Lapland Bucket List: 4 days in Rovaniemi
How much does it really cost to visit Santa Claus Village? How does one visit Lapland on a budget? To be honest, I do not know! We attempted to visit Lapland on a budget, but it was challenging to complete our bucket list AND keep things affordable. Snowmobiling across a frozen lake, and being pulled around in a sled by reindeer is not cheap. We spent 4 days and nights in Rovaniemi, Finland in December of 2024. We stayed over Christmas, so that definitely increased our costs.
What follows is a summary of everything we did during our 4 days and how much it cost.
Spoiler Alert: After Iceland, this is the most expensive destination we have visted!
Family Snowmobiling- Rovaniemi, Finland
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We’ll review the following activities:
Santa Claus Village
Santa’s Post Office
Visiting Mrs. Claus
Lunch at the kota
Kid’s snowmobiling
Safartica Family Day: Reindeer, huskies, and traditional lunch
Family Snowmobiling at Apukka Resort
Aurora Ice-floating (Safartica)
Ice Skating in Rovaniemi (Naava Cafe)
Mrs. Claus’ Christmas Cottage
Santa Claus Village
Santa Claus Village is free to visit. Here are some of the free activities you can take part in:
Take a photo at the Arctic Circle sign.
Visit Santa’s post office to see mail from all over the world. (We did purchase and send letters home for next Christmas. 3 postcards plus postage will only run you around €10).
On December 23, watch Santa leave for his trip around the world. (It was a very crowded, but a fun experience!)
We did NOT pay for the reindeer ride here because we wanted to take a ride out in the woods or on the snow.
We also did not visit with Santa here because of the lines; however, most people would say that it is worth it. (We saw Santa at the Christmas market in Tallin, Estonia, a few days before our visit to Rovaniemi.)
Visit with Mrs. Claus at her Christmas Cottage: €5 starts at 5 euros each (as of 2025: A package that includes a private 10-minute meeting and a photo is priced around €120 for a family of 3).
The cottage actually had delicious treats, so while we waited in line, we were able to enjoy some snacks from the cafe. This is also a great place to stop and warm-up if you need to give the kids a break from the snow.
Mail from all over the world (Santa Claus Village)
Lunch at the Kotahovai (Santa Claus Village)
Lunch: Lapland Restaurant Kotahovi
Right next to Mrs. Claus’ cottage is the kota. There are no reservations, so we simply got in line for lunch before they opened. Our wait was not long at all, and the food came quickly. The Kotohovi serves traditional Lappish food- which means a big bowl of salmon soup will be on the menu. They did have a children’s menu. Plan to spend about €15-€20 a person- less if your children will share meals. There are plenty of other restaurants to eat at in Santa Claus village-but this worked out perfect for us.
Kid’s Snowmobiling
Who knew that a 5-year could drive a snowmobile? Well- the Finns of course. Our daughter joined the other little ones to cruise around the track a few times. This is an easy walk from Mrs. Claus or the kota for lunch. We just walked up and purchased a ticket, and then fitted our daughter with a helmet. The staff was efficient and helpful. The line also moved quickly because the kids only go around for so long before they are called off the track. If you have a small child who never gets to participate in any of the cool activities, then I highly recommend this!
Cost €25 per child and run by Arctic Circle Snowmobile Park.
While this certainly does not fill an entire day at Santa Claus Village, we had many other tours booked outside of this area, so we felt good about how much time we spent there and how much money we spent, too. We treated Santa Claus village as a place to stop by a few times- we never stayed more than a couple hours, which mean we were not too overwhelmed by crowds.
Our 5-year-old enjoying snowmobiling at Santa Claus Village
Safartica: Family Day Tour
This tour was a splurge for us. It was $516 (USD) which included the following:
transfer to and from Safartica’s office in downtown Rovaniemi (easy to walk to)
clothing (worn on top of our other clothing)
reindeer ride
warm cider and cookies in between activities
husky ride
playing in the snow fun
lunch
in total- we were out for about 4 hours with Safartica
PROS:
lunch and snacks were lovely and helped keep us warm and happy
the reindeer ride was very cozy and the tour guides took photos for us
there was some downtime for the kids to go sledding on a big hill
tour guides were kind and friendly and offered stories about Lapland in between activities
everything ran on time and the guides were able to keep things moving without rushing us
CONS:
the husky ride was too short and we did not get to drive the dogs ourselves (We were spoiled by epic dog-sledding in Quebec)
Reindeer Ride with Safartica
Ready for snowmobiling! (Our daughter is wearing at least 4 layers of clothing here)
Family Snowmobiling at Apukka Resort
Apukka is a beautiful resort, and if we had unlimited funds, we would have considered staying at one of their classic domes that allows you to look up at the Northern Lights. In the end, we chose just to experience the family snowmobiling tour, which we really enjoyed and would highly recommend.
This was splurge number 2 for us. For $351, the tour included:
pick-up in the city center (not at an office, but at a bus stop sign)
clothing and helmets
brief instruction on how to work the snowmobile
an instructor who pulled all the children along in a sled
a pause halfway for cider and cookies
We covered a lot of distance and spent a lot of time on the snow- which was great. The main reason we chose this tour over all the others is because we knew that our daughter would be safe and protected from the elements (check out the photo below). All the children were together in one sled pulled by the guide. We rode behind and could see our daughter the entire time.
At the end of the family tour, when the parents had finished driving, the kids got a chance to ride a small snowmobile around in circles. All-in-all- this was the tour where we all could participate and be together.
Our daughter did mention that it was chilly inside the sled, so kids still have to be bundled up and I would include hand warmers and toe warmers since they will be less active while in there!
Children’s sled - snowmobiling Apukka Resort
Aurora Ice-floating with Safartica
For one final outing, I booked a solo ice-floating experience. On Christmas Eve, I again popped down to the Safartica office in Rovaniemi and was transported to a cabin in the woods by a lake.
On the bus ride there and in the kota, the tour guides shared stories about the beliefs that different cultures have about the aurora borealis.
My goal was to wear one of those epic and silly lobster suits and experience floating in the cold water. The chance at seeing the northern lights was a bonus. (There’s a little green in the photo below!)
I would not recommend this for a family with small children. It was a lot of driving and waiting, and not a lot of time in the water. But, for adults, or if you have teenagers who like staying up late and don’t mind chatting by the fire, this is definitely something to check off the bucket list.
Cost for 1 adult: $124 (USD)
Ice-floating, Rovaniemi, Finland
Ice Skating in Rovaniemi
If you are in the city center and want to find an affordable and fun activity to fill some time, then we recommend ice skating at Naava Cafe. This very small, family-run spot offers skate rentals and hot cocoa. It was very informal, and not crowded at all (unlike ice skating in most major cities). There is also an ice-skating rink in the middle of the city center near the shopping mall.
Eating in Rovaniemi
We spent most of our time shopping at the grocery store (to stay within budget). However, we did stop at coffee shops for an afternoon treat and found them to be pretty reasonable.
Rovaniemi City Center is very walkable. If you need to visit on a budget, I would highly recommend staying here.
A glimpse of the Northern Lights from a random road. Our daughter was warm and asleep in the car while we took this photo.
Rental Car & Air BnB cost
Rental Car (4 days) Avis- Rovaniemi Airport: $300 USD
There are a LOT of rental car options. We originally booked one at double this price We found Avis to be the cheapest, so shop around. We chose to have a rental car so that we could chase the Northern Lights without a tour. This worked out for us! All we did was download Aurora Pro App and followed it until we found ourselves in the middle of the woods, on a side road, taking photos of the Northern Lights.
AirBnB (4 nights): 1-bedroom apartment in the city with parking spot: $1583 USD
We loved our stay here. Our host was thoughtful, met us upon arrival, and checked in via messaging before we left. We had a parking spot, free sleds, and a full kitchen and laundry. It worked well for our family of 3, but might be a little tight for any more people.
Grand Total:$3,000 (USD) approximately €2500
We visited Rovaniemi in December of 2024. To check out our other adventures, including our much more affordable time in Helsinki, read more below.
