FAQ

Yes, you can meet Santa every day of the year at Santa Claus Office or in Christmas House.

More about meeting Santa

Rovaniemi local bus number 8 runs between the Rovaniemi city centre and Santa Claus Village. Check the bus route.

In November-March private Santa Claus Bus also runs between Santa Claus Village, city-center and airport and in autumn and winter Apukka Shuttle Bus runs between Rovaniemi City Center, Santa Claus and Apukka.

A taxi ride from the centre to Santa Claus Village is about 8 km long.

You can order taxi for example from Rovaniemen Lähitaksi: +358 (0)200 88000 (1,92€/call + 0,25€/10s + local network charge). Santa Claus Village also has a taxi rank.

A taxi ride from the airport is about 4 km. Unfortunately, there are no direct bus connections between the Rovaniemi airport and Santa Claus Village.

Santa Claus Village is not a single company, but over 50 companies working together in the area. Because of this, different companies have different opening hours, so you should always check the company’s own website for more information.

It is worth mentioning that most of the companies have longer opening hours during the busy Christmas season between end of November and early January.

Opening hours and dates

The opening ceremony the Christmas season takes place every year at Santa Claus Village in November. The Christmas Opening 2023 took place on Sunday 12th November. You can find more info in Visit Rovaniemi website.

Santa Claus Village is located less than 5 km from the Rovaniemi International Airport. Because the distance is less than 5 km, you must get permission from Finnish air control authorities. So you are not allowed to fly a drone in Santa Claus Village without permission of the air control authorities.

Flying drones in Finland

You can buy the certificate for crossing the Arctic Circle in many place of Santa Claus Village for example from the Arctic Circle Tourist Information or the shop of Christmas House Santa Claus.

Santa Claus Village is home to several companies that offer quality accommodation services. See all our accommodation options and find more from the Visit Rovaniemi website.

The Arctic Circle stamp is most easily obtained from Santa Claus Main Post Office, located in the centre of Santa Claus Village. There is also a mailbox outside Santa Claus Main Post Office, from which outgoing mail is stamped with the Arctic Circle stamp.

Santa Claus Village lies across the Arctic Circle and is a great place to cross into the Arctic. It’s a magical place!

More about the Arctic Circle

You can see reindeer at Santa Claus Village is at Santa Claus Reindeer Resort, which offer various activities, like reindeer rides, with reindeer.

You can also see reindeer in Elf’s Farm Yard.

There are also different companies, based in Santa Claus Village, that offer reindeer safaris.

The best way to see husky dogs at Santa Claus Village is at Arctic Circle Husky Park.

There are also different companies, based in Santa Claus Village, that offer husky safaris through Lapland’s unique nature.

There are several nice restaurants for all tastes and all budgets Santa Claus Village area.

See all restaurants

The area around Santa Claus Village offers a good setting for seeing the Northern Lights, because the Village is located on the Arctic Circle in Lapland. The season for Northern Lights happens between end of August and early April. Please keep in mind that the sky above the Arctic Circle does not get dark enough from mid-April to mid-August to see the Northern Lights.

It can be difficult to see the Northern Lights from the centre of the Santa Claus Village due to “light pollution”; however, if weather (no clouds) and solar conditions are favourable, you might see the Northern Lights in more remote places of the village.

In addition, many Santa Claus Village companies offer aurora safaris into Lapland’s beautiful wilderness, which further enhances your opportunities to see the Northern Lights.

Like any other tourist destination in Lapland, Santa Claus Village cannot guarantee that customers will see the Northern Lights.

More about the Northern Lights

There is no snow in summer in Santa Claus Village. Typically, there is no snow between mid-April and mid-November here at the Arctic Circle in Rovaniemi.

Please keep in mind that every winter is different: sometimes the first permanent snow arrives as early as end of October and sometimes only in early December. Some years, winter ends in early April, while in others, it lasts until the end of April or early May.

The companies at Santa Claus Village cannot guarantee when permanent snow cover will come or how long the snowy winter lasts. It’s all up to nature. In summer, you can do nice summer activities in Santa Claus Village (unrelated to snow.)

Visit Rovaniemi, our local tourism office, is in charge of the press information concerning Rovaniemi and Santa Claus Village in particular. If you are looking for media information and media material (photos, etc.) about the Santa Claus Village and the Arctic Circle in Rovaniemi, please contact Visit Rovaniemi.

If you want to contact a specific company in Santa Claus Village, you can naturally contact them directly. You can find the contact info of the companies on this website and / or on the website of the company in question.