🎅 Santa Experience- Elves Hideaway. (£320) 9am-12pm. (No rush to leave on time though)
We took a long time choosing where to meet Santa whilst in Lapland. It's an expensive day out and obviously a big part of the reason people come.
We eventually decided on Elves Hideaway. Set in a magical forest and arriving in the dark, as you only have a few hours of daylight in December in Lapland, it did feel very exciting.
One of the reasons we chose to meet him here was that the elves come and meet you to show you around. I have to say I was disappointed with the Elves though, felt like uninterested teenagers in holiday jobs. I was under the impression that an Elf met you and showed you around. We didn’t get this treatment, took us a while to figure out where to go and check in which we found out from other customers. There we were given a map and a time for Santa and that was it!
Off we went to explore, did some tubing on the little slope first before heading into the woods. We came across the Elves village and found the Wise elf and the Elf school. The Elves in here had slightly more interest in chatting to us and the children enjoyed the activities. We went to make Gingerbread, we all enjoyed this and the smell was mouth watering! However, again, the Elves in the gingerbread making cabin did not speak a word to us. However because the children didn't know what it was meant to be like, they noticed no difference! They loved every minute!
We were there for the main man after all and he didn't disappoint. On arrival you are given a time slot which feels corporate but it actually makes the whole thing so much more personal. We arrived at the door to santa's cabin and there was an Elf waiting for us, she let us in to a little sitting room and we waited to be led to Santa. We were all excited and terrified in equal measures! We were then led into Santa's room and oh my what a wonderful experience! Santa was so chatty, friendly and knew a lot about my children! He even had a letter that they had given to our Elf on the Shelf. It felt both intimate and personal, as special as a moment like that should be.
We went to meet the Reindeers and the Elves there were so friendly! We sat around the fire and toasted some marshmallows and had an hot chocolate (we brought our own in a flask). You can pay extra for a sleigh ride but we decided not to do this and didn't feel like we missed out. This place is lovely to walk around, it's so peaceful and quiet. Even though this was the week before Christmas it didn't feel busy or crowded.
There are lots of little things to find too and you don't feel in a rush to leave. There is a cafe where you can get free hot berry juice and porridge, or buy other things of your choice. We all drove back to our cabin very happy indeed.
Read our lapland travel tips here
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