But it wasn't quite the 'trip of a lifetime' Ashley at Netmums was expecting, as she reveals in this brutally honest review

With my eldest child now nine, I realised this year it was probably 'now or never' to visit the 'real' Lapland to experience the magic with believers – but I didn't want to spend a fortune!

When you think of visiting Finland it sounds and looks magical, but the first thing many of us think of is the expense. There's plenty of packages you can book but they all cost a small fortune for such a short amount of time.

That's why I chose a DIY style trip – to source my own accommodation and my own flights, before booking the activities we wanted to do online.

And let me tell you, visiting lapland on a budget can done, it just requires some serious planning!

Rovaniemi – the capital of Lapland – is the official hometown of Santa Claus on the Arctic Circle. You can actually visit Santa here every day of the year, so this is where I knew we would be heading.

I booked flights first with a budget airline, direct to Rovaniemi at a total cost of £1,000 for myself, my husband and our two children.

Preferring a house to hotels, I used Airbnb to book a two bedroom apartment in the centre of Rovaniemi, which cost us £600. Overall I find it cheaper to stay in a house because you can make your own meals and do pack-ups, too. Just don't forget the sandwich bags!

What to expect at Santa's Village

You can have a good look at what to expect before you go on the Santa's Village website , and this is where you can book the activities of your choice.

It's free to enter, and you just pay for as many or as little activities as you wish.

When we arrived at the village, it was beautifully covered in snow. It looked like many of the ski villages I've visited.

I was expecting to see elves walking around and interacting with the crowds, stalls selling mulled wine, with Christmas music playing in the background. There wasn't any of this though.

It's fair to say it's not the full-blown magical experience I was expecting. I think I was expecting a more Disney-like version of Christmas.

Everything (gifts etc), at Santa’s Village are more expensive, so best to buy this sort of thing in the main town if you can.

Santa's Grotto

Let's face it, you can't go to Lapland and not visit Santa! This is the main event!

It's FREE to visit Santa, but it's not.

His elves will approach you as you queue with a gift list in every language asking you to purchase a gift that Santa will then give each child, costing €29 each.

This wasn’t ideal as my 9 year old spotted this happening. It's good because you get what you choose, something memorable, but if you don't pay, you don't get anything from Santa.

I don’t know how you'd say 'no', but if you can, I would. It’s a lot of money for what you actually receive. We got a stuffed reindeer, pen, post card and a headband.

The grotto opens at 10am so we arrived early to try and beat the queues. That plan didn't work. Everyone else had the same idea!

Santa is accessed via the shop. We joined the queue where we waited for around an hour. I brought the kids' tablets, so that kept them quiet.

When you get to the front of the queue you are greeted by an elf that will offer you a bag for all your coats etc, but actually they should offer that at the beginning because you've queued all that time wrapped up boiling hot and sweating!

What was annoying was that they didn't even ask my children their names. So my daughter queried why we had queued for so long and only saw Santa for two minutes and he didn’t even know their names.  I think maybe it was an error visiting Lapland UK first as their Santa experience was so magical.

You're not allowed to take photos but they will take a photo and they film the experience. The cheapest option is €35 for the personalised photo. I didn’t bother to buy the 90 second video.

Obviously you're forced to leave through the shop. Thankfully my kids didn’t drive me mad for anything.

This Santa experience was not the best but I am comparing to Lapland UK, Pippas Poppets (where they visit your home) and Fortnum and masons story telling.

Being brutally honest, I think the experience was more comparable to a Santa's Grotto at a garden centre. I'd give this a rating of 5/10.

Elf hat academy

We had pre-booked the Elf hat academy where you have to help an Elf become a fully-fledged Santas elf.

You head into a small hut and two elves help you to decorate a shortbread and practice a dance.  The experience lasts 45 mins and was €39 per person (children and adults). It would have been cheaper for just the kids to go in, or one of us wait at the bar/shops.

Children receive a certificate and elf hat at the end. I'd give this 7/10.

Snowmobiles

You can't reserve these in advance. We arrived and booked in and then sat by the open fire and had our cheese sandwiches while we waited with a hot chocolate.

My 4-year-old was adamant he wanted to go on them as he saw a sign saying 4 year olds could go on them. I think you must trust your gut on this one.

They do have protective helmets, but I asked a staff member to accompany him. She let him go alone for a few hundred yards, but after realising I was right, she jumped on with him. I saw a child crash into a tree, so id be careful with this one.

The price was €22 for 10 mins. My kids would give this 10/10. I however found it bad for my nerves!

The Elf's farmland

This is just a normal farm but in the snow. At elf's farmyard , the kids can see horses, reindeer, alpaca, llama, peacocks and rabbits.

You can feed the animals for €5, there are further animal experiences for more money.

There are swings, stilts and mini sleds.  We decided this would be a good place to have lunch so we bought hotdogs and then toasted the marshmallows on the open fire.

The kids loved this, it was much better for them then sitting around in a restaurant. They made s’mores and ran around with their friends, too.

The entrance to the farm was €10 each.

Husky rides

Next up was the huskies . I would recommend you book this online in advance. Our adventure started at 2pm but only lasted 10 minutes.

It cost €40 for adults and €25 for a child. I let my husband go without me. I felt bad for the huskies to pull all four of us and it was cheaper, bonus!

You also still have to queue and pay an entrance fee to the park area which is €10 for adults and €5 for kids, on top, which I thought was a bit of a cheek.

The dogs were barking like crazy, so be prepared for that. Also keep and eye on your kids as the dogs will steal their gloves or nip at their coats.

Overall, I'm told it was an enjoyable, but a short ride. The kids rated it 8/10.

Getting to and from Santa's village/the airport

There's a direct bus from the airport to the centre of town, but you can also get a taxi. I'd recommend downloading the Taksini app if you want to book a return cab from your apartment to the airport. The airport is 12 minutes from the town.

If you're staying in the main town like us, there's buses to and from Santa's Village from the main town. The bus cost us €9 for a family of 4. If you're planning on two return journeys that’s a whopping €84 saving on cabs.

Be aware though the buses can be late, one of ours was 15 minutes late, so you need to be wrapped up warm.

Although you could make use of the parks which are on every corner of Rovaniemi while you wait. The angry bird park was opposite our house. This is just a normal park but the kids loved playing here in the snow on the sleds provided by the house we rented.

Most of the attractions at Santas Village offer a package deal where they collect you, but these are around €150, so the bus is substantially cheaper, it just requires some planning/waiting around!

Eating and drinking

We used the local Kmart for all our supplies. Our spend was just €60 for the duration of our stay which included breakfast, drinks, snacks and pasta meals.

You can't buy wine from supermarkets in Finland, so you'll need to head to Alko in the main town if you need wine. Alcohol is quite expensive here, so grab this in duty free at the airport in the UK if you want to save more money.

What I packed for our DIY trip

If you travel on a package deal you will get a lot of your thermals included, but because we had planned our own trip, as well as the usual holiday items, I took with us: hats, snoods, slaopettes, thermals, wolly Christmas jumpers, ski socks, vests, ski coats, ski boots and thermal gloves, hand-warmers, and a thermos for hot chocolate.

We chose an early 6am flight to make sure we got as much time in Finland as possible. When we landed everything was white – be prepared when you get off the plane to be walking on snow!

Things to remember

• In November and December, daylight hours are between 10am and 2pm.
• Booking flights and accommodation yourself instead of choosing an all-inclusive package deal is likely to be cheaper
• Staying in a house and self-catering is cheaper than staying in a hotel

Total cost and the Netmums verdict

The total cost for the weekend including food and activities worked out at about £500 per person, so it's not cheap, but it's a lot cheaper than getting a package deal or staying in a hotel.

Would I recommend it? Yes, but it can only be done on a budget if you 'cut corners', because the place is a total money pit!

Would I go back? Honestly, no. If I had to choose between Lapland UK and Lapland Finland, I would say that Lapland UK is a better experience, and a quarter of the price, but having the snow in Finland is something not guaranteed here in the UK, like it is there.

Related content

Lapland UK – Is it worth a visit?

The best places to see Santa

Elf on the shelf hack to make your life easier