Traveller's Guide: Lapland - drive huskies, meet Santa Claus and try to catch the Northern Lights

On the surface, it is illogical – the idea that, just as Europe plunges into winter, anyone would wish to visit the continent's coldest and most remote portions in search of a holiday. Yet the pull of Lapland is undeniable. It is a place of magical, even otherworldly image – a white landscape of frosted forests and iced lakes.

It is not a country, but an area that spreads over the uppermost parts of the Nordic landmass. You might delineate it as Sapmi, the region inhabited by the Sami people crossing the top of Norway, Sweden and Finland, even flowing into Russia.

Lapland is easy to reach from Britain. Norwegian (0843 3780 888; norwegian.com) flies non-stop from Gatwick to Tromso in Norway, with connections to Alta and Kirkenes. Finnair (0870 241 4411; finnair.com) flies via its hub in Helsinki to up-country Finland, including Ivalo, Kuusamo, Rovaniemi and Kittila. And Scandinavian Airlines (0871 226 7760; flysas.co.uk) covers Lulea and Kiruna in Sweden via Stockholm. In addition, charter airlines such as Thomson Airways (0871 231 4787; flights.thomson.co.uk) head to destinations such as Rovaniemi directly.

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