Drop in on Santa Jeremy Seal and family find there’s nothing cooler than meeting Father Christmas at ho-ho-home in Lapland Sunday Times, 16/10/2005
‘You’ll be quite hot on the plane with that little lot on,’ cautioned the lady in the red-tasselled elf’s hat behind the check-in desk. Anna, 7, and Lizzie, 3, glowed alarmingly but would not be budged from their sartorial solidarity; dressing the part was key, and removing so much as a single item - fleeces, woolly hats, gloves and scarves – clearly risked frightening off a journey our daughters scarcely dared to believe in. They were on their way, as their friends back home had been reminded all too often, to visit the real Father Christmas.
The seasonal pilgrimage to Lapland began back in the early 1980s but has all but doubled in volume over the last five years. December will see over 60,000 Brits, often three generations from the same family, visiting a dozen or so winter resorts in both Finland and Sweden [see box] where Santa has his true home. Ideally, this is a log cabin in a snowbound birch forest but bear in mind that it may prove to be a grotto alongside the souvenir shop in a purpose-built tourist village. The hope is that children and adults alike will return entranced by their audience with the man but also by winter wonder-landscapes which global warming has all but seen off in balmy Britain; the perfect Christmas prelude. The fear is that the very real threats of exhaustion and cold – be prepared for possible lows approaching - 40 celsius - will combine with combustible quantities of over-excitement to derail the whole thing, casting a cloud of disenchantment over the entire festive season. If journeys bear comparison with vehicles, this one showed every indication of being an inherently wobbly toboggan.
An inadvisably high-risk craft, then, but one we had at least done what we could to stabilise at the earliest opportunity by declining the day-trip option – popular but arduous [see box] – back at the booking stage. Sandwiching a visit to Santa between flights lasting three and a half hours each way on top of a gruesomely early start struck us as asking for the runners to fall off. We plumped instead for a short-break stay of two nights, which guarded against emotional melt-down by giving us recovery time before we met Santa. Besides, we figured, there was more than just him to winter Lapland; the activities, which we intended to enjoy at greater length than the condensed day-trip itineraries allowed, not to mention the legendary Northern Lights which a longer stay would improve our chances of experiencing.
After landing at Ivalo, Finland, 150 miles north of the Arctic Circle we were transferred to the resort of Saariselka and a brief stop to be kitted out at the winter outfitters before being delivered to our accommodation. With its open fires, cosy sitting areas and sauna, the luxurious timber chalet would not have looked out of place in Gstaad. It also had its own housekeeper, who came complete with impressive culinary skills; the aproned Greg, whom Lizzie in her excitement briefly mistook for Father Christmas.
The light from the chalet window illuminated surroundings of ice-spangled pine and birch trees sunk in deep drifts, and a porch thermometer reading a positively balmy -6 celsius. We ate early and excellently – smoked salmon, pork and noodles, poached pears – before falling into bed in preparation for the big day ahead.
Lizzie awoke us; so when, she asked, did we get to meet Father Christmas? It was dark but we had overslept; for midnight sun read, in the disorienting December obverse of the high latitudes, midday dusk. A light of sorts did kick in between 10am and 3pm, but it was hardly day so much as perpetual night at its shallowest phase. Not that the lack of light seemed to worry Greg who returned from his own lodgings to prepare our breakfast.
‘You should have seen the Northern Lights last night,’ he marvelled. We would see them the next night, green spasms of mist high in the sky.
Dressing for the day was like preparing an intake of apprentice astronauts; no mere Gatwick swathing this time, but multiple layers topped by the thermal suit and boots we had been supplied with, not to mention inner mittens and reindeer-hide outer gloves, balaclavas as well as liberal applications of moisturing cream and lipsalve. A short coach journey brought us to a clearing among the pine trees where we stepped out into the gummy light – and temperatures of -20 celsius. It was a mercifully windless morning. Even so, many families headed straight for cover in the nearby log cabin. Locals assisted the hardy remainder as they tried their hands, with what feeling remained in them, at traditional activities such as ice fishing, skidoo driving, reindeer rides, ice hockey and snow sculpting. Anna and I set about our blocks of ice with the chisels, handsaws and cheese graters provided. We soon abandoned cat (Anna) and Christmas tree (me) in their development stages to join my wife and Lizzie for welcome cups of hot cranberry juice before a blazing fire in the cabin.
The girls began to get insistent in the course of a warming lunch, with Lizzie planting her cutlery ends on the table.
‘When?’ she asked through a mouthful of pancakes and cloudberry jam.
‘When what?’
‘Do we get to see Father Christmas?’ said Anna, coming to her sister’s aid.
‘When he’s ready,’ we replied, ladling a chunky soup of potato and salmon into our bowls. ‘Which he’s not.’
Nor was he ready after lunch, though the howling huskies were. They hauled our family sleigh through forest snowscapes swathed in clouds of husky breath as the light failed. It was totally dark by the time our turn came round. A man found us in an undignified pile of limbs at the bottom of a toboggan slope, tapped us on the shoulders and led us to his skidoo. We wrapped ourselves in reindeer furs before being driven deep into the dark forest. Ice-latticed birch trees fled past and the sky was pricked with stars. Distant specks of light appeared among the trees, and the skidoo followed a line of flaming torches to a clearing where a tethered reindeer stood outside a log cabin. The door opened to release a flood of light which revealed a cosy interior, with a roaring stove, a neatly made bed and a bench where young visitors would sit. Then a familiar figure stepped into view.
‘That,’ exclaimed an emphatic Lizzie, ‘is Father Christmas.’ And she led the way across the snow towards the cabin.
Santa: A Life by Jeremy Seal is published by Picador (£14.99)
FACTBOX:
Jeremy Seal and his family travelled with Esprit Holidays (www.esprit-holidays.co.uk; 01252 618300) whose three-day breaks to Saariselka, flying from Gatwick or Manchester, cost from £669 full-board for adults, with discounts for children.
Santa Packages:
Usually all-inclusive, including hire of thermal outfits, some activities and all meals, sometimes with wine, varying from day trips to six-night breaks.
First Choice (www.firstchoice.co.uk/lapland; 0870 750 0001) has day trips from 15 UK airports to Rovaniemi, from £375 per adult and £329 for children. Be aware, however, that these are extremely long days which are likely to test some children’s stamina to the limit.
Canterbury Travel (www.laplandexperience.com; 01923 823470) offer one-night stays at Suomu, flying from 10 UK airports, from £580 per adult, with £60 reductions for children aged 2-11.
Scanmeridian (www.scanmeridian.co.uk; 020 7930 1956) offers six-day breaks over New Year and Christmas at Harriniva, near Muonio. Flying from Heathrow and departing December 23rd, costs £940 per adult and £515 for children under 11.
Resorts: The resorts featured in Finnish Lapland include: Harriniva, near Muonio (ScanMeridian), Kakslauttanen, near Saariselka (ScanMeridian), Kuhmo (Activities Abroad; www.activitiesabroad.com; 01670 789991), Levi (Cosmos (www.cosmos-holidays.co.uk; 0870 264 6064), First Choice) Luosto, Olos (both Canterbury), Pyha (Transun; www.transun.co.uk; 0870 4444 777; Arctic Experience; www.arctic-experience.co.uk; 01737 214255), Rovaniemi (First Choice, Transun), Ruka (Nortours; www.nortours.co.uk; 0870 7447 305), Saariselka (Esprit, Transun), Salla, Suomu (both Canterbury), Yllas (Cosmos, First Choice, Nortours, Transun). There are also trips to Swedish Lapland; Tarento Forest and Overkalix (both Nortours), Arvidsjaur and Hemavan (both Arctic Discovery; www.arcticdiscovery.com; 01229 467000). Some resorts are more commercialised (Rovaniemi); others are remote and unspoilt (Saariselka). Most are north of the Arctic Circle; some, like Kuhmo, are further south, meaning marginally shorter journeys and milder temperatures.
Cabins/chalets or hotels: Most operators offer cabin or hotel accommodation, normally with slight premiums for cabins. Cabins are cosy and well suited for larger family groups, often with chalet hosts to cook which saves the walk to a centralised eating point; hotels are comparatively functional but often offer on-site facilities such as swimming pools, spa facilities, discos and bars and occasionally creches. Some operators, for example Canterbury, can even arrange for igloos to be built for overnight stays subject to weather conditions.
Activities: Most operators include activities such as husky rides and tobogganing in their packages. Other activities – extended snowmobile safaris (£55 pp for two hours), cross-country skiing etc – can be arranged at extra cost. Some programmes (Nortours) tends towards more indoor activities such as baking gingerbread cookies or making Christmas decorations
Infants: Operators do not take infants under 2 years, and many consider 3 and 4-year-olds as unsuited.
Clothing; bring plenty of layers – 5 is recommended – to wear beneath the thermal suits provided.
Moisturising cream and lip salve is essential. Camera and phone batteries run down rapidly in the cold.
Further information: www.visitfinland.com/christmas
‘You’ll be quite hot on the plane with that little lot on,’ cautioned the lady in the red-tasselled elf’s hat behind the check-in desk. Anna, 7, and Lizzie, 3, glowed alarmingly but would not be budged from their sartorial solidarity; dressing the part was key, and removing so much as a single item - fleeces, woolly hats, gloves and scarves – clearly risked frightening off a journey our daughters scarcely dared to believe in. They were on their way, as their friends back home had been reminded all too often, to visit the real Father Christmas.
The seasonal pilgrimage to Lapland began back in the early 1980s but has all but doubled in volume over the last five years. December will see over 60,000 Brits, often three generations from the same family, visiting a dozen or so winter resorts in both Finland and Sweden [see box] where Santa has his true home. Ideally, this is a log cabin in a snowbound birch forest but bear in mind that it may prove to be a grotto alongside the souvenir shop in a purpose-built tourist village. The hope is that children and adults alike will return entranced by their audience with the man but also by winter wonder-landscapes which global warming has all but seen off in balmy Britain; the perfect Christmas prelude. The fear is that the very real threats of exhaustion and cold – be prepared for possible lows approaching - 40 celsius - will combine with combustible quantities of over-excitement to derail the whole thing, casting a cloud of disenchantment over the entire festive season. If journeys bear comparison with vehicles, this one showed every indication of being an inherently wobbly toboggan.
An inadvisably high-risk craft, then, but one we had at least done what we could to stabilise at the earliest opportunity by declining the day-trip option – popular but arduous [see box] – back at the booking stage. Sandwiching a visit to Santa between flights lasting three and a half hours each way on top of a gruesomely early start struck us as asking for the runners to fall off. We plumped instead for a short-break stay of two nights, which guarded against emotional melt-down by giving us recovery time before we met Santa. Besides, we figured, there was more than just him to winter Lapland; the activities, which we intended to enjoy at greater length than the condensed day-trip itineraries allowed, not to mention the legendary Northern Lights which a longer stay would improve our chances of experiencing.
After landing at Ivalo, Finland, 150 miles north of the Arctic Circle we were transferred to the resort of Saariselka and a brief stop to be kitted out at the winter outfitters before being delivered to our accommodation. With its open fires, cosy sitting areas and sauna, the luxurious timber chalet would not have looked out of place in Gstaad. It also had its own housekeeper, who came complete with impressive culinary skills; the aproned Greg, whom Lizzie in her excitement briefly mistook for Father Christmas.
The light from the chalet window illuminated surroundings of ice-spangled pine and birch trees sunk in deep drifts, and a porch thermometer reading a positively balmy -6 celsius. We ate early and excellently – smoked salmon, pork and noodles, poached pears – before falling into bed in preparation for the big day ahead.
Lizzie awoke us; so when, she asked, did we get to meet Father Christmas? It was dark but we had overslept; for midnight sun read, in the disorienting December obverse of the high latitudes, midday dusk. A light of sorts did kick in between 10am and 3pm, but it was hardly day so much as perpetual night at its shallowest phase. Not that the lack of light seemed to worry Greg who returned from his own lodgings to prepare our breakfast.
‘You should have seen the Northern Lights last night,’ he marvelled. We would see them the next night, green spasms of mist high in the sky.
Dressing for the day was like preparing an intake of apprentice astronauts; no mere Gatwick swathing this time, but multiple layers topped by the thermal suit and boots we had been supplied with, not to mention inner mittens and reindeer-hide outer gloves, balaclavas as well as liberal applications of moisturing cream and lipsalve. A short coach journey brought us to a clearing among the pine trees where we stepped out into the gummy light – and temperatures of -20 celsius. It was a mercifully windless morning. Even so, many families headed straight for cover in the nearby log cabin. Locals assisted the hardy remainder as they tried their hands, with what feeling remained in them, at traditional activities such as ice fishing, skidoo driving, reindeer rides, ice hockey and snow sculpting. Anna and I set about our blocks of ice with the chisels, handsaws and cheese graters provided. We soon abandoned cat (Anna) and Christmas tree (me) in their development stages to join my wife and Lizzie for welcome cups of hot cranberry juice before a blazing fire in the cabin.
The girls began to get insistent in the course of a warming lunch, with Lizzie planting her cutlery ends on the table.
‘When?’ she asked through a mouthful of pancakes and cloudberry jam.
‘When what?’
‘Do we get to see Father Christmas?’ said Anna, coming to her sister’s aid.
‘When he’s ready,’ we replied, ladling a chunky soup of potato and salmon into our bowls. ‘Which he’s not.’
Nor was he ready after lunch, though the howling huskies were. They hauled our family sleigh through forest snowscapes swathed in clouds of husky breath as the light failed. It was totally dark by the time our turn came round. A man found us in an undignified pile of limbs at the bottom of a toboggan slope, tapped us on the shoulders and led us to his skidoo. We wrapped ourselves in reindeer furs before being driven deep into the dark forest. Ice-latticed birch trees fled past and the sky was pricked with stars. Distant specks of light appeared among the trees, and the skidoo followed a line of flaming torches to a clearing where a tethered reindeer stood outside a log cabin. The door opened to release a flood of light which revealed a cosy interior, with a roaring stove, a neatly made bed and a bench where young visitors would sit. Then a familiar figure stepped into view.
‘That,’ exclaimed an emphatic Lizzie, ‘is Father Christmas.’ And she led the way across the snow towards the cabin.
Santa: A Life by Jeremy Seal is published by Picador (£14.99)
FACTBOX:
Jeremy Seal and his family travelled with Esprit Holidays (www.esprit-holidays.co.uk; 01252 618300) whose three-day breaks to Saariselka, flying from Gatwick or Manchester, cost from £669 full-board for adults, with discounts for children.
Santa Packages:
Usually all-inclusive, including hire of thermal outfits, some activities and all meals, sometimes with wine, varying from day trips to six-night breaks.
First Choice (www.firstchoice.co.uk/lapland; 0870 750 0001) has day trips from 15 UK airports to Rovaniemi, from £375 per adult and £329 for children. Be aware, however, that these are extremely long days which are likely to test some children’s stamina to the limit.
Canterbury Travel (www.laplandexperience.com; 01923 823470) offer one-night stays at Suomu, flying from 10 UK airports, from £580 per adult, with £60 reductions for children aged 2-11.
Scanmeridian (www.scanmeridian.co.uk; 020 7930 1956) offers six-day breaks over New Year and Christmas at Harriniva, near Muonio. Flying from Heathrow and departing December 23rd, costs £940 per adult and £515 for children under 11.
Resorts: The resorts featured in Finnish Lapland include: Harriniva, near Muonio (ScanMeridian), Kakslauttanen, near Saariselka (ScanMeridian), Kuhmo (Activities Abroad; www.activitiesabroad.com; 01670 789991), Levi (Cosmos (www.cosmos-holidays.co.uk; 0870 264 6064), First Choice) Luosto, Olos (both Canterbury), Pyha (Transun; www.transun.co.uk; 0870 4444 777; Arctic Experience; www.arctic-experience.co.uk; 01737 214255), Rovaniemi (First Choice, Transun), Ruka (Nortours; www.nortours.co.uk; 0870 7447 305), Saariselka (Esprit, Transun), Salla, Suomu (both Canterbury), Yllas (Cosmos, First Choice, Nortours, Transun). There are also trips to Swedish Lapland; Tarento Forest and Overkalix (both Nortours), Arvidsjaur and Hemavan (both Arctic Discovery; www.arcticdiscovery.com; 01229 467000). Some resorts are more commercialised (Rovaniemi); others are remote and unspoilt (Saariselka). Most are north of the Arctic Circle; some, like Kuhmo, are further south, meaning marginally shorter journeys and milder temperatures.
Cabins/chalets or hotels: Most operators offer cabin or hotel accommodation, normally with slight premiums for cabins. Cabins are cosy and well suited for larger family groups, often with chalet hosts to cook which saves the walk to a centralised eating point; hotels are comparatively functional but often offer on-site facilities such as swimming pools, spa facilities, discos and bars and occasionally creches. Some operators, for example Canterbury, can even arrange for igloos to be built for overnight stays subject to weather conditions.
Activities: Most operators include activities such as husky rides and tobogganing in their packages. Other activities – extended snowmobile safaris (£55 pp for two hours), cross-country skiing etc – can be arranged at extra cost. Some programmes (Nortours) tends towards more indoor activities such as baking gingerbread cookies or making Christmas decorations
Infants: Operators do not take infants under 2 years, and many consider 3 and 4-year-olds as unsuited.
Clothing; bring plenty of layers – 5 is recommended – to wear beneath the thermal suits provided.
Moisturising cream and lip salve is essential. Camera and phone batteries run down rapidly in the cold.
Further information: www.visitfinland.com/christmas
