A private Santa Claus visit in Rovaniemi

A private meeting with Santa Claus means no queue and no other families in the room, and every operator who sells one prices it differently. Whether a private visit is worth paying for at all, and why the meeting itself is free at Santa Claus Village, is covered in the meet Santa Claus guide. This page is for the family that has decided on a private visit and wants to know which.

Turn every price into your family’s price

The three visits compared here charge in three different ways, so their starting prices say almost nothing on their own.

StayLapland’s starting price is the lowest, and on the evidence of its page it is charged for each person, so it multiplies by the size of the family. Joulukka charges a family package for up to six, then adds a service fee at checkout and a higher package price over Christmas and New Year. Snowtrail charges one sum for the whole party, which it has confirmed to us, so the price for each person falls as the party grows: for a family of four it is €385 a head.

For a family of four, that puts StayLapland well below the other two, Snowtrail in the middle and Joulukka at the top. For a family of six the order holds, but the gaps close, because two of the three do not charge more for the extra guests.

Half an hour, two hours or an evening

The visits also differ in how much of the time is Santa and how much is around him.

StayLapland’s is the shortest and the only one that says how long you spend with Santa: half an hour of a visit lasting an hour and a half, with an elf, a drink and a gift for each child. For small children that is often the right size.

Joulukka’s two hours include the drive both ways, a walk along a forest path and an elf-led visit as well as the meeting, and a gift for every child. It is the one to choose if the build-up, rather than the meeting, is what the children will remember.

Snowtrail’s private evening is a different purchase: six hours with a sleigh ride through the forest to Santa’s cabin, reindeer, a salmon dinner in a kota and a look for the northern lights afterwards. It is the most for the money if the family wants a whole evening, and too much if the youngest will fade after an hour.

The cheaper private tours

Snowtrail also sells two shorter tours to the same cabin that it calls private, at a fraction of the evening’s price. Their pages do not say whether the price is for each person or for the group, so they cannot be set against the visits above, and the meet Santa Claus guide explains how they compare with Snowtrail’s group tours.

Arctic Circle Snowmobile Park lists a private Santa experience with a reindeer sleigh ride from €250, but its page states neither what that price covers nor how long the experience lasts.

Where Snowtrail wins and where it loses

Snowtrail supplies this site. Its private evening wins on what surrounds the meeting: a sleigh ride, reindeer, dinner and a chance of the northern lights on one night, with a photo with Santa in the price. Because it is priced for the party, it becomes better value with every extra person, provided the party fits.

It loses on the details a parent needs to book with confidence. The page does not say how large the party can be, how long you spend with Santa, whether winter clothing is provided, or whether there is a gift for the children, which both of the other visits promise. It does not take children under three, and six hours is long for a small child.