Lapland / Santa

yourdeadwright

Just wondering for next year has anyone done one of these trips with there kids & if so was it good ,

Who is the best to do it with ,

Obviously doesn't have to be Lapland itself

The Davestator

I did it DIY last year and its very easy and much cheaper than a tour operator (but the operators have little extra things like elves on the flight)

2 adults and 2 kids for about 1,100 all in for 3 nights and return flights and stayed in Santa village.

There's a thread here and also a facebook group Lapland on a budget which are great.

oinkely

we went in 2019, DIY cause the package options were way out of our budget, Brilliant trip and the 3 kids still talk about it. flight to Helsinki, and overnight train to Rovaniemi. Two nights in a log cabin on the outskirts of Rovaniemi. Rented a car to get around easily and it was amazing. Santa Village is fantastic. Dog sledding trip was brilliant, but seriously expensive. Beautiful place. Log cabin had a sauna in it which was amazing, and massive snow filled garden surrounded by snow filled forest. I recommend the trip to anyone. Even easier now that Ryanair fly directly to Rov from Dublin too.

Loved Finland so much that we went back in 2022, for two weeks from New years eve. Went further north to Levi, colder, more snow, absolutely amazing trip. Beautiful log cabin in the woods with a sauna. Snow everywhere, skiing in -20, visited an ice hotel, saw the aurora twice, chilled out as we had plenty of time to de everything we wanted.

Mike3549

We were thinking about lapland, read some articles how to get there on a budged. Going to Helsinki and taking a train looked like the best budget option. Theres a special santa express train, with family cabins with showers etc., but heard you have to call them to book it. Looking at the ticket prices right now, Ryanair direct flights don't look that bad, you can get €40-50 flights each way on some specific dates. Finnair is pricey as f#ck rn.

MakersMark

Canterbury Travel were utterly fantastic for us.

Not cheap, but worth it.

Much better than the Santa Village experience.

Everything arranged for you, even dog sledding!

It's a truly once in a lifetime thing, so go for it.

ec_pc

I know a DIY trip to Lapland might not be for everyone, but is definitely worth considering in my opinion.

We did Lapland with Sunway over 10 years ago with the eldest and are doing a DIY trip this year for the younger members of the family. Going to Rovaniemi with Ryanair from Dublin, 4 nights Air BNB there, fly back to Helsinki with Finnair for 3 nights and then back to Dublin. Yes, it's expensive compared to a summer holiday, but DIY is the way to go, we have 7 nights away with all the activities included, plus car hire for less than the price of a 2night trip with the travel companies.

Some of the activities in Rovaniemi are seriously expensive, so spend time shopping around. Keep an eye on the Ryanair flights, we booked in January this year thinking I'd get a bargain but I noticed at one stage mid summer the flights had halved in price, but are back up to what we paid now.

Both Ryanair and Finnair moved the flights which was annoying - Ryanair moved it forward a day which meant another night in Rovaniemi, and moved the time on the day twice. Same with Finnair, moved mid day flights to 7 am flights.

In terms of a holiday experience, it's just magical, there is no other way to describe it. It's really worth saving for, we skipped the summer holiday this year.

Uncle Pierre

Heading there next week with Sunway. Yes, it's seriously expensive, but while we considered the DIY option, we decided against it mainly on account of how we've only one child to bring. The idea is that being with a group will mean he'll be far more likely to make friends and have fun with other children than he would have been if stuck only with boring old Mum & Dad while we did our own thing for a few days :)

We also had to pass on any 'ordinary' summer holiday this year on account of the cost of the Lapland trip, but we're sure it'll be worth it, and that next week will indeed be magical.

Kalimah

I did it in 2001 with my three - a day trip to Rovaniemi - which was a bit crazy thinking about it now. The kids loved it - it was the first time on a plane for two of them. We went with Sunway too and couldn't fault them. I don't even like flying but all went really well. It was -20 but we were well wrapped up with the snow suits we were given. We saw Santa and did a sleigh ride which was great fun.

I'd really recommend it for a once in a lifetime trip.

Dave_D_Rave

Hi Lads,

Looking at doing this for 2025 any ideas / estimates on DIY route for costs for a family of 5 ?

drunkmonkey

We went a couple of weeks ago during the school break, family of 5, Flights ended up being around €800 return but were €500 when we 1st looked the day before, we stayed 3 nights in this air b&b for €720

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/1245532289902309797?viralityEntryPoint=1&s=76

Host was brilliant, took to us out to Santa world one day then we walked up to Santa village from there but it was getting late and kids were tired after so came back to Santa village again the next day. Glad we didn't stay in Santa village enjoyed being in the city, it's pretty small and easy to walk around but there's a lot more to do.

It's easy do it on a small enough budget, the only piece of advice I'd really give is only book it a few days before hand so you're certain there's going to be snow. We booked I think on a Tuesday and flew out Thursday.