Family fun in magical Lapland

Michael Kelly 03 December 2019
I had the pleasure of treating my 4 nieces and nephews to a magical trip to Lapland for 2 nights / 3 days on 3rd December 2019. The trip started off with an early morning Aer Lingus charter flight from Dublin to Rovaniemi airport in Lapland, the official airport of Santa Claus. The flight was fun packed, we got a light breakfast on board and the elves on board the flight kept the children entertained with singing, colouring and drawing pictures. All of the children really enjoyed themselves.

On arrival in Lapland we were met by more elves who were our guides for the 2 nights / 3 days action-packed itinerary. After we cleared passport control and collected our checked in luggage we headed off to the depot to get kitted out with our thermal gear to wear during the trip which was included in the cost of the package. We then set off for a short snow mobile safari though the snow covered forests. It is dark pretty much all day long except for a few hours during the day which makes the experience wonderful. The adults travel in the snow mobiles and the children travel in the sledges pulled by the guides. Afterwards, we headed to our accommodation at the Ouscharvarna chalets and checked in to our two bedroomed chalet with a buffet dinner and breakfast included in our stay. The accommodation was really cosy and warm and felt like a real home from home.

Day 2 started off with a lovely early morning buffet breakfast before we headed off on our adventures for the day. First we headed to the husky farm where we learned all about the life of the husky dogs and enjoyed a short speedy ride in sledges pulled by the artic huskies. Afterwards we were treated to a hot drink and biscuits in the warmth of one of the cabins. We then boarded the coach to head to the reindeer farm where we experienced the magical ceremony of crossing the Artic Circle in a kota-teepee. We then got to enjoy a magical reindeer ride pulled by reindeers. The children were all in amazement at the experience.

We boarded the coach after this visit to the reindeer farm and were taken for a well-deserved lunch break in a nice cosy restaurant served by a number of elves. All the children loved the experience of being served their lunch by elves. After a relaxing lunch we boarded the coach to head to the middle of the deep forest in Joulukka where the magic of Christmas comes alive. We visited the elf school and Santa’s command centre and even got a private audience with the man himself and he gave each of my nieces and nephews a very generous gift.

We then headed back by coach to the Ouscharvarna chalets where we had some free time to relax before meeting up to go to a festive dinner and show in Santa park, the evening even consisted of a surprise visit by Santa and his cheeky elves. The children all had great fun and there was wooden train rides at Santa park for them to enjoy after dinner and drinks and entertainment before we headed back to the hotel by coach.

Day 3 started off with breakfast and checking out of our accommodation and we headed to a shopping centre where we had free time to explore and buy some souvenirs. The children even got the opportunity to play outside in the snow as they still had their thermal gear. We headed back to the airport and dropped off our thermal gear on route to the airport.

I would highly recommend this trip as it’s a once in a life time experience for both adults and children alike. Get in touch early in the year to plan your magical trip for your family to Lapland and I can share my experiences and knowledge.