I’m never all that thrilled to see Christmas artefacts appearing in my local supermarket because it’s another reminder that winter is on its way. Mind you, in recent weeks I have seen numerous Christmas items on sale, including confectionary items, some of which have expiry dates which are long before Christmas. This suggests that there are people out there who not only buy festive stuff ages before the actual event, they buy it to consume long before the fat man clambers down their virtually non-existent chimney. Soon, it will be harder to get away from it and easier to get a proper excess of it.
Our local newspaper, the failing Bristol Post (I am not bitter at having been axed from my Bristol Rovers column a mere 16 years ago, honest) reports that there are no fewer than 26 flights from Adge Cutler International to Lapland, where parents can take their children to meet the actual real Santa Claus. There are plenty of options for families with money to burn. Here are a few:
‘Santa’s Magic’
A two night/three day (can also extend to three nights/four days at extra cost) half board trip to the vibrant ski town of Saariselkä, from £1,209 per adult and £189 per child
Highlights include:
- Magical delivery of your letter to Santa
- Search for Santa by snowmobile sleigh
- Junior snowmobiles
- Santa’s elves and Igloo Fantasia
- Husky sled and reindeer sleigh rides
- Reindeer centre
‘Santa’s Aurora’
An action-packed half board break for two nights/three days (or three nights/four days at extra cost) with a Wilderness dinner in a traditional Kota Hut, from £1,569 per adult and £609 per child
Highlights include:
- Extended husky safari
- Search for Santa by reindeer sleigh
- Santa’s Aurora Elf
- Exclusive Aurora Activity Centre
- Wilderness dinner
Muotka 7 Nights Adventure’
A seven night/eight day stay at Muotka Wilderness Lodge where you can search for the Northern Lights on a snowmobile safari and take part in a whole host of activities, from £2,189 per adult/child
Highlights include:
- Not just for children/families, but perfect also for older children, couples and groups
- Snowmobile Aurora hunt
- Reindeer farm visit and sleigh ride
- Husky farm visit and husky sled ride
- Guided snowshoe excursion
- Cross-country ski excursion
- Evening Northern Lights hunt by car
- Free use of snowshoe and cross-country ski equipment
- Aurora Alert until approx. 1am
- Full board
- Thermal suits and boots
I am carefully considering my options and it appears that none of them fit in with my criteria for a decent holiday. It is a prerequisite that the weather is warm and sunny and that there are sunbeds to hand, as well as a decent-sized swimming pool. Also, I would like to visit nearby attractions such as bars and restaurants. The Snowmobile Aurora hunt, whatever that is, and the Guided Snowshoe excursion does not fit in particularly well with my holiday requirements .
Thinking about it, if I still had young children – I now have old ones – I’d far rather take them to visit the local Garden Centre version of Santa Claus followed by a mug of hot chocolate and save the money for a decent summer holiday. I literally could not imagine anything worse than going on holiday to a place even colder than the UK. I appreciate that the odds of bumping into Santa’s elves and visiting Igloo Fantasia is less likely on a Greek island or a Spanish Costa, but I suspect I could manage without both.
Don’t get me wrong, I do like Christmas, apart from the religious bit that always gets in the way. I welcome the opportunity to eat and drink even more unhealthily and to loaf around watching telly and going for walks to local pubs…I mean local sites…just to get some fresh air. What I don’t want to do is everything on skis.
Still, if spending thousands of pounds to visit the country of Lapland (it’s actually Finland, mind) to give the children great memories that only money can buy, then good luck to you. Thank God we’re all different and I don’t have to.
