With children, a successful Lapland holiday doesn’t depend on how many experiences you manage to book. What often matters more is how little transfer time, waiting and standing around in the cold the day involves.

For an adult, two hours of waiting for the northern lights can be an adventure. For a four-year-old, it can be two hours in a dark place where nothing happens.

Plan the trip around the children’s rhythm, and the adults will enjoy it more too.

Small children: short spells outdoors

With a toddler or preschooler, one main activity a day is usually enough.

A sledge, a short reindeer ride, playing in the snow and a warm kota hut can be just as memorable as a big safari. What matters is being able to go inside and warm up before everyone gets too cold.

A child sitting in a sledge doesn’t generate heat like a walking adult, so dress them for sitting still. See what to pack for Lapland in winter.

Primary school age: more options open up

With school-age children there’s plenty to choose from: huskies, reindeer, snowshoeing, trying cross-country skiing, sledging hills, downhill skiing and short trips into a national park.

At this age it’s worth letting children help choose. Two experiences they picked themselves can beat five items on an adult’s schedule.

Age, height and weather limits vary between tour operators, so always check the terms of the trip you book. Read also how to choose a safari.

Teenagers: give them something real to do

“Let’s look at the lovely view” may not be enough for a teenager.

Downhill skiing, a longer husky trip, fat biking, cross-country skiing or photographing the northern lights make the trip more active.

Some time of their own helps too. If the accommodation has two bedrooms, a sauna and decent wifi, a week-long family holiday is often easier than in one hotel room for four.

The northern lights with children

Don’t promise them.

The northern lights aren’t a show that starts at a set time. The sky can stay cloudy for the whole holiday.

A glass-roofed cabin or room can be a more sensible luxury for a family than a long late-night aurora tour: the children can sleep while the adults keep an eye on the sky.

Read about glass igloos and other unusual stays, our glass igloo versus cabin comparison and our northern lights guide.

Choose practical accommodation

With a family, check before booking:

  • A kitchen: you won’t always feel like going out to a restaurant.
  • A drying cabinet or good drying space: wet gloves are tomorrow’s problem.
  • Distance to services: a two-kilometre walk is a different thing at −20 °C than in summer.
  • A private sauna: it’s both an activity and a place to warm up.
  • A separate bedroom: especially useful if small children go to bed early.
  • Car or no car: a cabin outside the village can be wonderful, but without a car, taxi costs and logistics add up fast.

Browse cabins and villas or compare bases in Lapland.

Don’t fill every day

A good family day might look like this: a slow breakfast, two hours outside, a warm lunch, a rest, the sledging hill and the sauna.

It doesn’t look as impressive in a brochure as three safaris. On the ground, it may be the day everyone remembers.

For a child in Lapland, the snow itself is already something to do.