The DIY guide to a family holiday in Lapland —  for a significantly lower price

I had been lucky to visit in 2015, on a press trip with my then ten-year-old and four-year-old daughters.

I had travelled with Sunway and experienced 24 stunning hours I will never forget.

The party began at 4am check-in, with goodie bags for every child. Air hostesses with zogabongs danced congas down the aisle mid-flight, the pilot announcing on the intercom that we should watch out for Santa as we neared Lapland as he had it on good authority that the man in red was testing his sleigh.

And when we disembarked in Rovaniemi? A party entertainer was on hand to keep the kids smiling as we made our way by bus to a resort for sleigh rides, snow angels and gingerbread cookies, and, of course, to meet Santa himself. The next day there was a visit to Santa Village, home to the official post office.

I was determined that my other two children would experience this night of magic, promising to forgo our two-week holiday and save furiously for 24 hours in Lapland.

My husband, though, didn’t share my logic. He couldn’t fathom spending over €6000 on one night on a package tour. And for a family our size, with four kids, that would be the price tag.

If we were to go, and if we were to spend these unexpected savings (and more), it would need to be for more than 24 hours.

And so we found ourselves booking a week in Lapland, snapping up newly launched Ryanair direct flights from Dublin to Lapland, landing again in Rovaniemi, Finland, just as we had in 2015.

It would be a chance to meet Santa, and also to try skiing for the first time as a family.

With return flights for the six of us coming in at €1400, it would cost a whole lot less, with seven nights instead of one.

So how does a DIY Lapland trip compare to the Sunway all-inclusive?

There are pros, and cons. First, travelling from Cork, there were no direct flights. The 6.25am flight from Dublin meant a midnight drive from home, with diesel and parking costs, and a weary check-in at 4am. In fairness to Ryanair, they made the effort. The departures board read ‘North Pole’; the children (and mum) squealed with excitement.

That’s where the excitement ended for the duration of the three-hour flight. There were no zogabongs and dancing on board. While Aer Lingus crew told me seven years ago they all clamour to be on the roster for the Lapland chartered flights, some of our Ryanair crew were less than excited. It was business as usual.

Regardless, every seat was booked out, all with families — it seems Ryanair are on to a winner with this new route.

After a calm flight, as we emerged from the clouds to land, I heard a very familiar gasp. It was the same audible intake of breath of seven years ago, when the kids saw the snow-laden trees for the first time. It’s a winter wonderland from the air.

Where Sunway has a bus, complete with elf, ready to meet you on arrival, we had to head off and find our car rental (prices are comparable to home, though our family of six meant we had to pay extra for a seven-seater).

We have beautiful memories of our first day in Lapland with Sunway.

Driven to cosy cabins in the woods, we experienced reindeer sleigh rides, made gingerbread with Mrs Claus, and drove snowmobiles. There was time to play in the snow, with a warm meal before we were driven back to our hotel.

Back at our base, dinner over, the party entertainer returned to play games with the kids.

Everything was organised, there was nothing to plan. The day was ours to enjoy stress-free. Even the snowsuits were provided to keep us cosy in below zero temperatures.

The next morning we were driven to Santa Village, to see the North Pole post office and pick up souvenirs, before we returned to the airport for our flight home.

This time around, it was a different introduction to Lapland.

A photo on my phone helped us to locate that little haven in the snow where we had spent that beautiful day with Sunway. We found it on Google maps, and phoned what was, in fact, a reindeer farm. The activities are hosted only for Sunway, so it wasn’t an option for us.

We were sad to lose out.

Instead, we drove straight to Santa Village. Ten minutes from the airport, it’s home to Santa’s head office, and the Arctic Circle post office. You can see Santa here, but we focused on snowmobiling and reindeer sleigh rides.

The queues were short, half an hour max, though it is fair to say there was no waiting at all on our day with Sunway.

Snowmobiling cost us €60 for the children, the family reindeer sleigh ride, €100. (Both would have been included with Sunway.) There’s also a fun webcam with a live stream, so we were able to wave at family at home, our minus temperatures displayed on an Arctic Circle thermometer.

From there, we undertook an ambitious two-hour drive through heavy snow to Ruka, our base for the week for our first attempt as a family at skiing.

Initially, we had booked another family resort, Iso Syote, but low snow cover (global warming having a worrying impact) saw us move to Ruka, where snow machines would ensure we had enough coverage to ski.

We needn’t have worried, by the time we travelled, there was a thick blanket of snow.

A little cabin in the forest (€1400 for seven nights) was our base for the week. Day one was spent exploring this winter wonderland, a little sled in tow. We picked up basics in the nearby K Market for breakfast and dinner to cook in our cosy kitchen (prices are higher here for staples, as you’d expect in Finnish Lapland).

In a country as expensive as Finland, we chose to eat out one evening as our holiday treat, but our stove was lit at night for an open fire where we played cards, watching Christmas movies before bed. An outside fire too was ideal for night time s’mores.

The main event was planned for Thursday morning: a visit to Santa’s Cottage, in Kuusamo, deep in the forest. Looking at the map, the kids could see just how close they were to the North Pole. This guy was the real deal.

A car picked us up, with reindeer to spot en route and elves to greet us on arrival for our half-day visit. There were toboggans to race over the frozen lake, sausages and hot drinks over an open fire. And then we heard the bells.

Santa was here. The children gathered at his feet by the Christmas tree. He showed them maps, told them where his toy factory was hidden.

And then, right there on his seat, we spotted something that proved he really was the one. Written on his cushion was, ‘go raibh maith agat’. We were stunned. Santa just gave a knowing wink.

Each child was given an elf hat, and was told they had jobs to do. There was gingerbread to make, Christmas cards to draw and post to grandparents back home, and Finnish Christmas carols to learn.

At the end of our four-hour stay, each child was called by Santa and given a cuddly reindeer to bring home, a souvenir of a magical morning.

There in the hallway, as we left Santa’s Cottage was the final seal of approval. A photo of Lionel Messi and his family visiting the same man in red.

Later that night, online radars told us the northern lights were active. Despite a midnight drive into dark countryside, sleeping children in the back, heavy cloud cover blocked any visibility. It was the only disappointment of our trip.

Next up was skiing. We booked three mornings of lessons at Ruka, the patient Lucia teaching us the basics as a family.

The skiing added to our budget: for six of us, three 90 minute lessons were €750, ski rental another €350, our ski passes for three days another €500. If you haven’t tried skiing with kids before, this was a real discovery for us, a way to have real fun as a family as we laughed our way through falls, and later successes, on the slopes.

With twice-weekly flights, shorter trips to Lapland with Ryanair are also an option, and you could base yourself in Rovaniemi, near Santa Village.

Skiing or not, with minus temperatures and a strong chance of snow, it’s best to bring waterproof ski pants as every child is going to want to lie down and make that snow angel. And snowball fights will definitely be on the agenda too, so no woollen gloves.

The key in this climate though is layering; you’ll be moving constantly from freezing conditions outside to snug, cosy havens inside.

Holiday over, I asked the best critic of the trip to make the call: package or DIY?

The 17-year-old who had experienced both declared it a tie.

As for parents, it was definitely cheaper to take the DIY option (significantly so), even with skiing and an expensive Santa visit added in. But there was work involved and a lot of pre-planning. (There’s also another lovely option, to fly to Helsinki and catch the Santa train to Rovaniemi.)

If you’re someone who loves package trips and believes holidays should be all about ease and comfort, then Sunway is for you. If your trips have always been more about adventure and a bit of the unknown, those Ryanair flights are just a click away.

Either version, it’s the holiday of a lifetime.

This article was first published on December 10, 2022 and republished in September 2024 as Ryanair claims Dublin Airport risks losing "Lapland flights to Santa Claus".