HELP!!!! Anyone been on a tour to LAPLAND for Christmas??

[jenshell75]

Hello,

I realise that most of these threads are about WDW or Disneyland however I am really stressed and need some help and reviews about touring to Lapland for Christmas.

I live in Australia and the prices to go to Lapland for 5 days with flights and a 5 day package tour are in excess of 17 thousand Australian dollars for a family of 4. My children are only 3 and 5 at the time of travel December 2010

There is no way that we can justify that amount on a 5 day holiday, we could do WDW and Half of the US for that amount of money.

However we are christmas nuts and we really want to do this trip so I was wondering if any of you experienced travellers could give me some names of tour companies, some personal reviews if you have been and what was good and what was bad. We are hoping to get good flights to the UK and stay in the UK for a week or 2 before or after the holiday in Lapland.

Thanks in advance for any assistance

Jen

 

[Pegasus928]

I have moved this to the Community Board as it may get seen more here

 

[buzz for boys]

We did a 3 day trip back in 2002 and if im honest I was disappointed !!
I love christmas and was so excited to do this trip.
Our first and 3rd day were travel days so really only 1 day there and it was a highly scheduled day with a limited amount of time with santa it was lightning quick in and out job and if im honest ive had better interaction with santa in our local shopping centre.The sleigh ride was a huge hit though and was a whole lot of fun. As was the sasntas workshop tour - very magical !!

The other thing which was a serious downer was the biting cold - yes i know its going to be cold in Lapland but nothing could have prepared us for just how cold !! You get a snow suit but to be honest it needed to be a whole lot thicker for us

For me id rather do the xmas thing at wdw than go back to Lapland.
Im sure someone will come along with a diffrent experience though. My boys were 2 and 4 when we went !!

Louise x

 

[natalielongstaff]

I took my kids on a day trip a few years ago, it was a fantastic day but VERY expensive

we used canterbury travel

i did a trippie so i will see if i can find a link to that for you

 

[natalielongstaff]

Here is a link to my trippie

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=22108219&highlight=lapland#post22108219

 

[Dimplenose]

I've not been to Lapland but I have a friend who has - she went for 5 days with teenaged children. She stayed in a cabin attached to a hotel and had outings such as a ski-doo ride. The company she went with loaned them extra snow gear to cope with the cold.

If you want a Christmassy atmosphere before going to Lapland then I recommend a few days in Germany - the Christmas markets are unbelievable.

 

[jenshell75]

We did a 3 day trip back in 2002 and if im honest I was disappointed !!
I love christmas and was so excited to do this trip.
Our first and 3rd day were travel days so really only 1 day there and it was a highly scheduled day with a limited amount of time with santa it was lightning quick in and out job and if im honest ive had better interaction with santa in our local shopping centre.The sleigh ride was a huge hit though and was a whole lot of fun. As was the sasntas workshop tour - very magical !!

The other thing which was a serious downer was the biting cold - yes i know its going to be cold in Lapland but nothing could have prepared us for just how cold !! You get a snow suit but to be honest it needed to be a whole lot thicker for us

For me id rather do the xmas thing at wdw than go back to Lapland.
Im sure someone will come along with a diffrent experience though. My boys were 2 and 4 when we went !!

Louise x

Thanks Lousie, I sent a long reply to you thanking you for all your infomation, however I can't see it now. I think it may have got locked when my thread was moved to the community area. I am getting some great replys thanks for being my first. I must agree it's hard to think of something more special than Disney at Christmas time and as you say lots cheaper

Here is a link to my trippie

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=22108219&highlight=lapland#post22108219

OMGosh Natalie, your mini trip report and photos look amazing. It looked like you had a fantastic day. Seeing beautiful photos like that make saving for such a lovely holiday all worth it.

I've not been to Lapland but I have a friend who has - she went for 5 days with teenaged children. She stayed in a cabin attached to a hotel and had outings such as a ski-doo ride. The company she went with loaned them extra snow gear to cope with the cold.

If you want a Christmassy atmosphere before going to Lapland then I recommend a few days in Germany - the Christmas markets are unbelievable.

Thanks Dimplenose for the tip about the Christmas Markets in Germany. Germany is on my bucket list, I LOVE CHRISTMAS and I LOVE MARKETS sounds like a dream holiday!!! Thankyou!

 

[jenshell75]

Just bumping to see if there is anyone else that has done a trip to the Santa Villiage Lapland.

 

[jenshell75]

Just wondering is anyone has any photos or hotel reviews after Christmas.

Jenshell

 

[kieras nana]

Are you on facebook,as my niece went this Xmas and I wil ask her to add you,so you can look at her photos
Tracy

 

[MazdaUK]

A friend of mine took er son a few years ago and loved it -but yes it was really cold!

Another friend went to Lapland UK (at Bewel in Kent) and that was excellent - very good Santa, great present and you get to bake gingerbread with Mrs Santa She took her four grandchildren -no way could she afford to go all the way to Lapland, but just down the M20 was OK You have to be careful as there's loads of people pretending to "do" lapland and all you get is a field and a couple of reindeer