We asked five travel experts what their favorite Winter Wonderland destinations are, and they all said the same thing

Sure, the summer sun is great, but have you ever tried to bundle up to play in freshly fallen snow? The season of hot chocolate, warm mittens, and snowball fights is almost here, and it’s time to plan your winter wonderland adventure. And, according to the travel experts we spoke to, there’s no better place to experience the true magic of winter than Finland.

“It feels so serene, so peaceful, with a pristine blanket of snow covering thick forests for several months of the year,” said Chris Brunning, co-founder of Journeys of untold storiessaid Travel + Leisure about Finnish Lapland. “The seemingly perpetual sunsets and magical winter nights… there’s nowhere else like it. There’s also a rich indigenous heritage that often goes unnoticed, wonderful local people with that famous Scandinavian sense of humor and the cleanest air in Europe.”

According to our professionals, there is also plenty to see and do here for all types of travelers during the winter.

“It’s really spectacular to see in winter, as it’s located inside the Arctic Circle, making it possible to see the Northern Lights quite easily from this location,” Michelle Jensen, editor of Your travel storyhe told T+L. “It’s also a wonderful place to enjoy a variety of winter activities, including reindeer sleigh rides, dog sledding, ice floating, snowshoeing, snowmobiling and the world’s only snow sauna, located at the Arctic Snow Hotel.”

As Jensen added, it’s ideal for families with young children (or really kids at heart too) thanks to “Santa’s Village, where you can meet the big man, visit Santa’s post office, eat at a snow restaurant, go snow tubing, and do other activities.”

Do you want that visit to Santa Claus to be even more spectacular? Consider booking with Brunning. “Through our contacts with man we can organize a private sleigh ride through an enchanted forest at dusk,” he said. “Before long, you will encounter some frantic elves lost in the forest. The light of a crackling fire shines in the distance and together you enter a small wooden cabin, where none other than Santa Klaus himself is waiting to welcome you.”

And according to Jozef Verbruggen, the founder of Travel wildThe entire region is a sensory pleasure. “[It’s a] “It’s a place covered in thick snow and deeply frozen lakes,” he said. “Put on your snowshoes for a walk and just listen to the snow crunch under your shoes.”

With all that snow, you’d expect it to be a place where things get canceled and moved due to weather. Not so, he said. rider General Director Carlos Nasillo. “What makes Lapland special is the fact that winter is not just a season, it is an entire way of life and an operandi in which locals have learned to thrive in situations that would simply shut down most other destinations,” he told T+L. “The reality of a true winter survival culture is far ahead of that of a manufactured winter center.”

Of course, you can always make a winter visit to Lapland a double feature by combining it with a getaway to a nearby city, as Claire Riley, travel advisor at Duende Travelrecommends. “Combining a few days in Helsinki, the capital of Finland, with the rest of the week in the Arctic part of the country is a perfect combination: excellent cuisine, culture, design and nightlife in Helsinki, followed by a pure dose of nature in the north,” explained Riley.

He noted that there are many fantastic accommodations near Ivalo or Rovaniemi that offer the glass igloo accommodation that everyone looks for when visiting the region, as well as a variety of outdoor activities. “On my visit to Ivalo, I learned how to snowshoe, cross-country ski and snowmobile, and all of that was before the sun set and the aurora activity began,” he said.