Traveling to Finland on your own is super easy！ Take a reindeer sleigh to visit Santa’s home.

 Text and photos by /Evan

Since childhood, Christmas has always been about Santa Claus climbing down the chimney to our homes and secretly placing gifts in the stockings we’ve prepared. Every year at this time, I’d want to sneak behind the door and catch a glimpse of Santa’s true face—but I never succeeded. I’d usually fall asleep before he even arrived, lol. So this time, I’m going straight to Santa’s hometown to see what he really looks like. And to find Santa, the first thing you’ll do is ride his ride—XDDD

Here’s a video of us riding a reindeer sleigh for you to enjoy.

Did you see that super cute butt XDDDD This time in Finland, we experienced a reindeer sleigh ride. It was the first time I got up close and personal with a real reindeer, and they’re seriously adorable. Besides the sleigh ride, our resort also offers a free reindeer feeding activity～Ｗ says “It’s probably just because the staff don’t want to feed them XDDD.” Since these are domesticated reindeer, they’re relatively gentle. When we brought food near, they skillfully gathered around begging for treats—it was just like feeding deer in Nara Park. At first, I was a bit scared because they were a little too enthusiastic, and I ended up hiding my hands in my mouth from fright. I’ll share more details and videos about the reindeer sleigh and feeding experience in another post.

Alright—back to the main topic. Our tour package included “Santa Claus Village + Reindeer Sleigh Ride + Husky Sleigh Ride + Snowmobile Ride + Airport Transfer + All-you-can-eat Nordic-style lunch + Return transfer to accommodation,” and the whole set cost only €160. Here’s the booking link: https://goo.gl/qR6VwN

The house we stayed in for the TOUR (so cute!)

This is a rare low price～ Because buying everything separately costs about the same as the package deal, so if you buy separately, you’d end up spending around €160 × 4 or more～ It’s almost impossible not to go bankrupt. So if you’re going to Finland, I recommend booking this TOUR—you can do everything in one go without breaking the bank. I’ll go into more detail in the full guide. Aside from this TOUR, if you just want to visit Santa Claus Village, you can also take the bus there on your own—no extra fees required. Also, entry to Santa Claus Village is free. The extra costs would be for shopping at the stores or taking pictures with Santa Claus！ Taking a photo with Santa here costs money and involves waiting in a long line... So I suggest waiting until the Christmas market to take a photo with Santa instead, because it’s free there, hahaha.

The place where you queue to take photos with Santa Claus (actually several shops offer it)

Photos of Santa Claus Village—it’s truly magical. Although it’s quite commercialized, it’s still worth coming for some photos and check-ins. After all, since childhood, it’s been a dream to see Santa’s home.

Photo sharing

You can send postcards here, and even book Christmas postcards for 2018.

You can also get a certificate proving you’ve crossed the Arctic Circle～XDD But it’s super expensive～ We just took a photo, which is enough to prove we’ve been here UpXDD

Crossing the Arctic Circle W~

You can also get your passport stamped here.

The surrounding houses look charming no matter how you photograph them—truly Nordic style.

Santa Claus Village in Finland
Location: Rovaniemi, Finland
How to get there: 1. TOUR takes you there
2. Take bus No. 8 and get off at the Arctic Circle stop

Evangeline-Evan
Hi everyone, I’m Evan, someone who’s timid and easily scared,
but traveling on my own has helped me slowly find courage,
and each solo trip has helped me discover a different side of myself.
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