Have you ever fantasized about visiting the beautiful homeland of Santa Claus in the North Pole? Lapland gets the place in bucket list trips of thousands of grown-ups and children around the world.
Settled in Rovaniemi, Finland, the real Santa Claus Residence is spacious all year round and annually welcomes hundreds of guests who drive to Lapland to view Santa.
Of course, Christmas Santa trips at the end of December are the most traditional time to go there with the essential demand. For this reason, to avoid little or no availability or sky-rocket rates during this season, it is suggested to book trips to attend Santa as early in advance as feasible.
The Santa Village owns a considerable territory and is made up of various buildings and areas. The holiday spirit is all around, beginning from Santa’s office, where you can reach the honoree.
There’s also a husky park offering sled rides onsite, a couple of restaurants, a snowmobile park, the legendary icy Snowman World, several unique hotels, as well as the famous Santa post office. So you can send a message or postcard back home or to your buddies from the North Pole.
Of course, vacations to Lapland to join Santa don’t stop at that as here you can also engage his charming reindeer, a character that we can’t create a good winter fairytale without.
Those who favour staying right by the village sometimes take several one-of-a-kind nearby options, for example, glass igloos with panoramic roofs for watching Northern Lights or the unique Treehouse hotel.
And as for getting there, one of the most popular ways to reach the destination apart from flights is taking the Santa Claus Express train from Helsinki to Rovaniemi. The train itself isn’t themed but carries the name due to its scenic route from the capital city above the Arctic Circle.
The northernmost province of Finland, Lapland, seems a little-known faraway destination and isn’t constantly on everyone’s travel radar. Yet, though cold and mysterious at first sight, it can provide you with unique experiences and heart-warming memories.
Lapland Facts to Spark Curiosity
Lapland is a large but underpopulated area: Though quite big (Lapland makes up 100 366 square km, about one-third of Finland’s total area), the region has a sparse population of only 178 522 people.
It is genuinely under the “Reign” of Reindeer: Speaking of reindeer, these animals are an authentic icon of Finnish Lapland – they form an essential part of the indigenous Sami culture. Reindeer races have been caught in Finland since 1932. Lapland’s capital, Rovaniemi, is shaped like a reindeer’s head with antler-like arranged streets.
It is a place with Magical Natural Phenomena: Due to its position mainly within the Arctic Circle, Lapland is lucky to claim some of the most incredible natural phenomena globally – the Midnight Sun and the Northern Lights called Aurora.
Lapland is home to the Original Santa: Father Christmases are part of many countries’ traditions; however, the only realistic Santa Claus exists here, in Lapland, his actual headquarters being the Santa’s Village near Rovaniemi.
The only inherent people in the EU live in Lapland: Lapland is dwelling on the only indigenous people in Europe who have populated the Arctic for at least 5000 years.
People offer gifts to Holy Places: Many natural formations in Lapland, like fells, rocks, trees, are considered holy (they’re called suits by locals). In the past, people allowed them fish heads and reindeer horn bits so that the holy spirit could give them fishing or hunting luck.
Lapland is renowned for its traditional cheese: When in Lapland, ensure to try the traditional Finnish Squeaky Cheese (Leipäjuusto in Finnish), named so because of the sound it pushes against the teeth when one bites into its firm and chewy body. Leipäjuusto is typically made of curdled cow’s milk, baked into the shape of a pie, and served with cloudberry jam, which is also one of the region’s delicacies.
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