Mum makes eight-hour round trip for just four HOURS in Lapland
A mother flew to Lapland for just four hours to enjoy sledging, a husky ride adventure and meeting Santa — before her son would stop believing in Father Christmas
A single mum whisked her family away to Lapland for £600 each so that she and her son could meet Santa before he stopped believing.
Dreaming of a white Christmas, Donna Rudd, 46, whisked her family away on a whirlwind four-hour trip to Lapland, forking out £600 per head for an enchanting sledging and Husky ride adventure where they even met Father Christmas himself. The spontaneous journey to Finland was especially for her youngest, 13-year-old Leo, before he stopped believing in Santa.
Along with Donna's sister, Diane Braithwaite, 59, the trio said goodbye to Minehead, Somerset, taking off from Bristol Airport at the crack of dawn and touching down in Kittilä International Airport. By 1.30pm, they were basking in the magic of Lapland, indulging in sledging, snowball fights, and husky and reindeer rides, all before returning to catch their flight back at 8pm.
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The TUI package might have been a bit pricey, but according to Donna, who works as a waitress, it was completely "worth it". Gushing over the experience, she shared: "It was a lot of fun." She added, waxing lyrical about the destination: "It's such a pretty place. It's magical. I don't know how we fitted it all in."
Brimming with festive spirit after collecting Diane, who is employed at a school, from the airport, Donna surprised young Leo with a pre-trip puzzle, teasing that "Father Christmas would help him with it in the North Pole.” The travel party enjoyed a lively atmosphere aboard, as Donna reminisced: "It was so nice on the airplane. We sang songs. The atmosphere was so good. Everyone was wearing Christmas jumpers."
The whirlwind adventure took place on December 3, 2022, setting them back just in time to not outstay their welcome on Santa's snowy home turf. The family were whisked off to Lapland on a coach after touching down at the airport, arriving around 1.30pm. They dived straight into activities to make the most of their limited time there.
Donna revealed: "We packed in a lot of stuff. We went sledging, had snow ball fights. We did husky and reindeer rides. I went on a snowmobile - it had always been a dream of mine."
Donna cleverly handed over a letter containing Leo's wishes to the elves to pass onto Father Christmas before their meeting. She shared: "Father Christmas mentioned his name. He looked at me in shock. He was so happy."
Donna even managed to squeeze in some souvenir shopping before they hopped back on the coach to the airport. The family touched down around 11pm before heading back to Minehead, Somerset. She admitted: "It's not cheap for a day. It was so worth it. I'd even go back as an adult without kids."