A visit to the home of Santa Claus during Christmas was on our list for a long time. The snow laden trees, christmas lights, festive songs, igloo stay and reindeers were something that we were really looking forward to. We finally decided to do it once our daughter was three and we were confident that she will be warm and enjoy the christmas vibes. The temperate was around -10 degrees and we were wearing multiple layers of clothes to keep ourselves comfortable and enjoy the outdoors. This is the most expensive time of the year and everything gets sold out pretty quick. We were able to get a good Airbnb in Rovaniemi and had a one night stay in Igloo.

In terms of transport, there are two ways to reach Rovaniemi (the main city in Lapland) from Helsinki. Flight, which gets super expensive and the train. The sleeper coaches of the train get booked months (and some say years ) in advance and were only able to get sitting coaches. It is an overnight journey and definitely not super comfortable if you are travelling with a toddler. This train is also called Santa Claus express. Do try your best to get the sleeper coach. To reach Helsinki we took Finnish airlines and that was super comfortable even in economy with really good service.

One watch out while travelling during winters is the reduced day light that you will have. We typically stepped out around 11 AM and by 5 PM it will be dark. So you can do less during winters and probably need more time to explore the must do activities.

Things to do:

• Rovaniemi Town: We were staying in the city centre and explored the malls and restaurants for dinner. We got good quality winter wears from there. The dishes to try out were nordic sea food and reindeer meat. The town was decorated well for christmas.

• Igloo Stay: Even if it is for one night, do experience the stay in an Igloo. We booked Arctic Fox Igloos. It was near a frozen lake and the in-house food was pretty good. Our daughter enjoyed the sledge ride in the forest and overall it was good to get out of the city and the crowd.

• Santa Claus Post Office: There might be a small queue here but it is a good memory to carry back. There are thousands of letters that arrive here from kids all over the world. If you want, you can also post a letter from there stamped from the Santa Village.

• Picture with Santa Claus: For this one you need to keep enough time in hand in the Santa Village. You will get the perfect picture for your christmas card here. The print of the photos are expensive but definitely worth it.

• Reindeer Ride: This is available in the santa village and you will cross the arctic circle during the ride. it is fun and definitely a must do activity when you are there. Again there will be a queue here and you will have to patiently wait for your turn.

• Santa Village: We used to make a trip to santa village every day when we were in Rovaniemi. We used to book Uber and reach there. There is also the option to take a bus which will be much cheaper. Even though the temperature was unbearable, the vibe will keep you going. There is a huge christmas tree, lot of shops and good restaurants to eat local food.

• Northern Lights: We were a bit unfortunate on this one. The week that we were there, entire northern Europe was covered with clouds and the northern light activity happens above that. We had booked a northern light tour which was supposed to pick us up at 9 PM and drop us back around 2 AM. But that also got cancelled because of the weather. They usually are experts and guarantee northern light sightings or return your money. We did see some lights from our Igloo but not sure what they were 🙂 .

Overall a perfect Christmas holiday !