Lapland with Kids: Day 4 - Trading Wilderness for Rovaniemi

On our final day in glorious Finnish Lapland, we were up early, tidying, cleaning, and packing to leave our beautiful Levi home. The drive back to Rovaniemi took another two hours and twenty minutes, winding through snow-bent boreal forest. Slowly, almost imperceptibly at first, the landscape began to change. The trees lost their heavy white coats, turning browner and thinner. Snow thinned to slush at the roadside. The temperature climbed an outrageous 10–15 degrees as we headed south! It felt like leaving a different world.

We planned to stop for lunch at a service station. Before the trip, I’d looked at five to seven restaurant menus online and quickly realised that eating out in Lapland simply wasn’t viable for us; prices of £40–£50 per main dish + drink meant a single family meal could easily exceed £200. However, we’d read that HelmiSimpukka garages (and some Shell stations) serve inexpensive hot meals, so we gave that a try. Burgers, hot dogs and meatballs with drinks for all five of us came to around £50, which felt positively frugal by comparison.

Then it was time for the more tourist-heavy part of the trip.

Early in our planning, we’d made a conscious decision to scale back Santa-related activities. While it absolutely makes sense to meet Santa in his “real” home, this was a strictly budget-led trip, and Santa experiences are expensive. Our splurges were firmly reserved for huskies and gemstones. Beyond the cost, I’d also deeply enjoyed the peace and relative calm of being remote for a few days, something that felt particularly precious given the backdrop of the last few months of family chaos and crisis, and facing two bereavements soon after our return.

Generally speaking, Santa Park, Santa Claus Village, and the many “Search for Santa” experiences all follow a similar formula: gingerbread baking with Mrs Claus, elves, stories, singing, a present/toy factory, and of course a meeting with the big man himself. Some include a sleigh ride or woodland walk too. Most cost £300–£500 for a family of five for a half-day, and some stretch into truly eye-watering territory – £300 per person or more. That was an easy no for us.

I’ll admit it: I’m not especially Christmassy. I struggle with the waste, consumerism, and commercialisation, and I find the Santa narrative a bit tricky too. No judgement at all of course; I can see how magical it must be if you love Christmas and have the budget – but it’s not really our thing. Coincidentally (and bizarrely), we were later offered very cheap tickets to Lapland UK (equally as expensive as Finland!), which sealed the decision to skip the heavy Santa stuff in Finland itself.

That said, Santa Claus Village is free to roam around. It has an entrance area of shops, food stalls, the “Arctic Circle line”, “Santa’s Post Office”, “Santas Pet’s”, “Santa’s Reindeer”, “Mrs Claus” and all the rest – so we’d planned to spend half a day wandering before heading to the airport, just fifteen minutes away.

We went straight to Santa’s Post Office, slightly worried about queues. My father-in-law is an avid philatelist, and we thought an Arctic Circle–stamped postcard would be right up his street. It was busy but manageable, no real queue, just A LOT of people. We spent about fifteen minutes choosing a card and reading framed letters to Santa on the walls.

We then crossed the Arctic Circle line itself. In hindsight, this would have made far more sense on our first day in northern Finland rather than our last; there was something mildly anticlimactic about posing for photos while technically crossing the border on our way out. But Logistically our flight time made sense to do it this way.

The contrast to Levi was immediate and kind of jarring. Litter. Screaming children. Long queues. Cars and taxis idling with engines running straight through the middle of the complex. Don’t get me wrong, this is exactly the sort of place where kids scream – cold, excitement, queues will do that of course, but after the stillness of Levi’s forests and frozen lakes, it felt overwhelming. We quickly realised that aimless wandering here wasn’t going to be much fun.

One of the cheaper ticketed activities at Santa Claus Village is Snowman World. This section includes ice and snow slides, a small skating rink, a snow labyrinth, an ice bar, a disco, and several ice sculptures. For a family of five, it cost €184.21 –  relatively cheap by local standards. It was a novelty, especially with Kids Land in Levi currently closed, but it was extremely busy. We’d pretty much exhausted the activities within two hours, even while dragging it out as long as possible.

The queues for the main slides were enormous, which was disappointing. On the plus side, the ice bar served cloudberry vodka shots, a novelty in itself but a nice touch was being encouraged to smash your ice glass against a wall afterwards in a vaguely competitive fashion. The ice/snow sculptures were also genuinely lovely. The labyrinth, however, was frankly terrible – essentially three snow rooms with a pillar in each. We’re spoiled by hedge mazes at places like Longleat and National Trust properties in the UK, and this didn’t come close. Still, we got some nice photo and the kids did enjoy it.

Was it worth the money? I’m honestly not sure. The kids had a nice time, and it was cheap compared to other airport-adjacent attractions, but I wouldn’t rush back.

We briefly considered heading into Rovaniemi town to visit the Angry Birds Playground (free, with a great sledging hill just beyond the fence), but traffic was building and Daddy Mudie was reaching his tolerance limit. Instead, we attempted (unsuccessfully) to find a free picnic hut or kota where we could eat our packed lunches/tea without freezing while removing gloves. Everything appeared chargeable. In the end, we wandered Santa Claus Village a little more, played in the playground, admired the gingerbread-style buildings, at in the cold and dark on a bench, and then headed to the airport.

Final Thoughts

As expected, Rovaniemi was hectic, loud, and chaotic compared to Levi. We’re glad we went to see it (you kind of have to) but we were equally SO glad we hadn’t based ourselves there.

This trip was unlike anything we’ve ever done, easily in the top ten, maybe even top five! The country felt empty, peaceful, and utterly breathtaking. Our accommodation was among the best we’ve ever had in a host-Air BnB style; beautifully appointed, warm, practical, with thoughtful touches like a four-nozzle boot dryer, a gorgeous sauna, smart appliances, and extraordinary, quiet scenery right outside the door and yet amenities close by.

If I’m being honest, we found the Finns less overtly cheerful than expected, given their reputation as the happiest nation on earth, especially compared to the warmth we’ve experienced in Asia and Central America and other parts of Europe. But perhaps that impression was coloured by some grumpy husky farm staff (being irritated by Brits not following rules which was fair enough!) and the Green Motion car rental debacle.

Either way, the Northern Lights dancing above our cabin, the outrageous views from the top of Luosto mountain, and the thrill of the husky ride and the magic of mining billion year old gems by hand will stay with us forever. What a place.

Coming home has been… abrupt. Cancer, admin, family crises, relentless rain, wind, and damp, a less than prepared Christmas. It’s a sharp contrast to –15°C to –28°C days that somehow felt calmer, drier, and more manageable.

Lapland didn’t fix everything, but it gave us space, perspective, and joy when we really needed it, and for that I’m deeply grateful.

Finland – we’ll be back.