The Pop Culture Travel Guide

Will the Real Santa Please Stand Up?

Where: Finland

8/28/2006 at 9:45 AM
Tags: , (all tags)


A Google search for Santa's Village pops up residences in New Hampshire, Illinois, California and Ontario, but everybody knows that the authentic Santa lives in Lapland. To be precise, the real Santa's Village is right on the Arctic Circle, just north of Rovaniemi, Finland.

Here you can post a letter from Santa's Post Office (and see the stacks of letters he's received from kids across the world, some using the most unlikely of addresses), stock up on Christmas presents and Santa paraphernalia, and even meet the bearded man himself. The nice thing is that a chat with Santa about your Christmas wishes is free. That's why we're sure he's the real Santa. Northern Finland might be a long way from most people's homes, but when you figure Santa goes to all the effort to travel the whole world delivering presents every year, one trip to Finland in your lifetime isn't all that much to ask. Just make sure you choose a year when you've been a good girl or boy.

[Image via sauwai/Flickr]

Related stories:
Rovaniemi Webcam Lure [LA Times]
Lawsuits Close Santa's Village [Chicago Tribune]
Lapping Up Knowledge [Jaunted]

3 Comments - Add Yours by amandak

Add YoursComments


JenC
Jaunted Member
Illinois - surely not (none / 0)

How could anyone even suggest that Santa could live in Illinois or California - everyone knows that the reindeer could never live in those climates!  

Just the love the idea of receiving a letter from Santa all the way from his home in Finland though.

http://www.letters-from-santa-claus.com

by JenC on 8/29/2006 at 9:10 AM



AVB
Jaunted Member
Santa (none / 0)

No Santa in Cali, that I agree with. But I think a visit to Chicago in the Winter would make you think twice about calling it a warm weather climate!

by AVB on 8/29/2006 at 11:17 AM



hiddeneurope
Jaunted Member
More than Just One Father Christmas (none / 0)

Nice to to be reading about Santa in summer! Actually, the Finnish Santa has some serious competition from Russia's Father Frost, who, just like Santa, also has to deal with a hefty mailbag. The attached link details a little more - including an account of a meeting between Father Frost and Santa: http://www.vologda-oblast.ru/Periodic/FILE%20ENG/1085.pdf  The article here, on a Russian website (but in English) was originally published late last year in hidden europe magazine.

by hiddeneurope on 9/08/2006 at 7:36 AM


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