Just back from saariselka! Thought id review as i know there are a few people wanting to book thomsons for next year.
Had the most amazing time! Everything from check in at the airport, the 'party flight' etc was just fab!
The thomsons reps are great and I loved the fact that most I met were Finnish inc Santa - which made it all very authentic. The were obviously some English ones based at the hotels but most of the activity based ones we Finnish. The elf who collected us from the airport was brilliant, telling tales of all sorts! Sooooo lovely and very sweet for the kids!
Saariselka is lovely and so much snow! We spent hours on the toboggan run every day.
The activity day with thomsons was great, santas resort is just lovely, especially early on when its dark and all candle lit. The were some queues for the tasters but the kids played in the snow so didn't notice. Tasters were about 5-8 mins but still loads of fun and as the place is not at all commercial it didn't feel 'rushed'. The was also a Lappish ceremony, blacksmith elf workshop, mini skidoos, huge celebration hall for lunch etc. very picturesque.
The gala meal was fab- with Xmas dinner style food, entertainment and fireworks outside at the end. A lovely end to the holiday.
We paid extra for the husky excursion which was amazing!!!! A real highlight to the trip. We booked this with top safaris and paid €420 for 2.5 hour trip. It ended up being 3 hours with well over 2 hours driving and as there were only 4 families we each got our own sled so each drove for all that time. Such good value for money- much better than the tour operator one and cheaper.
Had such a fab time and so magical! Didn't want to leave!
Oh, didn't need half the clothes I took. Was -9 most days so not too bad but the kids def needed balaclavas and the hand warmers we a god send!
Ate out for meals but food wasn't overly expensive really, i thought not much more than at home. drinks were more but we knew that before hand so were prepared for it! From talking to others most said food in hotels was okay so personally I'd have been happy half board.
Any questions just ask!