LAPLAND - sooo many questions

[trekkerglenn]

hi all,

2ad 2ch looking to do Lapland anywhere from End of nov to Xmas

We are die hard DIY'ers with Orlando but very worried if we DIY Lapland we'll lose some of the magic such as elves singing on the flights, activities in the hotel or excursions included?

We've never been but know the cost via Tui/Canterbury/Inghams would likely be £3-£4k which is a lot of money in anyones eyes so if we could shave a chunk off then why not.

Aside from cost we feel if we did DIY we would't be constrained to a strict schedule.

From research its either Levi or Rovaiemi, the Santa Claus Village looks good but is there better for the money?

So so we do DIY or package

HELP!

[Floridababy16]

I'm interested in this too. Missed the boat on Lapland for when my children were younger. I am still really want to go. I'm not sure whether they will appreciate it at ages 10 and 15 though. But I sure will!

[Bellasmummy]

We went last year 28th dec for a week, booked as a ski trip through Inghams.

Whilst we did actually ski you could book a ski package as all the ski elements are optional extras anyway. We found this considerably cheaper than booking a package to meet Santa even though we also added that on when booking.

We went to Levi and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I did look at booking diy but the flights were difficult as most are chartered for the holiday companies and we wanted to fly direct.

[trekkerglenn]

Thanks, yeah we've found it difficult to get flights so thanks for clearing that up.

Anyone else's experience?

[trekkerglenn]

Just researching...

The SC Post Office and Xmas House Santa Exhibition are both free?

Other than the taster sessions of Huskies/sleds etc with Tui what is the benefit to booking a package?

[Bellasmummy]

Originally Posted by trekkerglenn

Just researching...

The SC Post Office and Xmas House Santa Exhibition are both free?

Other than the taster sessions of Huskies/sleds etc with Tui what is the benefit to booking a package?

See more...

Just those charter flight I think 🤔

[Geordieprincess]

Exactly the same as post 3, we booked an Inghams “ski” trip to Levi and went for a week over new year. We stayed in a log cabin in the woods and it was magical. We only actually skied one day booking a private lesson and ski hire via the Levi ski centre directly.
Booked Santa, snowmobile, husky and reindeer rides all via Inghams.
Booked night in a glass igloo direct independently.
Booked trip to icehotel through tourist centre.
Went to fireworks on the slopes on new years eve and visited water world pool incl outdoor Hot tubs on New Year’s Day.
I also worried about missing the magic and no we didn’t have elves on the plane or Xmas songs or anything which my friend who did a tUI 3 night package had. But would I swap what we did for the cost we paid? Absolutely not. It was everything I hoped and more, best holiday ever and it was the snow and scenery that made it magical not Santa.

[Geordieprincess]

Just to add, definitely go as far north as possible as before Xmas you may not get snow in all resorts. Levi is a better bet than Rovaniemi snow wise.

[trekkerglenn]

Bellas - haha point taken!

GP - Thanks for that great info too, more research afoot ! (we do have an 8yr old daughter so Santa has to factor in as we'll miss that side of the magic next year I think)

[Geordieprincess]

My kids were 8 and 5 when we went so we were very much there for the Santa stuff but ask them the best bits and it was just playing in the huge piles of snow like they’d never seen before, sledging at kidsland in Levi, the husky ride and the ice hotel. When we visited Santa we did snow shoeing, feeding reindeer, cooking sausages on a fire, games with elves and private meeting with the big man so for those 3 hours it was the full on experience. I do wonder whether not having an elf named Twinkle escorting us for the entire trip contributed to those being the things they rave about more than Santa but we did do a lot more for our money than doing a complete package so I was happy to forego Twinkle for having a week there. Only you can decide how important the full experience with gala dinner on last night etc is. Our experience was maybe more authentic and less commercialised but my friend also had an amazing time with the TUI package so either way I think you’ll love it.