Santa Claus Village
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Santa Claus Village is an amusement park near Rovaniemi in the Lapland region of Finland.
Santa Claus village is the most popular tourist destination in Finland with thousands of tourist visiting it every year. The majority of tourists are coming from United Kingdom, Germany, Russia, France,Republic of Ireland, China, Japan, India and other countries. In recent years there have been a significant increase in tourists from the Americas, though tourists from the United States are responsible for only 4.7% (2005) of total tourist visits.
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[edit] Location and transportation
Santa Claus Village is located about 8 km northeast of Rovaniemi and about 2 km from the Rovaniemi Airport. In the Christmas time the amount of daily flights triples. The majority of international tourists change their plane in the Helsinki-Vantaa airport. The timetables are set up in such a way that the time between the flights is no longer than 3 hours. Also in the Christmas time there are many charter flights from many countries that fly directly to Rovaniemi. Also there are Ryanair flights to Tampere from where there regular train connections to Rovaniemi. There are also a regular bus and train connections with all major cities in Finland.
Rovaniemi city bus route 8 travels between the Rovaniemi Railway Station and the Santa Claus Village. The bus trip takes about 30 minutes.
[edit] Attractions
- Arctic Circle: The Arctic Circle cuts right through Santa Claus Village. A white line denoting the Arctic Circle is painted across the park. Visitors officially enter the Arctic area when they cross the line. The line is a very popular photo spot for visitors.
- Santa Claus Post Office: A large variety of Christmas related items, Christmas cards and CDs are sold in the post office. All mail sent from this post office is postmarked with a special Santa Claus postmark. Visitors can also specify their mail to be sent at the next Christmas, regardless of when they actually visit the post office and send their items.
- Santa Claus's Office: A Santa Claus's Office is located inside the main building of the Village, for visitors to take photographs and chat with the Santa Claus. However, there is an "office hour" for the Santa Claus and he may not be in the office all the time even when the Village is open.
- Other attractions: There are also many shops and restaurants inside the park selling a variety of items related to Santa Claus and the Lapland region. (see Details of attractions in Santa Claus Village)
[edit] Awards
The Santa Claus Park that is connected to the Santa Claus Village was in 2007 Awarded by Topworld International and placed as the second best Travel Adventure in Finland. So long in 2008, it still holds second position after Topworld invited Travelers to vote for their own Top 10 list over Adventures.
[edit] In Popular Culture
In the christmas special "Bam Margera presents: Where the F*** is Santa?" They travel from Helsinki to Santa Claus Village in an attempt to find the real "Santa Claus." When they finally find their destination,they find out that Santa Claus is on vacation in the Bahamas.
[edit] Notes and references
[edit] External links
Coordinates: 66°33′02″N 25°53′22″E / 66.55056°N 25.88944°E
