Family Winter Holidays: Santa in Lapland

by Alistair McLean - Activities Abroad

Until I had kids of my own, Christmas had become a forced round of family meals and rubbish TV schedules. And then, when my daughter was about three and a half, I was reminded exactly what it’s all about.

For two months before Christmas we played her favourite game, which consisted of her pretending to be asleep while I crept around her bedroom in the guise of Father Christmas, leaving mock presents dotted about the place. Come Christmas Eve, we put the milk, carrots and magic dust out for the reindeer while the obligatory mince pie and a stiff shot of Scotland’s finest firewater graced the mantelpiece next to an over-sized stocking. My daughter believed and loved every single moment – and so did her once-cynical parent.

If it’s this magical at home, how wonderful must it be to take your kids to ‘The Home of Father Christmas’?

Well, the simple answer is… It depends.
 
In Finland, for example, a massive December industry has grown up around Father Christmas, with daily charter flights depositing young families in a totally unfamiliar environment. Many of these families come for one day only and find themselves being herded from pillar to post like sheep. Boy, have I heard some horror stories – the worst being the group, including 3- and 4-year-olds, who were told: ‘There’s no time to go to the toilet, we must get on the coach’

The problem with the short trips is that you spend more time travelling than you do in Lapland, heading for the airport at an ungodly hour, then spending two hours at the airport, three and a half hours flying, four hours, at best, on the ground (barely time to visit Santa, go husky-sledding, feed the reindeer and so on), then another two hours at the airport, another three and a half hours flying, finished off by the journey from the airport. A brochure by one of the main one-day Santa companies proudly boasted that ‘unlike other companies you will get a genuine husky safari lasting up to 5 minutes’!
 
But even the longer trips don’t necessarily mean you’ll see the real Lapland. The cheapest trips for seven nights in Finland are invariably to the likes of Levi and Yllas, but these are identikit ski resorts that could be anywhere in the world. Levi is a purpose-built resort that sprang up out of nowhere about five years ago to cater for tourists, with nothing traditional, nothing genuine, nothing authentic. And still quite a lot of building work going on.

But if you escape the ‘Santa Centrals’ and mass commercialism of Rovaniemi and forsake the ski resorts of Levi and Yllas, Lapland is fabulous – a true winter wonderland of childhood memory. As with most things in life, you get what you pay for, however – if you want a genuine experience in Lapland, including a private and intimate meeting with Father Christmas and a husky safari that lasts longer than it takes a hungry dog to wolf down a bowl of pet-food, you’re going to have to stump up for it.
 
For me, the Father Christmas experience should form part of a Lapland holiday (albeit a very important part) – dog-sledding is also a must, as is speeding across a frozen lake on a snowmobile, driving a reindeer-pulled sleigh through a snow-clad forest, ice-fishing, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and – of course – searching for the Aurora Borealis.
 
You don’t have to cross the Arctic Circle either. The best Father Christmas experience I know of is far south of that invisible line that seems so often to be a deal-breaker: at Savalen,  Norway you can take a magical trip steeped in Norwegian tradition, with a ‘Naughty Santa’ whom you never see but whose presence is betrayed by black footprints painted on the walls, the ceilings and doors of Santa’s House. My kids talked of ‘Naughty Santa’ for months after our trip.

The Father Christmas experience at Savalen is superb, with each family given a private tour of Santa’s House and an intimate 10-minute audience with the great man himself in his office, followed by pancakes and hot chocolate cooked up by Mrs Claus. You won’t know who is smiling more, the kids or the parents.

And parents shouldn’t ever be overlooked – this is YOUR holiday too. My fondness for Savalen may be swayed by my recollections of the spa and swimming area: sitting in a massage bath looking through huge panelled windows at a vast snow-covered lake where I’d spent a couple of hours dog-sledding and ice-fishing a few hours earlier, with snowy forests fading into the distant mountains, is a memory that will stay with me all my life.

A Father Christmas trip should be a family holiday where both kids and parents alike experience the magic. It’s an expensive business doing it ‘properly’, but surely it’s far better to come home with a million marvellous memories than disappointed and disgruntled.

The secret is to do your research. Contact the tour operators and make sure they’ve been there themselves and that you know exactly what is included. Ask ‘How long is the husky safari?’ and ‘Can you tell me more about our meeting with Father Christmas?’ The good tour operators will know what they’re talking about and will make sure you enjoy a brilliant time in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

Alistair McLean is founder of activity travel company Activities Abroad.

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