Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi: Is it worth it? Practical information about village

This post is a continuation of a series of articles about the fascinating Finnish Lapland (with a focus on Rovaniemi, its capital).

In this article, we will have a look at Santa Claus Village, which is considered the biggest attraction in the region.

Is Santa Claus Village worth visiting? Is it really the biggest attraction in the region?

I will also give you a lot of practical information that will help you organize your trip and visit Santa in the Village.

Is it worth going to Santa Claus Village?

Trips to Santa Claus Village are becoming increasingly popular and, thanks to the growing number of flights and other transport connections, easier to get to. For details, check out this post, in which I described in detail all the possibilities of getting to Rovaniemi.

Okay, but is it worth planning such a trip and visiting the Village at all?

In my opinion, yes, it is worth it!

(But there is a small ‘but’, which I will discuss in a moment).

Is it a commercial place? Yes, very much so.

Does it bother you a lot when you are there? I think not. It is still very pleasant and charming place. A bit like a fairy tale, and one of a kind.

Even for adults.

I accepted the commercial part and the crowds (which are the biggest in winter, especially in December) in advance and simply had a great time being in the Village.

The village is worth visiting, but…

OK, so where is the ‘but’ that I wrote about earlier?

The Village is worth visiting, but in my opinion it is not worth making it the only attraction of the trip.

That is, it is not worth flying and going just for one day, just to visit the Village, bypassing all the other places and attractions of Rovaniemi and the surrounding area.

Of course, for children, a trip to the Village can be such an attraction and experience that you may want to take advantage of, for example, one-day charter trips.

However, if the trip is only for adults, it is not such a ‘wow’ place to spend time and money on one day trip. And in Rovaniemi you will find many other interesting and beautiful places and activities, and it is really a shame not to take advantage of at least some of them.

Of course, everyone has their own perspective, situation, opinion.

To sum up mine: it is really worth going to the Village, but if it is one of the attractions of the trip, not the only one.

Because Rovaniemi is not only Santa Claus Village, and I plan to write about other attractions in the next posts.

Santa Claus Village: History

According to legend, Santa Claus’ original home was the Korvatunturi peak on the Finnish-Russian border.

Santa Claus Village in its current location and form was opened in 1985. Since then, it has become one of the most important tourist attractions.

The first cottage in the area of ​​the Village was Roosevelt Cottage. The Finns built it in less than 2 weeks to accommodate First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt during her visit. After her, many politicians visited the cottage. The cottage still stands today, next to the post office.

Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi: Practical Information

Where exactly is the Village and how to get there

Santa Claus Village is not located in the city itself, but near Rovaniemi, about 15 minutes from the centre. The village is close to the airport (about 3 km), so some people visit it immediately after arrival.

On the route from the centre to the village to the airport, there are city buses or the red Santa Claus Express. A one-way ticket to the Village costs 4 Euro and can be bought from the driver. Some buses also stop at Santa Park.

The timetable depends on the period. You can check it on this page.

When is the Village open

The Village is open all year round! Although, I think it will make the best impression when there is snow. But you can also visit the Village in the summer.

The opening hours of the entire Village and individual attractions depend on the month (the longest of course in the main season, i.e. around Christmas).

You can check the exact opening hours on this page.

How much does it cost to get in

Entry to the Village is free.

However, all the attractions on site are paid for, and to put it bluntly, they are not cheap. This includes a reindeer sleigh ride, a visit to the husky farm, a visit to the house of ‘Mrs. Claus’ and, above all, photos from the meeting with Santa.

So, in fact, apart from the entrance fee, we pay for everything. It is worth being prepared for this, especially if we are going with children.

However, I think that these are not essential attractions for adults. I admit that I did not participate in most of them. There were huge queues for everything, and it looked very commercial and discouraging to me.

A few hours of stay to wander around the Village and have lunch was interesting and sufficient. You will read more about the attractions in the Village in the next part of the article.

Shops and restaurants

In the village, of course, there are souvenir shops, cafes, and restaurants.

In the shops, you will find typical tourist ‘everything and nothing’. I didn’t look too closely, but I got the impression that everything was also much more expensive than in the shops in the centre of Rovaniemi. The most interesting things caught my eye at Santa’s post office.

You can also expect higher prices in cafes and restaurants than in the city centre.

There are quite a few of them, but around Christmas there are crowded anyway. If any of the restaurants you are interested in accepts reservations, it is worth considering it.

Out of the cafes, in my opinion, the cafe in Mrs. Santa’s house looked nice. Unfortunately, there was such a long queue that I gave up on having a coffee there.

As for restaurants, the most interesting (in my opinion) were:

The Kotahovi restaurant, although, it did not have a special ‘lunch menu’ and the prices were very high. However, the menu and decor looked very interesting.

Santa Salmon Place, a restaurant in a traditional tent serving grilled salmon.

Santamus Restaurant, with interesting decor and a fireplace. In the winter, the restaurant serves lunch: a main course to choose from, plus a salad and dessert buffet with coffee. In November 2024, such a lunch cost 30 Euro. We ate here and I can really recommend this place. It was tasty, pleasant and reasonably priced. It is worth booking a table in advance.

Accommodation

You can also stay in Santa Claus Village itself and in its surroundings. In my opinion, this solution should only be considered if you have a car there. Without a car, it will be difficult to get around after the Village is closed, e.g. to the centre of Rovaniemi, to a shop or to eat something.

It is also quite expensive to stay there.

Personally, I think that there is no need to stay overnight in the Village and a few hours’ visit there will be enough, and it is better to sleep either in the city or completely outside in other interesting places to stay (check out this post on different accommodation options in and around Rovaniemi).

In the Village itself, you can stay in Santa Claus Holiday Village.

Around Village, there are Santa’s Igloos Arctic Circle or Glass Resort, which look much better.

What to see in Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi

Right at the entrance to the Village (from the bus stop) there is an information point. It is worth taking a paper map there, on which you can easily spot all the points of the Village that interest you.

Main Square and the Arctic Circle

When you leave the building where the information is, you will immediately find yourself in the main square. From here, you enter Santa’s office. There are also columns here, which symbolize crossing the Arctic Circle.

And although it is currently said that the border of the circle is a little further away, right by the airport, it is an interesting point, worth seeing and taking a photo.

There is also a camera on the square, from which you can see the live video here. That is why in this place you can often see people waving to their loved ones through the camera.

Santa Claus Office

The most important point is Santa Claus’ office, where you can meet Santa face to face. It’s a short meeting and conversation, which is free of charge. However, you can’t take your own photos during the meeting. The photos are taken by the elves. There’s no obligation to buy them, but if you want them as a souvenir, there’s no other way. Here you can find the prices.

The queues to enter depend on the time of year you visit the Village.

At the end of November, you had to wait over an hour to get in. When you enter the building, ask the elves working there for the exact waiting time/queue reservation.

I gave up.

Especially since I’ve met Santa before;) Where? On the main square in the centre of Rovaniemi. There was a temporary office there (I suspect it’s available only around Christmas) ‘Santa Claus City Office’.

There was no line, I went in, chatted for a while, but since I didn’t want a photo, the chat ended quickly.

It’s probably not the same, but it might be a solution if you don’t want to stand in the huge lines in the Village.

Mrs. Santa Claus Christmas Cottage

The house is really charming from the outside, so be sure to drop by. There is also a public café in the house.

However, the meeting with Mrs. Claus is subject to a fee (5 Euro), and a photo or certificate from the meeting is additionally payable. I even wanted to visit the lady, but she was on a break.

Santa’s Post Office

At the end of November it was very crowded, but I think it is one of the must-sees when visiting the Village.

There is a cabinet with letters that come to Santa from all over the world. You can also send your own letter or card. We have two boxes ‘for now’ or ‘for Christmas’.

At the post office you can buy souvenirs, but above all cards and beautiful special stamps.

I sent two postcards, one to Warsaw in Poland, one to a small town in Hungary.

The card arrived in Hungary after less than two weeks. The card has not arrived in Warsaw to this day, and it has been over 3 months. I am afraid it will not arrive. And it is probably the fault of the Polish post office, since the card placed at the same time in the same box in another country arrived without any problems.

Nevertheless, I think it is worth a try, the stamp cost less than 3 Euro.

Reindeers

There is a reindeer farm near Santa’s office. For a fee, you can go on a short ride around the Village or on a longer safari – you have to book this in advance. You will find details here.

There are also separate trips to reindeer farms, outside the Village. Such trips will certainly be in a more natural environment, and less commercial form.

Other attractions

That’s not all. The Village also has other attractions such as a small zoo, a husky farm, snowmobiles.

For all the details, it’s best to check out the Santa Claus Village website.

And Snowman World, a snow amusement park. It is only open during certain winter times due to weather conditions. It wasn’t open at the end of November, so it could definitely be an additional attraction. You can check the details and buy tickets here.

Snowman World should not be confused with Santa Park, another amusement park located some distance from the Village. Here you can also meet Santa, elves, a gingerbread house, a train. Here for details and tickets.

Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi: Summary

It is also worth mentioning that among the many very interesting trips organized by local agencies, there are also trips to the Village. I have read many negative opinions of tourists who got caught on such trips. They paid a lot, while in reality it was only transport, and the rest they had to pay on site additionally. In fact, no guide is needed on the spot in the Village, so it is best to go by yourself (either by bus or taxi) and not get caught on such a ‘guided tour of the Village’.

Instead, go on some other guided trip such as trekking, scooters, snowshoes or hunting for the aurora borealis.

Reading some parts of this article, you might have got the impression that I did not like the Village. Here queues, here high prices. Well, all this is true. There are crowds (especially in the season), the place is commercial. I am writing about this to present my honest opinion.

However, this does not change the fact that I liked it! I think it is really worth dropping by the Village for a few hours and feeling this fairy-tale, one-of-a-kind positive atmosphere.

You can also feel it without using all the additional attractions.

Should you go to Rovaniemi specifically to visit the Village? I think not.

Should the Village be one of the points of your trip to Lapland? Definitely yes. It is worth it, despite everything.

Other posts that will be useful when organizing a trip to Rovaniemi:

What to see and do in Rovaniemi

Rovaniemi: Northern Lights and Other Practical Information

How to get to Rovaniemi?

Santa Claus Express – Train to Rovaniemi: Is it worth it?

Accommodation in Rovaniemi