There are lots of good reasons to visit Rovaniemi. For children, the obvious one is to visit Santa Claus. You have Santa’s village and Santa Park not far from the city and certainly easily reached in a hire car.
The city’s reputation as a centre of learning has left it with some excellent museums and science centres. Arkticum and Pilke are two of the best with an amazing range of interactive displays on the environment of the area as well as sustainability. It’s also a great place to see the midnight sun at the time of the solstice.
Rovaniemi Airport Mini Guide
My kids Want to go And see Santa?
Book a trip to Rovaniemi and they won’t be disappointed and neither will you. It’s the capital of Finnish Lapland and close to Santa Village as well as Santa Park. You can take them to meet the man himself and explore the village where he and his elf helpers work all year round and then move onto the Santa Park where there are lots of Christmas themed rides and amusements.
If you want to temper fun with education, take them next to Arktikum and Pilke, two science museums with a wealth of hands on stuff that kids love. Arktikum focuses on life in the Arctic Circle whilst Pilke deals with the sustainability of the forests here.
What’s the Best way of Getting There?
There are plenty of flights to Rovaniemi operated by charter companies from many UK airports. The largest operator by far is Thomas Cook who specialise in trips to see Santa here. Thomson also flies here from UK airports.
What’s Rovaniemi Airport like?
The airport gets in on the whole Santa act by classing itself as Santa Claus Airport. It even gives passport stamps saying so. If you arrive in ‘Santa season’ the airport begins the magic with decorations, signs to Santa’s home etc. It’s a modern airport having been remodelled in the last decade and has a public information desk that prides itself on helping with almost every kind of query imaginable. In winter it’s manned by people dressed as elves!
Most people arriving there will be getting transfers organised by their tour company as part of the trip but if you need onward travel there’s a bus service, hotel shuttles, taxis and car hire all available in the arrivals section. The car hire companies’ desks are easy to spot but please book in advance to ensure extras such as winter tyres or ski racks are provided. Getting from the airport to your accommodation is easy and the simple roads are well sign posted.
And after Seeing Santa?
If you’re heading home now to wait for his visit the airport will entertain kids still with a souvenir shop leaning heavily on the Christmas theme, even in June! It’ll also be leaning a little on mum’s purse too with the selection and prices on offer. Food and drink is available from the ‘Hello’ restaurant, mainly plain fare, but tasty and satisfying. As well as the Santa souvenirs, you can also buy duty free products.
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