A visit to Santa Claus Village in Lapland
A childhood dream has finally come true. We have met Santa Claus. He really exists! We know for sure because we have seen him with our own eyes. In Santa’s village in Lapland. That’s where he lives.
If you also want to meet Santa Claus, then hop onto the next plane to Rovaniemi in Lapland. Rovaniemi is the capital of Lapland with around 60,000 inhabitants and the official home of Santa Claus. From there, it’s just a short drive to Santa’s village. The Santa Claus Village offers an unforgettable experience for young and old. Have fun and Ho Ho Ho!
Our journey to Rovaniemi
Even if it may seem a little inconvenient for some, we decided to take the detour via London. A nice side effect was that we were able to celebrate New Year’s Eve there before our plane left for Lapland on January 1st. The real reason for the detour, however, was that flights with Ryanair from London were significantly cheaper than from Germany. A dircet flight from Düsseldorf with Eurowings would have cost more than 400 Euros per person each way, whereas we flew via London for less than half that amount (with a stop in Helsinki on the return journey). Therefore it might pay off financially to take a detour if that’s not too much of a hassle for you. If you can’t find a good direct flight to Rovaniemi, you can also take the Santa Express night trainfrom Helsinki.
The flight time from London to Rovaniemi is approx. 3.5 hours. As the airport in Rovaniemi is small and clearly laid out, it is easy to find your way around and baggage handling is quick. What we learned when we arrived, however, is that the next time we visit, we will preorder a cab in advance. We had to wait for over an hour until we managed to get a taxi into town. The drive into the centre of Rovaniemi was quick and we could already marvel at the fantastic winter landscape and masses of snow.
Our accommodation in Rovaniemi
We opted for a small but very cozy Airbnb in the city center. Here, too, it was worth traveling after New Year’s Eve in terms of cost. Prices for accomodation in Rovaniemi and the surrounding area between Christmas and New Year were significantly more expensive than after January 1st. Our beautiful apartment was equipped with everything we needed. We even had our own sauna. This is very common in Finland and it was still a nice addition to our little apartment.
Santa Claus Village – a childhood dream comes true
The bus to Santa Claus Village departs regularly from various stations in Rovaniemi. Of course, we were on the first bus so that we could enjoy the day in Santa’s Village for as long as possible. Entry to Santa’s Village is free of charge and we had ordered our tickets for Snowman World* in advance. The anticipation was huge and I can already reveal this much: We were not disappointed. It is simply breathtakingly beautiful there and there is so much to experience. A childhood dream comes true!
We enter the Arctic Circle in Santa’s Village
One of the highlights right at the beginning of our visit was entering the Arctic Circle via the Arctic Circle Line. It’s also a lot of fun to watch the other visitors all jumping happily into the Arctic Circle.
We also treated ourselves to a great addition to our day in Santa Village. We wanted to bring back great photo memories from this special day. That’s why we booked our own photographer, Marion, for the day. Admittedly, it wasn’t exactly a cheap treat. But it was worth every penny. Marion is not only super nice, she also took us to the best photo spots, booked our activities for us in advance and told us lots of interesting facts about Lapland and Santa Claus Village.
Our photo tour began in the breathtakingly beautiful snowy landscape, just a few minutes’ walk from the village. There we romped, admired the nature and threw snowballs at each other. This part alone would have made the trip worthwhile!
Reindeer sleigh and campfire
Back in the village, the next items on the agenda were warming up by the campfire and then go for areindeer sleigh ride. Marion had already booked the sleigh ride for us, so we didn’t have to queue for long. After a short introduction, we were allowed to climb into the sledge and were immediately wrapped up in a warm blanket. We set off through another snowy winter wonderland behind Santa Village. We really enjoyed the peaceful ride and everything still seemed like a dream.
Ride a husky sled and pet the puppies
After a large mug of hot chocolate we continued on to another highlight of the Santa Claus Village: the husky farm. On arrival we realised that we were very lucky that Marion had booked our slot in advance. Otherwise we would unfortunately have missed out on this incredibly wonderful experience, as all the slots were fully booked and we wouldn’t have been able to buy a ticket spontaneously. So here too, my recommendation is to make sure you get a ticket in advance, at least in the high season around Christmas and New Year.
After a few cuddles with the husky “Batman”, we went on to the puppy enclosure. We were allowed to stroke, feed and cuddle a wild gang of young huskies and enjoy to watch their irrepressible urge to move.
But the real highlight was the husky sled ride. It was simply one of the best experiences of my life and I couldn’t stop being amazed and delighted. It was really overwhelming and photos can’t begin to express how great it was in real life.
Snowman World
After we said goodbye to Marion and warmed up again during lunch, our program continued at Snowman World *. It is a world of ice and snow and great fun for the whole family.
Whether it’s ice skating, sliding down a hill in a giant tube, running through the snow maze or visiting the ice bar. It certainly wasn’t boring in Snowman World for one minute. The fantastic ice sculptures and the tour of an exemplary ice hotel room were also fabulous. If you go to Santa Claus Village, you should not miss out on Snowman World.
Meeting Santa Claus
We saved the best bit for the end of the day. The visit in Santa’s office. Finally! To get to Santa Claus, however, you first have to register at his cottage and wait in the queue of visitors. The waiting area is nicely decorated and the elves make the wait more entertaining.
Parents can decide at a payment counter, run by an elf ,whether their little ones will receive a gift of Santa or simply go to visit him. Yep, you have to pay for it. Santa only brings free gifts at Christmas, guys! When we finally arrived at Santas office to meet the big red man, our excitement went through the roof. Especially Noah was so happy but a very nervous too. Bless him, what a big day. Noah was sitting next to Santa for a little chat and eventually received his gift before leaving. It was just a minute but it was definitley worth the wait and will stick with us for a lifetime. I mean, how often in your life do you get to meet Santa?
Unfortunately, you are not allowed to take photos and videos yourself. If you want to bring home pictures of your visit to Santa’s office, you’ll have to see another credit card elf in order to receive the photos and video that the elves have taken during the visit. However, I never regretted the purchase because I love to see my excited little boy next to Santa and he will cherish this memory for the rest of his life as well. Also looking at the overall cost of our Lappland experience, that didn’t make a massive difference. But of course I only have one child, for a big family it can soon get very expensive.
After all the exciting experiences and the long day in Santa Claus Village we made our way back to Rovaniemi, happy and exhausted. Once there, Noah wanted to eat at the northernmost McDonald’s in the world. Well then, if it makes the day perfect for him, I am happy.
Our conclusion about the Santa Claus village
Is it worth the trip? Absolutely. We had one of the best days of our lives and an incredible amount of fun. I tried to (unsuccessfully) hold back a few tears when I saw Noah’s beaming little face during and after his meeting with Santa.
We have made so many incredible memories for life that no one can take away from us. We have no regrets and can only recommend this experience to others.
The next morning we picked up our rental car and headed up north towards Pyhä Skiresort. You can read all about our other Lapland adventures here.
