Few places are more synonymous with the festive period than the very home of Father Christmas – Lapland.
As Britain often disappoints on the white Christmas front, in Lapland you are guaranteed the opportunity to frolic in the snow surrounded by huge evergreen trees, igloos offering hot and tasty refreshments and all the wintry outdoors activities you can think of… pretty much a real life version of the John Lewis advert!
With copious amounts of soft, cushiony snow there are many chances for some of the most epic snowball fights and also the chance to create some decadent snow sculptures or snowmen, and let’s not forget the ice-skating and some of Finland’s most beautiful lakes.
No trip to Lapland would be complete without a trip to visit Father Christmas and his actual reindeer, seriously. No one is ever too old, in my opinion, to feel the magic of Christmas. Visiting Lapland and asking Santa for a first in your dissertation for Christmas may not have been what your younger self would imagine you’d ask the real life St Nick for, but it’s got to be worth a try, right?
There are few things more exhilarating and terrifying than hurtling through a snow covered forest in the dark on a wooden sledge, being pulled by 8 gorgeous, fearless and vicious huskies. Husky sledging is definitely a must in Lapland, especially at night-time, to try and catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights at the same time. However it does come with a warning! If you’re not a fan of rollercoaster’s or any other kind of activity that has a chance of serious personal injury, due to the fact that if the huskies get distracted, you have a risk of your sledge crashing into the nearest evergreen at 20mph, I would not recommend it. But, then again, you might only be in Lapland once and the experience is incredible!
My lasting experience of my time in Lapland was the huge amount of time that was spent on regular sledges. Shooting down the Finnish hills on a sheet of plastic or a wooden bench might not sound like everyone’s idea of fun as it can be quite painful, but my experience was totally positive. Also, walking seems to become a task when you can persuade a willing sibling and/or friend to pull you around on your sledge all day, which is the true way to travel – forget private jets because this is the ultimate form of transport! Well, that is until they ask you to repay the favour and you feel like your arms might just fall off after trying to pull your 6ft brother back to your chalet!
Photo Credits: www.dailymail.co.uk, www.pintaw.com