Aibu, cost of Lapland vs other holidays

[Youbloodywhaat]

I really want one Christmas in Lapland. Sleigh rides and magic and father Christmas, the whole shebang. I've tried to convince myself it's all OTT but all I keep hearing about is how incomparably magic it is.

5 bloody thousand pounds for our family of four. For THREE nights. I honestly just cannot wrap my mind around it. And yet seem unable up entirely walk away Its not throwaway dosh to us, we'd be saving hard all year. I've priced up every option and every provider and there's nominal difference.

I've tried looking at ski holidays and then book a excursions to all the festive bits nearby, which is considerably cheaper- but ski holidays are 7 days long and given we don't ski and have such small kids I just can't see it being enjoyable/how we would entertain them for an entire week.

Part of me also thinks that could be two.. maybe even three holidays elsewhere. We haven't travelled much and the kids are still at the difficult stage but we want to start- 5k would go along way. Suggestions on other choices most welcome too!

Or is it worth every penny and we should just bite the bullet?

'true believers'
Jesus wept 😂

(I realise there is some irony in that somewhere)

Sommelierrrr ... do fuck off 🖕

@youbloodywhat There is a spa hotel called Holiday Club Saariselka which has a pool/s and some (small) slides for kids. You can buy a ticket there, don't have to be a guest at the hotel. It is fairly basic but being in Finland it'll be super clean and you could try sauna there (naked mind).

www.holidayclubresorts.com/en/resorts/saariselka/

In the same hotel, there's also Angry Birds activity park (Rovio being a Finnish company). We didn't go there but it looks quite good and somewhere where kids would have fun.

You'd be surprised how busy you might be with all the play in the snow and other activities and one week goes really fast

We went for a day when DS was 4. He loved it and coped really well with the cold/long day, but I wish we’d waited until he was slightly older.

Helipad.. I think you've twisted my arm... And saved me 2k 😂 thank you!!

We went to Saariselka on a Santa trip when the kids were 7 & 5. I think it was around 2,300 for 3 nights and all activities/meals included in that as part of the FC itinerary. We stayed in a log cabin in the grounds of the Holiday Club so used the pool and the Angry Birds play area. I booked with Colchester travel who used Santa's Lapland I think they were called.

Another who went to the Holiday Club at Saariselka for DD 5 birthday with Santa's Lapland. It was amazing at the same time as being not amazing because it was so cold. We loved the taboggine runs. You just pick up sledge from around the resort and off you go. We walked to the little local supermarket using them as well.

Loved the husky ride etc but had done it before in Norway. DD cried because her feet hurt despite having all the suits and boots and socks provided. We didn't make the 'gala' dinner because it was too late but had a nicer time eating in the restaurant.

Loved the log cabins there. They had a fire and were very cosy. And the snow was so deep DD loved just playing outside.

I used to work for a holiday firm who did Lapland holidays, it’s a big profit maker for firms in the winter months where their margins are considerably down. It’s also more expensive because the rates for everything in Finland are very, very expensive (as indeed it’s expensive when out there, £8 for a hot chocolate at the hotel bar). That said, it was our most loved product, our lovely customers had a ball and it really is a once in a lifetime experience. I’d never take very young ones though, they won’t remember it!!

I took my DD 2years ago, log cabin, all inclusive & 4 days. It cost £1400.

That includes all your gear, boots snow suits etc. Personally, I'd go with a package because it's great fun & you get tester sessions. They put on stories & camp fires while your waiting for your turn but we had the best time ever. The snow, even looking at it, provides brilliant entertainment. Worth every penny.

Warning Anorak Alert If any of you of there soon they are having unseasonably warm weather in northern Finland at the moment - I saw an alert about it from the environment agency the other day.

Maddiemookins has it right. It is an enormous money spinner. I also worked for one of these companies - albeit twenty odd years ago - and couldn’t believe what a rip off it was.

Don’t underestimate the cold either; we were north of the arctic circle and people were going “Oh Little Johnny doesn’t like wearing gloves, he’ll be fine.” It’s -40. He really won’t.

Lapland is gorgeous though. I’d go there without doing all the Santa nonsense.

My colleague took her kid to Lapland for the DAY! They set off at 2am and got back 24 hours later. She said by the time they'd flown, done the transfer and queued for everything, they had about three hours in actual Lapland and ten mins with Father Christmas.

It cost a grand.

I was agog.

We went with our 3 youngest 2 yrs ago and it was fantastic
Kids still talk about it
Meeting the real Santa was brill!
Sledged till we dropped
Was perfectly cold
Had husky and reindeer ride tasters wouldn't pay for full experiences it wasn't worth it and due to the cold, the tasters are just right, husky ride was my highlight loved it
I think we paid £3000
Have been looking again as we would all love to do it again
Cheapest looks like around 2500 for 3 or 4 nights atm
We won't it's just wishful thinking but don't regret the money at all
Was magical
It's a different kind of cold, dry, snow is different, was amazing but if it had only been -2 we would have felt ripped off so temp is very important
It was about -13 for us. One day fell to -32 and we had to get indoors

I've been to Lapland before I even had kids. I lived in Finland so we took the train. It was amazing I I'll take the DC when they are a bit older. Finland is really easy to travel in so I'd sort it myself not book a package. Public transport is easy and runs on time all year round. Most people speak English so you won't get stuck (although I could/can speak basic Finnish). It is one of my favourite countries I'd go back in a heartbeat. I learnt to so I out there and I don't think the resorts are as big as the French or Swiss ones but I much preferred them they seemed very family friendly. There is lots of sledging too. I went on a Husky safari and also to a reindeer farm to meet the reindeer. I stayed in Rovaniemi but also visited loads of other places.

Always liked the look but never managed it. We did go to North Pole, Alaska though (we were living in the US) as part of an extended trip around Alaska. Even at today's prices I suspect you could get there for that kind of money (I paid £430 pp for flights to Vancouver last year, then internal flights are $100 pp) it's open all summer, with sled dogs and the works!

Nothing to do with Lapland, do try and travel, small kids are surprisingly easy to travel with - the aforementioned trip I took with an active 2 and an autistic 4 year old, backpacking. Older one remembers it, especially the mother bear and cubs and the beavers. We have always traveled on a shoestring budget considering the destinations careful booking makes your money go further

Lapland is something I’d like to do with my children but I had no idea it was so expensive! People who are saying that it’s cheaper to book a skiing week in Sarikskella and add on the Santa activities, did you do this through a tour operator or direct with a hotel? How far in advance do you need to book for peak times - in the run up to Christmas? DS and DD are currently 2 and newborn - I’m thinking of going in about 5 years, which seems ages away but I guess might not be if they book up these weeks several years in advance!

I really want to do this, but will need to save heavily!

What age is best to go? I have a 3 year age gap!

@DrWhy you can book all the activities through Lapland Safaris (if you google them, their website comes up) they are a long standing local tour operator. If you go to Saariselka, you can just walk to their office-gift shop and they take you to the excursion from there. Saariselka is so small that it’s few mins walk from most hotels and cabins.

You can also hire winter cloth bundle through them if you don’t want to buy everything yourself. If you go with a package firm, they provide all the snow boots and clothes which is an advantage.

-15 is not as cold as a freezing day in the UK it’s dry kind of cold and if you are properly dressed, you’ll be fine. Buy kids either a fleece hoody balaclava from Amazon or a merino balaclava which can go under woolly hat.

We took ours for the day many years ago now - they were aged nearly 5 and 6.5 at the time.

It was amazing but very full on, I'd recommend at least 3 days to have a more leisurely time.

It is truly magical & is my fave trip by far! I'd love to do it again 🙂

We're going to Saariselka in Feb. Flights with finnair are very reasonable, booked a self catering place in the village. Sorted. Really not that expensive.

Thanks Helipad I think I might call a hotel or two directly to ask about availability and prices at peak times and when we’d need to book and also figure out how the heck we’d get there - I can’t see there being direct flights from anywhere near us! Then I’ll know when I need to start actually booking. Then I’ll book the actives directly with that tour operator.
Must not start getting excited about things that are 5 years away!

PinkGin.. how are you getting such cheap prices? The cheapest I could find was 4800 with Santa's Lapland?

Is it not possible to book independently if you want to do the ski resort route but not stay for seven days or do the flights not exist? Three or four days sounds about right to me. The one day option sounds exhausting and too rushed, but a week seems too much if all you want is the Santa experience. Three/four days would give you a chance to see Santa and also a bit of sledging or whatever too.

Any chance of travelling indirectly? It’s not as much hassle as you may fear, if it's just a quick flight change in somewhere like Helsinki or wherever.

Another reason to not go for 7 days, unless you are in an All Inclusive hotel, if such a thing exists is that food and drink is likely to be very expensive, which would bump the cost up even more.

@thatmustbenigelwiththebrie
My colleague took her kid to Lapland for the DAY! They set off at 2am and got back 24 hours later. She said by the time they'd flown, done the transfer and queued for everything, they had about three hours in actual Lapland and ten mins with Father Christmas.

I went to Lapland for a day. She must have been really unlucky as the flight is only about 3 hours, we stayed much longer in Lapland. Not sure where or how she lost so many hours.

That’s why we are doing 3 days - one day with small kids, up at 4 am and home by midnight. What a stress