If you fancy a Christmas with a twist, why not venture further afield?
For those dreaming of a white Christmas, Kiruna in Sweden is your best bet – this winter wonderland boasts a 70% chance of snow on Christmas Day.
This remote town, the most northern in Sweden, is renowned for its breathtaking snowy landscapes and the Northern Lights.
It’s also relatively undiscovered, with only 100 average searches a month according to DFDS.
Kiruna is a relatively new city, founded at the beginning of the 20th century, and houses the world’s largest iron ore mine which you can visit.
Due to the mine, the entire city is gradually shifting east away from the mining, resulting in intriguing newly built buildings to explore, reports the Mirror.
A stroll around Kiruna will reveal charming pastel houses and a beautiful wooden church constructed in 1912, designed to resemble a traditional Sami tent.
Kiruna and its surrounding area are home to the Sami people, the indigenous people of Sweden, and their rich culture permeates city life here.
Nutti Sami Siida is a Sami-run tourism company that has been operating in Kiruna since 1996.
The company was established following a particularly harsh winter that made grazing reindeer herds more expensive, so the company’s owners decided to introduce visitors to their way of life to fund the feeding of their herd.
Now, you can select from a variety of activities ranging from reindeer experiences to reindeer-drawn sleds – an ideal Christmas activity.
It’s important to remember that if you’re planning a Christmas holiday in this winter wonderland, it will be dark. Due to Kiruna’s extreme northern location, the sun sets around 2.30pm, resulting in a short day – but an excellent opportunity for star gazing.
The easiest way to reach there is to fly to Stockholm and then take one of the several daily flights to Kiruna. Alternatively, trains are available from the Swedish capital, but these journeys are considerably longer, averaging 16 hours.
