Location: Santa Clause Village, 8km northeast of Rovaniemi, Finland
As I was growing, I always thought that Santa Clause was someone you see in the mall or on TV at Christmas time. I did not know that there was such a place as Lapland and Santa's hometown until a few years back when chatting with a colleague at work about places we have been too. Since then, Lapland was on my list of places to visit if ever I find myself in Finland.
Though it was not winter when we got here, with a little imagination, you could still feel the magic in the atmosphere. The place was not overtly crowded. We had a pleasant morning walking around.
Up to 1985, Santa's home was further up north at the village of Korvatunturi in Finland. Since 1985, Rovaniemi became Santa Claus' 'official' hometown.
We entered the gift shop to have a look around but found this instead. It's just a few more steps to go to see Santa...
Lots of information of Christmas and Santa in Finland and a few other countries. Makes for a pretty interesting read.
Jouloupukki
Santa's little helpers busy wrapping presents.
Next, we walked around Santa Claus village:
A couple of interesting thing to do here this time of the year is to post a couple of postcards from Santa's post office and cross the Arctic Circle Line! Click on the link for more info. We also saw the Husky park and the Reindeer park.
We had planned to have salmon for lunch at Santa's Salmon place which had pretty good reviews. Unfortunately for us the place was closed for a break before the Christmas season rush.
After walking around Santa's Village, we left around 1.30pm and headed back to Rovaniemi.
Our lunch at Roka Bistro in Rovaniemi city - Flank Steak, Pork & chips and Salmon Risotto.
After lunch, the weather turned cloudy with light drizzle. We left Rovaniemi and headed for the border to Sweden. We took Route 79 to Sinetta, then turned left onto Route 83. We drove on Route 83 until we reached the tip of Lake Raanujarvi where we then turned left onto Route 932. We followed Route 932 to Naarki and took the E8 and drove along Torne River south to Tornio.
Village house along Route 932
Our Sorento next to the Ylitornio Municipality board in the Lapland region of Finland. This is taken next to Iso-Vietonen Lake.
Iso-Vietonen Lake
Shed with milk cans on the road side.
Valikyla on Route 932
Bridge to Tornio town
Our Sorento crossing the bridge to Tornio town. We stayed the night at Tornio and plan to enter Sweden tomorrow.
Though it was not winter when we got here, with a little imagination, you could still feel the magic in the atmosphere. The place was not overtly crowded. We had a pleasant morning walking around.
Up to 1985, Santa's home was further up north at the village of Korvatunturi in Finland. Since 1985, Rovaniemi became Santa Claus' 'official' hometown.
Lots of information of Christmas and Santa in Finland and a few other countries. Makes for a pretty interesting read.
Next, we walked around Santa Claus village:
A couple of interesting thing to do here this time of the year is to post a couple of postcards from Santa's post office and cross the Arctic Circle Line! Click on the link for more info. We also saw the Husky park and the Reindeer park.
We had planned to have salmon for lunch at Santa's Salmon place which had pretty good reviews. Unfortunately for us the place was closed for a break before the Christmas season rush.
After walking around Santa's Village, we left around 1.30pm and headed back to Rovaniemi.
After lunch, the weather turned cloudy with light drizzle. We left Rovaniemi and headed for the border to Sweden. We took Route 79 to Sinetta, then turned left onto Route 83. We drove on Route 83 until we reached the tip of Lake Raanujarvi where we then turned left onto Route 932. We followed Route 932 to Naarki and took the E8 and drove along Torne River south to Tornio.
Shed with milk cans on the road side.
Valikyla on Route 932
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