Lapland is so far north, it's almost south

It’s so far north that it’s nearly south. Rovaniemi, in Finland’s Lapland, lies well to the north of Fairbanks (Alaska), the whole of Iceland, and all but the smallest settlements in Russia. By comparison, Christchurch (at 44° latitude compared with Rovaniemi’s 66°) seems positively tropical.

In early June each year, Rovaniemi’s Jutajaiset international folkloric festival includes performances by local Sami (Lapp) peoples. Jutajaiset is part of a two-month long celebration of summer, when for four whole weeks the sun doesn’t go down at all. In the middle of town, special outdoor enclosures are set up, where drinkers while away what in other climes would be nighttime. It’s truly bizarre to be raging in glaring sunlight at midnight in a Rovaniemi beer garden, oblivious of what your body clock is trying to tell you.

In the daytime, take a picnic trip out to the river falls and rapids at Auttinköngäs. This is pure wilderness country, with whitewater-flowing gorges, towering cliffs and virgin pine and birch forests still frequented by bears, moose and reindeer.

North of Rovaniemi, Santa’s Post Office, right on the Arctic Circle, is a grand affair, as befits a guy who last year received nearly a million letters. This is just part of Santa Village - and (horror of horrors!) there’s a new Santa Park theme attraction right next door.