Cheap Lapland Holidays | We went for under £300pp in December!

Can You Visit the Real Lapland for the Price of Lapland UK?

Every winter, my inbox explodes with one question:

“How can we visit Lapland on a budget?!”

We first visited Lapland on a budget back in 2023, and I shared a really in-depth blog about that trip at the time. But as I’ve watched more and more families turn to Lapland UK for a magical Christmas experience, it got me thinking… could we visit the real Lapland for a similar price?

I ran an Instagram Story poll asking what families were paying for a day at Lapland UK, and I was genuinely shocked. £1,100 for a family of four came up a few times, for a day out in Manchester!

So that settled it. We set ourselves a challenge: could the four of us travel to Lapland for £1,100 in total – just £275 per person – and still experience real Christmas magic?

👉 Could we visit the real Lapland, in December, with snow, reindeer and Christmas magic… for the same price some families are paying for Lapland UK?

Our target budget was £275 per person, £1,100 total for our family of four – including flights, accommodation, transport, activities, food, and little festive extras.

Why Lapland Doesn’t Have to Be a Once-in-a-Lifetime Trip

Lapland has somehow gained a reputation as an “unaffordable dream trip”, but that’s not the full story.

If you:

• travel for short stays
• stay outside city centres
• are flexible with airports
• and book the right activities (instead of expensive packages)

…it becomes surprisingly doable.

Lapland Flights: £103pp (£412 total)

We booked return flights from London Stansted, just a few weeks before travel, for just £103 per person.

That’s less than some UK train journeys.

December flights to Lapland can be expensive, but prices fluctuate massively depending on:

• airport choice
• travel days
• airline demand

Checking multiple airports and being open-minded is one of the biggest money-savers when planning trips like this. Lots of people panic buy flights on release around March/April time, for the last 3 years the prices have always fallen around August time.

Budget tip: It sounds crazy to many, but you CAN travel with just hand luggage (and we did!) Not only does it save a lot of money, it’s a lot less faff not having to pull a suitcase through the snow!

Getting Around Lapland: Car Hire £147 + Petrol £22

With our accommodation being so far out, we needed to hire a car. This also made getting around much easier – especially with kids, limited time and winter temperatures. We worked out that our accommodation cost of £187 plus the car and petrol costs only came to £356 – this was still cheaper than the cheapest apartment in Rovaniemi. Cheaper plus more adventure? Right up our street!

• Car hire: £147
• Petrol: £22

There is good public transport if you want to stay within Rovaniemi. If you want to visit anywhere further a field, hiring a car is going to be the way to go.

Driving in Lapland

A lot of people worry about driving in the snow, comparing it to experiences they may have had driving in the UK snow. It isn’t the same. The cars in Finland have to have winter tyres in the winter months – these make it much easier. As long as you take your time, drive at a comfortable speed and don’t break harshly – it really isn’t difficult and you get used to it quickly.

You will be driving on the opposite side of the road, but again this is something you get used to quickly. I always remind myself that as the driver I need to be in the middle of the road, and the passenger on the edge.

Other Lapland Experience Options

We didn’t opt for these because they weren’t within our budget – plus it would have meant less time for the boys to play in the snow (which was all they wanted to do). But there are a tonne of other amazing activities to be experienced during a Lapland Trip.

The most popular options:

Husky Sledding

Northern Lights Tours

Ice Floating (one for the adults)

Snowmobile Adventures

You can also pre-book tickets to places like Snowman World, Ice Hockey games and Santa Park.

Full Cost Breakdown

Here’s exactly what we spent:

• Flights: £412
• Accommodation: £187
• Car hire: £147
• Petrol: £22
• Reindeer sleigh ride: £280
• Bedding charge: £26
• Food shops: £47
• Hot chocolates: £17.50
• Ice skating: £31
• Postcards: £7

💰 Total: £1,177.50

So yes – we went £77.50 over our £1,100 target. But that was still only £294 per person for everything!

Was It Worth It?

Absolutely.

Instead of:

• queues
• crowds
• staged magic

We had:

• real snow
• real reindeer
• frozen lakes
• quiet forests
• Christmas magic that felt authentic, not rushed

And we created memories that lasted longer than a single afternoon.

Final Thoughts: Cheap Lapland holidays are entirely possible!

Is this the right trip for everyone? No, of course not. Everyone has their own idea of what a fun, magical trip is. 
Is Lapland UK easier and more convenient? Probably.

But if your priority is:

• value for money
• real authentic experiences
• travelling smarter, not spending more

Then yes – the real Lapland is absolutely achievable on a budget.

And hopefully this proves that with a bit of flexibility, confidence, and planning, dream trips don’t have to stay dreams.

P.S. We already had snow gear, so this wasn’t an additional cost for us. If you need it, why not looking at hiring it instead to make it cheaper? We saw a few families who’d done this and they looked super cute in their matching sets. Prices start at around £40pp which is much cheaper than kitting yourself out in new gear.

See Winter Clothing Hire prices here!

We paid for this trip ourselves, none of this was gifted or PR.