FINLAND: SANTA CLAUS VILLAGE IN LAPLAND ~ Beautiful places of Barcelona and Catalonia

domingo, 5 de abril de 2015

FINLAND: SANTA CLAUS VILLAGE IN LAPLAND

The main reason for going to Lapland was to try to see an Aurora Borealis. But as we were in the country of Santa Claus, we wanted to visit his village located a few kilometers from Rovaniemi. From Rovaniemi the Santa Claus Village is easily reached by bus.

Santa Claus Village in Finland

From our hotel to the nearest bus stop to the village of Santa Claus in Rovaniemi there were about 3 kilometers. As the day was lovely, we decided to stroll along a parallel path to the road.

But before we walked among the red cottages of our hotel to the north end of the complex, located next to the wide river Kemijoki completely frozen. The view of the frozen river was very nice. This would be the point where that night we would do our first attempt to see an aurora borealis.

We began our walk towards Rovaniemi enjoying a beautiful landscape with red and yellow cottages covered with fresh snow. Once we leave the cottages, the trail progressed parallel to the river Kemijoki. Shortly before reaching the bus stop we crossed the spectacular bridge over the river, which at this point was 200 to 300 meters wide.

The Village of Santa Claus is quite small and actually you didn't much time to see it. One of the curious things you can do there is crossing the Arctic Circle, which passes right by the entrance to the village and to take a picture with one foot on each side. It was a fun experience to visit Santa Claus too. We originally had no intention, but we were curious when we arrived to the village. I'm happy of having visited Santa Claus because we had a fun time and we hardly had to queue. Even we bought the photo as a souvenir.

Arctic Circle beside Santa Claus Village in Lapland

The Arctic Circle passes beside Santa Claus Village and close to Rovaniemi, the capital of Lapland in Finland

Santa Claus Village is seven kilometers away from Rovaniemi, the largest city in Lapland

Signs with the distances from the village of Santa Claus in Lapland to many cities worldwide

In the village you can also enter the Post Office where letters from children all over the world come and sit down to write your own letter.

Near the village there is a farm with Huskies and you can see reindeers. Finally we ate in the restaurant one reindeer meat burger, raised by the restaurant owner who was also Sami as some of the photographs that adorned the walls showed.

Main Post Office in Santa Claus Village

Inside the Post Office of Santa Claus Village in Lapland

People in the Post Office writting letters for Santa Claus

Reindeer Sleigh in Santa Claus Village

Reindeer beside Santa Claus Village in Lapland

Husky Park beside Santa Claus Village in Finland

Husky in Santa Claus Village in Lapland

Husky puppy in Lapland

Another lovely Husky puppy in Lapland

The day we spent in the village of Santa Claus allowed us to see and enjoy many typical elements of Finland: crossing the Arctic Circle, a snowy environment, wooden houses and cottages, the Santa Claus Post Office, a reindeer sledding, Huskies with some puppies and reindeer meat in a restaurant of a Sami person. It was an amusing day.

Finally this was our trip route in Finland and Estonia:

Day 1 - Helsinki