We are looking at booking a 4 day Santa trip for next December 2008. There will be 4 adults and 5 children. From looking at different sites it looks as though Levi is the most popular resort.
We have not got a clue which tour operator would be best and which Hotel/Apartment in Levi.
Would like to hear different opinions from those who have been as to which tour operator they used and where they stayed at what they thought to it.
Also, were your trips i.e. reindeers rides, husky sleigh rides etc included in the price when you booked or did you book them seperately?
Thanks
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hi
I was going to book a 4 day trip with first choice - it cost £3200 for 2 adults, 2 children (although one is adult price.) that was half board , trips included .
After reading posts on here I have booked a week in a log cabin for £2600 . this does not include trips but dont think they will cost more than the £800 i have saved. Also i have heard that the trips included ( husky rides etc )are only taster trips and not the full length ones
I am going over christmas week , it will be a lot cheaper if you can go any other time. Also as there are more of you a log cabin will work out a lot cheaper.
I have booked through inghams but i think crystal are cheaper, they didn%26#39;t have much left for christmas week though.
have look at this like for ideas of prices of trips.
www.inghams.co.uk/earlybird/skipacks/LVI.html
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In Santa trips the excursions are very short normally only some hundred meters or some minutes and after that they (tour operators and reps) try to sell you longer optional tours.
Also if you have time there are a lot to do for one week. 4 days are maybe too short.
Recommend also Inghams and book excursions directly from Levi tourist information.
Anne
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If you can do a week it is better value but that said, we took our daughter for 4 days as we weren%26#39;t sure how she would deal with the snow and cold! We went with Esprit and thought they were excellent. We mulled for weeks over the different options but most of the major tour ops took you to a restaurant for Santa to visit there- as far as I%26#39;m concerned you can do that anywhere! With Esprit you go to an activity centre and you can do ice fishing, skidoos, reindeer/sleigh rides and a snowmobile takes you about 20mins into the forest to Santa%26#39;s log cabin. Also, the elves meet you at the airport and the same elves are at the log cabin for continuity. Was it a lot of money?- Yes - was it worth it? Absolutely. We stayed in Saariselka at the Reikonlinna and it was just perfect. Have also been to Ruka last year and going to Levi next week for a week- once you go to Finland nothing else compares!!!!
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Also did 4 day trip with Esprit in Dec 2006 and agree with everything said in previous post. We were so hooked on Finland that went for a week for New Year this time, just returned last night. Scroll down for rreview of Saariselka and also thread I have posted on Santa Trip vS ki company for a week
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We also went to Saariselka with Espirit this Dec and had a great time. We booked with Espirit for about £2600 and this included all the activities which were not just tasters. We had ample time with everything. We stayed at the Holiday club hotel and the children loved the swimming pool and made the most of the free taboggans. I did see a holiday at the same resort for a week in December for about £700 on lastminute.com but this did not include any activities or trips. We searched sites and local prices in Saariselka for these trips and it would have worked out similar or even more than we eventually paid and of course this included the suits etc which you can keep all week.
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Travelled to Saariselka with Esprit for 2 nights in Dec 2006 - hooked, and so booked for week in Levi with Inghams and returned last Sunday!
Having done the both, thought that Saari trip was more %26quot;magical%26quot;. Much less commercialised here. Santa was also better. However the 2 nighter is knackering and would have preferred more time in resort - just to soak it all up - play in the snow, toboggan etc.
This year we booked the reindeer and husky minis with Inghams which each included a ride pulled by the said animal (!) and some time around the reindeer/husky farm.
Last year%26#39;s husky trip was better - longer (about 20 mins) and you actually %26quot;mushed%26quot; your own sled! Also sled more enclosed and covered with reindeer skin so a bit warmer.
This years reindeer ride was better.
Last years Santa (as said )was better.
Overall, Esprits activities would get my vote - but I would have preferred to do one per day - rather than all n one day.
The 2 trips cost similar amount (can%26#39;t remember exactly) except spending money - and so I suppose the Levi one was better value for money.
Would be interested in doing Saari for a week - however not sure about 3 hour transfer - Esprit fly to Ivalo which is only 30 mins away.
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Robtasha,
We went on a 4-day trip to Iso-Syote with Emagine this year, flying from Manchester. It wasn%26#39;t cheap but I can honestly say I would have paid double for the fantastic time we had. The reps/ organisation was excellent %26amp; we got to stay in a superb log cabin that was immaculately clean %26amp; even had our own Sauna! Holiday was full board %26amp; the children were well catered for. There were 2 full day excursions - one to a reindeer farm where we also got a full day playing in the snow (there were quad bikes, snowmobiles including a little one that even our 4-year old could ride, toboggans etc), no waiting, no queues. During the day we also got taken away on our own by reindeer sleigh to %26quot;find%26quot; Santa in his cabin - it was very well done. The second day we had 2 separate excursions, one on snowmobiles (trip was over 2 hours), one by husky (again not just a 5-minute trip but a good 40 minute plus ride through the forest driving your own husky team - excellent).
There are several posters on this forum who recount similar stories and most of them seem to have had good experiences with the smaller, specialist tour operators. Iso-Syote is obviously not a %26quot;popular%26quot; resort in that it is quite small and we were probably the only party there - but the amazing scenery and the feeling that we had it all to ourselves made it all the more special for us. I can%26#39;t praise the trip highly enough! You could do worse that check out Emagine%26#39;s website:
emagine-travel.co.uk/santa-claus-in-lapland/
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