TIL - Where the real Santa Claus lives and that you can travel there to meet him. A true once-in-a-lifetime experience.
There are things in life you are never too old for. One of them is to find out where Santa Claus lives. During the past 30 years I believed Santa Claus doesn´t exist. It seems that I was totally wrong!
Welcome to Santa Claus Village (Rovaniemi, Finland)!
'So you would like to meet Santa Claus?' seems to be kind of a weird question. But in Rovaniemi (Finland) it´s daily business. The unofficial capital of Finnish Lapland (which is an one-hour-flight away from Helsinki) is also well known as the gateway to this quite rough and tumble part of the world. From here adventurers trek even farther north in search of the famous Northern Lights and remote natural retreats known only to a few.
The location: Lapland - the Northern part of Finland
Thousands of travelers come here every year to try their hand at guiding the teams of Alaskan Huskies through the wilds around town, go snowmobiling in -30 degree temperatures over the frozen bogs and through the forests.
But c´mon that´s not the real reason why people travel here! It´s to meet and greet Santa Claus!
The once-in-a-lifetime experience
500,000 poeple from all over the world visit Santa Claus Village every year to capture the beautiful Christmas spirit - and surely to meet Santa Claus himself. But it doesn´t seem to be the typical overly hyped attraction and the visitors quickly find themselves falling for it.
Over the past years plenty of activities and experiences have been created in the park, from an Ice Hotel to riding a reindeer driven sleigh. But there are two key experiences though that almost every visitor, no matter their general interest, feels absolutely compelled to try: Meeting Santa Claus and visiting his very own post office.
Santa´s office is surely like you would imagine it in your dreams!
I suppose if I met Santa Claus at his office one day I would suddenly be 6 years old again and even too shy to even say a word.
He is truly just looking like he should!
Slightly rotund with a full white beard and a huge smile on his face.
The post office - It´s not a fake!
Santa´s post office is not a fake, it is a part of Finland’s official postal service network.
The Santa Claus Main Post Office in Rovaniemi is the only designated post office for Santa in the world. It has its own postmark, along with the custom stamps to complement it.
Since 1985, this post office has received about 16 million written letters and forwarded them to Santa Claus.
Every year people from 200 different countries send their letters to him and about 500,000 people visit the post office which opens 365 days / year.
What people can also do is addressing their own postcards to their friends and family back home, of course with that iconic stamp from the Santa Claus post office!
If you wanna send a letter to Santa Claus - this is the official address:
Santa Claus, Joulupukin Pääposti, FI-96930 Napapiiri, Finland
I´ll do that for sure - just to see what happens :-)
It´s an amusement park
Santa Claus Village is officially listed as an amusement park.
Meeting Santa surely is a very touristy activity, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. People come literally from every single corner of the World to spend a day in the Village, so besides its touristy background it has got something to offer which you cannot find somewhere else.
The accommodation - just unreal!
It´s seems to be part of a Christmas movie - like every single detail in Santa Claus Village does. It must be a wonderful and unforgettable experience to spend a night in one of these. For more information: http://www.santaclausholidayvillage.fi/en/accommodation/accommodation/
Walking around Santa Claus Village means living Christmas at its finest.
I am a self-confessed Christmas lover, I´ve always been. I totally love the amosphere, the family time and the romance. But although you are not that into the Christmas hype, Rovaniemi has a lot to offer. It is the perfect starting point to explore the rich natural resources of the region close to the Arctic Circle.
Santa´s village is the ideal starting point to explore the Arctic Circle
If I travelled to Rovaniemi, I would surely book a reindeer and husky experience!
There is e.g. a combined package offered which is especially designed for those people who would like to get the most of Lapland in a short period of time. First they would take you to a reindeer farm for a short reindeer visit, and then you would get a taste for husky driving before heading back to the starting point: Rovaniemi.
For more information: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/
Another must-see experience: the Northern Lights!
The above copied picture shows the Northern lights and the Arctic Glass Igloos in Rovaniemi.
Staying at Rovaniemi, you can book a one of these glass igloos. The so called 'igloo village' is set in an opening surrounded by pine trees, and it is sufficiently far away from the city lights. Therefore you have ideal conditions for watching the Northern Lights and enjoying starry skies right from your accommodation. Quite romantic, huh? :-)
For more practical travel information around Santa Claus Village: http://visitrovaniemi.fi/plan/practical-travel-information/
As I said in the beginning of my little write-up: there are things in life you are never too old for. Santa Claus Village is definitely one of them. And that´s why it´s now at the top of my travel to-do list :-)
Since I would not be able to travel to Finland this winter, Tomy (my mom´s dog) and I remain traditionally waiting for Santa Claus to visit us here on Canary Islands.
Tomy and Marly wishing you all a wonderful Christmas! 
Picture source title: https://farm2.staticflickr.com/
Picture source Santa Claus office: https://farm2.staticflickr.com/
Picture source map: https://andradaprd.files.wordpress.com/
Picture source accomodations: http://www.santaclausholidayvillage.fi/
Picture source reindeer & husky: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/
Picture source village: https://coolstays.imgix.net/
I knew there was a Lapland and Santa but didnt realise it was like this. This makes me definitely want to go and take my little girl in a year or two!
I absolutely had the same sensation! Friends told me about it some time ago, but when I started researching now I was totally wowed. Your daughter will surely love it - and you, too ;-)
As a Finn, I approve of this message. :)
Re-Steemed.
But even the Finnish Santa wears read nowadays. The red outfit comes from the Coca Cola marketing campaign. The original Finnish Santa wore green, I believe. Green or grey, or a combination of the two.
Haha cool! Thanks for your approval and reblog!! Had no idea you are from Finland.
And that´s a quite interesting information! It could be worth another post: 'TIL that the original Santa Claus didn´t wear red.' :-)
Genial post Marly!
Muy interesante; desconocía la existencia de dicho parque/poblado y la posibilidad de visitarlo pero tiene una pinta genial.
Algo que hay que hacer una vez en la vida, por lo menos.
Feliz Navidad para ti y para Tomy también!
Muchas gracias por tus palabras, amigo mío. Yo tampoco sabía que existiera. Había escuchado algo, pero no tenía ni idea de lo maravilloso que es. Habrá que ir, por supuesto!!!
A tí también te deseo una muy Feliz Navidad! :-*
Las cosas y los arquetipos existen en la medida que el conjunto de humanos los hacemos existir. Por eso SantaKlaus o los Reyes o el Olentzero existen, porque los padres, al final hacemos que existan en nosotros mismos, cuando dejamos los regalos para nuestros hijos. Da igual que físicamente lo hagan o unos u otros, el hecho es que está obsequiando en su nombre. He tenido que ser padre precisamente por esto, para darme cuenta de que realmente solo somos sus pajes o sus ayudantes, dejando los regalos entre la gente que nos importa y queremos.
Feliz Navidad también para tí y los tuyos.....y para todos los que leaís esto.....bueno y para los que no.....Feliz Navidad y Abrazos para todo el mundo!!!!
Los padres tienen que cumplir con muchos papeles a lo largo de la juventud de sus hijos, eso sin duda! Muchas gracias por tu bonito comentario @seisges, está más que agradecido.
Yo también te deseo una muy Feliz Navidad, rodeado de tus queridos <3
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