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Family Santa visit in Ivalo: what suits which child

A pile of plush toy reindeer with red noses and red felt antlers hanging among the branches of an artificial Christmas tree

Illustration photo: toy reindeer under a Christmas tree, not at a place described here.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

With toddlers, keep it short and close: Santa coming to your cabin through the husky farm, or the reindeer farm's short sleigh ride and meeting. With school-age children who enjoy a full afternoon, the Saariselkä programme gives them reindeer, a sleigh and baking before Santa. Whichever you choose, fill in the pre-visit questions, and do not plan Rovaniemi around small children from here.

How the operators compare

Prices are the operators' own published starting prices as of the date this guide was updated, and they change through the season.

Santa at your cabinReindeer farmSaariselkä programme
How long a child must last 15–30 min About 40 min 2.5–3 h plus the drive
Suits Toddlers and up Toddlers and up Children who enjoy a busy afternoon
Arrange beforehand Pre-arrival questions A form about each visitor Not stated
Infants In the group price In the group price Free up to 3

Nothing is ranked: the right length depends on the child. The suitability row is our reading of the lengths, not the sellers' own age limits, which none prints.

Where these figures come from
  • Santa at your cabin: The husky farm's Santa sent to where you are staying, for a family whose youngest should not go out in the evening.
  • Reindeer farm: Forty minutes in all, with a short sleigh ride each way and about twenty minutes with Santa, six kilometres from the village.
  • Saariselkä programme: Two and a half to three hours of activities in Saariselkä, 24 minutes by car, ending with about ten minutes in Santa's cabin.

For young children the best Santa visit is often the shortest one, and near Ivalo the short ones are also the private ones.

For toddlers

The reindeer farm’s visit lasts about forty minutes in all, with ten minutes by sleigh each way and about twenty with Santa, and it asks for a form about each visitor so that he knows who is coming.1 The husky farm will send its Santa to your cabin for fifteen to thirty minutes, which removes the journey altogether.2

For children who like a full afternoon

The Saariselkä programme runs for two and a half to three hours before the meeting, with about ten minutes in Santa’s cabin at the end,3 so it suits children old enough to enjoy the afternoon for its own sake. Rovaniemi, more than three hours’ drive each way, is a long day for anyone under school age.

Tours you can book

Priced per person

Priced for the whole party

Questions people ask

Do older siblings pay?

At the two farms the price is per group, so an older sibling costs nothing extra as long as the group stays within the farm's size band. In Saariselkä, children from four to fourteen pay a reduced fare and older teenagers pay as adults. At the Rovaniemi office the meeting costs nothing at all, only the photographs if you want them.

Can we meet Santa in November or February?

Not at the reindeer farm, whose Santa runs only from the first of December to the end of January. The husky farm does not print a season for its Santa, so ask. The Rovaniemi office is open all year, which makes it the fallback outside the Christmas weeks, at the cost of the long drive.

Can a sleepy child do the evening?

The farms do not print their times, so ask for a daytime slot if you have toddlers: December days are very short this far north, and a meeting at three in the afternoon already feels like evening. The husky farm's offer to send Santa to your cabin is the one option that works at any hour for a child in pyjamas.

Written by

Lapland Handbook Staff

Lapland Handbook is written by its editorial staff in Rovaniemi. Every price, age limit and group size in a comparison is read from the operator's own page and marked "Not stated" when the operator does not publish it. Each guide names who should not book, and names the operator that suits each kind of group, whichever it is.

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