LAPLAND, FINLAND

Snow, reindeer, Christmas magic… and adults secretly enjoying it just as much as the children.

Why Lapland?

Lapland is one of those trips where you can tell yourself it's all for the children. We're not entirely convinced.

There's something rather special about stepping out into a proper snowy landscape, wrapping yourself in more layers than you thought humanly possible and heading off to meet reindeer, huskies and, of course, a certain gentleman in a red suit.

And then there's the possibility of seeing the Northern Lights. They don't perform to a timetable unfortunately, but that rather adds to the excitement when they do decide to appear.

For families, particularly around Christmas, it's difficult to think of many holidays that create quite the same sort of memories.

What we'd make time for

A husky ride would be very high on our list, along with meeting the reindeer and spending some time simply enjoying the snow rather than rushing from one organised activity to another.

A snowmobile trip can be great fun too, and if you're travelling with children, a proper Santa experience is obviously going to be one of the big moments.

We'd also leave at least one evening as free as possible. Wrap up, get outside and look up. If the Northern Lights decide to make an appearance, brilliant. If they don't, standing beneath a clear Arctic sky isn't exactly a bad consolation prize.

And yes, we'd probably have a go on a sledge. Age is irrelevant once there's enough snow involved.

Who would we recommend Lapland to?

Families are the obvious answer, especially those wanting to make Christmas particularly memorable while the children are still young enough to completely believe in the magic.

But Lapland isn't only about Santa.

Couples, photographers and anyone who loves winter scenery can have an equally wonderful trip — particularly if reindeer, huskies, snowy forests and the possibility of the Northern Lights sound considerably better than lying beside a swimming pool.

Planning a Lapland trip?

We've created a BlueHazeStudio Lapland Christmas Family Adventure Planner to help bring everything together — activities, clothing, packing, budgeting, travel plans and all those little things that become rather more important when the temperature outside is well below zero.

Explore the Lapland Planner

Where we'd stay

We're currently putting together our shortlist of Lapland hotels, cabins and places we'd genuinely consider staying ourselves.

Once our travel partnerships are in place, we'll add our favourites here — including what we like about them and who we think each one would suit.

Coming soon.