Book now

Private Santa visit in Inari: what the village offers

A red metal mailbox with Letters to Santa painted on it in white, beside a small fir tree

Illustration photo: a mailbox for letters to Santa, not in Inari.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

Email the hotel in the village and book its Santa visit: its page describes a private meeting for your family alone, a short walk from the hotel, with presents for everyone, from late November to the third of January. Ask in the same email whether you can book without staying at the hotel, which the page does not say. The Saariselkä programme is not private, and the private visits sold in Rovaniemi are almost four hours' drive away.

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.

Hotel in Inari: Santa visitSaariselkä: afternoon programme
Private Yes, in the hotel's words No
Priced €275 for two adults and two children Per adult and per child
Time with Santa 20–40 min About 10 min
From Inari village In the village 56 min by car

Nothing is marked, because one is priced for a family and the other for each person. The drive is from Inari village.

Where these figures come from
  • Hotel in Inari: Santa visit: The hotel's own meeting with Santa, listed among its winter activities and sold from late November to the start of January.
  • Saariselkä: afternoon programme: An afternoon led by an elf for several families together, with reindeer, a sleigh ride and gingerbread baking before the visit to Santa's cabin.

Inari does have a private Santa visit. It is sold by a hotel in the village on its own site, not on any booking platform, and it is booked by email.

What the hotel promises

A short walk takes the family to Santa’s secret place for a talk with him, and he gives a small present to everyone; the hotel’s page names the meeting as private.1 Children can write to Santa first: the letters go to the reception, in confidence, at least a day before, so that he has read them when you arrive.

What the page leaves open

It does not say whether the visit is only for the hotel’s own guests, how large a family can be before it stops counting as one, or what happens if a child is ill on the day. All three are questions for the booking email, and the answer to the first decides whether the visit is open to you at all.

The alternatives

Saariselkä’s afternoon programme is shared with other families and is priced per head, and it asks parents not to bring their own presents for Santa to give out, because that would be unfair on the other children.2 Private visits by design are sold in Rovaniemi, almost four hours away, at prices that start near the Inari figure only if they cover the whole family, which not all of them do; they are compared on a private Santa visit in Rovaniemi.

Tours you can book

Priced per person

Priced for the whole party

  • A private meeting with Santa, a short walk from the hotel in Inari

    Run by Wilderness Hotel Inari

    From €275per group of up to 4

    Length0.3–0.7 h

    Listed on the operator’s own site · Price read Sep 23, 2026

    See it on the operator’s site(opens in a new tab)

Questions people ask

What should we put in the booking email?

The date you want between late November and the third of January, how many adults and children are coming and the children's ages, and whether you are staying at the hotel. If you are not, ask outright whether you can still book. Add that the children will write letters, so that you are told when and where to hand them in.

Can grandparents come too?

Yes, at a price per head. The family price covers two adults and two children, and the hotel charges 50 euros for each extra person, so two grandparents add 100 euros. The page does not print a maximum size for the family, so for a large party say how many are coming when you write, and ask whether that still counts as one visit.

Is the Christmas package's meeting private too?

The package includes a meeting with Santa after the same short walk, but its page does not repeat the word private, and the rest of its programme is made of guided group activities. If the private part matters, ask the hotel whether the package meeting is held for each family separately before you book the package for it.

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.

More about Lapland Handbook →