A little Christmas surprise popped up on my Instagram feed recently: Chiara Ferragni visited Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi, Finland.
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Even if you don’t follow Italian socialites like Ferragni, you might have heard of Santa Claus Village. It’s one of the world’s most Christmas-happy locations and the hometown of Santa Claus himself.
Every year, around two million visitors fly into Rovaniemi, Finland to get a glimpse of Kris Kringle and enjoy the spoils of his village.
That being said, Rovaniemi isn’t just any typical Christmas-fluff destination.
It’s in the Arctic Circle, for one—which means you need to be more than prepared when packing your bags. Second, it’s a big-ticket venue that’s on par with amusement parks like Disney World, meaning you need to prep for crowds and pricey items.
Still, it’s worth a visit. I don’t even have kids and I’m considering booking a trip—much of which is based on my fantastic winter wonderland experiences near Sweden’s Arctic Circle north of Umea.
So, whether you have kids, whether they like Santa, and whether you ever thought you’d visit the Arctic, it’s the season for miracles.
Here’s how to visit Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi.
How to visit Santa Claus Village: getting there
Rovaniemi is located in Finland’s Lapland region. It’s a pretty large outpost for the country with around 70,000 inhabitants. Santa Claus village opened its doors back in 1985 just outside city bounds.
Since then, it’s become one of the Western world’s most recognizable amusement parks.
Most visitors reach Rovaniemi via the Rovaniemi Airport. You can find short flights from hubs around the region, including Oslo, Stockholm, Copenhagen, and Helsinki.
You can also take an overnight sleeper train from Helsinki (the capital of Finland), which takes around eight to 12 hours to reach Rovaniemi.
If you have a little extra time and a sense of adventure, I’d highly suggest booking the sleeper car. It’ll get you started off on the right foot for your Christmas adventure by showcasing Finland’s gorgeous forests.
Where to stay in Rovaniemi to visit Santa Claus village
You’ve got two choices in terms of lodging: stay directly inside the bounds of Santa Claus Village (around eight kilometers outside of the town) or stay in Rovaniemi.
If you’re there to dive headfirst into all things Santa-related, then I suggest bucking up a little extra money to stay at the original Santa Claus Village.
The hotel is highly rated by guests and isn’t that much more expensive than a comparable place in town. (No Disney-level price gouging here.) It’s also really pretty, with snow-banked cabins decked out with pretty lights.
If you want a little distance between you and the fanfare, then head to another hotel inside Rovaniemi. I suggest checking out Arctic City Hotel, Arctic Light Hotel, Arctic Treehouse Hotel, and Santa’s Hotel Santa Claus.
Can’t find what you’re looking for? Keep shopping around for hotels in Rovaniemi.
What to do in Santa Claus Village
Santa Claus Village is a sprawling attraction that includes Santa Claus Park (more on this below).
In Santa Claus Village, you can do things like visit Santa Claus’s post office, explore his personal study, take a closer look at his snowmobiles (including the history of snowmobiles), and line up to meet the man himself.
But that’s not all. Personally, I’d be more interested in catching a glimpse of the aurora borealis, which is visible for around 150 days out of the year.
I’d also have my fun jumping crisscrossing over the Arctic Circle line, which carves straight through the village.
When you’ve had your fill of Christmas joy, you can head to Santa Claus Park—an award-winning amusement park that includes dozens more experiences. There’s the Arctic Forest Spa, a secret forest (no idea what Santa does in there), Christmas shows, a gingerbread bakery, and much more.
You might end up spending more time at Santa Claus Park.
Other pro tips for how to visit Santa Clause Village
Like I mentioned uptop, Santa Claus Village and Park are hugely popular—so you need to plan ahead if you want to avoid missed opportunities.
I suggest following these tips from long-time fans of Santa Claus Village and employees of the park:
- Book your meeting with Santa as far ahead as possible
- Speaking of meeting with Santa, you’ll have two options to meet him: in his office or at his cottage—choose wisely
- Don’t underestimate the cold
- Give yourself time to explore the village—it’s full of hidden surprises that you won’t notice unless you go slow
- Research special events—and make sure to take full advantage of the free ones
- Santa speaks English, but it’s still good to know the basics of Finnish (kiitos = thank you)
