A day in Santa Claus Village in Lapland - what can you do at Santa's home?
Have you ever imagined, as a child, that you could go to Santa's home, visit him in his work environment, discover his land and enjoy the places where Santa lives his quiet life? I admit, I didn't dream so far, but today everything has become so easy and accessible, that a visit to the land of Santa Claus is not difficult at all!
In this article, I invite you to discover everything you can do once you have arrived in Santa's Village, so that you can enjoy this wonderful place and fulfill your most childish wishes!
And if you want to find out how to organize your entire trip to Lapland, the land of Santa Claus, I invite you to read this article: Everything You Need To Know About Lapland - Activities, Costs, Travel Tips.
Content
- What can you do in Santa's village?
- 1. Visit Santa Claus at his Office
- 2. Wander around and discover Santa's village
- 3. Send a letter from Santa's Post Office
- 4. Take a ride on a sleigh pulled by reindeer
- 5. Visit the Elf's Farm Yard animal farm
- 6. Visit the husky dog farm and take a ride on a husky sled
- 7. Visit Mrs. Christmas
- 8. Discover Snowman World
- 9. Buy gifts from souvenir shops
- Where to stay in Santa's Village
- Where to eat in Santa Claus Village
About Santa Claus Village
Santa's Village is a very nicetheme park, located 7 km from Rovaniemi, in northern Finland. It is the highlight of Lapland, the main tourist landmark of the area and the reason why Lapland has become so famous worldwide. Everyone knows that Santalives and works in Lapland, and from here he sets off every year with his reindeer, on Christmas Eve, to bring gifts to children all over the world.
Here you can visit Santa Claus in his office, you can send letters from Santa's post office, you can go for a walk with reindeer or husky dogs, or you can simply wander around this whole park and admire the colorful and illuminated landscape of Santa's world! Here you can also find places to eat, accommodation options or souvenir shops.
Santa's village is open throughout the year and the entrance is free, but the activities you can undertake here are for a fee.
How do you get to Santa's village
Santa Claus lives in Lapland, as everyone knows, more precisely near the Finnish city of Rovaniemi. The easiest way to get to Rovaniemi is by plane, searching various routes as convenient as possible in terms of time and price. Another option would be to fly to Helsinki, and from there to take the train to Rovaniemi.
I recommend you to search for the flight options on Google Flights, and to buy the flights directly on the websites of the airlines.
What can you do in Santa's village?
1. Visit Santa Claus at his Office
If you came to Santa's Village, the most important thing you can do is actually visit Santa. And not anywhere, but at his office! Santa's office is the most imposing building in the village and the central point of the park.
Some aspects related to visiting Santa in his office:
- Entry to Santa Claus is free.
- In high season, expect queues at the entrance. In December, the waiting time was one hour.
- Before entering Santa Claus, you can buy a surprise gift worth 30 euros, which Santa will give to whoever you consider during the visit. It is a suitable gesture if you are going with the children, they will certainly be delighted to receive a gift directly from Santa Claus!
- Once you enter in Santa's office, you will have the chance to talk with him for 2-3 minutes. He will ask you some questions, ask you where you come from, and most likely, he will say a few words in your language.
- At the end, you have the possibility to buy the physical photo from the meeting with Santa, worth 35 euros, or the digital package of photos and video worth 50 euros.
- Santa's office is open throughout the year, so you can visit him any time you arrive in Lapland!
2. Wander around and discover Santa's village
Santa's village is wonderful! So much color, lights and good vibe that you rarely find! And if you arrive here in winter, the snowy landscape creates a perfect story frame.
Wander around and get lost among the houses, animals, shops and themed paths of the park.
It is important to know that the Cercul Polar Arctic, the parallel located at the latitude of 66º33'43", also passes through here. The place through which the arctic circle passes is marked, being also very instagrammable, together with the thermometer that always displays how many degrees are here in Lapland.
I leave you a famous Live Cam, directly from Santa Claus village: Live @ Santa Claus Village. Don't forget to tell your family and friends when you come to Santa' and send them this link, to greet them live from here!
3. Send a letter from Santa's Post Office
How many of you didn't write letters to Santa when you were little? It has long been known that Santa Claus has his own mailbox, where he receives letters from everywhere. The good news is that Santa's post office is in this village and now you can send a letter from here to any place in the world!
At the Post Office you can buy a letter for 1 euro and an international stamp for 2.5 euro, and then you can send letters to whoever you want, wherever they are in the world. We were very pleasantly impressed when we saw how many people gathered to write letters to their loved ones and to send them directly from Santa's post office!
4. Take a ride on a sleigh pulled by reindeer
An activity specific to Lapland that you can try here is to ride a sleigh pulled by reindeer.
You have several route options, at different prices and distances:
- 400-meter route: 25 euros/adult, 20 euros/child
- 1000 meter route: 40 euros/adult, 30 euros/child
- 3 km route: 99 euros/adult, 75 euros/child
5. Visit the Elf's Farm Yard animal farm
There are two animal parks within Santa's Village, one of them being Elf’s Farm Yard.
Here you can admire different animals, including reindeer or alpacas, and an entrance ticket costs 15 euros/adult. If you want to feed or walk with the animals, then you will have to pay extra.
6. Visit the husky dog farm and take a ride on a husky sled
Another animal farm is the husky dog farm, where you can visit the beautiful dogs up close, and an entrance ticket costs 10 euros/adult. You can also book a husky sled ride, for which you will have to pay extra.
7. Visit Mrs. Christmas
It is only expected that Mrs. Christmas also lives In Santa's Village. You can find her in a beautiful house, where, for an entrance fee of 5 euros, you will be able to visit her and talk with Santa's wife.
At the end, you have the possibility to purchase the physical photo from the meeting with her, worth 30 euros.
8. Discover Snowman World
Ice bar, ice restaurant, ice sculptures, ice maze, skating rink and sleigh rides... all this awaits you in the Snowman World, a theme park within Santa Claus Village. An entrance ticket costs 29 euros/adult.
9. Buy gifts from souvenir shops
You can't leave from Santa's Village empty-handed, right? Fortunately for you, in Santa Claus Village you will find a lot of souvenir shops, where you can buy specific products to take home to your loved ones. From classic souvenirs, such as magnets or mugs, to Christmas products, such as decorations or figurines with Santa Claus, reindeer or elves, to local dishes or winter clothes with Christmas signs, you will find everything here. The prices, however, are also at the level of Finland. For example, magnet prices start at 5 euros.
Where to stay in Santa's Village
You can choose to stay directly in the Santa Claus Village, to be in the center of the excitement and the festive atmosphere. A night's accommodation in one of the authentic Finnish cottages in Santa Claus Holiday Village starts from 300 euros/night in the winter season. During the summer, a night's accommodation costs a little over 100 euros.
Or you can look for more affordable accommodations in Rovaniemi, in AirBnb-style apartments. The accommodation we had, a chic apartment with all utilities, for which we paid 130 euros/night in December, was Northern Lights Center Apartment 2.
From Rovaniemi to Santa's Village you can get there quickly by bus or taxi.
Where to eat in Santa Claus Village
In the Village of Santa Claus you will also find places to serve meals, and some of them are:
- Santa’s Salmon Place
- Santa´s Pizza & Burger
- Napatapuli
- Shell gas station - here you can serve the daily menu, you can find here tasty food at a fairly affordable price
Santa Claus Village is the main tourist point of Lapland, a positive, cheerful place with a very good energy. We felt in love with this place, we spent a whole day here, and it seems we still didn't manage to do all the activities we wanted! If you are thinking of organizing a trip to Lapland, namely to Santa's Village, I guarantee that you will be charmed by the magic of this place and you will not regret your choice!
