Cosmos is the UK’s largest independent tour operator and part of the same family as Monarch Holidays.

You can read more about the Lapland holidays offered by Cosmos at www.cosmos-holidays.co.uk/holidays/lapland/resorts. They have a detailed guide on all their Lapland trips. They offer a range of durations from 1 day trips to 5 night stays and on their website they have a video and some photos which gives you an idea of what to expect.

The two resorts that Cosmos offer are Levi Fell and Yllasjarvi (more traditional).

When you book a Lapland holiday with Cosmos, snow suit and boots are included in the price.

Having taken over 6000 kids to see Santa last year and being part of TUI the world’s largest tourism company you should be on good hands booking a Lapland trip with First Choice.

First Choice have the full range of Lapland holiday options from day trips in December 2010 departing from a good spread of UK airports all the way up to their ultimate Lapland holiday offer – a week in Lapland going over New Years Eve and New Years Day. What a way to start the year!. These full board holidays from Gatwick or Manchester include a host of activities including an outing on snowmobiles.

The most popular holidays to Finnish Lapland that First Choice provide are the three and four night breaks which they operate in December from Bristol, Gatwick and Manchester airports to Rovaniemi, Pallas, Yllas and Levi. Departure dates are between the 1st of December 2010 and 22nd December and then they operate one week holidays leaving 26th December so you are in Lapland for new years day – what an amazing start to 2011 !.

The full list of available departure airports for the First Choice Lapland day trips in December 2010 is Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, Humberside, Cardiff, Teeside, East Midlands and Exeter

Monarch holidays have been organising Lapland trips for over twenty years  so they really know their stuff. The established tour operator with it’s own airline offers a full range of options including day trips and short breaks from Birmingham, Luton, Gatwick and Manchester. The most expensive trips Monarch offer are five day holidays for New Year’s Eve and Day.

Book a holiday to Lapland with Monarch

Book online to qualify for an online discount of upto 12% and if you book early enough you can pay a low deposit.

More info / Book at http://holidays.monarch.co.uk/experiences/lapland-holidays

Lapland video

Monarch have produced a new video showcasing their Lapland trips which features testimonials from kids.

See their video here and get a better idea of what a trip to Lapland involves.

It is possible to arrange your own holiday to Lapland. While Lapland package deals usually work out cheaper, doing your own trip can give you more freedom and less crowds. Here’s a guide to how you can plan a holiday to Lapland, Finland or Sweden and some things to consider.

1) Cheap flights to Finland. Use Skyscanner.net and have a look at flights to Helsinki. Look also at SAS and Finnair for scheduled flights. For charter flights to Finland look at flythomascook who sell seat only to Kitillia from Heathrow departing on Saturdays throughout the winter season.

2) Getting from Helsinki to Lapland – There are trains from Helsinki to Rovaniemi the main resort in Finnish Lapland.

3) Hotels in Lapland. The main Lapland resort is named Rovaniemi and smaller resorts are Rukatunturi, Levi, Yllasjarvi (Yllas), Luosto, and Suomutunturi (Suomo). Look at hotel price comparison site Nordic Hotels to find the best deal for you in Lapland as well as Helsinki if you want a stopover.

4) Activities in Lapland – You can pre book excursions in Lapland – see below for a selection of activities from Isango who offer a best price guarantee.

5) Warm clothes. Thermal clothes are required and are included in some packages to Lapland. Check details before you book and certainly before you travel to Lapland.

Winter Snow Holidays

While the sunshine from a winter beach holiday can offer you a nice tan, there’s nothing quite like feeling the fresh winter air on your face, and the crunch of crisp snow underneath warm comfortable winter boots. Snow themed holidays are becoming very popular and there are now several winter activity holidays in a number of different countries (including Lapland) featuring a wide range of sports and activities.

Kids too young to ski? Snowmobiling, Dog Sledding searching for the Northern Lights, visiting snow castles and ice hotels and of course visiting Father Christmas, are just some of the popular activities you can try.

Adventure Holiday in Finland

Itching to find the “real Lapland”?, want to venture into the Finnish wilderness? a one week adventure holiday in Finland gives you the opportunity to do just that. This holiday which is available from November to April includes Reindeer safari, Snowmobile safari and and what is for most people the highlight, an overnight husky safari. This is a real hands on experience not a Disney style Santa trip! Accommodation is cosy throughout.

Have a look at the reviews to see just how popular this holiday is.

Lapland Bargains with Lastminute.com

Lastminute.com is a great place to look for Bargain holiday to Lapland in the last minute. What they have on offer tends to change quite frequently depending what deals they are offered from other agencies and tour operators of Lapland / Santa trips. You’ll normally find a selection of short breaks to Finnish Lapland in their ski section. Typical resorts are Levi and Yllas. You could also visit their homepage and type “Lapland” into their search box.

Booking a last minute holiday or late deal to Lapland can provide you with a Lapland Bargain. If operators of Lapland holidays have excess capacity they sometimes reduce prices for last minute departures. You are more likely to get a last minute Lapland deal if :

• You are flexible about the type of Lapland trip you take. If you don’t mind whether it’s a day trip, a weekend trip a four day trip or a full week and if you have no strong preference for self catering versus half board hotel or chalet then you are more likely to find something in the last minute.
• You are geographically mobile and are available to leave from a variery of UK airports.
• You are a couple or smaller family requiring less seats on the flights to Lapland.
• You can depart anytime in December and don’t need to be in Lapland for Christmas and or New Years Eva when the prices tend to stay stubbornly high.

There is no set rules on when the prices will start to drop – or even that they will. Around one month before departure is a good time to look and book.

One final tip – Always compare the final price as sometimes although the basic price of the holiday isn’t reduced, the child prices or other supplements will be slashed. The reverse is also true – booking early can sometimes get you a reduced child price, online booking discount, free upgrade or similar.

Start Searching Now – Monarch Lapland Holidays, First Choice Lapland Holidays, Lasminute.com Lapland Holidays, Nielson Finland Ski Holidays

Another way to visit Lapland is to take a one week ski holiday to Finland.If you ski or snowboard or if you want to learn then you can combine your Santa trip with a skiing holiday. With excellent conditions for beginners and high quality English speaking ski and snowboard tuition available, the two main ski resorts in Finland – Levi and  Yllas have a lot to offer. If you don’t fancy skiing or at least if some of the family members don’t want to ski there are loads of other activities on offer. Activities other than skiing and snowboarding include snowmobiling safaris, reindeer sleigh rides, husky dog sledding, ice fishing and snowshoeing, excursions to The Ice Hotel and Northern Lights Safaris are also available and if you take a ski holiday to Finland in December how about the Search for Santa excursion? Join Father Christmas’ Elves and enjoy helping them to decorate their Christmas cookies and have a go at snow tubing or tobogganing. Together with Santa’s Elves, you’ll search the grounds before meeting Santa Claus himself. In both Levi and Yllas there is a creche and baby sitting service also available at the foot of the slopes.

Sweden & Norway are other options for a ski holiday to Scandinavia from the UK. Crystal offers ski packages to both those countries and can arrange English speaking tuition and pre book tele-marking and cross county skiing for you. Both Sweden and Norway offer family friendly ski resorts. Take Åre in Sweden for example. Apart from skiing also on offer is Dog Sledding, Snowmobiling, Tobogganing, Ice Driving, Ice Carting, Ice Fishing, Icelandic Pony Trekking, Night Skiing (Dec-Mar), Cross Country Skiing – and if you are there in Christmas week you might catch a glimpse of Santa on the slopes!