Lapland Family Holidays & Breaks

Take the Family is a travel agency specialising in active, adventure and luxury holidays. Your personal travel advisor will create the perfect Lapland holiday for your family, with expert advice and dedicated support throughout.

Why Lapland is perfect for family holidays with kids

Take The Family is proud to make dreams come true with tailored family holidays to Lapland.

Meeting Santa is almost every young child's dream, but the bearded bestower of Christmas joy is not the only reason to book a holiday in Lapland. This region that covers parts of northern Finland, northern Sweden, northern Norway and Russia – most of it within the Arctic Circle – also offers the chance to frolic in the snow and, if you’re lucky, see the awe-inspiring Northern Lights and spot polar bears. You can also get to experience first-hand one of the world’s oldest surviving cultures, as Lapland is the traditional homeland of the Sámi.

As a specialist UK-based family travel agency, we can tailor-make the perfect holiday in Lapland for your family. Contact one of our travel advisors now and let's discuss making your Arctic dreams come true.

Below you'll find all you need to inspire your Lapland family holiday.

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The best things to do in Lapland with kids

Winter Activities and Northern Lights in Lapland

Family-Friendly Winter Activities in Lapland

Our Lapland itineraries vary by age, location and duration, but you might pick from from ice-fishing, snow-hockey, reindeer sleigh rides and reindeer lassoing, husky sledge rides, horse-riding, tobogganing, cross-country skiing, snow-shoeing, snowboarding, snowmobile safaris (where the kids ride behind in trailers) and snow sculpture. And let’s not forget the gingerbread-decorating and the campfires! Fo parents, there are sessions in the saunas and the spas too.

Northern Lights in Swedish Lapland

Head for Kiruna in Swedish Lapland, one of the best places to see the 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 Samis, however, they’re the swishing of a fox’s tail). Kiruna (which is home to the Ice Hotel) also has some impressive magnetite mines you can visit.

Seeing Santa in Lapland

Santa in Sweden – Mora and Tomteland

First decide whether you think Sweden or Finland is home to Father Christmas! The Swedes claim he lives in Mora, home to Tomteland or Santaworld, with Santa’s Village, the Kingdom of the Trolls, the Fairy Grounds, the Elf Village, an elk and reindeer park, and other delights. It’s open all year, although Santa takes a break in August and September.

Santa in Finland – Rovaniemi and Santapark

The Finns argue that Santa lives near Rovaniemi, their gateway to Lapland, and the town’s Santapark with its sleigh-riding, toy-making, and chance to help out at the elf park is open from early November to January.

Organised Santa Holidays for Families

Ask us about organised Lapland trips aimed at younger kids. Some Lapland Santa tours take 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 our feature on How to Choose a Santa Holiday.

Culture in Lapland

Crossing the Arctic Circle

Experience a traditional ceremony for crossing the Arctic Circle – often included in organised Lapland 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.

Sámi Culture and Heritage

Meet some of the local, semi-nomadic Sámi people (many of them reindeer-herders) and learn about their lives from prehistory to the present. 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.

Museums and Cultural Attractions

Find more culture at Arktikum Museum and Arctic Science Centre at Rovaniemi in Finland, which explores the role of nature and animals in Sámi mythology. Rovaniemi is also home to the Konttaniemi Reindeer Farm and Santapark (see above).

Summer Activities and Festivals in Lapland

Midnight Sun and Summer Festivals

If you book with us to come to Lapland in summer, why not attend one of the great festivals hosted by this region, including Midnight Sun festivities 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 Outdoor Activities

Summer holidays in Lapland are also fabulous for canoeing, white-water rafting and fishing, after the rivers thaw out, plus horse-riding and mountain-biking.

Santa Claus in Lapland

Lapland food: what families and kids will enjoy eating

Traditional Lapland Food

Lapland specialities include reindeer, moose, salmon and other fish from the lakes, plus berry juice. 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.

Family-Friendly Dining in Lapland

In Lapland hotels or on the organised family holidays we can book you onto, you’re like to dine mostly at child-friendly buffets featuring both Scandinavian dishes and Western staples.

Husky rides in Lapland

The best time to visit Lapland with kids

Come to Lapland with kids before, during, or just after Christmas if you want to meet Santa, or anytime between November and April for other winter activities.

There are many exciting activities to occupy outdoorsy families in the Summer too, which is also the time you’ll also be treated the Midnight Sun: the sun shines day and night from around the end of May through to mid-July.

River-rafting in Lapland

How much does a family holiday to Lapland cost?

Prices for Lapland family holidays are highest during the Christmas school holidays, so families with younger children may find better value by travelling either side of peak dates. Other considerations include accommodation standards, along with the number and variety of excursions included. This is likely to be a ‘once-in-a-lifetime' trip; your children will always be grateful, and you’ll have a great time too.

As a guide, 2026 prices from the UK to Saariselkä in early December start from around £4,000 for a two-night, half-board stay with return flights, based on a family of four sharing a family room. We'll compare prices based on your requirements with a range of preferred partners to ensure you receive the best possible value.

How to get to Lapland from the UK

Direct Flights to Lapland Resorts

Most of the organised winter holidays to Lapland that we can book you on with our hand-picked partners use direct flights to small airports close to the resorts, including Ivalo in Finland.

Flights to Finnish Lapland via Helsinki

We can also book you onto flights from London and regional UK airports to Helsinki (about 3 hours from London), with onward connections to Ivalo (about 90 minutes), Rovaniemi (about 75 minutes), Kittilä (about 1 hour 25 minutes) or Kuusamo (about 1 hour 25 minutes).

Flights to Swedish Lapland

For Swedish Lapland, we'll normally book you to fly to Stockholm (about 2 hours 10 minutes from London) then connect to Kiruna (about 1 hour 30 minutes).