The Adventures of Debbie Dimples - in Rovaniemi, Lapland, Finland

Lapland is Finland’s northernmost region, a sparsely populated area bordering Sweden, Norway, Russia and the Baltic Sea. It’s known for its vast subarctic wilderness, ski resorts and natural phenomena including the midnight sun and the Northern Lights. Rovaniemi is the gateway to the region and Rovaniemi is the official hometown of Santa Claus. I visited Lapland for Christmas in December of 2019, as a solo traveller for 4 magical nights.

https://www.cntraveler.com/story/chasing-winter-in-lapland-finland

Korvala

Korvala is a traditional, family run inn established in 1889, offering log cabins and outdoor activities including sledding tours with huskies, snowmobile tours, cross-country skiing, fishing and swimming. I stayed at Korvala for 4 nights in one of the lake front log cabins. The log cabins are very warm and it was a relief to get back inside after a day in the cold. The resort provided me with a snow suit and snow boots to use for the duration of my stay. This helped with the temperature dropping to anything down to minus 20 over night. There is no restaurant at Korvala, however, they did provide a delicious (pre-booked) traditional meal to the area of reindeer stew with rye bread, followed by a lingonberry cake and cream. The Korvala also provides guests with complimentary tea and ginger biscuits after every tour. The Korvala is mainly a family resort, however, I did manage to find another solo traveller to talk to eventually!

https://www.korvala.com/log-cabins

Snowmobile Tour

I booked the snowmobile tour during my stay I was, quite possibly the slowest driver ever! The snowmobile tour is a great way to explore remote areas of the Lappish wilderness.

Husky Dog Sledding Tour

The Korvala is home to 85 beautiful Siberian Husky dogs. The highlight of my trip to Lapland was doing the Midday Mush/Husky Dog Sledding Tour. The dogs get really excited before the tours and start howling like wolves. The Huskies howl like wolves because they are more closely related to wolves than most other dogs. I also had a few unexpected, but lovely doggy kisses before the tour! I got to drive the sled on the outward journey, and on the way back, I was the passenger. At the end of the tour, we were taken around the kennels for a closer look at the dogs.

Santa Claus Village

I took the bus from Korvala to the Santa Claus Village, hoping to meet the real Santa Claus! Unfortuantely, Santa was fully booked! I did, however, get to see his reindeer and have a drink in the Ice Bar!

As I wasn't lucky enough to meet Santa Claus in real life, I had to settle for another year of watching him in Santa Claus: The Movie!

Goodbye Lapland, you were wonderful!