Why visit Santa in Finland?

Day 1: No sign of Santa on our arrival in Kuusamo, but things look promising. Among these snowy trees, there’s lots of cover – he could be hiding anywhere.

Day 2: We’re on the trail! Today we met the reindeer – Santa’s most important animal – for a jangly sleighride. Our Sámi guide explained that these ones were friends with Rudolph. If only reindeer could talk… In the afternoon, some of Santa’s elves tried to start a snowball fight with us, but they underestimated how much energy we had after our hearty lunch – we were the clear victors!

Day 3: A clue – and an invitation! Out snowshoeing, our guide saw a set of footprints. She thought they might be Santa’s. It was hard to say – they looked quite big, and no one knew what size feet Santa has. Then the guide pointed out that he was wearing snowshoes… We came upon a campfire where the logs were still smoking – it looks like we just missed him. Thwarted by Claus, we thought! But when we returned to the hotel – there it was: an invitation, addressed to all of us, inviting us for lunch…

So go the first three days of a family holiday in Lapland with Santa. During a slow and exciting build up, you fall for the wintry wonderland. Then, on the fourth day, you get a private five-hour audience with Santa and Mrs Claus, in the privacy of their own cabin on the shores of a lake, baking cookies and sharing stories.

Christmas is a season of anticipation – as anyone who starts getting excited in October already knows. Seeing Santa on holiday is the culmination of weeks – maybe months, or even years, of waiting. All that anticipation should have a worthy finale.

“It’s unhurried,” says Amy Hope, as she describes the big Santa meet and greet moment. She is managing director at our Lapland holiday partner, Activities Abroad. “You feel like you’re at his house, and the house is absolutely beautiful, it’s so cosy and warm.”

Inside the log cabin, the walls are lined with homemade Christmas cards. On the table, the preparation of gingerbread biscuits is underway. There’s a slope that’s perfect for sledging just outside.

A holiday like this is best for children aged four and over; that way, they’re old enough to participate in all the activities. Smaller children can attend but won’t necessarily be able to do every activity that’s on offer.

As for the perfect age? Parents know their kids best – five-year-olds are completely entranced. Older children are more likely to be sceptical; once they are around seven, all it takes is a couple of know-it-alls at school to ruin the magic.

That’s why our partners, Activities Abroad, try and see things through a child’s eyes. “We have to go with an older child’s mentality and think, ‘They’d notice this… they’d spot this…’,” Amy, who has two children herself, explains. Hopefully, a well-run Lapland trip will help the spirit of Santa live on another year.

However, if you’re determined not to be swayed by the charm of the King of Christmas himself, you’ll probably be bowled over by his huskies. Visiting a husky farm and going on a sled ride ranks highly for parents. Huskies are excited to see visitors because they know they are about to get some exercise. The feeling of seeing your dog after a hard day at the office? Multiply it by 12 and add a chorus of howls. Then silence falls as you are whisked by sled into the wilderness.

Husky sledding is just one way to enjoy the natural surroundings. Near Kuusamo is Oulanka National Park. In this area of the country, 90 percent of the land is covered with forest. There’s ice fishing, snowshoeing, and meeting with Sámi people to learn about their culture on reindeer farms. Plus – there’s always the sauna.

Finnish families tend to sauna together. Babies attend short saunas from as early as four months old. As children get older, they start to stay progressively longer inside. For non-Finns, the sauna is more of an acquired taste for kids, so adults might want to go alone.

Whether you still believe in Father Christmas or not, family holidays up here hold a certain power in the mind. That magic is real.

I remember travelling to Lapland to see Santa with my own parents. I asked him for a very long and complicated present. It was very cold and very still; I was bundled up in a reindeer sleigh, and I remember being fixated on the tiny, perfect snowflakes that had fallen on my jacket sleeve. Everything about that time together as a family felt very special and distinct from the rest of our lives – as though we had captured that time in a snow globe.

The memories have stayed with me for decades since – as perfectly crystalline as a snowflake.