Santa Claus Village, Rovaniemi - a detailed guide

Santa Claus Village is a well executed, easy to get to, easy to navigate, easy to book attraction in Rovaniemi, Finland - and I mean it no offence when I say it reminded me a bit of Clark’s Village in Somerset (a discount outlet shopping place, like Bicester). Why did it remind me of Clark’s Village? I think just because of the scattered little buildings and shops and restaurants (most of which we didn’t look in).

This is the last post in my series of guides to visiting Finnish Lapland in Rovaniemi. The full series is:

• The Ultimate Guide to Finnish Lapland, Rovaniemi
• Scandic Pohjanhovi: a review of a Rovaniemi City Centre hotel
• Wild About Lapland bespoke reindeer sleigh ride
• SnowGlow Winter Park in Rovaniemi
• and this one - Santa Claus Village, Rovaniemi - a detailed guide

Most of the activities we booked, with the exception of the reindeer ride, we did at Santa Claus village. We did a reindeer ride outside of the city, which we would HIGHLY recommend - the reindeer ride at Santa Claus village couldn’t be booked in advance, which meant a lot of potential queuing, and took you basically alongside a car park so would have been no where near as magical. When we saw it the day after our night time reindeer ride, we were really pleased we’d done what we had.

Visiting Mrs Claus

Our first visit to Santa Claus village gave us time for a quick look around to get our bearings and then it was time for our visit to Mrs Claus, which we’d booked in advance. This isn’t cheap (I think we paid around €50 for 10 of us for a 10-15minute visit, including a printed photo of us all with her) but it was a guaranteed way of the kids having a “visit” if something had gone wrong with seeing Santa (which you can’t book).

We waited outside her office, in the upstairs of her tea room, and this was where some of the adults in our party found the problem with the hire clothes… it was very hot inside, but if all you had on underneath your big padded overalls was thermal underwear, you couldn’t really take anything off… I’ve talked more about this in my Ultimate Guide to Finnish Lapland.

When we were called in we had a nice chat with Mrs Claus and she asked us if we had any questions for her - my nephew had one, but a top tip would be to try and think in advance of anything you want to ask her! She did explain to the kids all about the elves which live in our world and report back to her (meaning Elf on the Shelf)!

We had a drink and some cake in her cafe, and then went outside and played in the snow - making snowmen and snow angels, and sliding down big slopes with or without a sledge. There’s a rule about the sledges which I think is that if they have the name of a hotel on them, you leave them where they are - but if they don’t, they’re just communal and you can use one. You know you’ve made a good snowman when you see other people having their photo taken beside it later!

On the topic of playing in the snow (sorry for anyone who goes when there isn’t any snow), the best bits of the trip for us (apart from the husky ride) were when we were just all playing in the snow! Out past the huskies, towards the snow mobiles car park by the Elf School the snow was deep and there was a mini woodland we played in for hours. We also found massive “mountains” (to the kids) of snow in the car parks out there, which were obviously shovelled snow from snow scrapers clearing the roads, and made for epic kids vs. adults snow ball fights with the kids using the mountains like a fort. It was here that we’d stop and drink the hot chocolate we’d taken in flasks - one flask per household and plenty of cups so it wasn’t too much to carry. I took a small plastic pot of hot chocolate in my luggage, along with a flask, and just used the kettle in our room each morning to make the hot chocolate.

Elf School

It was whilst we were playing in the snow that we discovered the Elf School. I’d read about it, and read that whilst going to the school was a cute activity, it was quite a lot of money for something that wasn’t as special as snow mobiles and Santa. But the cafe! We are pretty sure the hot chocolate we bought there was the best in the World - I’m still regretting not getting one with Bailey’s - and the doughnuts made the kids feel they were living their best life. Upstairs - where the loos were - was super cute with a post box for your letters to Santa, so we posted ours there as we forgot to give them to the big man himself when we met him. The cafe does a buffet at lunch time but we didn’t try it - it looked good but just didn’t fit in with our plans.

Snow mobiling at Santa Claus Village

We’d book snow mobiling in advance, and it was good - but be prepared for absolute carnage at the office. AND MAKE SURE YOU TAKE YOUR UK DRIVING LICENSE! I forgot to tell everyone to take one and thank goodness everyone had it on them, otherwise they wouldn’t have been allowed on. When we arrived the office was rammed, and you could queue for ages and find you’d queued in the wrong spot because you couldn’t see the sign on the counter telling you what the queue was for. There was then paperwork to read and sign.

My husband had borrowed ski goggles for over his glasses because we’d been told it might be so cold they’d constantly get covered in condensation… but then he realised ski goggles are sun glasses and as it was nearly always dark, sun glasses weren’t the best idea! So he didn’t use them.

After LOTS of waiting around at the office, we all followed a member of staff (along with LOTS of other people) to a car park where we were all provided with snoods and helmets. They walked quickly and it was a little hard for the kids to keep up - especially on the icy ground. Oh yeah - be careful where you walk and if you can gab the kids one of the communal sledges to pull them along in (you know the classic little plastic colourful ones you’d get for a hill in the UK) then it can stop them slipping over.

We got shown to our snow mobiles and the kids all got loaded up into a long trailer - this was a bit I was unsure about, I couldn’t find exact details of how it’d work from the website - but basically the adults had 1 snow mobile to 2 of them, and the kids (and Granny in our case as we had 5 adults) sat in a long trailer of seats in rows of 2 which was pulled by a snow mobile driven by one of the staff.

So we did half of the ride fine with my husband driving. And then we stopped for a break and we switched - I didn’t really want to drive but I also didn’t want to always regret not doing it. So we switched, and I started off following the snowmobile in front… and then I lost them in the woods! I was just going too slowly, and they got out of sight and then there was a split in the road and I guessed which way to go… and then saw them through the trees on the other route! But it wasn’t too dramatic as we could kinda tell we’d meet up with that path shortly. But it did make it clear that I was driving far too slowly, and that’d be sucky for all the many other snow mobiles in the convoy behind me! So when we slowed for a junction or something else, I shouted to Tom to quickly swap places with me! I’d had my go, but for my nerves and the rest of the convoy, it was best I didn’t drive!

The snow mobile route definitely left Santa Claus Village and went through woodlands and on roads - at one point the team were discussing the best route when we reached a sign post! So it seemed perhaps the extra seasonal holiday staff didn’t exactly know where they were taking us! But it was good and I’m glad we did it, although it is probably the least memorable of the big experiences (reindeer ride, snow mobiling and husky ride). It wasn’t super exciting for the kids as they just sat in the trailer - but we’d bought tickets for the Family Safari which meant when we got back to the office the kids could have a go on the track there. Imagine go karting on snow mobiles - around and around the same loop but they enjoyed it, and it was on a steep slope so it was fun trying to get up the hill and then going quickly down the other side. We did see one kid get injured though, so they need to be careful.

We didn’t do Santa’s Animals as we figured we didn’t need to spend money on that when there was other stuff to do and we’d all rather play in the snow. And we didn’t hire one of the private little houses in the middle of the park, which looked cute if you wanted a “base” for a day. (I have no idea how expensive they are but there were little beds and kitchenettes we could see through the windows.)

Husky Park at Santa Claus Village

The husky ride knocked our socks off. It was brilliant. We’d seen and heard husky’s racing through the little woodland area where we’d been playing in the snow and they were LOUD - but we’d really felt, from the sound they were making, that they were keen and excited to run, so it felt OK to have a ride. 

The husky park is like a mini zoo with lots of cages of huskies, with little signs to read their names and their history. You just wander around until it’s your turn for your ride. We had assumed we’d be out in the woodland, but then it became clear we were going to a little race track enclosure in the husky park… which was a little disappointing as it didn’t look very exciting. But what we didn’t know, was that out of sight around the corner suddenly the track would lead into open land and it would be amazing! 

Our whole husky ride was about 10 - 15mins. We did the 2km one and decided that if it was really cold that would probably be long enough for the kids. And it was long enough - but it was also amazing so we could have all happily done it again! Although my daughter was absolutely freezing and had frost on her snood. I wanted to film it but it was too cold to hold my hand up. Apparently it was minus 17 that day and with windchill would have felt like minus 30. They say the smallest passenger should sit at the front of the sleigh, but our smallest was a 4yr old we wanted to hang on to tightly! So we sat the 8 year old first, then the 11 year old, then me, then the 4 year old and then my husband. The driver, stood on the back, was concerned the 4 year old wouldn’t be able to see but we said it was better that than we worry about him falling out! And he could see out the sides anyway. But it meant my daughter got the brunt of the cold air at the front! Our driver’s moustache had frost in it.

I’m posting reels on Insta if you want to see more about the experience - I’ll add a highlight.

Meeting Santa at Santa Claus Village

So that just leaves the visit to the Big Man himself - Santa. I found when researching it that there were 2 places to meet Santa - at his Post Office and at his house… I think his house is maybe tied to a hotel, and I couldn’t find much info about that at the time (I think they were having a bit of a shuffle around of how and where you booked things at the time I was looking) so we planned to go to the Post Office.

What time should you arrive to see Santa at Santa Claus Village?

We’d heard horror stories about the queuing so we got a fairly early bus in - I’ve gone through our full itinerary for the 4 days we had in Lapland in my Ultimate Guide so you can read why we did things in the order we did.

We approached the building for Santa at 8:07am - and we went through the door at 8:08am. My photo of the Elf greeting them at the door to Santa’s room was taken at 8:36am (you can’t take photos in there). BUT as we went in to see him there were people queuing up the stairs we’d just walked straight up. By 8:57am the queue was an hour long (or you could book a slot and come back to queue for an hour later). By 11am people were queuing (we suspect) for an hour, to book a time slot - and people with a time slot were queuing out the door. Moral of the story - get there early.

How long is a visit with Santa at Lapland?

Honestly - so short. So crazy short - I think we maybe asked him a question but it wasn’t a chatty experience like with Mrs Claus, it very much felt like a conveyor belt. 

Can you take photos with Santa?

Nope - but they’ll take one and offer you lots of over priced ways to pay for it (you can order it from home as they give you a card with a QR code).

How much does it cost to meet Santa at Rovaniemi Lapland?

It’s free to see Santa! Which is great and means that as long as you can get there, you don’t need to spend any more money for the main attraction. We had paid in advance though for each kid to get a present from him, which was about £35 each and included a cuddly reindeer (he’s pretty cute), a pen and a note book. They also gave us (and anyone I think, it wasn’t because we’d paid for a gift) a big kinda shopping bag (like an IKEA bag) that’s good advertising for them. I think you could buy the gifts at a counter you queue past, but we’d paid in advance and showed our order at that desk (discretely so the kids didn’t see). They were then given special lanyards that the Elf made a note of as we went in.

My main tip for visiting Santa Claus Village would be to plan an itinerary in advance - know what you’re doing when so that you get bookings and make the most of everything you want to do. And be prepared that adults might not want the hire clothes - but for kids rolling around in the snow, they’re great.

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