The Observer Travel

Sunday 2 December 2007

The North Pole just got closer

Is it possible to recreate the magic of Lapland in a forest in Kent? Kathryn Flett and family check out Santa's newest outpost.

For a woman who stopped believing in Father Christmas in 1971, I was laughably over-excited about visiting Lapland UK. Obviously I was (allegedly) doing it for the kids (Jackson, five, and Rider, 18 months), but, as with so many of the things parents allegedly do for their children, this was as much about living up to parental expectations as it was about meeting theirs.

Lapland UK is an exceptionally smart idea. 'Working closely with the Forestry Commission,' it says on the website, 'Lapland UK is pleased to bring you an exciting, new and environmentally friendly Christmas Experience for the whole family. A traditional visit to the mystical home of Father Christmas, but without the need to fly to Lapland!'

Their 'Christmas Doesn't Need To Cost The Earth' is a cracker of a slogan, too. It can cost around £1,500 to fly a family of four to somewhere convincingly snowy and reindeer-ish for a meet-and-greet with Santa, never mind the two-tonne carbon footprint you leave behind, while Lapland UK costs £90 for four and has a day-trip carbon footprint of a piffling 0.01 tonnes.

'Santa's log cabin grotto was charming, he had a real beard and sat on a reindeer skin-covered bench. Jackson was impressed with his knowledge of the Death Star (as was I), and when he asked Jackson what Rider might want for Christmas, Jackson said 'he wants a large Makka Pakka, from The Night Garden. He can't tell me, I just know.'

'The boys were given eco-chic wooden toys (too young for Jackson) and a copy of The Night Before Christmas, so for their Santa experience alone, Lapland UK is to be recommended'

Written by Kathryn Flett