Our boots crunch on a path thick with snow. Little flickering flames light our way through towering pine trees to a clearing where we’re treated to steaming cups of hot berry juice.
Sitting on logs arranged around a roaring open fire, we toast marshmallows surrounded by a dark and silent wilderness that feels like the edge of the world.
In a minute, the stillness will be shattered with whoops of delight as the kids and I whizz under branches heavy with snow, on a sleigh train, while their dad drives a snowmobile over icy tracks. As with so many moments on this trip, there’s only one word that fits: magical.
Most of us have a bucket list of dream holidays, a yearning perhaps to trek to Machu Picchu, zip along the Amalfi coast on a Vespa, or dive the Great Barrier Reef. But for sheer magic, nothing beats travelling to Lapland, aka ‘the North Pole’, with children, to see Santa.
The sense of enchantment starts early on. Elves meet us in Dublin Airport at check-in for our 7.10am flight, blasting Christmas music and brandishing goodie bags jammed with Santa hats, selection boxes and activity packs. Our two boys Tom (8) and Finn (4) knew where we were going (a lot of fellow passengers keep it a surprise), and excitement is at fever-pitch by the time we get to our boarding gate and its ‘North Pole’ destination sign.
Up in the air our elves, Fifi and Snowdrop, have abundant energy, leading balloon races, sing-a-longs and storytelling sessions. I’ll not lie, normally it’s peace and sleep that I hope for on flights, but among a sea of Christmas jumpers, where even the flight attendants are sporting antlers and the pilots issue requests for a group rendition of Mariah Carey classics, I’m more than happy to surrender myself to the contagious sense of excitement.
The landscape below us shifts from grey blue seas to winter whites and we arrive in Finland’s Rovaniemi airport a little over three hours later. In winter, there are only around four hours of sunlight a day, and it can plunge to an icy -22C, but we arrive to a very manageable -4C. It only started to snow about two weeks prior to our departure (something I’d been anxiously watching on weather cams) but clearly once it started it hadn’t stopped, and the kids excitedly gather snowballs as we make our way to the buses that will take us to our first stop: the warehouse.
Everything from chunky thermal ski suits to hats, socks, gloves and boots is included for the duration of the trip and the staff are experts at appraising correct sizes on sight. In an impressively short time we’re fully kitted out and off to our snowmobile safari, the first of many activities making up our two-day ‘Sleighbell Spectacular’ itinerary. Our eldest is delighted to try his hand at driving a mini snowmobile, while our youngest, who has additional needs and loves sensory experiences, is giddy just flinging himself into snow drifts. His delight at discovering a small hill for tobogganing is adorable, and we happily spend the next 40 or so minutes waddling up a slippery slope to sail down it on aptly-named bum slider sledges.
I watch as a forty-something dad rockets down the slope, spinning off his board into a heap at the foot of the hill, only to stand up, covered in a glaze of frosty snow, beaming: “That was...AMAZING!” Then I do the same thing.
Chrissie Russell with her family taking a reindeer ride in Lapland
“It’s great for the kids” is a refrain that gets repeated often during the trip, but the reality is that the mams and dads are eagerly embracing their inner child too.
Snow, it turns out — when you don’t have to worry about the school run or work commute — is great fun. Over the course of the two days, we slide over drifts on toboggans, glide past frozen lakes on sleighs pulled by reindeer, and race through dense forests towed by huskies while nestling cosily under warm rugs, the wind stinging our rosy cheeks.
It’s a jam-packed schedule, but it runs like clockwork and all we need to do is remember what bus we’re on (Number 2) and keep checking that the kids have their hats and gloves. With everyone dressed in the same snow suits, it’s hard to identify each other, so I’m glad I’ve brought different hats for our two boys and give an admiring nod to the family who brought hi-vis vests.
We’re so well minded. In addition to Fifi and Snowdrop (who flit expertly between groups, leading the kids on the buses in Christmas ‘Elf-abet’ games and performances of Jingle Bells), we also have a Finnish elf guide, Sunshine, who keeps us informed of what fun lies in store at every stop, and the Sunway rep is always on hand too.
Enjoying the snow in Lapland... Photo: Chrissie Russell
At our hilltop hotel, the Sky Ounasvaara, we dine on buffet dinners of roast reindeer, chunky roast root vegetables with cloudberry sauce (don’t worry, there’s also pizza and chips for the kids) and breakfasts of warm croissants with lingonberry jam washed down with citrus spruce sprout juice. From the roof terrace there are views of Rovaniemi city below and, had we been fortunate enough to stay one day longer, would have been a prime spot for watching the Northern Lights dance above. Ample space for hanging wet snow gear, separate sleeping areas for parents and kids (and their own TV with a YouTube channel showing Bluey) and the novelty of our own personal sauna in the bathroom made our room a real treat experience.
With the kids tired out, we could have done without the festive dinner and show on night two, which ran quite late. Although there’s a great novelty factor to walking deep into a mountain, down to the vast hall where a steaming roast dinner is served and elves perform gymnastics on stage. Having seen Santa in a much more magical setting earlier, it feels a little off to suddenly see him in the spotlight, waving from a stage, but it’s only a rare moment that feels anything less than high-end.
The rest of the trip — and all the lovely unexpected extras, like certificates — is nothing but quality. Which of course is what you expect, because there is no getting away from the fact that it is a pricey couple of days.
Northern Lights in Lapland. Photo: Pól Ó Conghaile
But, without wanting to sound too cheesy, the memories are priceless (Sunway says its 2023 trips are already “about 60pc” full). I tear up when our eight-year-old, on completing elf school, rushes unprompted to give an elf a hug and whisper “thank-you” in her ear. Our youngest, who is mostly non-verbal, takes my hand leading me towards the sleighs dotted round The Santa Claus Village beaming “Snow? More snow?”
Deep in the woods, as we wait by an ancient looking wooden door, illuminated by a solitary golden lamp, plump flakes of snow start to fall. Magical really is the only word.
How to do it
Lapland packages for December 2023 are now on sale, including flights, hotel accommodation, transfers and baggage, meals, thermal snow suits and activities which include snowmobile, husky and reindeer rides, snow activities and a private meeting with Santa.
Lapland prices start from €1,299/€1,099pp (adult/child) for a one-night ‘Santa Sleepover’ package; from €1,639/€1,359pp for two-night ‘Sleighbell Spectacular’ packages, and from €1,699/€1,399pp for three-night packages.
For more, contact 01 231-1800 or sunway.ie
NB: Chrissie Russell and her family were guests of Sunway.
