With effect from 7 January 2008, the restriction previously imposed limiting hand baggage to one item per person will no longer apply at a number of UK airports. However, airlines may apply their own operational policies governing the number, size and weight of items which may be taken into the aircraft cabin. A guide to the security requirements for passengers and a list of airports where the one item restriction no longer applies can be found at www.dft.gov.uk/transportforyou/airtravel/airportsecurity.

Emma C

Eimear Q

Father Christmas was wonderful - he was delightful with my 4 year old grandson, referring to his letter and giving him so much of his time.

We will not hesitate to recommend you, your company and this trip to anyone.

THANK YOU SO MUCH! Merry Christmas - as you can imagine, our Christmas spirit really started yesterday!

Sue B

PS a small suggestion for the future - we would have valued there being an official photographer on site to have captured one or two special moments for us - especially as we found it hard to get the best from our cameras in the cold and with thick warm gloves on.

On Saturday the 15th of December, we travelled to Lapland to see Santa with our daughter Ellie who is 7. Today, I am still trying to get over the shock of such an amazing trip. Brilliant organisation behind the scenes, tickets and emails informative and allowing plenty of time for any queries, the welcome staff at the airport and on the plane were as excited as many of the children and even some of the adults. The staff at Snow Village were fantastic, very enthusiastic and maintained the mystery and excitement of visiting Santa for everyone. We cannot wait until our other daughter Amelia (3) is a little older to truly remember the day.

Sincerely and with more thank you's than I can type, thank you so much for the amazing day.
Happy Christmas wishes to you all.

Steve, Sarah, Ellie & Amelia J

Simply add NorthPole@live.com into MSN messenger as a new contact and you can chat directly with Santa Claus.

Edit: Unfortunately this has now been "pulled" by Microsoft, so Sanat will be offline until they resolve their difficulties.

If you're looking for anything to do with Christmas, why not give ChristmastimeUK a look ?  They have a wide range of Christmas decorations available for immediate delivery.

The day started early with a tour of Colchester by open top bus, with Santa leading the way, and children from the NSPCC and staff.  Christmas songs and lots of singing got us all in the party mood ready for the main parade into the store at 11am (not before a short photocall with Santa in front of Debenhams).

Our two young budding Elves (Tilly and Laura) then spent time assisting Santa in store by skipping around handing out balloons and leaflets inviting families to take the time to visit Santa in Lapland, as well as instore.

Rudi & Hal (kindly supplied by Cosmos holidays) spent four  hours in store greeting many young shoppers and their families.  A short venture outside into the main shopping square caused much interest and many photo opportunities for the young and the old alike !

All in all a great fun day promoting Santa in Lapland for a worthwhile cause - NSPCC.

However, just having had my first child this week, I now know what an impossible wrench it would be to leave your youngest behind, whilst taking the older children to Lapland.

The reasons I have against taking young children to Lapland, is mainly down to the extreme cold (up to minus 45 celcius), and our inabilty to clothe, and protect them from the severe cold.

However, if you have taken the plunge and booked your Lapland holiday, there is a company called Raindrops that sell Scandinavian made clothing for infants and small children.  We have no affiliation with them, and don't endorse their clothing, but it's probably worth a look if you're off on a holiday to Lapland this Christmas.

For those of the older generation, who rumaged around Mum's sewing kit for spare buttons, raided the fridge for a carrot, grabbed spares hats and scarfs from Dad's wardrobe and made do with a stick for a pipe, the modern age has taken over - "Snowman Kits"

For about £10 on eBay (or elsewhere just Google "snowman in a box") you can find Snowman kits, inside of which you will find wooden buttons, eyes, pipe, nose, felt hat and scarf.  The box is small enough to fit inside your luggage, and you know you'll have the best dressed snowman in Lapland !!

For those of you who can't wait for the snow to arrive, there's also this Snowman Construction kit (Flash is required).  I'll leave you to decide whether it's better to go to Lapland.

We actively discourage taking any child under the age of 2 to Lapland, and recommend waiting until they are 4-5 years.  There are a numer of reasons for this:  Firstly, it's not fair to subject a small child to the extreme Lapland environment.  Secondly, they won't be able to take part in alll the activities (and probablu won't remember any of it) and thirdly , you will enjoy it more, if your child is slightly older.

This advice is easy to follow if you only have one child, however the problem starts when you have more than one and the older child is of an age where they are waivering in their belief in Father Christmas.

Our advice to bite the bullet and make the visit to Lapland.  Yes it's expensive, but you only have one opportunity to do it properly.  Only you know your children.  Make sure you go when you think your child will enjoy it the most.  There is no point in taking them to Lapland if they are too young, you will be wasting your money.  Make sure it's a memorable occassion for both your children and yourself, and let them carry on believing into the next year.  Christmas will never be the same again !

This is a question that is asked time and time again by those going on a Lapland holiday. The Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis as they are more accurately known, are a natural phenomenon and appear in the Lapland sky between late August and April. 

I've been to Lapland 8+ times and have only seen the Northern Lights in their full glory on a few occasions.  Much of the time, the sky has been cloudy and obscured any chances of seeing them.

However, the best sighting that I've personally had was in Hetta, near Enontekio, where I can only describe them as like a "genie in a bottle" with great swirls of greens and reds.  Absolutely fantastic, and a perfect way to end a Lapland holiday.

This is about to change with the launch of their new edition brochure where they will be offering 3 and 4 day trips to Lapland, to compliment their other Lapland holidays.

Levi is a reasonable size ski resort, close to Kitilla airport, with a large selection of hotels and apartments to suit all budgets.  It is fairly commercialised, compared to other smaller Lapland resorts, but the cabins and chalets on the outskirts are of a good standard.

1. Sit down with your child and write their Christmas letter to Santa in the usual way.
   Discretely swap the letter and post a different letter in the letterbox, with your child watching.
   (Don't forget to take the original letter on your Lapland holiday.  This could prove difficult to explain !)
   Imagine their faces when Santa is holding their "original" letter !
2. You could try a different tact (if you have told your child that you are going to Lapland), and say that instead of posting, you are going to hand their letter to Santa in person.  (This gets over any issues of hiding or forgetting the letter)

Esprit Holidays new Lapland activity programme in Rovaniemi is based at Joulukka for overnight tours.  This is new for Christmas 2007 and I had the fortune to visit it in its' early stages last year.

The Four Stages of Life

1. You believe in Santa Claus. 
2. You don't believe in Santa Claus. 
3. You are Santa Claus. 
4. You look like Santa Claus.

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