These are UK-based tour operators and specialist travel agencies featuring family Christmas breaks to visit Santa Claus in Swedish or Finnish Lapland.
Most operators fly their guests to Finnish Lapland, in particular the towns of Levi and Rovaniemi where larger numbers of visitors can be handled. The smaller destinations such as Harriniva, Yllashumina and Kakslauttanen tend to provide more intimate experiences. |
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| Arctic Discovery |
01229 467000 |
A choice of 3 and 8-day family Santa tours to Swedish Lapland (unusual, most go to Finland). |
| Canterbury Travel |
01923 822 388 |
 Canterbury Travel have been the best-known 'Santa tour' specialists since they started in the mid-eighties, with a range of 1, 2, 3 & 4-night tour options. They also have a few post-Christmas tours (between Boxing Day and the New Year) when Santa is "resting following his arduous duties. He nevertheless always welcomes children visiting him in his homeland". And there is a Lapland Adventure programme for tours in January featuring loads of snow activities - skiing, snowboarding, snowshoe hiking, ice-fishing, reindeer safaris, snowmobile trips, and husky safaris. |
| Classic Travel |
0870 411 9001 |
Specialist travel agency offering a wide range of day trips and one to four-night packages from regional airports all around the UK. |
| Cosmos Holidays |
0871 42 38 422 |
One to four-day tour options to see Santa and enjoy some Lapland activities with the family. |
| Crystal Holidays |
0870 402 0293 |
Crystal offer day trips to Finnish Lapland to see Santa in their 'Family Brochure'. |
| Emagine UK |
0870 9025399 |
Fully inclusive range of 3-day to 6-day over-Christmas programmes with departures from Gatwick, Bristol, Birmingham, Glasgow & Manchester. Activities include reindeer sleigh rides, husky sledge rides, ice fishing, tandem skiing, reindeer lassoing, and mini snowmobiling, and a candle-lit trail through the forest to find Santa where you meet him one family at a time. |
| Esprit Holidays |
01252 618300 |
An obvious sideline for the family ski specialists. All-inclusive day trips and 3-day trips from Manchester & Gatwick to Saariselkä and Rovaniemi in Finnish Lapland featuring a reindeer sleigh ride, a traditional Arctic Circle ceremony, a husky sled ride and a host of snow and ice activities before a snowmobile search for the 'real' Santa Claus and his log-cabin. Also longer 3 & 4-night Santa breaks staying in hotel or log cabin accommodation. |
| First Choice |
0871 200 7799 |
Three or four-night breaks in Finnish Lapland (Rovaniemi) with activities such as snowmobile rides, reindeer sleighs and dog-sleds, plus a visit to Santa's workshop and a Gala Meal at the end with a guest appearence from the man himself. First Choice have a £10 per person penalty for phone bookings. |
| Iglu Lapland |
020 8544 6360 |
Specialist Lapland brand from online ski agency, Iglu.com, offering a range of Lapland experiences and activities including Santa trips. |
| Inghams |
020 8780 8810 |
3 & 4 night Santa breaks in Finnish Lapland with skiing and supper with Father Christmas. |
| PackYourBags |
0808 178 7533 |
Selection of one-day Santa trips, 2-5 day tours and a full selection of activities to go with them. |
| ScanMeridian |
020 7554 3530 |
One of the original Santa tour specialists (and rather dismissive of the newcomers - read their website copy) offering Santa holidays at the smaller resorts of Harriniva, Yllashumina and Kakslauttanen. |
| Small Families |
01763 226567 |
Santa tours for single-parent families. |
| Thomson Ski |
0870 888 0241 |
Thomson are launching a programme of Santa activity day trips to Finland from 13 UK airports throughout December 2007. |
| Transun Travel |
0870 4444 747 |
Day trips to see Santa, and multi-day visits. Transun is one of the 'biggies' in this niche and operates Santa trips on behalf of other agencies. They do a neat trick with letters to Santa (not available on single day trips) where they make sure Santa has your child's letter in his hand when they visit. Flights from 12 regional airports in the UK. |
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| Research Tips: | * | Colchester Travel (0870 950 9977) are a specialist agency for santa tours selling a wide range of tours from different operators. |
| * | Lapland Holidays (0845 092 0363) is a travel agency specialising in Santa trips using a selection of other tour operators' packages. A division of Hays Travel. |
| * | Lapland UK, working with the Forestry Commission, is bringing the spirit of a Lapland Christmas daytrip - without the carbon footprint - all the way to the Bedgebury Forest in Goudhurst, Kent for five weeks from 24 November 2007. The temporary attraction recreates a real trip to Lapland. Families 'fly' in a simulator based on Raymond Briggs' The Snowman. When they land they will magically find themselves in an ice and snow-covered forest. The falling snow is an eco-friendly world class special effect snow as used in Hollywood films (Narnia, Harry Potter, and James Bond). Activities include making gingerbread, encountering real reindeer and husky dogs, visiting the Saami village for traditional story telling, and of course, meeting Santa. |
