Rovaniemi With Kids: Santa, Huskies and the Arctic Circle in Three Nights

Rovaniemi is the town on the Arctic Circle where Santa lives, and I mean that in the sense that there is a post office, an office, and a man with a beard who is there every single day of the year. Children under ten do not need to be sold on this trip. Parents need to be told how to do it without paying triple.

Fly from Helsinki, an hour and a half. The eleven hour train is a romantic idea until you have done it with a six year old. Rent a car at the airport or use the hotel shuttles, the town is small and the activities are all within twenty minutes.

Santa Claus Village is free to enter. Meeting Santa is free. The photo is what costs, and the photo is what you will buy anyway, so budget for it and stop thinking about it. Cross the Arctic Circle line painted on the ground, get the certificate, send a postcard from the post office with the Arctic Circle stamp.

The husky safari is the thing worth paying for. A team of dogs, a sled, a trail through the forest, and a child in the sled wrapped in a blanket while you stand on the runners. Twenty minutes is enough for little ones. The two hour version is for kids over eight who will remember it for life.

Reindeer, snow and the lights

A reindeer farm visit with a short sleigh ride and a fire in a tepee with hot berry juice. Snowmobiles for teenagers. Snow tubing for everyone. Book two activities a day, morning and afternoon, and leave the evenings for the northern lights, which show up on clear nights between September and March and cannot be booked by anyone.

It is cold. Minus fifteen is normal in January and minus thirty happens. The tour companies lend the thermal suits and boots, and a child in a full suit is warmer than you are. Bring your own base layers, wool socks, and a hat that covers ears.

Three nights. December is the magic and the price. January and February are the same snow at half the cost.

Planning Finland with kids? Start with the full Finland family travel guide, or send me the ages and the dates and I will come back with what is really available.