Wanting to give her daughter a Christmas to remember, Fiona Vella booked a festive family holiday to the Arctic Circle to try out snowy sports and meet a famous character...

We had always wished to spend Christmas in some foreign land to see how this event is celebrated in other countries.

Ideally, this place had to be similar to the ones we saw on Christmas cards, with wooden log cabins, fireplaces and lots of snow.

Eventually, a brilliant idea occurred to us – what if we went to visit Santa’s land itself in Lapland, northern Finland?

Although many of us have grown up to believe Father Christmas is just a legend, my daughter and I are sure that he is real.

Well, he visits each year and he always leaves a lovely present for Martina. After 10 annual visits to our home, we decided it would be nice of us to exchange the courtesy.

That was how we found ourselves at Gatwick Airport being led away from the usual queues by a special officer who rang a bell to call for those whose destination was Ivalo airport.

Soon, several families with excited children joined the group and off we went on a charter plane waiting to take us to this magical land.

Everything was superb from the start. Even the flight was completely dedicated to entertaining the children with enjoyable games.

When we were approaching land, all the children turned to the window to watch for Santa’s flying sleigh. We did not see it but, deep beneath fluffy, white clouds, appeared a strange landscape of dark land, remarkably patterned with shiny rivers and lakes. So that was how the Arctic Circle looked!

Our airplane landed smoothly down at Ivalo’s minute airport in Lapland and soon we found ourselves walking in crunchy snow. Mischievous, brightly dressed elves slid out with our luggage and greeted us with playful tricks, while a traditionally dressed Finnish Sami, who forms part of the indigenous people of this area, welcomed us to his land in the company of a large reindeer.

A coach transferred us to the tourist resort in Saariselkä, which was 25 minutes away.

How can anyone resist the feeling of a true white Christmas while tobogganing over the milky snow or heartily singing a couple of old Christmas songs under a sky packed with stars

As in Saariselkä the temperature goes down well beyond 0°C, we had packed cosy clothes in our luggage.

However, on arrival, everyone was provided with a complimentary thermal outer-suit, along with woollen socks, snow boots, outer gloves and hats, to guarantee a comfortable stay since the temperature could go down to -30°C.

There is a good choice of hotels for this holiday: from Santa’s Kieppi built in traditional Finnish style, to the modern Santa’s Holiday Club which includes an indoor pool with waves and chutes.

We chose to stay in Hotel Kieppi because we considered it to be more authentic. Owner Matti Välitalo told us that in Finnish, the word kieppi referred to the burrow where animals hibernated during winter, and this place was warm and snug in contrast with the icy coldness outside.

Between the beginning of December and the first days of January, Saariselkä experiences the polar night as the sun does not rise.

However, the place does not lie in total darkness since the snow reflects the light of the moon, stars and the magnificent Northern Lights, and therefore visitors can move around easily at whatever time.

During this period, at about 10am, the dusky blue sky turns into an unusual blend of silver and blue that is later imbued with different hues of blue and red, until about 3pm, when it starts getting dark again.

This entire ambience felt strange at first, but once we got used to it, it enhanced each and every moment and turned it into a unique Christmas experience. We really felt as if we had stepped into another world.

Even the activities that we could do were extraordinary and it didn’t take very long to see the adults being transformed into joyful and happy children. After all, how can anyone resist the feeling of a true white Christmas while tobogganing over the milky Arctic snow?

We were provided with free toboggans from our hotel and Martina took the opportunity to be pulled all along the way.

I have to admit that it was somewhat frightening at first because we had never experienced this sport.

But when we saw very young children confidently shooting by, we walked up a small, snowy hill and off we went. It felt like flying! An amazing experience! We lost count of how many rides we took.

Each time we travelled by coach, our guides did their utmost to help us get in the Christmas spirit. Once more, we found the atmosphere quite captivating as we heartily sang a couple of Christmas songs along with people coming from various countries around the world, under a sky packed with twinkling stars.

However, surely the best moment of this holiday for each visitor, whether old or young, was the special visit to the village of Father Christmas in the Arctic Circle.

Here, with activities including ice fishing, tobogganing, reindeer sleigh rides, snow hockey, skidoo rides and an igloo bar, who could wish for more?

Yet there was more. In fact, after providing us with the required instructions, we were offered to drive a pack of huskies in the snow.

My husband controlled the huskies and my delighted daughter and I huddled in the sleigh wrapped up in reindeer skin.

Still, more followed since each family, at some point or another, was secretly and quickly hurried to a snowmobile-sled to search for the elves who knew how to point the way to Santa’s log cabin, which was craftily hidden in the icy woods.

It was a really enthralling experience to enter the warmth of Santa’s magical hut and to find him sitting in his huge wooden chair amid a multitude of colourful presents.

Martina was dumbfounded as she noticed that Santa was reading her own hand-written letter that she had sent to him some days before by post from Valletta.

When she found some courage, she told him that many of her friends told her that he did not exist.

“Well now you have seen that I do!” he told her warmly as he laughed heartily and gave her a beautiful teddy bear as a present.

Martina hugged Santa as if to check that she was not dreaming and she even kissed him on the cheek.

Once our private meeting with Father Christmas was over, we were taken back to the rest of the group but Martina was simply entranced by this experience.

On Christmas Day, we attended a gala dinner where we discovered that in Finland, ham is the tradition Christmas meal. However, we were treated to a bountiful meal of different meats and fish, together with a selection of pastries and delicious wild berries.

We did miss the company of our dear family members and the sweet presence of baby Jesus in his crib, which was nowhere in sight.

Yet in Saariselkä everything was designed to entertain visitors and no one will have time to feel a trace of sadness.

We spent only four days in Santa’s Lapland but the surrealism of the place mystified the aspect of time and we felt as if we belonged there.

Surely no other Christmas will ever match this one.