Santa’s Village: The Best Winter Experience for Families

Being one of the most popular Christmas destinations on Earth, we decided to beat the rush and visit early—for two very practical reasons: crowds and prices. And guess what? We were absolutely right! Sure, during the day it got a bit busy (because, let’s face it, that’s when all the fun stuff is open), but after 6 PM? It felt like Santa had reserved the place just for us.

Santa’s Village Experience at Night

On our first day here, after wrapping up our wildlife tour, it was around 4 PM. We were starving and running on fumes—literally, the fuel tank was empty. So, we made a quick pit stop to refuel both the car and ourselves, then headed back to Santa’s Village for another round of festive fun. We went directly to the Restaurant and ordered some reindeer ribs and some french fries, they also had a small playground where Clara waited for the waiter to bring the food. This was basically our first meal for the day. After resting and enjoying the drinks and food we went out for another spin of the village. Once again buying the sled was a great investment. At every stop we made, Clara essentially turned me into her personal reindeer—only with two feet instead of four🙂.

Visited Santa’s Village again and checked out the stores (though some were closed, operating from 9 AM to 4 PM). Captured amazing night-time photos of Santa’s Village for this article, then returned to our car. With the streets empty, I took the opportunity to explore Santa’s Village at night behind the wheel, taking in the magical atmosphere.

Santa’s Village Salmon Place: an Amazing Feeling of Lapland

After a short drive, we ended up in another parking lot, on the other side of the village where we saw a nice hut called Salmon Place.  Is a traditional Lappish teepee with enchanting open fire in the center, where you can relax and capture the amazing feeling of Lapland. The place is pretty crowded since the location is not too big, so we had luck to spot an empty table and decided to have some hot drinks. The atmosphere was really great so besides the standard order of coffee/chocolate, we also ordered the home special salmon and also a cheesecake. Loved it, the Salmon was grilled right in the center fireplace and came with a potato salad. Stayed a little bit longer to finish our drinks and listened to some Christmas carols, then decided to call it a night and went home. It was another exciting day with so many activities that made Clara so happy, so my objective was achieved. 

Santa’s Reindeer Experience

On our last day here, after packing in so many magical experiences that Clara absolutely adored, we figured we’d dedicate a full day to tying up loose ends—because, let’s be honest, you don’t leave Santa’s Village without ticking every box. And of course, we had to hop on the world’s most famous ride: Santa’s Reindeer Experience. Because if you’re not being chauffeured by a reindeer, did you even visit Lapland?

So after a 1-hour drive approx from our resting place, we reached the next very early. Never rush, and try to be calm if things don’t turn out as you want( I usually am not :))). Well i didn’t quite follow the rules, and because I was tired after so many days, I forgot to set up the destination correctly and missed the timing for our ride, 9 AM. In my head was 9:30 AM. So after driving around for about 15 minutes we managed to arrive at the main parking lot, Santa Village.

Went to the counter (Santa Claus Reindeer), and although I was late, the guy said we could do the 3km ride at 10 AM since it wasn’t fully booked. Honestly, I was glad we missed 9 AM since it was still dark, making photos impossible. We were split into 2 sleights, so I left Diana and Clara in one and I hopped in the second one and headed to the woods. While it was a great experience, I’d recommend the shorter 1km version—it was cold, and my hands were frozen on my phone :). 

The girl who guided our reindeer offered us some local sausages but we decided to skip and head to Mrs Santa Claus’s house where they had a nice coffee shop. After enjoying some warm bakery and drinks we were ready to continue our schedule.

Elf’s Farmyard

Next stop: Elf’s Farmyard, also inside the Santa’s Village, where we took Gar, a baby reindeer, for a walk in the woods and also gave him some moss as a snack. It was a really nice encounter for Clara to pet and feed him. You can watch domestic animals in their daily activities under arctic conditions. The ticket also included a tour of the small farm where we saw beside the reindeer, some sheep, alpacas, ponies, donkeys, goats, different birds or small rabbits.

So we experienced both Husky (5km fast pace) and Reindeer (3 km slow pace). My choice would be the huskies anytime, probably because I also had the pleasure of riding/guiding the sleigh.

All these places are within walking distance inside Santa’s Village, so no need to worry about moving around.

Snowman World: a Snowy Playground in the Heart of Santa’s Village

Our final stop was Snowman World, where it was pretty crowded. The place has 2 zones, in the inside of the igloo where you have a nice ice slide, an ice bar, and of course a restaurant, and the outside where you have a small ice skate park along with a labyrinth and 2 slides for snow tubing. If you ask me this place was a little bit pricey for what it offers.

Budget your visit:

Meeting Santa Claus	Free
Reindeer Sleigh Ride	€18 per person
Husky Sledding	€30 per person
Snowmobile Safari	€98 per person
Arctic Circle Certificate	€4.50
Snowman World	€28 per person
SantaPark	€33 per person