Holiday to Lapland – 6 Night Christmas Itinerary

In December, we took the boys on a Holiday to Lapland that we’d been planning for three years. Well actually probably longer than that but we are tempted to go three years on the trot. However, because of the pandemic, we finally made it in 2022. Over the three years, our plan changed quite considerably. Partly due to the impact of flight changes and commitments we had made in previous years. However, our six-night itinerary covered all of the major things we wanted to do when visiting Lapland at Christmas time with the children. With some budget-saving tips and some bucket list items. Even though it was not what we had originally planned. It turned out to be a Lapland trip for a lifetime.

How many days in Rovaniemi?

Our holiday to Lapland itinerary originally started at four nights in Rovaniemi allowing a day on either side for travel. However, due to flight changes, we added on an extra two nights at the capital of Finnish Lapland. It turned out that this was a happy accident. Having the extra nights meant that nothing was rushed. It allowed plenty of downtime between activities or just time to play in the snow. I think if we had originally tried to squeeze everything into four nights we would have struggled. Ultimately it would have meant that we did not do some of the things we did do. 

Is Rovaniemi worth visiting?

I made the mistake of looking at one of the Facebook Lapland forums just before we packed to leave. And it made me wobble about our decision to visit Rovaniemi.

Lapland is made up of a vast area that covers Finland, Sweden and Norway. Consequently, there are various different resorts and locations. Rovaniemi in Northern Lapland has a little bit of a bad rep in as far as it is a commercialised area. After all, it is the home of Santa Claus. But actually, it was nowhere near as bad as I was expecting. And actually, that is what we wanted. This was our trip for the boys and it centred solely around seeing Santa, enjoying the festive season and ticking off all the bucket list things we wanted to do. There is such a vast abundance of Winter activities it is difficult to decide the best things to do!

I am sure as they get older we will visit more of this amazing region. Go more remote and enjoy the wilderness and create unforgettable travel experiences. But with a 10 and 6-year-old and 3 years in the planning. This Lapland itinerary is about the kids… we had an unforgettable experience enjoying the magic of Lapland.

Our Holiday to Lapland

I have run through briefly what we did each day. If you want to read more about a specific activity then there are blog posts linked throughout which have more detail. 

Day One – travelling & arriving in Lapland

Day one of our holiday to Lapland was a travel day for us. We caught Finnair flights from Heathrow Airport to Helsinki. Where we changed into a connecting flight to Rovaniemi. We decided not to get the Santa Claus express night train on the basis that it would extend our trip. Originally our initial trip had been planned earlier in December when the boys were still at school. Meaning I wanted to minimise how long they were away from lessons for. 

However, because of the pandemic, we ended up completely within school holiday times when our flights changed for the third time. So we could have caught the train. But we were already committed to flights financially, it also did not reduce the travel cost down by much at all. So it is worth checking if you are planning on doing this and the impact it has on price.

Also, since we booked our flights three years ago for our holiday to Lapland, there have been a number of low-cost airlines that now fly directly to Rovaniemi, which were not available to us at the time. This includes easyJet from Gatwick, Airport and Ryanair from Stansted Airport.

Because of the times of our flights, it meant that we did not reach Rovaniemi until around 9 o’clock in the evening not making it to Hotel until 11 pm. This was down to flight delays as we actually found security and baggage collection a breeze in Rovaniemi airport. Next time we would get direct flights

Our Apartment Hotel Santasport was located a short 15-minute drive from the airport we booked a taxi in advance. Although there are plenty of taxis available I wanted to make sure we had one big enough for our luggage. After all you need a lot of luggage for a 6-night Lapland itinerary

Day Two Daytime – Santa Claus Village

Our first full day in Rovaniemi was spent at Santa Claus Holiday Village. After spending much of the previous day travelling, we had a reasonably slow start. One of the things I learned about our holiday to Lapland over Christmas was that it is different to other travelling experiences we have had as a family. And the importance of building in some extra chill downtime for the boys.

For this reason, I purposefully chose an activity on our Lapland itinerary for the first day that did not have any time requirement. You can visit Santa Claus Village at any time from 9 am to 7 pm onwards and therefore it gave us the flexibility to arrive when we wanted. There are lots of different activities to do a Santa Claus village all of them are independently priced and so it’s up to you what you do and when you do it.

We spent around five hours at the attraction. The boys did snowmobiling and sledging, we visited Snowman World. Did some souvenir shopping, posted some postcards home and crossed the Arctic Circle.

You can read Santa Claus Village – what you need to know before you visit which will help you plan your trip. 

Day Two Evening – Private meeting with Santa

As I mentioned above the key driver for us for this visit was all about Christmas for the boys. This included seeing Santa. In the early evening, I booked a private visit to see Santa Claus in the Secret Forest with Joulukka. Who offer a variety of magical experiences.

I opted for a private experience as I was keen to make it different to the Father Christmas experiences that we’ve had in the UK. Including Lapland UK, which in my mind is still one of the most magical that we have available to us at home.

Our Santa experience last for two hours and involved visiting Father Christmas in his command centre. Where we learned all about the elves and how they communicate with each other, how they keep an eye on the reindeer and sort the post. Before having a private story and meeting with the big man himself. You can read more about our experience here – Santa Claus Secret Forest Joulukka – What to expect.

One of the reasons I chose Santasport Hotel is that it has restaurants on-site and also offers self-catering facilities. So we returned to our hotel after a full day of excitement to eat and sleep!

Day Three Daytime – Santa Park

Keen to get our Christmas experiences done at the beginning of our holiday to Lapland. And more importantly prior to when Santa Claus would be leaving Rovaniemi on the 23rd of December to start his Christmas deliveries. Our third day was spent at Santa Park. Santas Park is an inside theme park based around Santa and his elves. There are lots of things to do there including visiting Santa Claus.

However if like us you have already done this, then there is so much more to see. Including Elf School, The Bakery where you can decorate gingerbread cookies, Elf Workshop for some arts and crafts, a VR Sleigh Ride and not to forget a heart-stopping Elf Acrobatic Show.

We spent most of the day here which I think makes it really good value for money. Plus your tickets are valid for two consecutive days so if your plans change it means you have some flexibility. You can read more about what to expect here Complete Guide to Santa Park Rovaniemi. You do need to pay for entrance to Santa Park it costs €42 for an adult and €36 for a child. We also ate lunch at the theme park, they have a buffet which can be booked in advance or on the day.

If you are not sure you want to do both Santa Claus Village and Santa Park then this post will help you to decide which one is best for your family. Santa Park vs Santa Claus Village 

The rest of the day we enjoyed the facilities that the hotel has including a swimming pool, soft play and sledging.

Day Four Morning – Ice Fishing 

In the morning, Harry and I went on a family fun activity session with Happy Fox. This involved lots of different outdoor activities. Including ice fishing, cross-country skiing, sledging and riding snowmobiles. My husband and Charlie should have also come but Charlie was a bit off-colour so decided to stay in our hotel. 

The reason that I booked this activity for our Lapland itinerary was that I knew that the children would want to play in the snow almost continually. And by having everything in one place it meant that we did not have to hire things individually. Our family fun session took place on a frozen lake in beautiful surroundings and also included a snack of hot grilled sausages over an open fire.

Day Four Afternoon – Illness & traditional food

The activity lasted for four hours and we got back to our hotel around 2 o’clock in the afternoon. This is when disaster strikes, as Charlie is really not very well at all. Having spent most of the day in bed already he went back to sleep. One of the benefits of having an apartment is that we could accommodate this easily. Leaving Harry and my husband to go off sledging while I stayed and looked after Charlie.

Unfortunately, the reality is when travelling with children, they can’t get ill at any point. Thankfully, it wasn’t long until he was back on his feet, but we had planned to visit a traditional Lappish restaurant in Rovaniemi called Nili. Which is well known for its Lappish food. You do need to make a booking in advance during peak periods as it is a popular restaurant. Unfortunately, we did not get a chance to experience it as we did not want to take Charlie out into the cold when he was feeling unwell. Definitely, one for the list if we ever return.

Day Five Morning – Sledging and transfers

I was pleased to find Charlie was feeling much better on our fifth day. This is just as well as we left our first accommodation at Santasport. We had not intended on staying in more than one location initially, however, as our flights have been changed and Santasport could not put us up we were forced to find alternative accommodation. However, it really did work in our favour as we got to do things that we wouldn’t have done otherwise. 

When transitioning from one Hotel to another during our holiday to Lapland, we were mindful of check-in and check-out times. So the morning of the fifth day we spent at our existing hotel making the most of the sledging Hill. Checking out at midday to make sure we could have a bite to eat before moving on to our next location. 

Day Five Afternoon – Husky Safari

Our afternoon activity at 2pm was Husky Safari at Apukka Resort. Husky sledding was the ‘thing’ on Charlies wish list. Remember that during the Winter months, there were very few daylight hours in Finland. For the majority for all of our stay, we were lucky if we got two hours of daylight a day. Staying over the winter solstice meant that on the 22nd we got about an hour and a half.

We got a taxi transfer to Apukka which I had booked in advance and arranged a set price for. If you want to do that then you can do so on the Lahitaksi website. Our Husky rides at Apukka took around two hours and involves an 8 km husky ride across the frozen lake. It included a thermal suit for each of us, a hot drink and snacks, petting and meeting the huskies. Information about the Huskies and a Q&A. Where we also met a month-old husky which was very cute. We also had full training on how to drive a husky sleigh since we drove ourselves across the lake. 

There are lots of different husky tours available. We picked this one as it was at our accommodation and looked to offer a very good distance for the price. If you are thinking of booking a husky safari then this may help narrow down your options – Choosing the best Husky experience in Rovaniemi Lapland.

Day Five Evening – Glass Igloos & Lappish Dinner

After a husky experience, we checked into accommodation and we were staying in one of the Family Aurora Cabins. Staying in a glass-roofed igloo is a bucket list item for many people when visiting Lapland and definitely ticked a lot of boxes for us. I may even go as far as to say as it was possibly our favourite experience. Apukka Resort Rovaniemi Review.

We spent the evening having dinner in the on-site à la cart restaurant, eating reindeer and soaking up the cosy surroundings. There is something very special sitting next to the window with fairy lights twinkling and loads of snow outside. We had an aurora borealis alarm but unfortunately due to the fact that it was quite warm the skies were grey with snow clouds. So we did not get the chance to see the natural phenomena. 

Day Six Morning – Reindeer Safaris & playtime 

Apukka resorts also provide breakfast in the cost of your accommodation. As we were sitting eating breakfast the sun began to rise. It looked so beautiful across a backdrop of white.

After a large breakfast, we headed to our second activity with Apukka which was a Reindeer Sleigh Rides. We chose a ride at 10 am in the morning to allow us to catch the sky as it went from orange to yellow to pink. The reindeer rides are around 3 km and took place through the snowy forest. It was exactly how you would imagine it to look on a picture postcard. Truly beautiful. 

After which we were given hot drinks and snacks to warm up and the opportunity to ask questions for a reindeer harder. Before feeding the reindeer which both the boys loved. I did think we may miss this as we hadn’t factored in a reindeer farm. So I was pleased it was included. If you are considering a reindeer sleigh ride on your trip to Lapland this post will help explain the options – Picking a reindeer safari in Lapland.

We headed back to Apukka resort at lunchtime where you can eat snacks in the café bar in the reception or in the buffet restaurant. The boys wanted to play in the snow. After checking out we then spent a couple of hours enjoying everything that the resort had on offer including sledges. Although these were meant to move luggage around, snow, tubes, and the beautiful outlook across the frozen lake. We were lucky enough to catch the sunset before leaving for our final destination.

Day Six Afternoon – Snow Hotel Transfer

Our final night in Lapland with we spent at the Snow Hotel. Again another bucket list item to tick off. I arranged a private transfer from Apukka to the Snow Hotel via the same taxi company for €100. This worked out cheaper than the snow hotels and transfers.

We arrived at the Ice Hotel for check-in which is at 3 pm. So that we had plenty of time to get settled and understand how everything works. You are given a guided tour when you arrive. I would recommend that you get there for check-in. Because we spent a couple of hours looking around the snow hotel at the different rooms, chapel, ice bar and ice restaurant.

They also are bars and restaurants and saunas outside of the snow hotel itself which you can also use during your stay. We decided to stop for a few drinks and board games in the sky bar before our meal in the ice restaurant. I have written about our stay and meal in the ice restaurant separately – Arctic Snow Hotel Rovaniemi everything you need to know before you stay.

Although we did not catch the Northern Lights which was what we were hopeful for. We did actually have quite a nice night’s sleep at the hotel despite the cold. Although in hindsight due to the logistics I probably would not have done this on the last night of our trip. As we had reasonably early morning flights out of Rovaniemi. So we did not catch the sunrise which I imagine would be spectacular.

Day Seven – Homeward Bound from our Holiday to Lapland

We took a coach transfer from the arctic snowhotel to Rovaniemi airport for our return flights. The hotel provided this for us at €80. It was quite magical driving along the snowy roads with nothing else on them. Watching the last of the snow-laden trees.

We got up to a lot during our Holiday in Lapland! Ticking off a lot of things on our bucket list and staying at some unique locations. Although our Lapland itinerary was perhaps longer than your typical organised tour operators’ Lapland packages. The overall price was very similar to other Lapland holidays. And in fact, in some instances a lot cheaper than some Lapland holiday packages. Especially when you think we were there for six nights and stayed in a glass igloo at the snow hotel. These were some of our key bucket list items when planning a Lapland itinerary. They cost a lot of money but it gave us control as to where we could spend our money and take advantage of special offers offered by smaller independent companies.

Rather than fill this post with lots of numbers I have decided to write a separate blog all about the cost of our trip to Lapland. How much does it cost to go to Lapland? Here you can read for yourself and decide if we got value for money for our Lapland itinerary in comparison to the other types of Lapland Holiday out there!

I really hope this has helped you with your own planning for your own Holiday DIY trip to Lapland to show that it is possible to build your own adventure. What would be on your ideal Lapland itinerary? Are you planning a family holiday to this Winter wonderland?

Related Blog Posts

If you have enjoyed our Holiday to Lapland – 6 Night Lapland Itinerary. ou may also find some of these other blog posts covering Lapland Finland.

• Lapland packing list includes the fun things – not your usual clothing list (although there is some of that too) but includes all the other things you do not want to forget. 
• If you are planning on visiting with children Visiting Lapland with kids – things you should think about
• Rovaniemi on a budget – things to consider to help reduce the cost of your holiday.
• How much does it cost to go to Lapland? – Our trip is broken down by cost including flights, accommodations, activities, food and transport. 

 

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