This past March, we completed my favorite family vacation ever.

I don’t say this lightly. We have done some amazing trips – Greece, Italy, France, etc. But nothing comes close to our family vacation over this past spring break in Finland. The main attraction was visiting Santa in Finland. The Santa in Roveniemi is often called the real Santa at the north pole. We surprised our kids on Christmas day with a letter from Santa telling them he was inviting them to visit. Our kids had been counting down the days for this trip (and so was I)!

While I plan to post more about this trip, especially why you need to visit Finland’s Santa in particular. Here is what made this trip so magical!

• Book-ending our trip in Helsinki
  • We started and ended our Finland trip in Helsinki. This worked great for transportation as we flew from the US to Finland. From Helsinki, we took an overnight train there and back to Rovaniemi.
  • Helsinki has a lot to offer! We enjoyed the public library Oodi on several occasions. Oodi offers a free children’s play area. Other activities included visiting multiple churches, Suomenlinna via ferry, the SkyWheel, and Amos Rex Art Museum’s outdoor windows.

• Visiting Estonia
  • We did an excursion to Tallin, Estonia via ferry that left from Helsinki. This day was a highlight for all of us! The ferry itself had a children’s play area which made the ferry ride feel quick and easy. Tallin’s Old Town is gorgeous, and we loved being able to visit without having to pay for a hotel. However, you could if you wanted to – just book a ferry back on another day!

• Taking the Santa Train
  • VR’s “Santa Train” as it is so lovingly nicknamed was an excellent experience for us. We have five people, so we booked two cabins (each way) and made sure to book upper cabins on the train as these included ensuite bathrooms. Because I was sharing a bed with my youngest (3), I messaged them via the app prior to leaving for Finland and they were able to add her to my reservation. They also added extra pillows/blanket for her and straps on the bed so she wouldn’t fall out.You can preorder breakfast on this train. This was a very easy process online and we enjoyed not having hungry kids the morning we got off.
  • This train can be booked overnight or during the daytime hours but we preferred night so it would go by quicker, and we wouldn’t lose a day of vacation. It was also easier to justify the price if we didn’t have to pay for a hotel that night.

• Visiting Santa Claus Village early the first time and coming back multiple times
  • We visited Santa Claus Village (SCV) to see Santa as soon as we arrived in Rovaniemi. Because our train was so early, we ended up getting there before most things were open. Even though we had eaten a small breakfast on the train, our kids quickly became hungry. Thankfully, one of the restaurants was open and had a decently priced breakfast buffet. One of the few foods my kids all agree on is breakfast food, so this was perfect. We ate and then went and got in line for Santa! This went by quickly and we had the rest of the morning to check out the post office, playground, shop, etc.SCV has a lot of fun activities, so we did come back multiple times. You don’t have to do all the activities in one day – space them out! We did the farmyard one day and snowmobiles for the older two as well.
  • Visit at night! Visiting SCV at night is magical. Play in the snow and enjoy all the pretty lights. This was also a great time to wave into the webcam for family to see since we were 6 hours ahead of them.

• Seeing reindeer at an authentic reindeer farm
  • Before going on this trip, I was SHOOK with how expensive every activity was and had no idea how we were going to afford to do everything we wanted to do. I was also told by multiple people that the reindeer ride isn’t that fun because it is slow. I’m here to tell you that this was my favorite excursion we did! I did a ton of research and found a lesser-known reindeer farm outside of Rovaniemi. They offered reindeer rides that included crepes with jam and hot cocoa in their kota after.
  • This reindeer farm was called Tatuka Reindeerfarm. This farm has been in their family for generations and was very authentic. They were great with the kids and the reindeer ride was longer than a lot of other places and included more overall for a lower price. They even let our kids feed the reindeer after our ride. I give this a 10/10!

• Going the popular route and booking Bearhill Husky
  • One thing we didn’t skimp on was the husky ride. It was expensive but worth it. Bearhill Husky is a name you will hear a lot while planning and they are popular for a reason. They know their stuff and they have a lot of different options. We booked a 10-15 km ride at their main location. They also offer shorter rides at SCV.One of the pluses to Bearhill is that they supply you with the winter gear you need. We put their snowsuits on over ours and used their boots. This was great because then our own snow suits and shoes stayed warm and clean. They even had small enough sizing for all three of our kids.
  • Our ride included a visit to their Kota for Q&A as well as hot juice and cinnamon cookies. Our kids loved the cookies!

• Booking an Airbnb in Rovaniemi but not directly downtown
  • I went back and forth on where to book our accommodation in Rovaniemi. In the end, we booked a kid-friendly Airbnb that was in the suburbs of Rovaniemi. We enjoyed being far enough away from downtown that it was quiet, but close enough that we had a grocery store two minutes away and could get directly downtown in less than ten minutes.
  • One thing I didn’t intentionally do but was excited about was the fact that we were one block away from a frozen river. There was a night with high chances of seeing the Aurora Borealis and my son and I went directly onto the river and got the most beautiful green and purple photos. This was a huge plus for us!

• Scheduling a photoshoot in Rovaniemi
  • We like to schedule photoshoots when we travel abroad as a special keepsake for our family. I searched through local photographers and found a few options. I then messaged them asking if they offered “mini” sessions because I knew the cold would make a longer session hard on our kids.
  • Thankfully, we found Tina. She did an amazing job with the kids and our photos are truly something special. We even saw an area we hadn’t been to yet so that was a big plus. The photos were delivered very quickly after the session, and I highly recommend doing this for your family!

• Going to Rovaniemi in March instead of during Christmas time
  • I see this debated all of the time on Facebook groups – what time of year should I go to Rovaniemi? A lot of people assume this is a Christmas destination so they should go in November or December. I’m here to tell you that going in February or March is just as magical and WAY cheaper.
  • We were nervous that going in mid-late March would mean no snow. This was not the case at all. It was snowing the minute we arrived and there was plenty of snow on the ground. The only downside was there wasn’t much snow on the actual trees, but this was not a dealbreaker for us at all.

• Venturing outside Rovaniemi to visit Rauna Zoo
  • Renting a car was such a great way to do more activities. Because we had a rental car, we were able to drive to Rauna to see the wildlife park. It was freezing cold, but we had a great time seeing various animals and birds that we don’t get to see back home. This zoo is the northernmost zoo and is really special.
  • One fun thing that we did at this zoo was put our younger two on sleds and drag them around the zoo. Because of the snow on the ground, we did this easily and it helped avoid the kids complaining about walking to much.

I could go on and on about our special time in Finland. It is truly a magical place and I hope we can go back someday!