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winter breaks knowledge
And when the kids got itchy feet you they were still Sami, the dogs were still
only needed to pop outside to the relative huskies and we were 160 miles above the
BOOK IT
safety of the lodge’s surroundings to take Arctic Circle.
part in ice-skating, sledging and general With memories of the debacle of the
Iain and Euan travelled with Transun, which offers a
range of three-night departures across the festive
snowballing fun. farcical “Lapland” attraction that had been
period from Gatwick, Manchester and Leeds Bradford.
created in Hampshire just months before, I
Prices range from £1,049 for the Magic programme
Let there be light was certainly happy to experience the real
over Christmas itself, to £849 for the Magic and
With all this fresh air and the lack of sun- thing and it was with no little excitement
Legends programmes early in the new year. All trips
light, Euan and I had no trouble sleeping. that we prepared to meet the main man.
are fully inclusive of a private meeting with Santa,
a 40-minute husky experience, a 90-minute
But waking up in the morning – still in Although the huskies, the Sami and the
snowmobile safari, a search for Santa by reindeer,
total darkness – was a different matter. cold were very real indeed, our bearded
full board in family-run hotels, transfers and flights.
Getting Euan out of bed was a struggle, Santa was a retired lorry driver from across
■ transun.co.uk
but by the time we got to the first of our the border in Sweden. But Euan didn’t know
excursions the daylight, if not the sun, was that and even I forgot for a few minutes.
Other operators offering Lapland experiences include
Cosmos, which has reduced children’s prices for its
creeping over the horizon. Santa’s lodge is reached by a reindeer sled
three, four and five-night itineraries, Sovereign
All of the excursions were run with ride from the Davvi. You arrive moments after
Holidays, which offers three and four-night itineraries
the seamless organisation needed in the family before has departed, but good
including Elf Adventures, and Esprit Holidays,
temperatures which can quickly become organisation stops you from seeing them.
which offers three and four-night breaks from
uncomfortable. Standing around waiting is Santa’s elves welcome you to the door and
Gatwick and Manchester.
■ Cosmos: 0871 423 8518
not an option. the big man himself knows all about the
■ Sovereign: sovereign.com
The husky sled-riding was certainly children thanks to some information you
■ Esprit: santaslapland.com
authentic. This gave you the chance to feed to the Transun staff on arrival.
drive your own team of dogs and visit the That Santa recalled exactly what he had
Don’t forget
reindeer farm to practise lassooing with brought down our chimney on December 25
■ Driving licence and credit card if you want to try
snowmobiling. A credit card is required only to
some Sami herders. was all it took to extinguish any doubts Euan
cover the insurance excess in case of damage
OK, so the dogs knew the route by heart might still have held about authenticity.
■ Hats, gloves and scarves for all your party
and the Sami herders admitted they were This was Santa. And there was certainly
■ Lots of layers: vests, T-shirts, thin/thick socks etc
only part-time nomads these days – but some magic in the air.
GET ONBOARD WITH
TTG ON THE ROAD
TTG Knowledge College is hitting the road in
October and we’d love to meet you. Our fun
and informative roadshows will be taking
place at top hotels in Cardiff, Manchester,
Glasgow, Exeter, Portsmouth and
Norwich. Places are filling up fast, so
sign up now for your nearest event
So what happens when TTG Knowledge College hits the road? Well, we’ve teamed up with leading trade-friendly
suppliers to host sociable evenings of training, food, drink and prizes – to really drive up your knowledge
Places are being snapped up fast, so register your interest to make sure you don’t miss out. For
more details, and to register, go to our TTG Knowledge On the Road page at ttglive.com/ontheroad
25.09.2009 51
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