Santa´s Cottage & Pet Farm, Lapland, Finland

5dazlingjenny 5:00 PM Nov 19, 2017

A real little gem
We were in Levi for 5 days, we had been to Levi before with organised Tui trip, I was so desperate to go back again, however this one was fully DIY, I organised the flights, hotel and car hire myself. Upon looking for things to do on a day, we found this place through a leaflet in our hotel, we liked the look of it and thought we would go and have a look. We drove to it, it was very snowy day, with constant snow all day, when we drove to view with a view to see if they were open and see when we could visit. When we got out of the car, we were looking around, still in awe of the way the snow and the Lappish/Finnish style buildings look, a lady approached us, apologies but her name slips me. We asked if they were open, it was very quiet and she seemed to be busy working when we pulled up initially, but was all too pleased to help, she spoke perfect English, incredibly polite and helpful. For a very reasonable price, she give us the full tour with a very interesting commentary and was very passionate about the animals there. Once we had been around all the animals, we had a little reindeer ride to top what was a magical visit. We loved this place, this place is a bit away from the town and is away from the commercial bubble of organised trips and I assume this is her way of supplementing her income and I am all for supporting local businesses. This place is well worth a visit if you can get here!

4Daniel C 5:00 PM Jun 2, 2020

Perfect way to spend Christmas
When I came here with my mother and brother in 2014 just before Christmas, we were only there for one day but it was filled with events. You will be able to visit the ice hotel, where everything is made of solid ice, from the beds, the walls and even a bar with shot glasses made of ice, you can even smash them on the ground after downing a shot of vodka. You will meet elves there in large wooden huts, but these aren't the tiny elves with large ears you'd expect, but quite large and normal looking. Since this place is so high up on the planet, and since it was winter, you don't get sunlight for long; it tends to get dark around 4pm. All warm clothes are provided once you are there, but be careful, even just taking off your gloves you will feel the icy chill. There are sleds pulled by reindeer although these are slow, if you want something fast try a husky ride; as you race through the dark woods you will feel the ice cold wind lashing at your cheeks, for me it was the best part of the trip; just enjoy the experience while you can because they only let each family ride once. You can go down ice slides and make huge snow angels, just laying back you are swallowed by the snow, then we met Father Christmas. You are transported to a small hut and once inside you see an old man wearing red, when I met him he spoke with a Russian accent; we had our photos taken but since my brother and I were both in our teens we didn't get any gifts, my mother is still annoyed about that.