Finnish Lapland

Arrival in Rovaniemi with a stopover in Helsinki (Finnair flight) and the sun has already disappeared. All right, it's winter, but at 2 in the afternoon the sun has already set!!! The temperature we found isn't even that low (we're around 0) and the gear we're wearing is slightly oversized (a bit Toto and Peppino style on arrival in Milan). The little town isn't up to much. Apart from the central pedestrian street, all lit up for the Christmas holidays, it doesn't offer much. The children are already fidgeting to see Santa Claus and tomorrow they will be satisfied. The next day, wake up, breakfast and the Lapland Safaris guide waiting for us for the tour booked from Rome. A short half-hour visit to the Arctic Museum: the reconstructions of Lapp villages are interesting. Next stop at the reindeer farm.

The landscape is stunning; frozen rivers and dense forests make the scenery truly unique. Arriving at the farm the euphoric children begin their first encounters with the reindeer. A few squirrels wander nearby and must surely be wondering who today's nuisance is. The ride on a sleigh pulled by a reindeer is a classic that absolutely must be done. The route, short, is on a small circuit. It all takes place in a very relaxing environment. After the ride, there is the classic Lapp ritual that all tourists who come to Lapland perform (and of course we don't let it slip by). You go inside a big tent with a fire lit in the centre, a man dressed in a characteristic costume tells an ancient Lapp legend, marks our foreheads with ash in a way that draws reindeer antlers (here obviously the hilarity rises in the group), after which he greets us, handing us the licence to drive reindeer.

A short lunch at the farm based on reindeer meat (really very good) and off we go. We cross the other part of the river that passes through Rovaniemi to head to the home of a craftsman who works wood and reindeer antlers. His creations are very beautiful, and of course he sells them to tourists. He offers us something hot in his stunning house made entirely of wood and we leave. We arrive in the early afternoon (it's already dark!!!) at Santa Claus Village. Very well done, the joy of the children...and not only... Inside the house it is not possible to film or take photos. They do that themselves, charging a good 19 euros for the simplest photo. We chat about this and that with the cheerful old man to then enjoy the atmosphere of the village. Here everything is very expensive of course and you run quite a risk travelling with children.

We also manage to send them on a snowmobile on a small snowy circuit. After 6 hours of tour (114 euros per person - children pay half) a nice sauna at the hotel is just what's needed. The next morning we take the bus heading north. We head about 300 km, to Saariselka. Buses are taken near the centre, leave about 3 times a day and cost about 25-30 euros per person. 10 km before Saariselka we stop at Kakslauttanen Village where a beautiful cottage awaits us. They are very welcoming, entirely built of wood, isolated from one another in a beautiful forest and on the bank of the now frozen river. Inside a splendid stone fireplace and, very importantly, the sauna!!! For those who want, you can also sleep inside glass igloos. In the village there is also a communal sauna. You can do excursions and cross-country skiing.

We have booked a tour for the next day (about 112 euros per person for 2 hours). 2 km from the village there is the husky dog farm. They give us all the thermal gear (the cold is really biting) to drive the dog-pulled sledges. An incredible experience that I highly recommend. 2 hours truly in contact with nature; the dogs have incredible energy and you have to stay very steady to avoid falling. We take a break halfway to rest in a tent, where the fire is lit and hot coffee is prepared. On the way back it's snowing, it's dark (as always) and everything is so unreal. Tomorrow we go back home and leave these places reluctantly. The nearby airport of Ivalo (only 40 km away) lets us reach Helsinki with a Finnair flight. The capital isn't very beautiful and, apart from a quick visit to the centre, it doesn't excite us that much. Tomorrow we head back to Rome.