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Santa with children in Levi: what suits which child

Iced gingerbread biscuits shaped like Christmas trees in a wooden tray

Illustration photo: iced gingerbread, not from a Levi Santa visit.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

With a baby or a toddler, book the short meeting in Santa's house at the Elves Village: it is quick, indoors and a short drive from Levi. With children of three and over, the forest cabin afternoon gives them the most to do, from baking gingerbread to a gift from Santa. Keep the snowshoe trek for families whose youngest is ten or older.

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's house, Elves VillageForest cabinElf parkSnowshoe trek
Child ages Not stated 3 to 18 Not stated 10 and over
Gift for each child Yes Yes Not stated Not stated
How long Not stated 2 h 3 h 4 h
Transport from Levi Not included Included Not stated Not stated

Nothing is ranked: the youngest child decides. What each visit costs a family is on the Santa price page for Levi.

Where these figures come from
  • Santa's house, Elves Village: A few minutes with Santa in his house for one family, indoors, with a small gift for each child.
  • Forest cabin: Two hours of baking with Mrs Claus and time with Santa, a gift for each child and transport from Levi.
  • Elf park: Three hours with an elf guide, reindeer to feed, gingerbread and a hill to slide down.
  • Snowshoe trek: Four hours on snowshoes to Santa's cabin for a group of up to four, not for children under ten.

For a family, Levi’s Santa visits differ most in how young a child can be and how much the children do besides meeting Santa.

For the youngest

At the Elves Village, eight kilometres from Levi, a family goes up in a lift to Santa’s room for a meeting of five to ten minutes, and each child is given a small gift. You drive there yourselves.1

From three

The forest cabin afternoon takes children from three to eighteen: they bake and decorate gingerbread with Mrs Claus, hear Santa’s stories and each receive a gift, with transport from Levi.2

From ten

The snowshoe trek to Santa’s cabin takes up to four people for four hours and is not suitable for children under ten.3

Tours you can book

Priced per person

Price not stated

Questions people ask

Will my child be scared of Santa?

Some toddlers are, and a long wait builds it up. The short meeting in Santa's house suits a wary child, since the family is alone with him and it lasts only minutes. At the forest cabin Santa shares the afternoon with Mrs Claus and an elf, which gives a shy child time to watch him from across the room before meeting him.

Can a child in a pushchair come?

Santa's house at the Elves Village is indoors, with a lift to his room, which makes it the easiest with a pushchair; ask about the path from the car park. At the forest cabin, only the private version brings the children to the door by reindeer sled, so expect snow underfoot on the shared afternoon and bring a carrier rather than a pushchair.

What if one child is under ten and the other older?

Then the snowshoe trek is out for the whole family, since the younger child cannot join it. Choose the forest cabin, where children from three to eighteen have their own place in the programme, or the elf park, which fills three hours with activities that older children tend to enjoy as much as young ones.

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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