I’m after some advice. This Christmas my wife and I would like to take our two young daughters to Lapland on a short break holiday and do the whole Father Christmas thing before they get much older.

Now I don’t mind spending a few grand for a fortnight on the beach in sunny Cyprus but I don’t want to pay a great deal more than that for only three days in chilly Lapland. Call me tight if you will

The few companies that I’ve looked at want daft money for such a short break and then the same money again for the trips. There must be companies out there that specialise in these types of holiday and charge realistic prices.

Has anyone been to Lapland on this type of holiday before? If so, can it be done for a realistic price, who with and is it really worth it? Your thoughts, experiences and recommendations would be welcome………

Phil

Phil, mate of mine went with his family for 3 days, will ask for you.
We did the Center parcs lap land experience very good and it snowed which was a bonus. Just told my kids he vas visiting.

I've been looking at the same thing for the past 2 years now, and have struggled to find anything that is a reasonable price
As you say they all seem to want daft money for short trips!
I have also came across a few reports of poor service and badly organised holidays on the web, but I suppose that is possible wherever you go on holiday, although it would annoy more than usual if it happened on this kind of trip.
I'll watch with interest to see if anyone has done this though, and what there experience of it was.

Alex

Hi Phil,

I was looking last year, but couldn't find anything that i thought was good value for money! So if you do find a good deal, be sure to tell me about it.

Leigh

The prices for organised holidays do go through the roof at Christmas. What about organising it yourself?

I went to lapland a few weeks back. It cost me about £260 return to fly to Rovaniemi (where Santa lives), via Frankfurt and Helsinki. My girlfriend - who is Finnish - has done the trip counless times, including at Christmas, and she thought I paid too much!

If accommodation is still a rip off over Christmas another idea would be to go outside of peak Christmas season. Lapland will be a frozen winter wonderland any time between October and March, and Santa and his elves are always there!

I am coming up to this wallett emptying holiday with trepidation.

I am trying to convince the capital expense comittee that Iceland would be nicer what with all that snow and the added bonus of superheated water. What a geyser !

Hi guys.

Try asking for help here : http://www.locostsweden.se/ipb/index.php?showforum=35

The Swedish locost forum has quite a few members living in "lapland"

(Un)Fortunately I am in southern sweden which actually means it is a shorter distance for me to go to London than to Kiruna. (Hässleholm -> London = 1315km, Hässleholm -> Kiruna = 1739km )

But since these guys actually live there, they must know how to get there (or get away *LOL*)

http://www.santaclausvillage.info/eng/main.htm

Went to Rovaneimi in February this year - didn't get to see the man himself, but I imagine the experience would be great for small children. Snow mobiles and sliegh rides are also fun However, not the cheapest of places....