The small village of Nellim, rests on the shorelines of Lake Inari, whose islands are locally known as the ancestral burial grounds of the Sami people. The tranquillity of the landscape offers a warm welcome to our guests and provides a Christmas experience that embraces its mysticism and charm.

Immortalised as Enari, in Philip Pullman’s Trilogy: “His Dark Materials”, Lake Inari has been influenced by the mysticism of the Sami people and the village of Nellim rests at its very heart of the area. Set in this most tranquil of landscapes, an Inari Sami family have created, for their visitors, a welcoming and magical atmosphere.

Departure Dates: 23rd December -
5 days

Day 1

You and your family will depart Heathrow at 10:20 AM on your Finnair scheduled flight(s) via Helsinki to Ivalo. After you arrive at 17:35 PM Finnish time, you will be escorted by bus to The Wilderness Hotel Nellim by Lake Inari. You will then check-in at your hotel, followed by a welcome drink, a programme briefing and a delicious Sami buffet supper.

Day 2

Nellim is home to the Skolt and the Inari Sami people, who share the area with the local Finns. After breakfast, your guide will introduce you to several of them, who will recall their ancestral accounts and stories of their modern day lives. Your walk around the village will take you to a Kota, The Orthodox Church of St Triphon of Petsamo, and a reindeer corral. You will then be escorted by a vehicle and journey along the shores of Inari to the Russian border at Ressi.

You will return to the hotel for Lunch, before an afternoon of fun and games in the snow. On the sloping banks gliding down to a frozen lake, you will have the opportunity to snow shoe on fresh snow, toboggan down the hill, ice fish on the lake and practise your skills at reindeer lasso throwing. You will then return to the hotel for dinner.

Christmas Eve

After breakfast, it will be time to visit Rudolph and all of his reindeer friends, who will be resting in the coral. Children will have the chance to feed them, and make sure the reindeer have the energy they need to pull Santa’s sleigh and all those gifts for every boy and girl around the world.

You will return to the hotel for lunch. Afterwards, it will be time to play with toboggans on the hotel’s very own sliding slope. Later that evening, you will experience Lappish dinning in the hotel’s traditional Kota, situated around an open fire, while one of Santa’s most trusted elves shares, with you, tales of his whereabouts.

Christmas Day

After breakfast, you will mount your snowmobiles for a snow safari through the white artic forests surrounding Lake Inari. Stopover in a forest clearing, and have lunch comprising of tasty sausages and fluffy pancakes, and wash it down with hot berry juice.

In the afternoon, one of Santa’s little helpers will help you and your family find a tree from the nearby forest for you to return to the hotel and trim with Christmas decorations. You will also be able to bake gingerbread cookies and learn how to make traditional Sami felt toys. There will be a Sami Christmas buffet culminating in a visit from Father Christmas, who although should be a little breathless from having visited all the other children in the world, will arrive with Rudolph and have a gift for everyone – including grown-ups.

Day 5

After breakfast, you will have one last time to toboggan and have some fun in the snow before returning to Ivalo airport at 13:20 PM for your Finnair scheduled flight(s) to Heathrow where you will arrive at 17:10 PM UK time.

Note - The above itinerary is to be used as a guide only. Days and timings may be subject to change. Ski suits and boots are required to be returned on the last night of your holiday.