Day
1: Helsinki - Christmas City
In
the Finnish capital, the first real snow is usually coming on Christmas, it
will cover the entire city in a pure white atmosphere, and create a Christmas
feeling through the Christmas decorations of Aleksanterinkatu.
Our
first stop will be Helsinki´s cathedral, the most famous white cathedral
in Northern Europe. Shortly after we will visit Uspenski Cathedral, on
our way to Tuomaan Markkinat (St. Thomas Christmas Market). Feel the true
Scandinavian Christmas atmosphere in this lively street market. For lunch, we
will enjoy a traditional Finnish Christmas lunch, before we continue to the
Sibelius Monument. The Sibelius Park is a park erected to honor Jean Sibelius,
a remarkable Finnish composer.
For
dinner, we will have something not so conventional but certainly tasty: Arctic
Seafood Sashimi. Once we are ready, we will begin our trip to Rovaniemi in
Santa´s comfortable night train, equipped with double rooms.
Day
2: Rovaniemi - Santa Claus Village - snow castle - Santa´s Park
Rovaniemi
is the first stop in the Arctic Circle! The area is mysterious and beautiful.
In addition to the world's only Santa Claus, there is a magical summer midnight
sun and a stunning winter aurora borealis! Santa Claus Village is
probably the most exciting place in the world. Santa Claus will listen
carefully to your wishes. Are you ready to meet Santa? During your visit to Santa´s
Post Office, you can purchase a variety of Christmas cards. Cross the
Arctic Circle and get a Certificate.
After
meeting Santa, we will visit a snow castle, experience the amazing
architecture and ice sculptures and have fun with the highspeed sledding in the
snow toboggans. Afterwards, we will try a reindeer meat meal, before we go to Santa's Park! During this visit, we will meet
Santa´s elves!
For
dinner, we will try Arctic Salmon dinner cooked straight on a fire, following
the pure Lappish barbecue style and, once we are full, we will go to an amazing
experience in our Aurora Nest! A small mobile house pulled by snowmobiles, in
which you will have a chance to see the Northern lights!
Day
3: Crafts of Sámi and Snow castles
We
will begin this most exciting day with a snowmobile ride through the arctic
forest. Very close from there, we can find a husky farm where we will enjoy a
10 km Husky ride, a taster of the most traditional means of transportation in
the arctic regions.
For
lunch we will enjoy a sample of the traditional local cuisine, arctic
whitefish, and afterwards we will visit a Sámi art workshop. In the workshop we
will go through the crafting process used by a Sámi family of artisans, who will
show us their techniques and their way of living.
In
the evening, we will enjoy dinner in a restaurant inside a Snow Castle.
And after being stunned by this breathtaking construction, we will be shown our
rooms, also in the snow hotel!
Day
4: King crabs!
In
the fourth day of our trip, we will go on a trip! After breakfast we will
travel to Norway in search of king crabs. Norway's sea is a paradise for king
crab catching all year round, the only difference is winter crab meat is
harder! We will embark on a hunting King Crab Cruise and sail into the arctic
fjord. The fishermen will dive into the clear crystal Arctic Fjord, hunting
underwater crabs and Arctic sea urchins and scallops. Everything we hunt, we
will bring it with us for instant cooking, you will be involved in the whole
process and enjoy a fresh meal!
Later
of the day, we will have a traditional dinner: Norwegian deep sea trout dishes,
and you will be able to choose where you want to stay for the night, a
four-star hotel by the sea or a forest Chalet Hotel.
Day
5: Sámi day
Today
we will explore in depth the Sámi culture. We will travel to Saariselkä,
a small but attractive town surrounded by the wilderness. We will visit a Sámi
farm and a Sami Museum and, once we know everything about the Sámi,
we will enjoy a traditional lunch.
After
the food, we will climb to the top of Saariselkä´s hill, enjoy the
astonishing views of Lapland from there. To add more history to our day, we
will visit the gold rush museum, where we will improve our gold panning skills.
For
dinner we will eat a delicious arctic char meal, and with our bellies full, we
will go on the hunt for Northern Lights. There is nothing better after an
exhausting day that a night in a 4-star SPA hotel double room!
Day
6: Wild land experience
Back
in Rovaniemi, we will try some more adventurous activities. We will go
snowshoeing through a wild forest all the way down to a lake, where we will try
some ice fishing! We will prepare a barbecue in the snow where we will have a
chance to grill our catch of the day. We will then return to civilization, with
a stroll around Rovaniemi´s Christmas Market, where you will find a lot of
souvenirs and lovely memories.
For
dinner, we will take you to savor the arctic duck and, once you are full, we
will go on a Northern lights exciting hunt by snowmobile. You will spend the
night in an astonishing Ice Hotel or Forest Chalet, at your own choice.
Day
7: End of the tour
In
the last day of the tour, we will climb to the top of Ounasvaara Hill, from
where we will see all Rovaniemi under the beautiful sunrise. We will also visit
the Ranua Wildlife Zoo and its 50 different species.
After the lunch, you will have some free time
until the evening, when we will fly to Helsinki.