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Private Santa visit in Sodankylä: how the lavvu visit works

A steaming Christmas mug beside a white lantern with a candle, set in snow with spruce sprigs and a small tealight

Illustration photo: a hot drink and a lantern in the snow, not from the Sodankylä visit.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

Book the lavvu visit if your family wants Santa to itself and can manage a short walk in the snowy forest. Book it on the company's own site unless you need what only the platform listing mentions, pickup and a fixed four hours, and in that case ask the company to confirm both in writing. Groups larger than four should ask for a price before anything else, since neither place prints one.

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.

Company's own siteGetYourGuide
Length 3 h 4 h
Pickup Not stated Available
Group priced for 4 people Up to 4

Nothing is ranked: both describe one visit. The prices of the two, and what they mean per person, are on the Santa price page for Sodankylä.

Where these figures come from
  • Company's own site: The visit as the company describes it: three hours, a forest walk, the elf's activities, Santa, tea and a gift and certificate for each child.
  • GetYourGuide: The same private visit listed at four hours with pickup available and an English-speaking guide.

The Santa visit in Sodankylä takes one family at a time, and the company’s own page describes it step by step.

The walk and the elf

A guide leads your family on a quiet walk through the snowy forest to a traditional lavvu, where Santa’s elf is waiting by the fire. The elf shows the children how to write a proper letter to Santa and how to whisper their wishes, tells stories from the North Pole and makes them official Arctic helpers.1

Santa himself

Then Santa arrives, spends time with each child and gives every one a surprise gift. The family stays on in the lavvu for warm tea and photographs, and each child leaves with a certificate. A local guide who speaks English leads the whole visit.2

Tours you can book

Questions people ask

How far is the walk to the lavvu?

Neither page gives a distance. Both describe a peaceful guided walk through a snowy forest before the lavvu comes into view. If anyone in your family walks slowly, uses a pushchair or has a baby in a carrier, ask the company how long the walk takes and whether the path is packed snow.

Can adults write letters to Santa too?

The page describes the elf's activities as being for the children: writing a proper letter to Santa, whispering wishes and becoming official Arctic helpers. Nothing says adults are excluded, but the gifts and certificates are for each child, so ask in advance if an adult in your group would like to take part.

What if a child is frightened of Santa?

The visit is built to ease children in: the elf spends time with them first in a warm lavvu before Santa makes his entrance, and the group is only your family. If a child still hangs back, the company does not say what it does, so mention a shy child when you book and ask how the guide handles 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.

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