I flew to Lapland just for the day with my son – and still fit in Santa meets, husky rides and snowmobiles
A MUM has revealed how she flew to Lapland just for the day – and still managed to fit in husky rides and a Santa meet.
Donna Rudd, 46, booked the trip with her youngest son Leo, 13.
The mum-of-four surprised Leo with the trip the night before they flew and the pair left from Bristol Airport at 7am along with Donna’s sister.
Donna, from Minehead said: “I bought him a puzzle and said Father Christmas would help him with it in the North Pole.
“It was so nice on the airplane. The atmosphere was so good.
“Everyone was wearing Christmas jumpers.”
They arrived at Kittilä International Airport at around 11am and got to Lapland at around 1.30pm.
After spending just four-and-a-half hours there they got back on a bus at 6pm and got a flight back at 8pm.
Despite this, they managed to fit in everything from husky and reindeer rides to Father Christmas meets, as well as sledging and snowball fights,
Donna said: “We packed in a lot of stuff. We went sledging, had snow ball fights.
“We did husky and reindeer rides. I went on a snowmobile – it had always been a dream of mine.”
Donna managed to sneakily give the elves a letter of Leo’s wishes to give to Father Christmas before he met him.
She said: “Father Christmas mentioned his name. He looked at me in shock. He was so happy.”
Donna even managed to get in a bit of souvenir shopping before they jumped back on the coach back to the airport.
She said: “It was a lot of fun. It’s such a pretty place. It’s magical.
“I don’t know how we fitted it all in.”
It wasn’t a cheap Lapland day trip – the all inclusive TUI trip cost £600 per person – but Donna says it was “worth it”.
She said: “It’s not cheap for a day. It was so worth it.
“I’d even go back as an adult without kids.”
The Sun visit Lapland
The Sun’s Louise Robert recently visited Lapland – here’s what she thought.
“Lapland was top of my 40th bucket birthday list.
“Heading to Tonttula Village, it’s is an absolute must for anyone visiting with little ones as you can make Christmas decorations at Elf school, bake gingerbread biscuits and listen to folk tales from the Wise Elf while crafting paper snowflakes.
“And that’s before we got stuck into the outdoor activities.
“We did everything petting Santa’s reindeers, tobogganing and snow tubing, plus there are private meetings with Father Christmas in his wood cabin.
“Make sure to try a Glogi while you’re here too – it’s an amazing Finnish mulled wine.”
If you can’t quite stretch to a trip to the real Lapland, there is also the hugely popular Lapland UK experience.
Here is everything you need to know including when tickets go on sale.