The Daily Mail
3 December 2007
It's ice magic!
As christmas decisions go, it wasn't the hardest. In search of the ultimate festive treat, we could pay nearly £2,000 for a family day trip to Lapland and drag ourselves out of bed at 3am to catch the flight.
Or for less than £500, we could have a splendid dinner and a comfortable night in the rather lovely Hotel du Vin in Tunbridge Wells, followed by a short drive to Lapland UK to commune with huskies, reindeer, Saami storytellers and Father Christmas in a magical, snowy forest setting in Kent. No contest.
Lapland UK has spent a seven figure sum recreating Santa's mystical, icy home in the English countryside. In the process, he has also removed the need to hop on a plane and leave a hefty carbon footprint in the snow.
'When the door opened and we caught our first sight of Lapland, it was a through-the-wardrobe-into-Narnia moment, with snow falling gently on to cute wooden cabins in the village square.' The gorgeous huskies, Nick and Abby, were a big hit with Holly and Rory and submitted happily to plenty of patting.
The toy factory was beautifully decorated with two huge train sets running almost the length of the room. Hokum, the chief elf, delivered an eco-friendly homily about planting a new tree every time one is chopped down, before all the children got down to the serious business of putting wooden puzzles together.
The gingerbread making, which involved decorating the biscuits with jam and sweets, while dressed in white chef's hats and gingham aprons, was more fun—especially as they got to keep the gingerbread.
Santa sat on a long bench inside his traditional log cabin. He looked like the real thing and was suitably rotund and jolly. Holly and Rory sat down beside him and after a little light interrogation, they were given wooden puzzles and a copy of that American classic, The Night Before Christmas. Delightful.
Holly and Rory loved the huskies and meeting Father Christmas.
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