Lapland

[Aliceinwonder1]

Hi.
We really want to go to Lapland this year but it's a bit of a mindfield as to how to do it! I've read so much on where to go and people using packages Vs DIY but I'm a bit lost so wondering if anyone can help!
It will be 2 adults and 2 children, age 7 and 9.
I've looked at rovaniemi and levi.
Rovaniemi I feel has everything for the kids but is it too commercialised?
Levi looks lovely and Apparently better for northern lights viewing, but not as much for kids perhaps.
We want to do the Santa visit and would love one where you go through the woods as I've seen videos but not quite worked out which ones do this or are best.
We would like to do some activities, husky sledging, reindeer rides, snowboarding type thing.
We would need the winter wear which come with packages so is there anywhere out there we can hire the same thing if doing DIY?

Any tips or sharing of experiences would be great. I want to try and get it right as we likely won't do it again! Package seems easier however lots saying DIY is better and get more for money..just don't know where to start with it all.
Thank you!

I would a million % recommend Canterbury Travel and staying in the log cabins in Luosto. It’s an amazing experience and so beautifully executed - we went over Christmas in 2018 and so special a trip. It has everything you want and a lovely few run ski fell if you can already ski really easy to hire and get a lift pass by the hour and people on our trip who couldn’t easily organised a few hours of lessons. I’ve been to Ruka on a ski holiday too - which is fab for winter sports and skiing but that whole area is very commercial and you won’t get the magic you get of rural Luosto.

Thank you. I have looked at that company and they have good reviews. Can I ask, Did you do a father Christmas visit there? Also how far away from everything is lousto? Skiing and that isn't something we can do so would give it a go but would need more I think to occupy us as not sure the kids would enjoy it that much tbh.

It’s a very well organised and coordinated tour that has an itinerary that takes you on a search for Santa with elves en route - you get the husky rides, reindeer sleighs, skidoos, snow ball fights, sledging and it culminates in a private ride through the most magical forest to see Santa. You aren’t near anything as such - one small convenience shop and a small skiing fell but you are taken to everything and can sledge to dinner and breakfast. Lunches are out and about in the reindeer farm and forest for example. It’s hard to describe but is really very special!

I have been to Levi and Luosto and I have briefly been to Rovaniemi.

I'm happy to help if you have questions.

Levi is a small town with restaurants, bars, cafes, Burger King, Subway.

Luosto is tiny with about 4 shops ( only one mini supermarket, like a Spar8 and maybe 5 restaurants. It's very winter wonderland!

Rovaniemi is a city and there are some areas that are on the outskirts that are more isolated.

Top Tip, don't go before middle of December to make sure you have decent snow.

We went to Ruka with TUI this year and loved it. So well organised. I'm not sure that I would call Ruka commercialised. It's a ski village with a small supermarket and a handful of bars, shops and restaurants.
We found it the perfect balance for having the convenience of somewhere to walk to but still quiet and pretty enough to feel like we had an authentic experience.
My advice would be decide what sort of area you want to be in and take it from there. Definitely echo the previous poster and wouldn't book before mid Dec due to potential lack of snow. Also bear in mind that if you book DIY you will need to factor in the cost of suit hire, trips - these can be up to £100 per person per trip. For us when we added everything up it was similar in price to booking with a tour operator.

I was in that rovaniemi Santa Claus village yesterday and found it horrible, it was heaving (in January so I dread to think about December crowds) and just gift shop after gift shop, so commercialized.

We had been in Luosto with Canterbury travel and had an amazing time. We are skiers but didn’t ski there, the slope was tiny. It was expensive but everything is included and it is very smoothly run.

Another vote for Canterbury Travel. They might seem expensive in comparison but they include everything in their pricing (apart from drinks with evening meal) and organise the whole lot. You get your warm clothing, husky ride, sleigh / reindeer farm, snowmobiling and of course an opportunity to meet the big guy. It was simply magical as Luosto is EXACTLY how you imagine where Santa lives. You don’t need shops etc as your days are full.

Rovaniemi is a massive Christmas village with numerous Santas and doesn’t feel at all special. You get to stop off there on the way back to the airport.

Thank you, I did have that doubt with rovaniemi as to whether it would feel too commercialised! It's hard as no clue on Lapland and there's more places to stay than I thought lol.
My main thing is an amazing father Christmas trip really. Everything else would be a bonus and I imagine would be great. For those who did the husky sledging how long was it for? Seen some which are a few minutes (testers I assume) and others that are 90 minutes but I worry that will be too long in the freezing cold!
My children will be 7 and 9, does this sound like a good age or should we put it off a year? It's something we are set on doing but am open to this year or next I guess. But we do want it in December ideally for snow and the Santa magic!

The Canterbury Santa meet is fabulous. All so well organised (he has their letter and a gift off it for them - you have to organise and are set a £ limit so all children have something of equal value). Never felt rushed and just magical.

Husky ride was about an hour - they give you loads of blankets and things and there’s hot berry juice.

Ages sound perfect - your older one won’t believe very soon.

Thank you that's really helpful and good to know. I feel a lot of the information out there is quite generic and you don't get loads of details so it's good to hear from those who have been.
Yes that's my concern about leaving it another year, I'd want it to be the most magical it could be and I know my eldest will still believe this year.
It's coming in a fair bit more than I thought though so that's another factor but I think we should be able to save enough to do it this year still. Can I ask is a £5k budget reasonable for a family of 4 or is it closer to the £10k mark for a package? I'm unsure if I'm deluded in my price thinking!

Alice in wonder1 - what did you end up booking? We are in exactly the same position with our eldest being 9/almost 10 next Christmas so if we put it off another year then I worry it might be too late as my daughter will have likely stopped believing by then.
I’m sure she’d still enjoy the trip but I wonder if at that age, a package with someone like Tui might be best as you are not searching for Santa the whole time (which seems aimed at the younger ones?) but would still get to see Santa though I’m under no illusion that the visit to Santa with Tui would be as good as Canterbury’s offering!
The only thing is, I think I would prefer Luosto to Ruka but with Tui the Santa experience looks best in Ruka as the meeting in Luosto looks to take place at the dinner gala in the hotel which is not very authentic and obviously not what we’d be going all the way to Lapland for.
Such a difficult decision!

We ended up booking and went in December, it was amazing! Really would recommend. Lots of people who have done the Tui have said how good it is, we ended up booking Santas Lapland which was great but also came up the best price for what we wanted. Now having been I really think you'd have the most amazing time no matter how it is done or who with!