Lapland family holidays and breaks

Meeting Santa must be nearly every young child's dream, but the bearded bestower of Christmas joy is not the only reason for the popularity of family holidays in Lapland, a region that covers parts of northern Finland, northern Sweden, northern Norway and Russia, most of it within the Arctic Circle. This traditional homeland of the Sámi people – one of the world’s oldest surviving cultures – also offers you the chance to frolic in the snow and, if you’re lucky, see the awe-inspiring Northern Lights and spot polar bears.  

Other activities on a family break to Lapland might include ice-fishing, snow-hockey, reindeer sleigh rides and reindeer lassoing, husky sledge rides, horse-riding, toboganning, cross-country skiing, snow-shoeing, snowboarding, snowmobile safaris and snow sculpture. Oh, and let’s not forget the gingerbread-decorating or the campfires, and, for mums and dads, the saunas and spas!

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10°C
50°F

Flying Time	4 hours
Carbon Footprint	2.13 tonnes CO2
Timezone	GMT +2
Local Currency	Euro

What to do

Whether Sweden or Finland is home to Father Christmas is the subject of dispute. The Swedes claim he lives in Mora, south of Swedish Lapland; as a result, Mora is home to Tomteland or Santaworld, where Santa’s Village shares space with the Kingdom of the Trolls, the Fairy Grounds, the Elf Villlage, an elk and reindeer park and other delights. It’s open all year, although Santa takes a break in August and September!

The Finns argue that Santa lives near Rovaniemi, their gateway to Lapland, and again, it’s Christmas all year at the town’s Santapark, with sleigh-riding, toy-making, and the chance to help out at the elf park. 

With organized family holidays, activities depend on your choice of tour operator and the length of your stay (durations range from a day-trip with early-morning departures from the UK to a week). Those aimed at younger kids usually include meeting Santa, with some tours also taking in his Control Centre, where you can learn how he keeps track of all his letters from around the world and gets ready for Christmas, and the Elf School, where kids can make a traditional Lappish decoration. See Choosing the Best Santa Holiday.

Finnish Lapland is tops for cross-country skiing, snowmobiling (kids ride behind in trailers), and husky- or reindeer-drawn sled rides, while Kiruna inSwedish Lapland is a great place to see the Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis – just don’t tell the kids that one legend holds that these spectacular light displays are spirits playing with children’s heads (for the Sámis, however, they’re the swishing of a fox’s tail). Kiruna (home to the Ice Hotel; see below) also has some impressive magnetite mines you can visit. (Note that seeing the Northern Lights – possible in parts of Sweden, Finland, Norway, Iceland and Canada – is a hit-and-miss affair, with no one place able to guarantee a sighting at a particular time.)

Experience a traditional ceremony for crossing the Arctic Circle – often included in tours and performed by reindeer herders, they may feature a shamanic spell, a Lappish baptism and consumption of a ‘magic’ drink. Travellers get a certificate as proof of crossing. Another great way of making the crossing is by the Inlandsbanan or Inland Railway between Kristinehamn and Gällivare in Sweden, which marks the event by sounding its whistle.

Try to meet some of the local, semi-nomadic Sámi people (many of them reindeer-herders) and learn about their lives, from their prehistoric past to the present. Despite ill treatment over the centuries, the Sámis have no word for war but more than 90 for snow. One of the main Sámi communities can be found at Inari in Finland, and it’s on Lake Inari that you’ll find Siida, home to the Sámi Museum & Northern Lapland Nature Centre, which includes open-air displays in summer. 

Find more culture at Arktikum, the Provincial Museum of Lapland at Rovaniemi in Finland, which explores the role of nature and animals in Sámi mythology. Rovaniemi is also home to the Arctic Circle Reindeer Farm and Santapark (see above), both open year round.

If you come in summer, enjoy one of the various great festivals hosted by this region, including the Midnight Sun Festival during the summer solstice, featuring traditional singing, music and dancing, among them Sámi sound poems created by throat singing (said to soothe nervous reindeer). Summer is also the time for canoeing, white-water rafting and fishing, after the rivers thaw out, plus horse-riding and mountain-biking. Beware of the mosquitos, though.

Where to stay

Tour operators offer a wide range of accommodation suited to family holidays, from hotels and apartments to chalets, log cabins and even igloo snow cabins. Some chalets and hotels have saunas; spas might also be found at some hotels. Local tourist boards are very helpful with recommendations if you’re travelling independently, and the family-friendly chain of Scandic Hotels operates across the region, including in Rovaniemi and Kiruna.

In Swedish Lapland, don’t miss a stay at the out-of-this-world Ice Hotel®, where you can sleep on reindeer-hide covered ice beds and eat breakfast off an ice table.

Alternatively, there are lots of family friendly activity and adventure trips to Lapland - check out the list of trips on the righ-hand-side of this page.

When

Schedule family holidays in Lapland for the run-up to Christmas if you want to meet Santa, or Nov–April for other winter activities. Temperatures descend to -30°C in the coldest months, but most tour operators provide thermal outer suits and accessories. Bear in mind that the Sun never shines in the far north during the ‘Blue Twilight’ or Arctic Winter (Dec and early Jan).

If you visit in summer, on the other hand – when there are other activities to occupy outdoors-loving families – you’ll be treated to the weirdness that is the Midnight Sun, with the Sun shining day and night for months (roughly end of May to mid-July). 

How

Specialist family-break operators fly to to Helsinki in Finland (about 3hrs from London), then on to Ivalo (about 90mins), Rovaniemi (about 75mins), Kittilä (about 1hr 25mins) or Kuusamo (about 1hr 25mins). For Swedish Lapland, one option is to fly to Stockholm (about 2hrs 10mins from London) then connect to Kiruna (about 1hr 30mins).

Family holidays in Lapland (see right-hand side of this page) with our partners Esprit Holidays and Activities Abroad include flights, transfers and accommodation.

Eat

Lapland specialities include reindeer, moose, salmon and other fish from the many lakes, and berry juice. Try to visit a traditional market in a Lapp village to sample dried reindeer meat, or try in it sandwiches, as kebabs or sautéed in butter as poronkaristys, served with mash and cranberry jelly and pickled cucumber – just don’t tell the kids if you think it’ll freak them out!

If you’re taking a tour, you’ll find family holidays are made easy by the presence of buffets ranging from Swedish-style breakfast spreads to dinners including lots of child-friendly Western staples.

Cost

A day-trip to Lapland in December with Esprit Holidays starts at £429 per adult, £359 per child 6–11, kids 2–5 £279.

Seven-day Wilderness Christmas family holidays with Activities Abroad start at £1245 per adult, £1015 per child under-14. It’s essential to book early to ensure availability and snare the free child places.

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