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Santa Claus price from Kemi: what each visit costs a family

Wooden Christmas ornaments carved with a star, a snowflake and Santa stacked in the compartments of a wooden tray on red cloth

Illustration photo: wooden Christmas ornaments in a tray, not from the places named here.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

For two adults and two children of four to eleven, the Ylitornio station is the cheapest paid visit, the river house costs about twice as much and the Ranua sleigh to Santa's cabin a little more again. Rovaniemi's office charges nothing for the meeting and sells the photographs separately. Book Ranua only when the date is certain, because its refund ends two weeks before.

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 Station, YlitornioSanta's River House, YlitornioRanua Resort cabinSanta Claus Office, Rovaniemi
2 adults + 2 children (4–11) €188 €388 €440 €0 – the lowest total for this family
Free up to age 3 3 (own site), 2 (booking page) 2 All ages
Child fare None: one price from age 4 None: one price from age 4 €95 for ages 3 to 14 Free
Named extras Crafts, cooking, printed photo Printed photo None named Photos, from €55
Free cancellation 24 h before on the platform; own site not stated Up to 2 days before Up to 14 days before Nothing to cancel

Highlighted figures are the best in that row: the lowest total for this family. Totals multiply the published per-person fares for two adults and two children aged four to eleven. The river house total uses its own site's price; its booking page, with fees, comes to €406.56.

Where these figures come from
  • Santa Station, Ylitornio: A day ticket at a converted railway station: Santa, reindeer and crafts among other visitors, 68 minutes from Kemi.
  • Santa's River House, Ylitornio: A reserved visit for your party alone with Santa and Mrs Claus, at the price on the house's own pages.
  • Ranua Resort cabin: A sleigh ride through the forest to Santa's cabin, up to eight people a visit, 82 minutes from Kemi.
  • Santa Claus Office, Rovaniemi: A walk-in meeting with no ticket, 87 minutes from Kemi; the photographs are sold separately and are optional.

Every Santa visit near Kemi is priced per person, so a family’s total is a matter of counting heads, and the children are where the four differ most.

Who pays a child’s fare

Only Ranua has a child fare, for ages three to fourteen. The Ylitornio station and the river house let the youngest in free and then charge a four-year-old what they charge a parent,1 which is why a family with small children pays relatively less at Ranua than the adult prices suggest.

What costs extra

At the station the day ticket is the base, and a craft session, a cooking experience and a printed photo with Santa are sold on top. At the river house the printed photo is extra, though your own pictures are not. In Rovaniemi the meeting is free and the photographs are the business, starting at 55 euros for a set, with no obligation to buy. Ranua names nothing extra for the cabin.

When the money is gone

The terms differ more than the prices. The station’s ticket bought on a booking platform can be cancelled up to a day before, the river house refunds up to two days before, and Ranua Resort refunds advance bookings only until fourteen days before; after that nothing can be changed or cancelled, and anything booked on the spot is binding.2

Tours you can book

Questions people ask

Why does the river house cost more on its booking page?

Its own pages give 97 euros a person, and the booking page they link to gives 101.64 with fees included, and a visit of two hours rather than an hour and a half. For a family of four that is a difference of about nineteen euros. Ask which price and which length apply to your date before paying.

Is there a cheaper Santa-themed option in Ranua?

Ranua Resort also runs two Christmas escape rooms, one of them set in Santa's chamber, priced per party rather than per head: 80 euros for one or two players, 100 for three or four and 120 for five or six. Children under fifteen must play with an adult. It is a game, not a meeting with Santa, but for a family of four it costs less than a quarter of the cabin.

Does a teenager pay the adult price?

At the Ylitornio station, yes: only children up to three go free, and everyone else pays the same ticket. The river house's booking page charges adults and children from four the same fare. At Ranua the child fare runs to fourteen, so a fifteen-year-old pays the adult price. The Rovaniemi office is free at every age.

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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