledges that they have bought for the few days use in town, there are quite a lot of sledges left behind which you can use. Be sensible, don’t take one which could be left outside to dry or ‘parked’ while people are sleeping, shopping or eating, but if they’re clearly abandoned, outside accommodation, due to people flying home and leaving it behind, up-cycle it and make the most of it yourselves – better than buying an additional plastic tray to leave behind as waste, and certainly a cost saver.

In the town center there is a small outside ice rink, and at least in the run up to Christmas there were some huts selling various bits and pieces.

And... There is a[nother] Santa. Santa’s office. On one hand, many people are here to see the big man, so having these opportunities is good. On the other hand, younger children still believing in him, being exposed to the same character all over the place, in different shapes, sizes, voices, languages - even for a small child wanting to believe, I am sure they must have questions and doubts. Based on this logic, we purposely avoided, distracted, by-passed and hoped our son wouldn’t notice the inner-city Santa, we succeeded.

We now get to the bit I am sure you are most interested in, Santa’s Village. This is an honest blog, so it may stand out from the others that give it such glowing reviews.

Getting there, very easy. Take a taxi, Uber, bus number 8 or the Santa Express bus. All easy, fast and cheap enough. I felt the Santa Express bus could have been decorated and festive, but it is not, and actually it is just a normal bus service. With thousands of tourists, kids, coming to meet such a special person for them, and the service being called Santa Express, I would have expected more. It’s not necessarily a negative, or big issue, the service is practical and works very well, only it could be/should be better.

Santa’s village is really not as ‘wow’ as you would expect or hope. We thought it would be magical and incredible, but it just wasn’t! It fell short. For many, it is quite a journey and cost to get here and yet in our opinion, the best Santa experience we’ve had, was in Edinburgh, at the Santa’s Stories, it is not bad on the mountain in Montreux either. If it’s leaving reality behind you, and entering a fantasy world, one of magic, joy and happiness, it has to be Disneyland. All these destinations representing an easier journey, likely lower cost and much better value. I have no advice or idea on how Santa’s Village can improve things or to make this magical, but something is missing. This is only my opinion, and probably many, perhaps even most, have a different opinion.

Our Uber dropped us off at the Santa Village Hotel reception just outside of the main square. As we got out the car and looked around, there it was ‘The Official Santa of the Arctic Circle’. Great, lets tick off the main reason for going. So, we did! The queue was surprisingly not excessive. Look out for the trolleys inside, which you can pick up and basically de-robe from your winter attire and store in the trolley to be comfier inside and to have nicer pictures. Our wait was not long at all, if I say 20 minutes, I might be overstating it. Our turn, the door slides open and we meet the big man. He speaks English and spends a few minutes chatting. Our son handed him his letter and Santa directed our son to put it on his desk, before leaving, we had the obligatory photo.

We travelled 66 degrees north to meet Santa, and 2 minutes later it was done.

Meeting Santa was nice, it was the typical experience, but was it any different to meeting him more locally to you? In your local town hall or shopping mall? No! And that’s the issue - you have gone to his home, and it is as special as meeting Santa a lot closer to your home, and ultimately would cost you a lot less.

After meeting him you pass through the souvenir shop, where you can buy the picture, both as a physical print and/or as a digital copy. We paid around 40 Euro for a mid-size print and the digital copy. You leave there, going into the main and much bigger souvenir shop. And that’s it. You have done the main event!

Very Important Information… You may or may not read about this in other posts. But this is not the only Santa in the village! It turns out it’s not even the main Santa. I found this very sad and disappointing, almost fake news. We had been conned, robbed, and at Santa’s home of all places. We visited ‘The official Santa of the Arctic Circle’, big sign on the house says so, whatever that truly means, but very quickly after meeting him, we realised and discovered, in fact he is not the main Santa of Santa’s Village.

Be aware and make sure you visit the Santa you want to. There are two. One outside the main square, the Santa we visited, the one called ‘The official Santa of the Arctic Circle’, and one on the main square in what is called ‘Santa’s Office’. From the bus you are likely to see the one on the main square first. If you arrive in a car or stay in the village you may see the one we went to first. Choose wisely and go to the one you most want to see, don’t rush to the first Santa you come to.

Why does Santa’s village do this? And why do they not at the very least better inform the adults, to make sure you visit the one you want to? I found this very wrong.

My family couldn’t go to the main Santa on the square. Our 5 or 6 year old does, and rightly so, still believe and we wanted it to be special for him. Seeing two different people claiming to be ‘THE’ Santa, and having already handed over his letter. How could we go to both? We kept his belief alive, and like with the inner-city Santa down town, successfully circumnavigated the second Santa in the village to maintain his fantasy.

Now having spent the money to be here, then feeling generally lied to and conned having gone to another, not the main Santa a mere 100m away from the main one. Initially I would say we felt disappointment and sadness. I should point out, our son was none the wiser, so his experience is still priceless, and in truth, that was the main thing for us.

Later, I reflected on this, and read some details about the Santa in Santa’s office, considered it all and read the reviews, compared our experience and Santa. The reality I concluded, I am sure it was the same experience. With Santa’s office the main Santa, you take a bit more of a journey through festively decorated corridors to meet him, whereas ours we just entered directly in his room. On the positive side for us, we had no queue and could almost go straight in. The meeting experience, the Santa, the photo, I believe is all the same experience. In hindsight, I don’t think we missed out on anything. Do keep in mind, I didn’t go to the main Santa, so it is possible it’s amazing and loads better, but I cannot confirm this. Only based on what I read, it sounds as if we had the same experience.

The big negative going to the main Santa in Santa’s Office, it’s really busy, there is a queue, it feels packed and intense, almost chaotic. Going to see the Santa we went to, was extremely calm, more relaxed and the queue passed quickly.

The most important take aways I can share with you, there are two Santa’s close to each other, make sure you visit the one you want to. And, in my opinion, the experience of meeting him is plus or minus the same, which isn’t that exceptionally special – against the effort to get to Rovaniemi. Do remember, with small children, keep up the fantasy, do whatever you need to, to retain that innocence. If you are like us, you are truly there - for them.

Bah Humbug!

Ha ha ha, or ho ho ho. I don’t want to be negative, I really don’t, but I do want to share a down-to-earth view of the place and ensure you are well informed.

More about the village. Seeing either Santa, try and get to the village early ish, you are unlikely to beat the crowds completely, and mobilising kids is no easy task I know, but aim for the earlier side to visit him and the village, the queue should move faster and you can tick off the primary activity, which could, for some I imagine, be a turning point to relax, having got it out the way and knowing you have done the main event. The kids will certainly be happy and in awe.

While the village is advertised as being free to enter, and this is not false. There is a case that paying entrance would make it better. Going into the village is completely free, visiting Santa is free, seeing and jumping or straddling the Arctic Circle border line is free (that is pretty cool actually), and dancing in front of the webcam for folks back home to see, it is all free. However, apart from the queues, there is nothing which is free and gives you more than a few minutes of entertainment. The village is composed of shops, a few cafes and restaurants and then varying activities, which have, I would say, a substantial price tag. If I could pay a one-off fee to enter, and then everything inside was free, at least I would know the cost, be prepared, and not have to worry about each activity adding up. For the kids it would come across better than having to see Mum and Dad forking out every 5 minutes for the next activity – in of all places, Santa’s home.

The village does have plenty of shops, they are everywhere, actually not completely selling the same things, there is some variety, we came away with a magnet, Christmas decoration and a couple of t-shirts. As well as the photo of our family and Santa.

We visited the Post Office, which is a functioning post office, the staff are not really dressed as elves although have some of the props on. I thought it was nice to see all the letters received by country, addressed to Santa, which do apparently get opened and read. Of course, they sell some souvenirs here, which we didn’t bother with. The postcards on sale are beautiful and very well designed, we got some for ourselves, and like everyone else, bought some, which we wrote, and posted, there and then, so they would have a Santa’s Village post mark on them for the recipients. There is a service, which you can pay for, even right now from home, without being physically there, where your desired recipient, receives a letter in the post from Santa.

It is very much a post-office, old-school queue and all. The tourist attraction here is rather the feel-good factor you are giving to relatives and loved ones when they receive a post mark from Santa’s village – this is a good thing. I am very pro sending cards and strongly in favour of bringing a smile to friends and families faces. It’s the little things!

If you are with children, they may not understand this just yet, and like ours, will probably have more fun waiting outside making friends with other children and throwing snowballs.

Before I go into what else we did in the village, I will highlight what else there is to do, that we didn’t.

At the far end of the village and a small walk out of it is a skidoo track, all sizes and ages can take part. Santa’s pets, essentially a petting zoo of animals that don’t mind the cold. Elf’s Hat Academy, this one was interesting, it is an interactive experience where the kids, or adults I suppose, learn the skills to become elves – cheesy for sure, magical, I would think so. You can take a sleigh ride on Santa’s Reindeer round a small track – I will come back to this. It could be interesting to do, depending on time and budget, you’re in this part of the world, you should do something with the reindeer!

Then there are these day houses, basically private small cottages, made to look like an entire gingerbread house village. You and your family/friends hire a gingerbread house for the duration of your day in the village, and can use it to escape and relax. It’s an interesting concept; it does make sense. It can be very cold here, there is nowhere really to sit and relax, yes you can find a restaurant, you can wonder aimlessly in shops, but if you want some peace and quiet, to get warm and to have almost a base, the concept is good.

Last thing on the list of what’s there that we didn’t do, and I am sure I haven’t captured it all. It’s the Snowman World. Remember I told you, snow is unpredictable at the time of year we visited? Actually, the Snowman World only opens in December, so it was shut on our visit. It is a break-out complex, with ice skating, snow slides, ramps, a theme park based around cold activities. We would have probably gone here had it been open.

I have listed a good few activities, and I am sure they all sound great, the big negative, as I pointed out at the start, nothing is really included or free at Santa’s village other than simply being there. And the cost of each activity is prohibitive. You may say how bad can it be? Well, each activity is going to cost between 100 and 200 per family of 4 (some activities that price is even each). You do 2 activities, pay for the photo of Santa and buy a souvenir, then have lunch, the price is quite quickly out of control – for me, they were not unique enough, or sufficiently amazing activities to justify the cost.

On to what we did do…

Mrs Claus. Get ready, this may shock you. To see Santa is free, to see Mrs Claus is around 120 Euro! When we read this in advance, I said a few colourful words. Then, after seeing Santa and it all being very underwhelming, plus the fact we saw, let’s say, not the main Santa. I had a think to myself, and had in my mind seeing Mrs Claus would be good and go some way to recover the situation. Luckily, we didn’t need to book, not sure if you do at busier times. Our son walks at the pace of a snail, which enabled me to walk a small bit in front of them, get it booked and paid, so he kind of had no awareness of the business side of things when he walked into her house. Meaning he could go straight in and enjoy it; blissfully unaware Daddy has just been robbed.

To get there you go behind the Santa Office on the main square towards the reindeer rides, pass over the bridge and walk off towards the left side and you are there, at Mrs Claus’s house.

The ground floor and entrance is a café, it was nice and peaceful when we went. Mrs Claus is upstairs. You head up and an Elf greets you and tells you to wait. You enter and meet the big man’s wife. For the 120 Euro, you can have up to 8 people, it means the more you are, the more reasonable it is, with a smaller family like ours it’s a bit expensive.

Despite the cost, and that is a bit insane, It turned out to be a really good experience and probably the highlight of our trip to Santa’s Village.

Unlike Santa, where you are in and out quite quickly. Mrs Claus spends time talking to the children, chatting, making them laugh, it’s a beautifully decorated room. Our son really loved meeting her and for him it was very very nice. If you can afford it, I would recommend this, perhaps even prioritising this over some of the fun and adventurous activities, if I put it into perspective, you could really do a skidoo, for example, anywhere snowy, where will you meet Mrs Claus again?

Mrs Claus chats to the family and particularly the children, discusses her cookies of course. The children can take a Christmas message away with them (we put ours under the tree to open and read on Christmas day back home), and after about 15 minutes of really personal time with her, the experience is slowly bought to an end, a professional picture is taken, which is included in the experience price. And you leave.

Outside the room is a visitors’ book with a quill pen. These days, kids seeing a pen is probably rare, seeing a quill and explaining what it is, was also, believe it or not, a bit of fun for our son – writing with a feather! As we wrote the message in the book, due to it not being busy and possibly Mrs Claus needing a toilet break, she left her room and helped our son write his message which for him was amazing.

We took a coffee and a pack of Mrs Claus cookies in the coffee shop downstairs and relaxed for a bit discussing the meeting.

Repeating myself, I do recommend this. Our son talks and remembers meeting Mrs Claus, for him this was a personal and special experience, yes for Mum and Dad it had a significant cost, but with the picture included, and if by chance you are a bigger group - the cost is easier to swallow. Maybe, like us, this saves your day at Santa’s Village from being a big disappointment, turning it around to being something of a special day.

How else did we spend our time in the village?

On the main square is the Arctic Circle location line, it is marked by big fir trees and pillars, oh and hundreds of tourists grabbing a mid-air picture as they jump over the line. This looks better if you hang around until it becomes dark, and the iconic blue neon line overhead is illuminated. Providing you the famous image. You do need that blue line! The kids may not really understand the fuss, for them it’s nothing. This symbolic crossing the line is really for the adults to revel in and grab the Insta pictures – I liked it.

At the end of the neon line, the furthest point from Santa’s Office, you will see, more than likely, people dancing around and being silly, waving into thin air. Actually, there is a web cam there. People are waving to the public, to their ‘fans’. You could message people back home to login to the webcam and see you live, maybe even screen grab you or record you.

Finally, beyond the webcam is the thermometer. Literally the colder it is, the cooler it is. Having a picture of it reading plus 3 degrees (Celsius) is not so “wow, you guys are crazy”, whereas, having it read minus 20 (Celsius) for the pictures, will perhaps get the latter reaction. You want, ideally, a super low temperature and a couple of icicles for authenticity – Good luck!

At the other end of the square is a playground. Kids are braver than we are and don’t mind getting involved despite the temperature.

Finally, on our activities while here… Across the main square is a small mall, the usual, mainly shops, with some cafes as well. Inside this small mall, was our second favourite experience. The VR Sleigh Ride. At around 10 Euro per person, more reasonable than many other things in the village, but still, it adds up if you are a family. That said - It is good! Adult, teenager, infant - you will all love it.

You put the head set on, board the sleigh, and start on your trip. It’s not a ‘real’ world but a ‘cartoon’ world that you journey through, with wind blowing and sleigh movements being felt on your journey, lasting about 3-5 minutes. It’s all quite false, could be in any shopping mall anywhere in the world at any time of the year, I know. But it is good, it is fun. I give this a thumbs up. If cost is an issue, consider just letting the kids go on and you missing it. In our house, this activity is often remembered and talked about, so for our son, it was certainly worthy of remembering and gives him happy memories, we also really like this one actually.

To Eat Inside Santa’s Village

Two things surprised me about eating on this trip (to Lapland, not only Santa’s Village), the price was not too crazy, and the quality and taste of the food was exceptional. I will discuss eating in Rovaniemi in more detail later on. For now, I will just touch on Santa’s Village.

I used google to get the restaurant reviews/scores. The reviews of the restaurants and eateries in the village are generally speaking low; it didn’t fill me with confidence that we were going to enjoy our lunch. Trying to pick the place with the least worse review and rating, we actually found one with a decent score.

Between Mrs Claus house and the reindeer circuit, is Kotahovi, a wigwam looking, well actually a Lavvu, to be precise, tent structure. It is not very big inside so there may be a wait to be seated, it is very rustic and cosy, with a fire place in the middle. There is a kid’s menu, with the usual. The adults menu is not huge, it’s local dishes. The quality was very high, and although we didn’t order it, the fish looked great. Our choice was Sauteed Reindeer with mash potato.

I had been looking forward to trying reindeer meat from the moment I boarded the plane and was eager to order it, in fact, that was really my second preference after picking the place with a decent review, it had to have reindeer on the menu. I ordered said dish, although, the way the meat was cooked and served, and having mash as a side, I would typically avoid, just not my thing - I was extremely pleased to have only had this reindeer option on the menu, forcing my hand to take this dish. It was delicious! So much so, had we had a few days longer in the area, I would have ordered this again in another restaurant. It is a common dish that appears on local menus all over town, and it is certainly worth trying. Do give it a go!

This brings our day in Santa’s Village to an end. Before moving on, I do want to touch on the hotel and the idea of staying in the village. It is not like staying at Disney where you are there and involved with it all on your door step. Staying in Santa’s Village doesn’t offer anything unique or special. The dining options in the area do have low review scores, there is not a great deal to do in the village, with costs quickly escalating. Whereas, the city is about 10 minutes away, easily reached by taxi or bus. Unless you have found something that’s particularly selling it to you, that makes a stay in Santa’s village a must, I would rather take accommodation in the city. More variety, can find something that’s suits your budget, plenty of options to eat, tons of activity providers, and normal city things, like shops and bars. I saw no point or advantage, nothing interesting with staying in the village.

And now on to what else is on offer in the Arctic Circle…

Santa is popular up in this part of the world. A short journey from Santa’s Village is Santa’s Park, ‘The Home of Cavern Santa Claus’, so I am told. Yeap, another Santa. I don’t know how you plan to manage it, if you have kids that believe, we made our choice and kept it to one special meeting. We didn’t visit another Santa here. And while we had a kid that believes limiting us going to see all of the Santa’s, I would think anyone, even non-believers, would be getting a bit of Santa overdose, if you try to visit all these parks and Santa’s?

Santa’s Park is set inside caves. You need to pay entrance here, which does include a reasonable amount for your money. Meeting Santa, shows, and different experiences. We didn’t go here and opted for the Village instead, but I have to say, the website makes it look really good, it does look very nice. You are inside and sheltered from the extreme weather, which could be a good or bad thing - I suppose you have gone to Lapland for the freezing snowy weather? I think families will have a good experience here as there is a lot more going on for the kids, in a theme park immersive type experience.

If we were to ever return, as we have done the village on this trip, I expect we would give this place a go. Overall, it may be more fun and interesting than the village… But, Santa’s Village, is Santa’s Village, you have the line marking the Arctic Circle, the outdoors and weather, for sure it’s a difficult choice, if you can only do one on your trip. We knew of both locations before our trip and picked the Village, we would still pick the village even with the benefit of hindsight, if we were going back as first timers I think.

No more Santa in the blog, I promise!

Northern Lights. Everyone wants to see them, right? It is the most popular tour activity after the village. It is offered everywhere and normally with the promise or a guaranteed sighting or your money back. I would suggest you download a free northern lights app on your phone, with the forecast, solar activity, and sightings, there will be several available to you. Monitor the conditions yourself. You will see if you have a good chance or not. If your forecast shows heavy cloud cover or even low activity, it’s going to be difficult. If there are clear skies, you will probably be in luck. The activity is offered everywhere, you shouldn’t find it too hard jumping on a tour last minute, but even a day before you may have a good idea of the cloud cover and your chances.

Why am I telling you to check the cloud cover and solar activity yourself, when you joined a guaranteed sighting tour? Some of the tours will have a slot of a few hours and if it doesn’t happen so be it, others may not have a time limit on their chase for the lights. If you are on an open-ended tour until you see them, you could be driving all over the Arctic Circle, crossing borders to Sweden and all sorts. We heard stories of tours taking 10 hours plus until they found the lights.

You will need to speak to some operators and take a decision yourselves on what tour and how important seeing the lights are to you. For us, knowing there would be heavy cloud cover, and having a young son, we would not go out for hours and hours hoping to get a sighting, it wasn’t that important. Particularly against the consequences of the following day being tired and affected. However, I could understand young adults mega keen to see them having no issue with driving around on a tour while the guide makes sure you get your sighting and pictures. Full credit to the tour operators and guides for the effort they put in to make sure you get a glimpse.

With clear skies, I would likely have a go and take my chances. With clouds I would be inclined to not go.

We got a glimpse of them through our apartment window one evening, we have also seen them in Tromso from a bar in the city, so if you have some luck, they do appear everywhere. Getting the prize-winning photo of them dancing against a stunning natural background is an entirely different story. I keep my fingers crossed for you, that you have luck.

Now, coming back, as I said I would on to reindeer activities. We did the reindeer and sleigh ride, organised from a tour operator in town, not on the circuit in Santa’s Village. Our son actually had mentioned back at home while discussing the trip, that it would be amazing for him to go on Santa’s sleigh with the reindeer, while that was an ask a bit out of reach, we could still manage a mortal experience of a sleigh and reindeer.

The reindeer is a big animal, with special symbolism at Christmas time and of course this cold harsh northern world. I would say, you cannot leave the region without doing something with the reindeer. The meeting place for the tour was their shop in town, where we were going to set off on our trip. They would have, if needed, provided warm[er] and suitable clothes, as it happens, what we were wearing was fine. The small mini vans pick you up and drive via Santa’s Village, don’t worry if you are staying there, the tour operators will still come and get you. The service was good.

We drove out to the reindeer farm; there were groups leaving as we arrived and other mini vans arriving at the same time as us. You are not far out of town, it is a short drive, even this short drive gives you some exposure to the frozen landscape and unique nature, very beautiful and special. The reindeer in their natural ish habitat look amazing. The sleighs kind of take two people, our kid was nearly 6 and could sit on our laps and we were allowed to go as 3 people. The sleigh ride is short, when I say short, it is around 6 minutes, they take you on a small circuit in convoy. It is very nice, it is very special, we did like it, but it is very short, for sure, if we ever return to this region, we would look at missing things such as Santa’s Village and try to find a longer experience in the nature with the reindeer, as this would be a highlight, if you can find such a trip.

Going round this circuit you do see the frozen nature, which is impressive. You are now with the Sami reindeer herders rather than the tour company staff, and they look very authentic wearing the traditional ceremonial outfits for the added tourist experience. Here, I really don’t want to be rude or give a sweeping statement, however, there is a certain reality to the situation, the Sami reindeer herders are used to an isolated remote and harsh way of life, for them to be thrown into this tourist way of life is alien to them, I do not doubt quite profitable, but would suppose they are out of their comfort zone big time. They are not overly warm or approachable. Their new way of life may now be the tourist industry but their heritage is even further north in the wilderness living with their reindeer. During our experience we found they are not big talkers. Getting a picture with them, or their animals, or them helping and enhancing the experience was not a huge success. I don’t think they are rude or wish we were not there, but feel they are uncomfortable with us ‘gringo’s’ entering their world.

After the sleigh ride circuit, the group go into the reindeer enclosure or pen and feed the animals, the food seems to be a moss that they eat. Inside the enclosure, you get up close to them, feed them and have pictures taken. You move into the building to warm up, served some warm drinks and cookies, with the Sami herders provide information and answering questions on the reindeer herder’s way of life, the outfits, tools and knives and the reindeer themselves.

Funny story… The Sami telling us about reindeer, and only being honest. Well, we now have to leave a cookie for Santa and a mushroom for Rudolf! Yes, a mushroom! The herder informed our group that contrary to popular belief, the reindeer do not eat carrots but love mushrooms, and what’s the only thing our son remembers? That’s right! We’re the only family back home with mushrooms out and not carrots on the 24th.

After the Q and A session, the show and tell with knives and antlers, the warm drinks finished, we were handed back to the tour operators to return us to the city and our hotels.

The trip is nice, I think you have to book something similar when in the region, my only issue was how short it was, I would have liked longer on the sleigh and longer with the animals, longer in the nature.

The final activity we did during our trip, wanting to experience the uniqueness of this wilderness here more. We booked up the frozen waterfall and hike tour. If you ask my girlfriend this was her highlight, her best activity. We were picked up directly from our accommodation, supplied with hiking spikes which went over our shoes, and set off. You do want to be prepared for this; you will want to be warm if the temperature is low. Dress well, do not forget anything – maybe pack and prepare the night before. The drive out is about an hour or more, it’s quite far. And the trip, does what it says on the tin. You hike in the countryside, in a park or nature reserve on a well-defined hiking route, you find yourself picking up a stream and following this with a cliff wall in front of you, and it is from this cliff line you will pass multiple frozen waterfalls.

Seeing the frozen waterfalls is nice, and that’s the name of the tour, however, for us getting out, being a bit active, and seeing the nature was just as nice, the frozen stream was very pretty. Our son was still 5, nearly 6. It was a walk in the frozen wild albeit on a well-defined and relatively easy path. He could manage. Towards the end he started to tire (in fairness, as we all did), the hike is about an hour or so, but he managed. Some tours do not let the younger children join and that’s why we chose this particular one; it had no age restriction for the kids.

The tours usually stop in the nature reserve not so far from the car park to have a BBQ. Our guide said to avoid the people we will find a spot enroute home, and he found us a nice spot on a lake about halfway back. We bought some food ourselves, but didn’t have to, our guide had everything for us as well. Sausages, marshmallows. He got the fire going and we cooked our food, as the sun set and it became night time – at about 3 in the afternoon! This is life when you are so far north.

This is probably one of the few tours that does allow you to step more into the nature and be active. It won’t be for everyone. If the temperature drops very low and you packed more on the city style clothes, either you must ask to borrow some more appropriate clothes or this trip is perhaps not for you. We enjoyed it, and with a longer stay, would have looked for more trips along these lines.

For us only having a mini break/holiday in Lapland, all of this completely filled our time. But before closing the article, I must tell you about the food. Remember earlier in the blog, I told you that surprisingly we had delicious food on this trip which surpassed expectation.

Here are my dining recommendations…

Well firstly, in town, you have plenty of options, catering for everyone’s tastes, Asian, Fast Food, Kebabs, even an Irish pub, with pub grub, and what seems to be some rock and live music venues.

Depending how many of my articles you have read, you may or may not be aware, we like to keep it local, everything I am going to recommend, in fact everywhere we ate, served local Finnish, even more specific, Lappish, dishes.

What you must know, despite being in town, with plenty of options. Rovaniemi is a small city with likely more tourists than it can really cope with. My strong recommendation is to make some reservations, particularly in the places I will tell you about. It is not just me telling you they are the best. Locals and tour guides we spoke to all suggest these, they have the best scores online. Make a reservation, ideally a few days in advance or when planning your trip. I will put my neck on the line here and say, the restaurant are likely to be harder to book and get in than any of the tours or activities you wish to do.

All the places we went to have a menu option, and I was surprised that the value was pretty good. Around 60 Euro for 3 courses, of local dishes. We often went ala carte and didn’t take a menu, but only letting you know that they do exist.

First one, Taiga, with a small front dining room and more space out back and on the lower level. Very friendly staff, we were chatting to the waiter who was super nice as was the waitress/owner who was telling us her father is a herder in the north. Here ordering reindeer as a fine steak. Called Striploin, tender and preferred cut, served rare preferably but at a push medium, no more though, ensuring you get the best flavours. It’s a great restaurant with tasty food and friendly staff. Popular with locals as well as tourists, I do recommend my dish and I have fallen in love with reindeer meat after my trip. The dark restaurant setting with candle lights makes it a nice atmospheric dinner, friendly staff and good food, you won't go wrong going to this place.

Second one. Our absolute favourite. It was probably the best due to the waitress, she was really good at her job, friendly, informative, and helpful, making suggestions and honest feedback. Nili. This place seems to be very famous and very popular. It’s bigger, and noisier compared to Taiga, just as dark and atmospheric, but in a different way. You can see this place has history and is a popular choice. Notice the pictures on the walls, it appears to have been, back in days gone by, a farmers building on stilts, to avoid the flood waters. I am told exactly on the site the restaurant is today. The name of the restaurant is the name of such a building.

We ordered the works in this place. But before we go on to food – the drinks! We love wine, and we love consuming locally. Accepting that on this trip, we would be on beer or foreign wine, we were fine with it. Seeing a sparkling wine from Finland in the supermarket was already an unexpected shock. Looking at Nili’s menu - Finnish red wine, and Finnish white wine - WHAT?!

The price to drink local is not cheap. The menu has great foreign wines, French, Italian, American, for 30% to 50% less than the Finnish stuff. The Finnish wine coming in at around 80 Euro a bottle. We thought - when will we get to try this again, and started to get onboard with the cost. We discussed with the waitress and she was explaining it to us, it is not for everyone’s taste, and that it is berries not grapes used in making their wines, she allowed us to try the wines, white and red, before committing to a bottle. Just being truthful, the white for us, was not good, we didn’t like it, maybe you do, do try it. The red, which actually the waitress was not selling particular well, it wasn’t for her taste (she preferred the white, her young pallet maybe?), but the red was certainly to our taste, the red wine (from berries) had an amazing taste, and really did taste like a wine (a good wine).

Speak pleasantly to the guys serving you, and if you are lucky, they will allow you to taste these wines which are worth it and if you like it as much as we did, do treat yourselves.

On to the food. Here I ordered bear meat stew in a traditional kuksa cup to start and the reindeer steak, the classic, I think it’s the restaurants signature dish for my main. Followed by a dessert – it would be rude not to! Once again, delicious. Reindeer meat, I never knew it was so good. We did go for the full three courses, bottle of wine and even a berry digestive – not as good as the wine but you have to try. I loved this place and their dishes.

I highly recommend it, it was a beautiful evening, food, service, setting, and of course tastes. You certainly will need to reserve to stand a chance of getting in. And you do not have to believe me or my recommendation, use google or speak to people you meet in town, I think you will get the same feedback.

Now don’t get me wrong. Taiga, was a close second, the food and standard, as well as the service was perfect in both. But for us Nili could be up there with one of our best meals ever!

Where Nili is located in town, it is somewhat located on the street of Lappish restaurants, there are several options here, all with quite good reviews.

Not wanting to eat foreign cuisine, and determined to stay local, but having not read such a useful blog as this, not aware we needed to reserve, our last dinner, which of course, we wanted to make special, we were not having much success getting in places. Our first choice was next to Nili, the Arctic Restaurant. No reservation, no table. Next, we thought Nili was so good we would return - the same, no chance to get in. But they suggested the restaurant they also own across the road, Nest.

We just got in, and got a table, there were people behind us who got turned away.

Nest had a similar menu to Nili, with some differences, its nicely decorated inside. The menu was pretty good. But Nest just missed something the other two restaurants had. The service was ok, but really incomparable to the two restaurants listed above, the atmosphere, likewise. Maybe we were just spoilt previously and the bar was set too high. That said, the food was probably just as good, of course it’s harder to say this truly objectively, because for me, I am looking for that 360-degree package, I do think it was all very good here. I took the moose for dinner, for a change/variety from the last few days.

I give this place a recommendation, and think it’s worth a try. Taiga and Nili were hands down the best, and up there with perhaps some of our best dining we have ever had, Nili slightly ahead in that race. Nest was good, and had we ate there first, I think I would have been far more positive in my review, it was really I think due to such a high bench mark set by the other two, anything else was going to struggle.

My hope for you guys is you have such luck with the food here. We love dining, and what a surprise we had compared to what we expected. There may even be better options than I have mentioned, but giving you our first hand experience, you wouldn’t go far wrong eating in these places.

And if you have gotten this far, you probably deserve a medal. It’s a long blog. I summarised at the start and will summarise to close.

Finland, Lapland, the Arctic Circle, Rovaniemi are totally beautiful and amazing. Costs and prices when out and about, eating, drinking, buying things were not as bad as I expected. Trips, activities, getting there and accommodation, will be costly though. The landscape, nature, way of life, all incredible. The food, I cannot express the shock from what I had expected to what I had gotten. The food was delicious, and lovely dining experiences, up there with the best.

So, should you go?

Absolutely!

You will love it. The cold is manageable, you will be fine, it is a very interesting place to visit. That said, I cannot recommend it, if the primary reason for going is to see Santa. Santa’s village is extremely underwhelming, for kids as well as the adults.

You do of course have to take a morning or afternoon out to visit Santa, I am not for one minute saying you shouldn’t, you are here and somehow you must go. Just make the nature, the wild and frozen world you will enter, the main reason for a visit, with Santa’s village an activity you will squeeze in among the many other stunning sights and experiences you plan to have.

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