Santa Claus Tours near Rovaniemi, Finland
This year, consider our tours for a magical White Christmas holiday in Finland. Fully private tours including winter activities can be arranged.
What better way to experience Christmas than with the big cheerful bearded man in a red suit and his elves? Santa Claus resides in Finland, near the Arctic Circle. His original home is on Korvantunturi Fell, where you can still feel the Christmas spirit, but Rovaniemi has become his official hometown, where he welcomes visitors year-round.
Rovaniemi is the provincial centre of Lapland, right on the Arctic Circle. The town lies at the confluence of the Ounas and Kemi rivers, and is a historical meeting point for the trade, people and cultures of the north. With around 60,000 inhabitants, it is one of the larger towns in the Finnish north.
Rovaniemi is also the gateway to many smaller villages and resorts across Finnish Lapland. Some of the best family Christmas stays are not in Rovaniemi itself, but in quieter places nearby, and a couple are their own destinations further afield, with their own airports. Many offer quick transfers from the airport and can drop you into Rovaniemi's main Christmas areas for a visit. Each has its own Santa program, and our Finnish specialists can help you find the one that suits your family best. If you would like to compare them side by side, see our guide to which Christmas in Lapland tour suits you.
Christmas tours near Rovaniemi:
Christmas at Arctic Treehouse Hotel
Christmas at the Arctic TreeHouse Hotel suits more than one kind of traveller. Couples come for the design and the quiet, families with older children for the comfort and the activities, and several generations for the space to be together and apart. Each TreeHouse suite is a piece of modern Scandinavian design, with a full wall of glass onto the forest, and the children's "nest" bed, a cosy cubby tucked to one side, tends to be the first thing they claim. Suites can be connected for larger family groups.
The days hold a reindeer sledge ride, a quiet electric-snowmobile safari, and a husky trip where you drive your own team, with toboggans free to use around the hotel. Christmas Eve is spent around the tree with a festive buffet, and Santa arrives through the evening with a gift for every guest. On a clear night, the Northern Lights may appear over the treetops.
Of all the stays in this article, this is the one that really is at Rovaniemi: the hotel sits within the SantaPark area, 10 to 15 minutes from the town centre and a short drive from Santa Claus Village, with transfers from Rovaniemi airport. It is an easy, comfortable choice for a first Christmas in Lapland, close to the city yet surrounded by forest.
Polar Bears & Santa in Lapland
Our Polar Bears & Santa in Lapland tour stays at the Ranua Wildlife Park and is well suited to families who enjoy animal experiences alongside the peace and quiet of a small village. Spacious apartments have private cooking and living facilities for easy days with young children, on top of the meals included at the resort restaurant.
Ranua is genuinely close to Rovaniemi: about 80 km (an hour's drive) south, with transfers from Rovaniemi airport.
Christmas at Sunday Morning Resort
If you are looking for something fully private and secluded, we have a Christmas package at a tiny resort in Pyhä, near Rovaniemi. Christmas at Sunday Morning Resort is a retreat with access to Arctic experiences and strong Northern Lights opportunities. It sits about 90 minutes (roughly 135 km) from Rovaniemi, which is also the nearest airport, away from light pollution on the shores of Lake Pyhä, which makes it a fine place to watch for the Aurora Borealis. With its lakeside and forest surroundings, the resort is aptly named: every day feels like a quiet Sunday morning, and you sense the calm as soon as you arrive.
This tiny resort has room for only 28 guests: 4 double rooms within the lodge and 4 cabins with lofts for younger family members. Children aged 6 and over will love a private visit with a traditional Finnish Santa Claus, after a reindeer safari through the peaceful, snow-covered forest.
Christmas in Levi Glass Igloos
Our Christmas in Levi Glass Igloos tour offers six units set under the northern skies. Each igloo has a private kitchenette, shower and toilet, with Lappish dinners served nightly in the glass-roofed restaurant. Guests staying on 24 December enjoy a special Finnish Christmas Eve feast.
Days are filled with Arctic activities like dogsledding, snowmobiling and reindeer safaris, plus a Santa program where children can meet Santa and share their Christmas wishes. Nearby, the Levi ski resort offers evening skiing, shopping and more winter fun.
Levi is its own destination rather than a Rovaniemi suburb: it lies about 170 km northwest of Rovaniemi (around 2.5 hours by road) and has its own airport at Kittilä, 15 minutes away, where most guests fly in.
Christmas Adventure in Ruka, Finland
Celebrate Christmas in the snowy wilderness of Ruka, one of Finland's top ski resorts, with a stay in a private chalet or villa on our Christmas Adventure in Ruka tour. Enjoy festive activities including a visit to Santa's Cottage, a husky safari, reindeer feeding, snowmobiling and an evening aurora wagon tour. Relax with hearty meals, a Finnish sauna and cosy evenings with your family. The tour includes airport transfers, winter gear and a special Christmas Eve dinner. Departures are available before and during Christmas week.
Like Levi, Ruka is a destination in its own right: it sits about 190 km east of Rovaniemi, with its own airport at Kuusamo, around 30 minutes away.
If you are interested in a Christmas tour, we have several running this Christmas. Search by category below:
- Christmas Small Group Tours
- Independent Christmas Tours
- Pre-Christmas with Santa
- Post-Christmas & New Year's Eve
We hope to see you soon!
Image credits: Levi Glass Igloos, Ranua Wildlife Park, Arctic Treehouse Hotel, Sunday Morning Resort, Rukan Salonki Chalets and Villas