We are told that we are going to the sorting office to deliver some celebratory letters. But if Sparkle die Eleven pushes open the door to the log cabin, surrounded by fir trees and masses of snow, the man himself greets us – the true father Christmas.
From the perspective of a celebratory card, it looks very convincing. So much so that I’m slightly stunned. My six year old daughter Amelia grins broadly and rushes over to the cheerful looking man who has a really authentic looking beard and very flushed cheeks.
In his soft Irish tone, he asks her what she wants for Christmas. But no, he can’t accommodate her request for one of all toys in the world – and instead she gets a boxed sticker machine (which we bought before the visit and secretly brought with us).
Carol Driver takes her six-year-old daughter Amelia to Finnish Lapland (above) to meet elves and the real Santa
Amelia hangs out with the elves
Then it’s out into the snow at minus seven degrees and on to our next activity of the day – kids’ snowmobiles.
My husband and I took Amelia to Finnish Lapland for a two night whistlestop trip.
With so many operators offering trips to this destination and with the magical world of Santa available in the UK courtesy of Lapland UK At Ascot it is difficult to know which one to choose and whether flying abroad is an unnecessary expense altogether. But here you are guaranteed snow, on what will probably be a unique trip.
The Christmas theme begins in Stansted before we board our chartered plane to remote Kuusamo Airport, with Jet2 TV screens at our departure gate showing ‘Lapland’ as our destination and staff wearing elf costumes handing out sweets.
“This is your captain speaking. This plane will depart for Lapland shortly,” comes the announcement over the plane’s PA system.
Three and a half hours later, we’ll watch the snow fall from our bus window as we drive along the scenic route to the Arctic Circle Hotel in Suomu – which sits on the Arctic Circle – where we’ll spend the next two nights.
It is a three star hotel in a breathtakingly beautiful location. The three of us are crammed into a small room with an extra trundle bed for Amelia, but we don’t stay there long.
Carol and her family are staying at the Arctic Circle Hotel, which she says is in a “stunningly beautiful location”.
The on-site restaurant serves sumptuous hearty fare (roasts, homemade soups, pasta dishes) that kids and adults alike enjoy. At dinner that evening, the elves, who are to guide us through our activities the next day with games and songs, introduce themselves and explain how all the children have to complete six tasks – from learning an elf song to taking a ride on the husky sled – with it they can complete the elf school together with the special elf certificate. It’s a really fun way to entertain the little ones.
Then it’s time for bed – tomorrow is a very busy day, with an incredibly early start.
Bleary-eyed, my husband and I try to ignore the 6:45 (4:45 at home) alarm clock, but our excited daughter has other ideas.
Carol’s excursion includes a 10-minute reindeer sleigh ride
Snowmobile rides are included in the Lapland route
Carol describes her Lapland adventure as “the trip of a lifetime”. Husky sled rides increase the fun factor
Snow is guaranteed in Suomu. Carol describes the landscape there as a “winter wonderland”
After breakfast we ride in a bus full of families to our first activity which is only a few minutes away. It’s snowing, but we all feel comfortable in the snowsuits and boots provided.
We grind our way through beautiful winter wonderland to a log cabin where the elves are waiting for us to explain how they need the children’s help to collect the letters to Santa that are scattered around the office, which of course they are happy to do .
Families are called one by one to a large teepee in which a roaring fire burns. The elves guide us through the games while we wait to be called to go to the sorting office – a ruse that leads to us meeting Santa Claus.
Amelia’s verdict? “The most magical journey ever,” says the six-year-old
WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO MEET THE REAL SANTA CLAUS
By Amelia Driver, age 6
The elves had tricked us because they didn’t want us to know that we were about to meet Santa Claus.
I knocked on the door and it opened and Santa was inside. The icicle I was about to eat slipped from my hand.
Amelia meets Santa Claus
He was big, round and happy. He wore glasses and a red hat with a small fluffy white snowy thing on the brim and a fluffy white ball on top. He had a large white mustache and a white fluffy beard.
He looked at me kindly with a twinkle in his eyes.
Santa gave me a present and it was a sticker machine. It was exactly what I asked him to do.
I know it was the real Santa Claus because the real Santa Claus lives in Lapland. The others we see are the elves in disguise, they are his helpers.
You should come here – because it’s so much fun, fun, fun, fun!
It’s a fun way to do it. A surprise for children and parents. After that it’s off to snowmobile rides, first for the little ones (who are pulled by an adult on a big machine on mini snowmobiles), then we get back on the bus and head to another nearby location for a 10-minute reindeer ride. Our group is divided into two, and while one is pulled along by Rudolph and his buddies, the other sits in a warm tipi and drinks hot berry juice.
After a quick stop for lunch at the hotel, we’re back on board and heading out for a skidoo ride, then there’s an hour for group play and 30 minutes for playing in the snow. Then it’s a short drive where the adults can drive the (big) snowmobiles.
However, there is a lot of waiting time as the adults outnumber the machines. And while there’s a fire and the kids are entertained by Ginger the Elf, the cold starts to creep in.
Then we get back on the bus to our last stop – the huskies. The group is split in two again and one gets to ride in a sled pulled by the dogs while the rest of us meet the huskies who are being trained. They’re in cages, and not all of them are particularly tourist-friendly yet.
In about a minute it will all be over and we return to the bus for the last time. It’s been dark for a few hours and the moon is already out (there’s only four hours of daylight here in winter), so it feels much later than 5pm.
After a roast, we get changed for the graduation, which is two hours later, and we’re all about to fall asleep.
Back at the restaurant, there is a happy finale (with lots of dancing elves) for Sparkle and the children, who are presented with a special book to mark that they are becoming fully fledged elves.
Exhausted, we all fall asleep within minutes when we get back into the room. On the last morning before the flight home, all the families from the same trip descend on the slopes next to the hotel to also go tobogganing with the elves for an hour.
After a very early lunch, we are transferred to the airport via a gift shop, arriving almost four hours before our flight. It’s time I would rather have spent enjoying the snow.
On the flight home, Amelia turns to me and asks if she will ever return to Lapland. Maybe, I answer. “I hope so,” she says, “it was the most magical journey ever.”
Although it was a whirlwind visit I would say it was worth it.
