We took our girls Amelia and Beatrice aged five and two and booked a 2pm slot, passing a classic Surrey panorama of golf clubs and supercar dealerships. However, soon you turn into a thick pine forest and the magic begins.
A whimsical wander through Lapland UK
Words by
Jemima Sissons
28th November 2023
Deep in the forest in an enchanted wood lies a portal to Lapland, where elves busy themselves crafting wooden toys by day, baking gingerbread houses and tending to reindeer. The enchanted wood is in fact spirited away in none other than glorious Slough, but this doesn’t stop Lapland UK – a four-hour immersive experience – selling out in minutes when tickets go on sale in spring. We took a festive peak at what all the snow-dusted fuss was all about. And came back in awe (and that includes parents too).
Photography by Luke Dyson
A welcoming from the whimsical characters of Lapland
On entering ‘Lapland,’ higgeldy elves houses and stalls selling hot chocolate greet eager participants. At the allotted time, you are called into a theatrical space, filled with fairylights, a wooden counter where you are allocated your group – reindeer or husky. We were the huskies.
Photography by Luke Dyson
The magical buzz of Lapland's Elf Post Office
From here you enter a magical woodland where you help the elves craft Christmas toys, decorate gingerbread men in icing and candy and then you arrive in Elven Village where you take to the ice skating rink. After writing a letter to Father Christmas in an old-fashioned styled post office, your group is ushered to the grotto. After passing a herd of real reindeer it is finally your chance to meet Father Christmas. Four hours later we return blinking eyed into the human world again, our eyes and hearts firmly set on the festive run up to Christmas.
The experience is sold out this year, but tickets will go live again on March… we will keep Sphere readers informed. portal.laplanduk.co.uk/
My review of Lapland UK by Amelia Beckham, age 5
I really liked Lapland because I loved the ice skating because the ice skates had two blades on them so I could skate easily. There were penguins to help ice skate but I didn’t need to use them. In the enchanted wood we met some elves called Ecko who loves nature like I do. We learnt how to do an elf greeting which is to wiggle your fingers at the end of your nose. We learnt that elves come from pine cones and they are wrapped in moss in the pine cones before they are born to keep them warm. And we met Father Christmas who was so kind. He remembered that I got a certificate at school recently and that I like drawing and I like tigers – he was so clever.
Ice Skating at Lapland UK
We met our guiding elf who had flown over our house last year with Father Christmas and will do again this year. In the post office I wrote a letter to Father Christmas. I asked him for a Tasmanian Devil toy, a National Geographic 5000 animal facts book and a bauble with a husky in it. It will be very exciting if he remembers to give these to me on the day.We helped the elves make a rabbit toy, and there was a magical box that was floating. Inside were children’s wishes that we saw come out. They looked like big white floating bubbles.Conker the funny elf told us that when you are a really good toymaker you get a golden bell, but he hadn’t got his yet because he is so cheeky and naughty!
Jemima with daughters Beatrice and Amelia holding their husky soft toys from Father Christmas
In the next room we met Mother Christmas who was really beautiful and had a long plait. She told us a story and we decorated gingerbread men. I ate some of the sweets off it!We also met the reindeers except Rudolph. It had been snowing so the trees were covered in white and it was beautiful. Father Christmas gave us an amazing present which was a husky soft toy. My husky protects me every night in bed.
